[thejteam]

So I technically live in a "metropolitan area" with a 100k+ population. Somebody got really creative with boundary lines, supposedly to help with procuring federal dollars. I step outside in the morning to the sound of cows moo-ing. A few years ago our street had more chicken than people (until a fox figured out our street had more chickens than people). Occasionally I stop to let wild turkeys cross the road.

So even "big" areas can be quite rural.

[rayiner]

I’m in the Baltimore Annapolis metro area. That’s a fair characterization of where I live—five minutes east and I’m at a Target and Whole Foods. But five minutes west and I’m at horse farms. If you keep going toward Baltimore from where I am you go about 15 miles through farms before you hit a CDP or any meaningful size. And Maryland is one of the densest states in the country!

[refurb]

This.

Depending on local rules there can be an incentive for a smaller town to join a larger city or stay separate.

My understanding LA is massive because the city had water rights and if small towns wanted access, they had to join.

Then you can go to other cities that are small by population (SF is 1M) but it’s surrounded by smaller cities towns that combined dwarf it in population.

Then you’ve got “small towns” in CT that are practically touch each other into one massive suburban area but are defined as small cities/towns with tens of thousands in population.