> What that chart does not take into consideration is the amount of people living in the suburbs of the cities. Since I live in the city of Sacramento, I'll use it as an example. The city ranks at number 37 on the chart, with 406,899 people. However, there are over a million people in the "greater Sacramento area."

I wondered about that too. I don't think Calgary has absorbed any suburb communities yet (well, maybe Chestermere, but I don't know if that was a separate community before) although Edmonton has absorbed a few, IIRC. Maybe Kaz! could help me out here? Anyway, that would help to explain why so few cities appear to be bigger than Calgary.

> Some people around here know that I grew up in a small town. It had a population of 3,000, with an additional 1,000 in the surrounding area. Ten miles to the south is the city of Mt. Shasta, with a population of something like 4,500 (maybe more). Then 15-20 miles to the north is the city of Yreka, with about 8,000 people (maybe a couple thousand more--I'm rusty on these numbers). We really did have the small town atmosphere and mentality, so packing up and moving to Sacramento was a bit of an adjustment.

Sounds a lot like my background, from age 12-18. Before that I was in a city of 36,000 for seven years; before that, Edmonton (probably in the 400,000 range at the time).

> I do still get homesick for the mountains and the quiet solitude and the trees, but I think I also adapted to city life fairly easily. Yes, I get annoyed if I get stuck in traffic for too long, but I think my love of, and my fascination with, people has made the change of pace much easier. I love to see and experience new things, although I'm actually quite resistant to personal change. There are just so many interesting people in a larger city.

Weird. I love it when somebody else describes themself and gives you insight into your own nature. In this case, I was especially interested in the "I love to see and experience new things, although I'm actually quite resistant to personal change" line. This describes me to a 'T', although I haven't been able to figure it out before. I couldn't reconcile these two things in any reasonable fashion. In particular, I can see these two sides of myself coming into conflict as I prepare for my upcoming move-- I want to move into a new home because I look forward to the new surroundings, getting to know the new neighbourhood, learning new bus routes (once the stupid strike ends), and finding good routes to places I like to go by car, but I DREAD moving because of the personal upheaval it will cause in my life. At least now I can see the dichotomy of my personality and understand the conflicts, which may help me to resolve them. I love psychobabble. :-)

> Let's see. Yes, rush hour tends to stop traffic on the major freeways twice a day. As for turning wrong corners, I'm still alive. I tend to get lost the first time I go somewhere, and I've wound up in some questionable areas once or twice. However, I've lived to tell about it, and I've never been shot at, or come close to being shot at, as far as I know. I've been in this area for almost four years, and I haven't gotten into a car accident, either (knock on wood?). Maybe that goes back to the fact that I love to look at things. I take in a lot of information around me, so that probably has an advantage.

As for the rush hour thing, all I can say is that I need to start getting up earlier so I can get to work on time more easily. Stupid rush hour.

> As for exhaust vs. freshly cut grass, does exhaust from a lawn mower in the process of cutting grass count? :-P

Ignoring Elly's witty comment (which Sam has already responded to anyway), I would like to ask if any US cities follow the same philosophy that Calgary has. Basically, we sprawl outwards, and as we do, the new housing developments tend to be very much like small towns. Though they are adjacent to existing parts of the city and large freeways, we build massive sound walls to eliminate the noise of traffic, and the neighbourhoods are very much like small town communities, where things tend to be quiet, you can get to know your neighbours, and in some places, you are about an hour's drive from downtown (which is like being an hour from a big city in many ways). I do feel that these communities are a wonderful solution to the problems Sam describes, and would like to move into one once I can afford to buy a home. I guess my question is, do US cities have these sorts of developments, and if so, what do people in Sam's position think of them as a compromise/solution?

> Ellmyruh

Don "Ellmyruh: Accidental Psychiatrist" Monkey