Classifying Your State's Counties

[Sirius_]

Here's my map for SC. SC is kind of hard, so I'm going to explain some things (even though probably only SC posters will dispute this). For starters, "urban" in the context of SC is very different from larger states like NY, CA, or IL. We don't have any fully urban counties here. So, for SC I included the counties which include what I consider to be the main standalone urban centers of the state as "urban". In this case being Greenville, Richland (Columbia), Charleston, and Horry (Myrtle Beach). There were a decent number of counties which I found difficult to classify. The first and most obvious here being Aiken county, which manages to be all and none. It has a decently sized central city (Aiken), but its hard to tell if its exurban or standalone. It is theoretically not that far for commuters to Augusta, but it seems to be relatively independent. Aiken county also includes immediate suburbs to Augusta, and plenty of rural space too. I have no idea what to call it. I differentiated exurban from suburban counties as those which are centered around clearly defined cities, but are economically linked to a larger nearby city. In this category we have Anderson and Spartanburg as satellites to Greenville and Rock Hill (in York County) as a satellite to Charlotte. Some might argue Lexington is exurban but it isn't really a defined city imo. There are some others which were on the fence, such as Pickens and Dorchester which could be considered mostly rural by area but most of their populations are in suburban communities, so I classified them suburban. Darlington county is also iffy and could be rural but it two somewhat notable towns, one of which many people have heard of. Overall SC is very blurry.

[PragmaticPopulist]

Urban - Baltimore City, Montgomery, Prince George's
Suburban - Anne Arundel, Baltimore County, Howard
Exurban - Charles, Calvert, Cecil, Frederick, Harford, St. Mary's
Small City/Town - Dorchester, Talbot, Washington, Wicomico
Rural - Allegany, Caroline, Carroll, Garrett, Kent, Queen Anne's, Somerset, Worcester

[Del Tachi]

Urban - Baltimore City, Montgomery, Prince George's

How are these anything other than D.C. suburbs?

Simple density a city does not make.

[100% pro-life no matter what]

1) Urban - Davidson, Knox, Hamilton, Shelby
2) Suburban - Rutherford, Williamson, Wilson, Sumner, Loudon
3) Exurban - Maury, Cheatham, Marshall, Cannon
4) Small City/Town - Putnam, Montgomery, Madison, Sullivan
5) Rural - everything else lmao

I mostly agree with this, but I would maybe add Sevier to some weird combination of #3 and #4, call Tipton and Robertson exurban, and add Washington to the Small City one.

Knox and Hamilton are probably fine as urban, but they're both really more of urban-suburban mixes.

[HillGoose]

1) Urban - Davidson, Knox, Hamilton, Shelby
2) Suburban - Rutherford, Williamson, Wilson, Sumner, Loudon
3) Exurban - Maury, Cheatham, Marshall, Cannon
4) Small City/Town - Putnam, Montgomery, Madison, Sullivan
5) Rural - everything else lmao

I mostly agree with this, but I would maybe add Sevier to some weird combination of #3 and #4, call Tipton and Robertson exurban, and add Washington to the Small City one.

Knox and Hamilton are probably fine as urban, but they're both really more of urban-suburban mixes.

Yeah, I totally forgot about Tipton and Robertson even existing but they're for sure exurban. Washington being small city also makes sense.

Sevier was one I wasn't sure at all so I just didn't classify.

And yeah Knox and Hamilton are def "Tennessee urban" because they're like, barely what you would consider cities but in Tennessee they seem like metropolises lmao

[100% pro-life no matter what]

1) Urban - Davidson, Knox, Hamilton, Shelby
2) Suburban - Rutherford, Williamson, Wilson, Sumner, Loudon
3) Exurban - Maury, Cheatham, Marshall, Cannon
4) Small City/Town - Putnam, Montgomery, Madison, Sullivan
5) Rural - everything else lmao

I mostly agree with this, but I would maybe add Sevier to some weird combination of #3 and #4, call Tipton and Robertson exurban, and add Washington to the Small City one.

Knox and Hamilton are probably fine as urban, but they're both really more of urban-suburban mixes.

