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Originally Posted by edale
Salt Lake City's MSA is about what...1.2 million? That feels about right for SLC. Having been there many times, I can definitely say it does not feel like a 2.6 million person metro. It's certainly doesn't feel anywhere near as large or substantial as a place like Pittsburgh or St. Louis. If you include basically all of northern Utah you get up to 2.6 million, but that seems like quite a stretch to claim that all as SLC. I mean, hell, the entire state of Utah is only 3.2 million!
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Yes, I have spent a good part of my life in Salt Lake City, even more so than Southern Calif. Traveling from south to north it most definitely feels like an interconnected greater metro of around 2.7 million, especially these past five years. And yes, other than the St. George area the Wasatch Front is where almost the entire population of Utah resides. The rest is rural, smaller towns and either federal lands, State and National Parks, National Forests, or National Recreational Areas and Monuments. It sounds to me like you have been the occasional tourist traveling from the airport to the metro ski resorts on the metro's eastern fringe. Your comment that the entire State is only 3.2 million people so SLC can't be that big gives you away. If current growth rates continue the greater Salt Lake Wasatch Front Metro will be 3-plus million people by the end of this decade, and then it is on to 4 and 5 million. The only other greater metro area in Utah that will be of considerable size 20 years from now would be St. George. That area owes its hyper-growth to nearby Las Vegas, its milder climate, and spectacular outdoor lifestyle and scenery.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Atlas
I just think MSA is more accurate in general than CSA. I think you can make a case that Ogden and Provo are part of SLC in some ways, and they are contiguous at this point, but they do feel like their own distinct cities to me.
SLC feels more like a city of 1.3 million. For a city that size, it has a pretty good skyline already and really good public transit (for a US city). It's definitely smaller than Denver and definitely bigger than Boise.
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I agree with you on most matters regarding development Atlas but I think you're way overthinking it on this. Would you tell the very proud forum members in Boise that they can't include Meridian or members in Las Vegas can't include Henderson in their metro population because those areas wouldn't feel what you consider to be the same vibe as the more liberal downtown Boise. Henderson is in another Universe from the vibe of the Strip and should be left out of the greater Las Vegas metro? Please, if that were the case I would have to dismiss a majority of metro Los Angeles. Do you have any idea how many distinct districts there are in L.A.? Many are within a mile of each other and carry a much more distinct vibe than anything in the greater Salt Lake Wasatch Front. By what you seem to be describing as your definition of distinct vibes determining a greater metros size, the Wasatch Front is far more homogenous than many MSA/CSA's, especially L.A.