Is Cedar Rapids THIS Type of City?

The human existence, where individuals weave the threads of their lives, the places they call home serves as the backdrop to their stories. The diversity of human habitats mirrors the multitude of cultures, traditions, and aspirations that shape our world. Each dwelling, whether a penthouse apartment or a humble cottage, carries within its walls, the laughter, the whispers of dreams, and the struggles of its inhabitants.

There is a Game

When my wife and I moved back to Cedar Rapids, we had to find a place to lay our heads.  We were on our way back from Toddville, and after looking at a house there, we were driving on I-380, as downtown Cedar Rapids came into view, my wife said "The metropolis of Cedar Rapids, here we come".  That got me thinking.  Is Cedar Rapids a metropolis?  What does it take to become a metropolis and who decides if you get that connotation?  From what I'm reading, it's a numbers game.

Is Cedar Rapids a metropolis?

In short, yes.  A little bit longer, yes, and Cedar Rapids, Iowa, stands as the focal point of the Cedar Rapids Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), which encompasses Benton, Linn, and Jones Counties. With a population of 276,520 as of 2020, the MSA ranks as the 178th most populous metropolitan area in the United States. Within this framework, Cedar Rapids itself boasts a population of 137,710, securing its position as Iowa's second-largest city.

If you've got this number you could be a metropolis

A Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) is defined as an area comprising at least one urbanized area with a population of 50,000 or more inhabitants. Among the largest metropolitan areas in the United States are New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, and Washington, D.C., with New York standing as the largest of them all.

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Was Metropolis a metropolis?

If you know a superhero or two.  One of them might be Superman.  He and his alter ego, Clark Kent, lived in Metropolis.  Though it was a fictitious city, DC Comics claims it has a population of 11 million people.  That would meet the threshold for metropolis status.  Do you think Superman would live in a less-than-metropolitan city? I don't think so.