A Little Fanfare for the Five-Figure City by Gary McCaleb

For several years my wife and I had wanted to make this trip: An unhurried driving tour of the Western United States, including visits to Mount Rushmore, Yellowstone Park, the Grand Tetons and the Great Salt Lake, passing through the varied landscapes of Kansas, Wyoming, South Dakota, Montana, Idaho, Utah, Nevada, California, Arizona and New Mexico.

Returning to our home in Texas we were struck with a new appreciation of the western expanse of our United States. But there was something more. We returned with a new meaning of “middle America.” Our stops along the way had not been in our nation’s largest cities (nor for that matter in our smallest towns). Our route had taken us to Dodge City (population 25,176), Kearney (27,431), North Platte (23,878), Cheyenne (53,011), Casper (49,644), Rapid City (59,607), Billings (89,847), Pocatello (51,466), Twin Falls (34,469), Ogden (77,226), Carson City (52,457), San Luis Obispo (44,174), Santa Barbara (92,325) and Flagstaff (52,894). In many ways these cities are very different. In one way, at least, they are alike. According to the 2000 census figures they are all five-figure cities.

So often, it seems when we hear or read about the health of America’s cities the focus is on the cities whose populations are of the six or seven figure variety – and they justly deserve our attention. But how about a little fanfare for the five-figure cities?

Since our journey I have done some calculations. More Americans live in five-figure cities than any of the other categories. Using the 2000 census there are nine seven-figure cities with a population total of 22,947,966. The 240 six-figure cities have a total population of 54,012,308. Five-figure cities number 3337 with a total of 90,331,268 in population. (In case you’re wondering, there are 10,756 four-figure cities with a population total of 36,989,762.)

Based on our experience, (admittedly a sampling), there is much more than population size that can be said to distinguish the five-figure cities. In fact, a characteristic they all share in common is the unique way they have retained their identities. Some are located at or near historical sites, such as Billings, where with a short drive we visited the large sandstone outcropping called Pompeys Pillar, and viewed the site where Captain William Clark carved his name and the date - July 25, 1806 - the only existing physical evidence of the Lewis and Clark Expedition.

Some honor a distinctive heritage such as Cheyenne’s Frontier Days. The brochure invites one to “Celebrate the Spirit of the West.”

Rapid City was our stopping place for visiting Mount Rushmore, where we ended the day with hundreds who stayed for a sound and light show, then closed the evening as we stood together shortly after the Fourth of July and sang The Star Spangled Banner into the dark skies above the Black Hills.

The festive spirit of the Thursday night Farmers Market in San Luis Obispo is not to be missed. The streets are closed to cars and literally filled with waves of wanderers up and down the avenues – shopping, eating, visiting – and enjoying planned entertainment at each intersection.

Main Street was alive and well – not only in San Luis Obispo. Again and again in our five-figure cities we rediscovered the pleasant experience of walking through a continuous assortment of inviting shops, historic hotels, clean streets and friendly people – and restaurants - good one-of-a-kind restaurants (in Santa Barbara and Rapid City), some that specialized in Greek (Flagstaff and Ogden) or Italian (Casper and Carson City).

Christian Norberg-Schulz wrote, “Man dwells where he can orient himself to and identify with an environment, or . . . when he experiences an environment as meaningful.” More than 90 million people have found such reasons to dwell in the five-figure cities of America. As we met local citizens in shops, restaurants or motels, I often asked if their city was a good place to live. The answers were typically quick and to the point, as was the case with Beth, who was working at a motel check-in desk. “Yes,” she replied, “because it’s a safe town and a close-knit community.”

On other occasions we have found similar impressions of places like Vicksburg (26,407), St. Charles (60,321), Santa Fe (62,203), Niagara Falls (55,593), Asheville (68,889) and Juneau (30,711). These and many more “mid-size cities” each in their own way suggest that there are pockets of “middle America” in all 50 states populated by people with a pride in the places where they live – places that are worthy of our attention.