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[Andrew Korenchkin]

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2017/05/25/phoenix-now-5th-largest-city-in-us-census-says.html

Thought this was interesting as an article. I've always kept an eye on the top cities in terms of population, and why exactly they grow or shrink in population. Given how far it is from Houston in terms of population, though, I imagine it will be 5th for a bit, unless Philly retakes that spot.

Phoenix has officially edged out Philadelphia to become the fifth biggest city in the U.S.

The total population of the city is 1,615,017, according to estimates released by the U.S. Census Bureau on Thursday. The new population count allowed the city to surpass Philadelphia, its closest population rival, for the first time since dropping behind in 2010.

Phoenix is also the quickest-growing city in the country, according to the Census Bureau. The city added an average of 88 people per day between July 2015 and July 2016.

"It's a positive thing, people are voting with their feet and coming to Phoenix," Mayor Greg Stanton told AZ Central.

But Phoenix isn’t the only expanding area in the state. Maricopa County has the highest annual population increase among counties in the U.S., according to recent census statistics.

Overall, New York has the highest population among all cities in the U.S. with 8,537,673. Los Angeles is second (3,976,322), Chicago is third (2,704,958) and Houston is fourth (2,303,482).

Phoenix beat Philly (1,567,872) by less than 100,000 people.

 

[hodayathink]

Read in the local papers today that Chicago shrank, so Houston might actually catch up to it if things don't turn around here.

 

[Andrew Korenchkin]

Read in the local papers today that Chicago shrank, so Houston might actually catch up to it if things don't turn around here.

Why did Chicago shrink?

 

[Santiako]

Why did Chicago shrink?

Too many murders.

 

[hateradio]

But it's so hot there. WTF are people thinking.

I would never.

 

[WhereAreMahDragonz]

But it's so hot there. WTF are people thinking.

I would never.

We Arizonians enjoy the pain

 

[NoblesseOblige]

Why did Chicago shrink?

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/ct-chicago-census-met-20170524-story.html

By most estimates, Chicago's population will continue to decline. Over the past year, the Tribune surveyed dozens of former residents who said they have packed their bags for a variety of reasons: high taxes, the state budget stalemate, crime, the unemployment rate and weather.

 

[Flying Toaster]

But it's so hot there. WTF are people thinking.

I would never.

It is a dry heat.

Beach is literally 5 hours away. Go north there is higher elevation. Hiking is everywhere. Lots of jobs in IT, aerospace, engineering. Cheaper than CA and no snow.

It is glorious.

 

[Intheflorsh]

Phoenix seemed really tiny last time I visited, downtown was basically one street.

 

[abd]

Robert Sarver will still complain that we are a small market and he can't spend on the team.

Phoenix seemed really tiny last time I visited, downtown was basically one street.

Are you sure you weren't in Scottsdale or Mesa?

 

[Andrew Korenchkin]

But it's so hot there. WTF are people thinking.

I would never.

You get used to it. Trust me.

 

[hateradio]

It is a dry heat.

Beach is literally 5 hours away. Go north there is higher elevation. Hiking is everywhere. Lots of jobs in IT, aerospace, engineering. Cheaper than CA and no snow.

It is glorious.

Nope. Nope. Nope. Got one. Meh. CA keeps winning. (Snow is okay sometimes.)

You get used to it. Trust me.

I live in CA (from LA to the Bay). Anything above 80s is murder to me, so no. I'm very sensitive to heat.

 

[Andrew Korenchkin]

Also, Scottsdale is winning!

That is all.

 

[Chris R]

Phoenix is a dry heat. I could live there, couldn't live anywhere with 75% humidity that hits 80+

 

[jb1234]

You get used to it. Trust me.

I would imagine that every location has the AC cranked up (a luxury we in Seattle don't have when the occasional hot day strikes).

 

[Familienoberhauptvogel]

Fewer than expected for New York

 

[Flying Toaster]

Also, Scottsdale is winning!

That is all.

I guess growing up in PV has ruined Scottsdale for me. Bunch of idiotic gold diggers and college kids spending entirely too much on drinks in a small area.

I avoid it like the plague.

 

[Piggus]

Super ugly city imo. I'm not sure if Phoenix, or at least Glendale, has heard of the concept of "private business." It's nothing but strip mall after strip mall full of huge chain stores/restaurants.

Scottsdale is cool.

 

[morningbus]

It is a dry heat.

Beach is literally 5 hours away. Go north there is higher elevation. Hiking is everywhere. Lots of jobs in IT, aerospace, engineering. Cheaper than CA and no snow.

It is glorious.

Wait. Are you saying 5 hours to the beach as a positive or negative?

 

[CountAntonius]

Phoenix is a dry heat. I could live there, couldn't live anywhere with 75% humidity that hits 80+

This. I'm a socal native and 100+ in AZ felt better than 80 in socal.

 

[infi]

Never been to Phoenix but every time I see it mentioned I think of this image.

 

[WhiteRabbitEXE]

You get used to it. Trust me.

I've been here 20 years. There is no getting used to 115+.

 

[Sloane]

Wait. Are you saying 5 hours to the beach as a positive or negative?

Haha, been wondering the same thing. It sounds like it's meant to be a positive?!