Yeah, I totally forgot about Tipton and Robertson even existing but they're for sure exurban. Washington being small city also makes sense.

Sevier was one I wasn't sure at all so I just didn't classify.

And yeah Knox and Hamilton are def "Tennessee urban" because they're like, barely what you would consider cities but in Tennessee they seem like metropolises lmao

Sevier is really none of the above.  If it weren't for the Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge area, rural would be a fine classification.  Resort town is probably the best descriptor, but that's not an option.

[PragmaticPopulist]

Urban - Baltimore City, Montgomery, Prince George's

How are these anything other than D.C. suburbs?

Simple density a city does not make.

For the sake of the argument, I'll assume you've never been to either one. If you've been there, you'd know that much of those counties have an urban feel to them. They're nearly comparable to DC itself.

[𝕭𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖎𝖘𝖙𝖆 𝕸𝖎𝖓𝖔𝖑𝖆]

Yeah, I totally forgot about Tipton and Robertson even existing but they're for sure exurban. Washington being small city also makes sense.

Sevier was one I wasn't sure at all so I just didn't classify.

And yeah Knox and Hamilton are def "Tennessee urban" because they're like, barely what you would consider cities but in Tennessee they seem like metropolises lmao

I will never not be shocked by the existence of people who call places of 180000 inhabitants which are the largest of the respective urban areas "barely cities"...

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

Here's my map for SC. SC is kind of hard, so I'm going to explain some things (even though probably only SC posters will dispute this). For starters, "urban" in the context of SC is very different from larger states like NY, CA, or IL. We don't have any fully urban counties here. So, for SC I included the counties which include what I consider to be the main standalone urban centers of the state as "urban". In this case being Greenville, Richland (Columbia), Charleston, and Horry (Myrtle Beach). There were a decent number of counties which I found difficult to classify. The first and most obvious here being Aiken county, which manages to be all and none. It has a decently sized central city (Aiken), but its hard to tell if its exurban or standalone. It is theoretically not that far for commuters to Augusta, but it seems to be relatively independent. Aiken county also includes immediate suburbs to Augusta, and plenty of rural space too. I have no idea what to call it. I differentiated exurban from suburban counties as those which are centered around clearly defined cities, but are economically linked to a larger nearby city. In this category we have Anderson and Spartanburg as satellites to Greenville and Rock Hill (in York County) as a satellite to Charlotte. Some might argue Lexington is exurban but it isn't really a defined city imo. There are some others which were on the fence, such as Pickens and Dorchester which could be considered mostly rural by area but most of their populations are in suburban communities, so I classified them suburban. Darlington county is also iffy and could be rural but it two somewhat notable towns, one of which many people have heard of. Overall SC is very blurry.

I'm gonna have to dispute Horry being Urban. It doesn't have an urban core, just a bunch of suburban-style tourism sprawl unattached to an urban core.

Also, given how you're defining Exurban, I'd say Aiken qualifies as one for Columbia County, GA. Edgefield is a mix of suburban and rural. Oconee is primarily a suburb/exurb for Clemson University these days.

[Starry Eyed Jagaloon]

Yeah, I totally forgot about Tipton and Robertson even existing but they're for sure exurban. Washington being small city also makes sense.

Sevier was one I wasn't sure at all so I just didn't classify.

And yeah Knox and Hamilton are def "Tennessee urban" because they're like, barely what you would consider cities but in Tennessee they seem like metropolises lmao

I will never not be shocked by the existence of people who call places of 180000 inhabitants which are the largest of the respective urban areas "barely cities"...

How? At the very least it's clearly a different typology from truly large cities with at least a million people.

[Sirius_]

Yeah, I totally forgot about Tipton and Robertson even existing but they're for sure exurban. Washington being small city also makes sense.

Sevier was one I wasn't sure at all so I just didn't classify.

And yeah Knox and Hamilton are def "Tennessee urban" because they're like, barely what you would consider cities but in Tennessee they seem like metropolises lmao

I will never not be shocked by the existence of people who call places of 180000 inhabitants which are the largest of the respective urban areas "barely cities"...

