# Where in the US do dopers live? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 28, 2010, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-in-the-us-do-dopers-live/530722 "2010-02-28T03:46:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Katriona](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/katriona/32/113_2.png) [@Katriona](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Katriona)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2010, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-in-the-us-do-dopers-live/530722/21 "2010-02-28T14:58:16Z")
For lack of a better option, I had to vote for “living in the sticks,” but I must say that I find that wording quite insulting. ---
**Author:** ![NinetyWt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/cc9497/32.png) [@NinetyWt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinetyWt)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2010, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-in-the-us-do-dopers-live/530722/22 "2010-02-28T15:07:43Z")
> [@Katriona](#): > > For lack of a better option, I had to vote for “living in the sticks,” but I must say that I find that wording quite insulting. Why you hatin’ on sticks? 😛 I voted Memphis, but I’m over 3 hours south of there. ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2010, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-in-the-us-do-dopers-live/530722/23 "2010-02-28T15:21:43Z")
Megalopolis’s not represented so far: Las Vegas Cleveland Minneapolis/St. Paul Pittsburgh Sacramento ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2010, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-in-the-us-do-dopers-live/530722/24 "2010-02-28T15:33:23Z")
> [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](#): > > Megalopolis’s not represented so far: > > Las Vegas > Cleveland > Minneapolis/St. Paul > Pittsburgh > Sacramento Probably should add Cincinnati Metro area. ---
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2010, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-in-the-us-do-dopers-live/530722/25 "2010-02-28T15:41:10Z")
I’m from Pittsburgh, but now, I apparently live in the sticks. The only thing around here is a [mansion](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_house)that you may have heard of, and[this group](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Congress) of people that holds meetings sometimes. Seriously, though, you left a LOT of important cities off that list. ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2010, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-in-the-us-do-dopers-live/530722/26 "2010-02-28T15:47:24Z")
Megalopolis’s not represented so far: Las Vegas Cleveland Minneapolis/St. Paul Pittsburgh Sacramento Cincinnati DC I a limit of twenty would be reasonable and that the twenty most populous would be a simple way to go. Looks like reality isn’t that straight forward. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2010, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-in-the-us-do-dopers-live/530722/27 "2010-02-28T16:00:27Z")
**TD** , the problem is you picked wiki’s list of cities rather than list of metro areas. You started here [List of United States cities by population - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_cities_by_population) and should have started here [Metropolitan statistical area - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Table_of_United_States_Metropolitan_Statistical_Areas) The top 20 on the second list represents practical reality, not the accident of 150 year-old city limits embedded in modern mega-urbs. And that top 20 covers some 100-110 million Americans. It also woulda been fun to have done maybe 3 or 4 gradations of ferriners too: Canadians, other English speaking countries, European not English-speaking, and everywhere else. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Fun\_Ball](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_fun_ball/32/17664_2.png) [@Happy\_Fun\_Ball](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Fun_Ball)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2010, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-in-the-us-do-dopers-live/530722/28 "2010-02-28T17:29:33Z")
I’m in Denver (24) so I had to choose in the sticks. I thought it would be better if the OP used the top 20 [Statistical Metropolitan Areas](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Table_of_United_States_Metropolitan_Statistical_Areas), but Denver is 21 on that so I would have had to answer the same. But if you use [Combined Statistical Areas](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Table_of_United_States_Combined_Statistical_Areas), Denver/Boulder/Greeley (there’s not really much space between these cities, especially Denver/Boulder), the it would be 14th on the list with ~3 million people. ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2010, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-in-the-us-do-dopers-live/530722/29 "2010-02-28T17:30:16Z")
East of Los Angeles. ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2010, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-in-the-us-do-dopers-live/530722/30 "2010-02-28T17:33:36Z")
By your list, Memphis. It’s 400+ miles away, though, while I’m only 120 miles from Atlanta, which is the eighth largest metro area in the US, and also one of its fastest growing. ---
