St. Louis is smaller than Wichita?! Why you shouldn't care.

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Everybody is all freaked out this morning because new census estimates came out and the city of St. Louis is now the 52nd largest city in the country.  St. Louis is smaller than Wichita, smaller than Colorado Springs, even smaller than Omaha.

Now, before we have a complete municipal freak out and send the Cardinals down to triple A, let me get up on my soap box and say this is the SINGLE MOST BOGUS POPULATION STATISTIC IN EXISTENCE!

The only people who care about the size of a city proper are the mayors of rinky-dink cities that are trying to convince the populous that they are relevant. 

They achieve big numbers by combining city and county governments, then telling the citizenry how big time they are.  Examples?  El Paso, Texas is bigger than Boston if you only count city size.  Where would you rather visit?  Where would you make the most money doing business?  Hmmm.

The statistic that counts is the size of the metro area, and St. Louis remains number 21, just like we have been for most of the last decade and beyond.  By that measure Wichita is number 69, by the way.

There are plenty of ways to measure a city's value.  I choose to do it by its people, its amenities, its cost of living, and its charm.  These are all things that our town is oozing with.  If you need pure numbers, measure the community.  The city is the heart of our community, but certainly not the whole of it.

Mayor Slay is saying he's going to file an appeal with the census bureau over these numbers.  Personally, I think he should just laugh at them. They're totally bogus, and anyone who thinks otherwise is welcome to pack their stuff and go live in Omaha.  Just watch out for the cows on your way to work.