How? At the very least it's clearly a different typology from truly large cities with at least a million people.

Large city is a relative term. 180000 is a large city to an area with nothing larger.

[Del Tachi]

Urban - Baltimore City, Montgomery, Prince George's

How are these anything other than D.C. suburbs?

Simple density a city does not make.

For the sake of the argument, I'll assume you've never been to either one. If you've been there, you'd know that much of those counties have an urban feel to them. They're nearly comparable to DC itself.

I actually lived in DC for 4 years.

PG and MontCo aren't "urban" because DC is the obvious anchor of the whole DMV region.  The whole metro area is centered around Downtown DC - it's the transit hub, has the highest daytime density, and the densest, most high-value amenities.  Von Thünen's rings and what not. 

While relatively small geographic areas like Downtown Silver Spring or Bethesda may offer comparable density, you're ignoring the historical development of these places as commuter towns unipolarly oriented toward DC.  You're also ignoring that most of Montgomery/PG is more like Olney or Bowie than DC.

[The world will shine with light in our nightmare]

True Urban: (Actually feels like a city)
Denver

Mixed Urban/Suburban:
El Paso, Arapahoe, Boulder

Suburban: Adams, Jefferson, Brookfield (why does this county exist anyways?)

Exurban: Elbert, Douglas, Teller

Regional Town: Larimer, Pueblo, Mesa, Alamosa, Weld

Everything else is rural, but I’m convinced some of the Eastern counties in Colorado don’t actually exist.

How would you characterize La Plata County (containing Durango)?

[DINGO Joe]

What about Adams?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adams_County,_Illinois

Quincy is the capital of Forgottonia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forgottonia

[𝕭𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖎𝖘𝖙𝖆 𝕸𝖎𝖓𝖔𝖑𝖆]

Yeah, I totally forgot about Tipton and Robertson even existing but they're for sure exurban. Washington being small city also makes sense.

Sevier was one I wasn't sure at all so I just didn't classify.

And yeah Knox and Hamilton are def "Tennessee urban" because they're like, barely what you would consider cities but in Tennessee they seem like metropolises lmao

I will never not be shocked by the existence of people who call places of 180000 inhabitants which are the largest of the respective urban areas "barely cities"...

How? At the very least it's clearly a different typology from truly large cities with at least a million people.

They may not be large cities, but they are certainly small cities. So, still cities.

[PragmaticPopulist]

Urban - Baltimore City, Montgomery, Prince George's

How are these anything other than D.C. suburbs?

Simple density a city does not make.

For the sake of the argument, I'll assume you've never been to either one. If you've been there, you'd know that much of those counties have an urban feel to them. They're nearly comparable to DC itself.

I actually lived in DC for 4 years.

PG and MontCo aren't "urban" because DC is the obvious anchor of the whole DMV region.  The whole metro area is centered around Downtown DC - it's the transit hub, has the highest daytime density, and the densest, most high-value amenities.  Von Thünen's rings and what not. 

While relatively small geographic areas like Downtown Silver Spring or Bethesda may offer comparable density, you're ignoring the historical development of these places as commuter towns unipolarly oriented toward DC.  You're also ignoring that most of Montgomery/PG is more like Olney or Bowie than DC.

Then I guess it depends on if you say the county is more urban/rural in terms of population or land. I'm not gonna argue if over what is a better way to define them, as there are good cases to be made either way. But my view is that since most of the population of the counties live in the more urbanized parts like Rockville, Laurel and Silver Spring, the population of these counties at least are largely urbanized.

[Brother Jonathan]

I find that our counties in New England really aren't that easily classified, so I decided to try classifying all the towns in Hillsborough County, rather than trying to classify all of New Hampshire's counties.