 

[Ziltoidia 9]

Their response will be to just reduce the amount of polling locations even more.

 

[morningbus]

Haha, been wondering the same thing. It sounds like it's meant to be a positive?!

A 5 hour drive to the beach would land me at a beach 4 states away from the beach 15 minutes away from me.

 

[TheSecondSpitter]

Give them a second NHL team!

 

[Andrew Korenchkin]

Give them a second NHL team!

Amazing how the Coyotes manage to fuck things up all the time, though I blame Glendale. I've been to Westgate plenty of times, couldn't be more underwhelming.

 

[rjc571]

MSA population is much more meaningful than population within city limits. Philly is the 7th biggest city in the US by MSA and Phoenix is only 12th.

 

[Sectorseven]

That's a lot of water that has to be transported.

 

[Affeinvasion]

Not surprising. I've been going to spring training there for years and my dad and I would always stay at the ak-chin casino south of Phoenix. It used to be really in the middle of nowhere. Now there's houses and traffic everywhere.

 

[StoneFox]

And I'm trying to leave it. The sun is a deadly laser indeed.

 

[grandjedi6]

Why did Chicago shrink?

It doesn't really have anywhere to grow since it's surrounded by ancient suburbs and a giant lake.

 

[Fat4all]

I visited Phoenix last summer while my parents were living there temporarily and it was fucking BALLS hot. I practically lived in my hotel room while I was there.

 

[AbortedWalrusFetus]

Phoenix is like four times the area of Philly. Philly suburbs have higher population density than downtown Phoenix. Phoenix is more of a conglomeration of suburbs than an actual city.

Not hard to pass other places when you annex more territory to get larger.

 

[Coriolanus]

What the hell, the average daily temperature during jun-aug is legit in the 40ºc? Fucking hell.

sure hope electricity is cheap af up there.

 

[slit]

Eh, it's the metro area that really counts. A city's boundary varies wildly in sq. miles. Atlanta for example is a major metro but the city itself isn't that large from a population standpoint. On the other side, Jacksonville's population is way inflated just because of how large it is in land area.

 

[Beach]

I'm actually here on a road trip with my brothers. It's a pretty nice city so far though being it's 100 degrees it kinda sucks. Downtown seems to be just one street though and the only people I see outside are really just Comic-Con folk

 

[HStallion]

You brave souls. I don't know how anyone lives there.

 

[nabe_shogun]

What the hell, the average daily temperature during jun-aug is legit in the 40ºc? Fucking hell.

sure hope electricity is cheap af up there.

It doesn't even really cool down at night during the hottest parts of the summer. It can be like 2AM and still be like 95°F(35C) outside.

I'm actually here on a road trip with my brothers. It's a pretty nice city so far though being it's 100 degrees it kinda sucks. Downtown seems to be just one street though and the only people I see outside are really just Comic-Con folk

Yeah, most people don't go to downtown Phoenix for things to do. You go to Scottsdale or Tempe or something.

 

[NobleXenon]

The West Coast in general seems like it's exploding in opportunity. Fuck, a once trashy town like Reno is now Lithium Valley.

 

[Beach]

Yeah, most people don't go to downtown Phoenix for things to do. You go to Scottsdale or Tempe or something.

Yea have realized that hah, headed to Tempe atm thanks

 

[BronsonLee]

Good we have a No Loser Rule in Philly so that makes sense

 

[Friend of Sonic]

It is a dry heat.

Beach is literally 5 hours away. Go north there is higher elevation. Hiking is everywhere. Lots of jobs in IT, aerospace, engineering. Cheaper than CA and no snow.

It is glorious.

Yeah, this. Summer is a small price to pay for GOAT winter. Also if you want snow, drive two hours north to Flagstaff

 

[Soapbox Killer]

Never been to Phoenix but every time I see it mentioned I think of this image.

That is hilarious.

Growing up in Philly back when it was the 4th biggest city, we were already told that Houston and Phoenix would past us in population since Philly is a relatively small area (that's why people joke about Philly being a small town of 2Million people) Hell, Brooklyn is bigger than Philly too. Metro Philadelphia is another story altogether. Population of about 6million and growing solid last time I checked.

 

[Vilix]

Super ugly city imo. I'm not sure if Phoenix, or at least Glendale, has heard of the concept of "private business." It's nothing but strip mall after strip mall full of huge chain stores/restaurants.

Scottsdale is cool.

Sister lives in Scottsdale. Says it's way too hot. She wants to come back to Austin. But isn't Austin just as hot? Maybe the heat wave doesn't last as long.

 

[HStallion]

Good we have a No Loser Rule in Philly so that makes sense

Someone should tell that to the Philadelphia sports teams.

 

[Kayhan]

What is in Phoenix? What is in Arizona?

 

[Josh7289]

I mean, sure, but Phoenix is way more spread out than Philadelphia. If you're creating rankings I think population density should be factored in there somewhere as well. The feel and transportation and general logistics of a sprawling metropolis are quite different from a densely populated one. It's kind of apples and oranges.

 

[HStallion]

What is Phoenix? What is in Arizona?

Hell on Earth made manifest.

 

[slit]

What is Phoenix? What is in Arizona?

A desert where a bunch of old people gather. You know, the ones who complain it's cold when it's 75 out?