Opinion of New Brunswick, NJ

[Starbucks Union Thug HokeyPuck]

Incredible.  I went to Rutgers-Camden and became a legend.  But New Brunswick is amazing.

[Starbucks Union Thug HokeyPuck]

Come to think of it, it's the only American city I know of that has suburbs bigger than itself. Edison is way bigger for example.

I remember in high school finding out that it had a smaller population than Bismarck and my mind was utterly blown.

You consider EDISON to be a suburb of NEW BRUNSWICK?  That's the strangest NJ opinion I've ever heard.

[Starbucks Union Thug HokeyPuck]

Though this now has me thinking, which actual central cities– no, not New Brunswick, though it's a fine little town– are smaller than some of their suburbs?  And NJ might still be a home to that, if you consider Trenton to still be its own core (it has its own MSA, but is part of the NYC combined area): Hamilton, to its immediate east, is larger.  Similarly, Egg Harbor is larger than Atlantic City, but that is part of the Philly CSA.

The best example has to be in the Hampton Roads area: Norfolk is the central city there, but thoroughly suburban Virginia Beach is the largest.

Cherry Hill is very close to being bigger than Camden, for what it's worth.  Camden WAS certainly the central city of the area before the Ben Franklin Bridge was built.  I know that was the 1920s, but whatever.  It's a interesting statistic nonetheless.

[Starbucks Union Thug HokeyPuck]

New Jersey suburbs are not like Midwestern suburbs. They might as well be one giant urban area.

Also, people from way south of New Brunswick commute to Manhattan every day. Ocean County has its fair share of Manhattan commuters. An hour to an hour and a half commute is a regular thing for the most popular city in the country. It is absolutely a suburb. Of course New Jersey has some of its own places to work because it is on the urban side of suburban, but these people often find themselves having to go to New York very often to work too.

You are very much correct that Trenton is a suburb of Philly though. I would never consider that part of the NYC sphere of influence except for the fact that the governor is likely to pay attention to NYC more.

Trenton is not CLEARLY in the Philly sphere at all.