That is pretty much part of the point I was making at the start of this thread.
BUT population itself [[per se) is not we are interested in. Let me explain.
Historically, cities and metro areas which are/were very large got a lot of the perks of that size.
Most obvious was professional sports teams and also cultural attractions. Is there the Grand Rapids Institutes of Arts? Does G.R. have MLB, NFL, NHL, NBA, etc. teams? Does it have a university as large as WSU?
Is it home to an industry or major employer? Have a very large downtown commercial hub?
I like to use Jacksonville as a point of comparison. It has vastly more land [[as was noted), much larger population, etc. etc. BUT how many of the perks that Detroit has? It has a mild climate and a bad football team, but isn't a great city by any stretch.
No offense to El Paso but I can't name one thing [[attraction) about the city other than hosting a university.
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