Urban: Manchester, Nashua
Suburban: Pelham, Hudson, Bedford
Exurban: Goffstown, New Boston, Litchfield, Merrimack, Hollis
Small City/Town: Amherst, Milford, Peterborough
Rural: Windsor, Hillsborough, Antrim, Deering, Weare, Francestown, Bennington, Greenfield, Hancock, Sharon, Temple, Wilton, Lyndeborough, Mount Vernon, Brookline, Mason, Grenville, New Ipswich

I also tried to do Chittenden County, Vermont, but this is a much more back of the napkin stab at it

Urban: Burlington, Winooski
Suburban: Essex, South Burlington, Colchester
Exurban: Williston
Small City/Town: Shelburne
Rural: Milton, Westford, Underhill, Jericho, Bolton, Richmond, Huntington, St. George, Hinesburg, Charlotte, Buels Gore 

[Figueira]

I find that our counties in New England really aren't that easily classified, so I decided to try classifying all the towns in Hillsborough County, rather than trying to classify all of New Hampshire's counties.

Urban: Manchester, Nashua
Suburban: Pelham, Hudson, Bedford
Exurban: Goffstown, New Boston, Litchfield, Merrimack, Hollis
Small City/Town: Amherst, Milford, Peterborough
Rural: Windsor, Hillsborough, Antrim, Deering, Weare, Francestown, Bennington, Greenfield, Hancock, Sharon, Temple, Wilton, Lyndeborough, Mount Vernon, Brookline, Mason, Grenville, New Ipswich

I also tried to do Chittenden County, Vermont, but this is a much more back of the napkin stab at it

Urban: Burlington, Winooski
Suburban: Essex, South Burlington, Colchester
Exurban: Williston
Small City/Town: Shelburne
Rural: Milton, Westford, Underhill, Jericho, Bolton, Richmond, Huntington, St. George, Hinesburg, Charlotte, Buels Gore 

I like this. Let me try Franklin County, Massachusetts.

Small town: Greenfield, Montague, Orange
Even smaller town/"exurban": Bernardston, Buckland, Deerfield, Erving, Northfield, Shelburne, Sunderland
Rural: Ashfield, Charlemont, Colrain, Conway, Gill, Hawley, Heath, Leverett, Leyden, Monroe, New Salem, Rowe, Shutesbury, Warwick, Wendell, Whately

I was initially going to have a separate category for REALLY rural towns that don't even have a town center to speak of, but it's pretty hard to make an accurate distinction there. Also all of these towns contain a lot of rural areas; I put them in the most "urban" category they could plausibly fit into. Erving would have been in the "Rural" category if it wasn't for the bit of Millers Falls spilling over into it.

[morgieb]

What is considered urban and suburban in Australia is a bit vague and kind of interlocked in a way it isn't in the States, plus so influenced by primate cities (on a state by state basis) that it's tricky to call.

Nevertheless, despite there being so many LGA's because of NSW's sheer size:

Urban/Inner Suburban: Bayside, Burwood, Canada Bay, Canterbury-Bankstown, Georges River, Hunters Hill, Inner West, Lane Cove, Mosman, North Shore, Parramatta, Randwick, Ryde, Strathfield, Sydney, Waverley, Willoughby, Woollhara, Newcastle, Wollongong
Outer Suburban: Blacktown, Campbelltown, Cumberland, Fairfield, Hornsby, Ku-ring-gai, Liverpool, Northern Beaches, Penrith, Sutherland, The Hills, Lake Macquarie, Shellharbour
Exurban: Blue Mountains, Camden, Central Coast, Hawkesbury, Wollondilly, Port Stephens, Cessnock, Maitland, Kiama, Tweed, Queanbeyan–Palerang
Small City: Clarence Valley, Coffs Harbour, Kempsey, Port Macquarie-Hastings, Albury, Griffith, Leeton, Wagga Wagga, Muswellbrook, Singleton, Ballina, Lismore, Goulburn Mulwaree, Armidale, Tamworth, Inverell, Bathurst, Lithgow, Orange, Dubbo, Broken Hill, Cowra, Parkes, Mid-Western Regional
Rural: Bellingen, Nambucca Valley, Balranald, Berrigan, Edward River, Federation, Greater Hume, Murray River, Wentworth, Bland, Carrathool, Coolamon, Cootamundra-Gundagai, Hay, Junee, Lockhart, Murrumbidgee, Narrandera, Snowy Valleys, Temora, Dungog, Mid-Coast, Upper Hunter, Wingecarribee, Shoalhaven, Byron, Kyogle, Richmond Valley, Upper Lachlan, Bega Valley, Eurobodalla, Hilltops, Snowy Monaro, Yass Valley, Glen Innes, Gunnedah, Gwydir, Liverpool Plains, Moree Plains, Narrabi, Tenterfield, Uralla, Walcha, Blayney, Cabonne, Forbes, Lachlan, Oberon, Weddin, Bogan, Bourke, Brewarrina, Cobar, Coonamble, Gilgandria, Narromine, Walgett, Warren, Warrumbungle, Central Darling, Unincorporated Far West