**Author:** ![gravitycrash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@gravitycrash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gravitycrash)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2010, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-in-the-us-do-dopers-live/530722/31 "2010-02-28T18:11:15Z")
St. Louis never gets any respect. 18th largest metro area. The city itself is only 61.9 sq. miles because of a pissing match between the city and St. Louis county way back when. ---
**Author:** ![tumbleddown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@tumbleddown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tumbleddown)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2010, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-in-the-us-do-dopers-live/530722/32 "2010-02-28T18:46:18Z")
Another shout out from the 22nd largest megalopolis. Pittsburgh may be currently listed as shrinking (I wonder what this year’s census will show given our extremely favorable employment and housing picture) but we’re not the sticks! ---
**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2010, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-in-the-us-do-dopers-live/530722/33 "2010-02-28T18:48:09Z")
I guess Seattle is in the sticks, not just the Upper left hand corner of the map… ---
**Author:** ![ThisSpaceForRent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thisspaceforrent/32/345_2.png) [@ThisSpaceForRent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThisSpaceForRent)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2010, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-in-the-us-do-dopers-live/530722/34 "2010-02-28T19:56:44Z")
> [@gravitycrash](#): > > St. Louis never gets any respect. 18th largest metro area. The city itself is only 61.9 sq. miles because of a pissing match between the city and St. Louis county way back when. Yeah…what **Gravity** said! We are like the Rodney Dangerfield of the MidWest. (Actually I am in U’City home of the LOOP and Blueberry Hill) ---
**Author:** ![WarmNPrickly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d78d45/32.png) [@WarmNPrickly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WarmNPrickly)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2010, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-in-the-us-do-dopers-live/530722/35 "2010-02-28T20:14:00Z")
I think you would have been better off going with regions than cities. States would be better. ---
**Author:** ![missred](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/missred/32/14096_2.png) [@missred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/missred)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2010, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-in-the-us-do-dopers-live/530722/36 "2010-02-28T20:44:03Z")
> [@Zeldar](#): > > If you’d gone with the top 30 I could have played along. This. I live just twenty minutes from the Nashville airport ::waves to all of the NashVegas Dopers:: so I guess I’m in the sticks too.:dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Onimous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ea5d25/32.png) [@Ann\_Onimous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Onimous)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2010, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-in-the-us-do-dopers-live/530722/37 "2010-02-28T21:01:54Z")
> [@NinetyWt](#): > > I voted Memphis, but I’m over 3 hours south of there. Ditto. ---
**Author:** ![otternell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecc23a/32.png) [@otternell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/otternell)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2010, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-in-the-us-do-dopers-live/530722/38 "2010-02-28T21:13:29Z")
I live in Des Moines, so I voted “sticks”. If I had my way, I would live even further out in the sticks on a farm in the middle of nowhere. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2010, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-in-the-us-do-dopers-live/530722/39 "2010-02-28T21:40:32Z")
> [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](#): > > Megalopolis’s not represented so far: > > Las Vegas > Cleveland > Minneapolis/St. Paul > Pittsburgh > Sacramento > Cincinnati > DC > I a limit of twenty would be reasonable and that the twenty most populous would be a simple way to go. Looks like reality isn’t that straight forward. You can also add Atlanta to that list. Sure, the city limits only have about 500,000, but the Metropolitan Statisical Area extends almost all the way to the Alabama border, and is over five million people. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2010, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-in-the-us-do-dopers-live/530722/40 "2010-02-28T21:45:11Z")
Out in the sticks, more or less. Moscow, Idaho, population 30k when University of Idaho is in session; we’re eight miles from Pullman, Washington, population a little larger (when Washington State University is in session) than Moscow. Nearest real city is Spokane, 80 miles due North. . [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-in-the-us-do-dopers-live/530722.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-in-the-us-do-dopers-live/530722.md?page=3)