How do citys get bigger?

[harvesterofsorrows]

Like L.A. is the 2nd biggest city

Does it depend on the population or the borders

and if its the borders what do you ahve to do to make the border perimiters bigger?

[spyguy]

You're the reincarnation of?

[i_am_hydrogen]

Originally Posted by harvesterofsorrows

and if its the borders what do you ahve to do to make the border perimiters bigger?

Annexation.

[Azn_chi_boi]

Or landfill in the lake.

[harvesterofsorrows]

Que?

[Effer]

I remember reading somewhere that LA became America's 2nd largest city by annexing a huge suberb.

[Bond James Bond]

Babies.

[Bond James Bond]

Originally Posted by effer

I remember reading somewhere that LA became America's 2nd largest city by annexing a huge suberb.

No, I remember when this happened (in the 80's or maybe the early 90's). There were no notable LA annexations for quite a long while, it just had grown bigger in population and Chicago's had declined somewhat, too.

[edsg25]

Originally Posted by Bond James Bond

No, I remember when this happened (in the 80's or maybe the early 90's). There were no notable LA annexations for quite a long while, it just had grown bigger in population and Chicago's had declined somewhat, too.

true. but the land that was acquired in those annexations left a lot of ares for LA to develop. Think of when the city got hold of the San Fernando Valley...it was all orange groves at the time.

[edsg25]

Originally Posted by harvesterofsorrows

Like L.A. is the 2nd biggest city

Does it depend on the population or the borders

and if its the borders what do you ahve to do to make the border perimiters bigger?

interesting question. I'd answer it this way. If a city becomes truely important, it will grow...whether that growth is within city limits or not. Metropolitan population gives you a much more accurate picture of the importance of city than the city's own popoulation.

Thus you get cities like Boston and San Francisco, very important places, that, due to geography and history, were unable to expand to their surrounding areas. So you get the classic example of small (but exceedingly powerful) city in a large metropolitan area.

Chicago's growth ran into the path of newly established suburbs and these offered less resistance than older suburbs would to annexation. That's how areas like Hyde Park and Jefferson Twp. (Jeff Pk, Norwood Pk, etc.) became part of the city. Chicago is therefore an excellent example of large city/large metro area.

Generally speaking, western cities afford the opportunity to incorporate vast areas around their city limits that never would have occurred in earlier times. Houston's power (although real) may be overrated. Houston, to me, is a perfect example of a huge city that leaves little outside the city limits. Yet its metro population is less than the D/FW metroplex upstate.

LA used water rights to forge the huge city it has become. Even if those annexations didn't take place, LA would, no doubt, be the same powerhouse it is today. Metro LA is just too big to ignore.