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Urban: Cass, Burleigh, Grand Forks
Suburban: none
Exurban: none
Small City/Town: Ward, Stutsman, Stark, Williams, Barnes, Richland
Not properly classifiable: Morton
Rural: Everything else

And for Minnesota:

Urban: Hennepin, Ramsey, Stearns, St. Louis, Olmsted, Clay
Suburban: Dakota, Anoka, Washington, Carlton, Benton
Exurban: Wright, Sherburne, Scott, Carver, Chisago, Isanti
Small City/Town: Blue Earth, Nicollet, Rice, Winona, Goodhue, Freeborn, Mower, Brown, Stevens, Beltrami, Crow Wing, Otter Tail
Not properly classifiable: Benton, Polk, Houston
Rural: The rest

Some of these are a bit misleading. Stearns County is mostly rural in character but St. Cloud is too big to he anything else but urban. Clay is mostly a rural county but is based around the Minnesota side of the Fargo metro (And it's not suburban. Fargo/Moorhead have the same downtown, split by the river.)

Benton doesn't really fit any, it includes a more urban part of St. Cloud but the county's population is more in the rural areas which are de facto commuter towns...you could argue it's more exurban in nature but that's even more misleading.

Polk County is part of the Grand Forks metro but population wise is based around rural areas and Crookston which is maybe close to category 4. And East Grand Forks isn't that big so hard to call it suburban.

Houston County is part of the La Crosse metro but is still almost entirely rural in character based on geography and La Crescent isn't very big or dominant of the county. It's also not very suburban in feel despite its proximity to La Crosse.

Morton County, ND also doesn't really fit any of the categories, it's basically a rural county that just happens to have Mandan in it, and Mandan is more of a category 4 that just happens to be across the river from Bismarck than urban/suburban. But Mandan and its outskirts have top much sprawl now to be categorized as anything else.

[Cokeland Saxton]

Urban: Marion
Mixed Urban/Suburban: Lake
Suburban: Hamilton, Hendricks, Boone, Hancock, Johnson, Clark, Floyd
Exurban: Shelby, Warrick, Morgan, Putnam, Dearborn
Medium City: Allen, Vanderburgh, St. Joseph
Small City: Monroe, LaPorte, Vigo, Bartholomew, Elkhart, Delaware, Tippecanoe, Howard
Small/Regional Town/City: Knox, Henry, Clinton, Jackson, Huntington, Marshall, Jefferson, Daviess, Dubois, Fayette, Grant, Wayne, Wabash, Cass, Miami, Adams, Wells, DeKalb, Noble, Steuben, Whitley, Montgomery, Kosciusko, Decatur
Rural: Newton, Pulaski, Starke, Benton, Warren, Fountain, Vermillion, Parke, Owen, Pike, Martin, Crawford, Spencer, Ohio, Switzerland, Franklin, Union, Brown, Sullivan, Lagrange, Fulton, Rush, Ripley, Washington, Jennings, Jasper, Randolph, Jay, Blackford, Tipton, Perry, Clay, Gibson, Posey, Clay, Greene, Orange, White, Carroll, Scott
Idk: Madison, Porter

For the two counties I couldn't classify:
Madison: Has some suburban-ish areas in the southwest corner and is rather close to Indianapolis, but also contains a decently-sized city (Anderson)

Porter: Portage is more suburban, but Valparaiso is more of a "small city", and Chesterton even more so