What's your ideal metro size?

[JA]

The criteria for these metro areas is the United States definition of an urban area, which is "a densely settled core of census tracts and/or census blocks that meet minimum population density requirements, along with adjacent territory containing non-residential urban land uses as well as territory with low population density included to link outlying densely settled territory with the densely settled core. To qualify as an urban area, the territory identified according to criteria must encompass at least 2,500 people, at least 1,500 of which reside outside institutional group quarters." Thus, it excludes rural areas that are often included in metropolitan area definitions, which are determined based on county alone; it's simply a more accurate reflection of the actual core city(s) and connected suburbs.

But, the question is which population size is your preference?

[JA]

I voted 50,000-199,999. I'd be 99% as happy in an area of 200,000-499,999 and 90% as happy in an area of 10,000-49,999, but anything over 500,000 tends to be too big for my tastes. Too much traffic, the city's too big to handle, and I just feel overwhelmed. Such cities often have very nice amenities, but they aren't worth it to me.

[Sirius_]

Really nothing smaller than Anchorage or Boise, with 500k+ being preferred. I don't want to live in rural areas with limited things.

[RINO Tom]

Was born in a metro just under 400,000.  Currently live in one around the 150,000 mark.  I really like both sizes.  Over the next few months, however, my girlfriend and I would like to make the move to Chicago, so I guess ~9.5 million is ideal.

[dead0man]

right around a million is nice, I voted 1-2 million.

[Ban my account ffs!]

Selected cities over 2 million for car culture living.  Over 5 million for true city living (no sprawl cities like Dallas, Houston, Atlanta)

[Mr. Smith]

Just a little south of a million sounds about right.

[The world will shine with light in our nightmare]

Rural area.  I can easily sacrifice the amenities for the decrease in noise pollution, fresher air, lower traffic, lower stress levels, lower crime, and of course, closeness to nature.

Ever since moving to a large city my life's kind of been in the dumps and as an aspie I've realized that urban living is really not for me.

[Dr. MB]

Anywhere under 600k.

[Alabama_Indy10]

I live in a town of less than 1500. I love it

[thumb21]

Under 10,000

[Del Tachi]

Birmingham, AL is a good size.

[pikachu]

Preferably 5M or higher, though a lot of the 2M ones seem fine. Preference is to be as close to the central city as possible, or at least near reliable public transportation to there. For a variety of reasons, I have no desire to ever live in a small town or a rural area.

[Torie]

I want the best of both worlds. I want to live in a small town, with very good connections to a big metro area, and ideally heavily populated with people from big metro areas.  I have found such a place. It's a one hour drive to the a medium sized metro area that provides many services and some amenities, and two to two and a half hours (by train or car) from a huge metro area with everything, NYC. Almost the entirety of the middle class is from somewhere else.

[Since I'm the mad scientist proclaimed by myself]

My first instinct is "like tucson" (which is in the gray area between 500,000 to 999,999 and 1,000,000 to 2,000,000), but I haven't known anything else, so...

[Starry Eyed Jagaloon]

Anywhere over fifteen million or so.

[Co-Chair Bagel23]

DFW.

[Lechasseur]

My favorite metro area is Lyon, which is at around 2 million, so I guess that.

In the US I don't know, but I very much liked the Detroit metro area.

[DC Al Fine]

I like Halifax (400k metro), but I do wish it was just a little bigger. Voted 500k-1M.

I want the best of both worlds. I want to live in a small town, with very good connections to a big metro area, and ideally heavily populated with people from big metro areas.  I have found such a place. It's a one hour drive to the a medium sized metro area that provides many services and some amenities, and two to two and a half hours (by train or car) from a huge metro area with everything, NYC. Almost the entirety of the middle class is from somewhere else.

That's an irritating part of my metro area. 99% of the time it has the services I want, but when you need a big city, the nearest one is a ten hour drive away and in a different country

[Lachi]

I like Melbourne, which is at 5 million.

I live in a city of around 55,000 but even though it's one of the bigger cities in this state, there nothing to do.

[YE]

50-100K. Not as congested or expensive but enough to have basic services nearby.