Cities that could have been much larger

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Philadelphia could have been way bigger if it remained the US capital (Maybe the south allows it as a comprise for allowing slavery into parts of the Northwest territory like everything south of Wabash river) and made that city the main terminus of European immigration. We could easily see it grow past New York City (especially in the early years not sure later as New York might also still be preferred for immigration for many). But still were dealing with a population likely north of 4 million and a metro of ten million plus and New Jersey would likely turn into pretty much all Urban/Suburban development.
 
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Deleted member 109224

In the early 1900s Duluth had more millionaires than any other city.
In the 1910s US Steel narrowly chose Pittsburgh over Duluth for the location of its steel plants.
Duluth and nearby Carlton were primary railheads for the transcontinental railroads.
The nearby Mesabi Iron mines produced most of the worlds iron ore in the early 20th century.


A city that's at least Pittsburgh sized (due to steel) plus Chicago-style railroad centrality and a decent port on the lake. There'd probably development of local financial services and perhaps a commodity exchange as well.
 

Vuu

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Pretty much every single one in Eastern Europe, France, Spain, Scandinavia and Ireland.

The entirety of the Americas can also be much more populated, as well as Africa

We aren't even close to hitting maximum population - we'll reach it soon as birth rates in Europe jump up (and not from the immigrants btw).
 
While we're speaking about Western NY, Buffalo was once considered as a potential hub for the North American auto industry instead of Detroit.

I’ve often fantasized about Buffalo (via a vastly more successful Curtiss Wright) somehow becoming the aviation capital of the USA instead of Seattle.
 
Even though it's still the second largest city in the country Birmingham in the UK could have been substantially larger and more developed.

In the main it was central government interference which helped bugger things up: effectively forcing industry to move to other parts of the country after the Second World War, setting development plans calling for an 11% population reduction over fourteen years, banning the construction of new office buildings in the mid-1960s etc. Going against the old idea of success breeding success–nowadays recognised as theory of economic agglomeration–it caused the city to become more and more reliant on a single industry, so that when car production collapsed it led to major financial and social difficulties. More sensible policies would have been good both for the city and the country as a whole.
I see you’ve read that Economist article as well ;)
 
London- is constant British decline wasn’t so ingrained and persistent after WW2, If Labour hasn’t built the “New Towns” in the Home Counties shift majority of the inner London working class population out of the city. Don’t forget the dreaded green belt that was the death knell to the long mourned Northern Heights plan (I encourage you to look it up), I reckon you’d probably have a population of at least 10.5-11 million by now.
 
About any Indiana or Ohio rust belt city. There's a few that dodged the latter 20th Cent. urban miasma. Others could have done the same with bit more intelligent leadership. Variations in 19th Century railroad development could make a difference here too.
 
As noted elsewhere, with either a shorter / no steel strike in 1959, Baltimore would have remained a major heavy industrial city. It crested at ~950,000 in 1960; with industry still thriving, I don't doubt it would top the million mark in the 1970 census.
 
In the early 1900s Duluth had more millionaires than any other city.
In the 1910s US Steel narrowly chose Pittsburgh over Duluth for the location of its steel plants.
Duluth and nearby Carlton were primary railheads for the transcontinental railroads.
The nearby Mesabi Iron mines produced most of the worlds iron ore in the early 20th century.


A city that's at least Pittsburgh sized (due to steel) plus Chicago-style railroad centrality and a decent port on the lake. There'd probably development of local financial services and perhaps a commodity exchange as well.

Minnesota and Wisconsin would probably both have 7M+ people if this had happened.
 
Debrecen, Nagyvárad, Szeged and Szabadka could also have become gigantic within Austria-Hungary. Győr, Komárom and Kassa also.

But most importantly: Triest!!! It could have easily become the third/fourth largest city of the Empire right after Vienna and Budapest (and Prague)!
 
What are some examples of cities that have all the necessary resources, location etc. to be a major city, but, for whatever reason, never developed into one? They don't necessarily have to be small towns right now, just places that could have been much larger if history had gone differently. PODs for either before or after 1900 work.
If we can do pre-1900, Debre Berhan could definitely be a bigger city if Zara Yaqob successfully centralizes Ethiopia during his reign - avoid figures such as Baeda Mariam I who led to the relapse in the "moving capital" practice that would be continued until the establishment of Gondar in the 1600s/1700s.
 

kernals12

Banned
In the early 1900s Duluth had more millionaires than any other city.
In the 1910s US Steel narrowly chose Pittsburgh over Duluth for the location of its steel plants.
Duluth and nearby Carlton were primary railheads for the transcontinental railroads.
The nearby Mesabi Iron mines produced most of the worlds iron ore in the early 20th century.


A city that's at least Pittsburgh sized (due to steel) plus Chicago-style railroad centrality and a decent port on the lake. There'd probably development of local financial services and perhaps a commodity exchange as well.
But Duluth would've been the victim of the steel industry's bust. There are several reasons why it's more depressing for a city to go from 300,000 to 600,000 then decline to 300,000 than to stay at 300,000. There's all the abandoned homes and factories that serve as a reminder of better days, but there's also loss aversion.
 

Deleted member 109224

But Duluth would've been the victim of the steel industry's bust. There are several reasons why it's more depressing for a city to go from 300,000 to 600,000 then decline to 300,000 than to stay at 300,000. There's all the abandoned homes and factories that serve as a reminder of better days, but there's also loss aversion.

If it's a larger city, it may have a more diversified economy though.

Being a northern equivalent of Chicago (railroad hub connected to a significant lake port) will mean that any decline will be lessened. The Canadian Prairies today primarily export via railroads that take their goods to the port in Minneapolis, for example. That isn't going to go away.

I think Chicago is a better comparison. The city of Chicago has a pretty vibrant inner core, has a lot of blighted areas, but a growing metro area on the whole because of the economy doing well in the suburbs.


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kernals12

Banned
London- is constant British decline wasn’t so ingrained and persistent after WW2, If Labour hasn’t built the “New Towns” in the Home Counties shift majority of the inner London working class population out of the city. Don’t forget the dreaded green belt that was the death knell to the long mourned Northern Heights plan (I encourage you to look it up), I reckon you’d probably have a population of at least 10.5-11 million by now.
If Labour hadn't built new towns, then the private sector would inevitably have done it. People like the suburban life.
 

kernals12

Banned
As noted elsewhere, with either a shorter / no steel strike in 1959, Baltimore would have remained a major heavy industrial city. It crested at ~950,000 in 1960; with industry still thriving, I don't doubt it would top the million mark in the 1970 census.
I think race riots were a bit more important than any strikes.
 
Canberra. Without the great depression and an even stronger focus on a centralised commonwealth focused bureaucracy from the 1940s on-wards could see it much larger than it is today. It would then build on that larger bureaucratic core for a marge larger city as more commercial, industrial and services could locate there.
 
A more aggressive/ stronger US government ensures that the Oregon boundary dispute is settled more in its favor, and the border between the USA and Britain west of the continental divide is set at 51 degrees north (rather than 49). OTL Vancouver is American.

As a result, Prince Rupert (OTL population 12,000) and Bella Coola (OTL population 2,000), as the only Canadian ports on the Pacific, end up growing considerably. Prince Rupert has a railway and road built to it earlier than in OTL, and emerges as Canada's primary west coast port. By the present day, Prince Rupert's metropolitan area has around a million people.
 
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