Are Phoenix and Vegas part of the LA hinterlands?

Cirrus · #1 Posted: **Jul 23, 2012, 5:19 AM**

So, pardon this question. It may seem stupid. But I have only been to LA once, and have never been to Phoenix or Vegas.

Sometimes it seems to me that they are satellites of LA, in sort of the same way that you might say Tuscon is a satellite of Phoenix, or that Akron, Canton, and Youngstown are satellites of Cleveland. This is not to disparage them in any way, and certainly not to suggest that they are suburbs. Just that there are extremely strong ties, and a lot of interaction, and that residents of these cities think of each other as being in the same basic region.

What do folks think?

mello · #2 Posted: **Jul 23, 2012, 5:32 AM**

Well of course they are in the same basic region. I don't know what your definition of "Hinterlands" is exactly.

Akron is 30 miles from Cleveland, it is a suburb and in the Metro area in my book. Obviously Phoenix and Vegas are not in a similar relationship to LA as Akron to Cleveland. I can't speak much for LA but I know that Phoenicians love to come to San Diego in the hot months May-October. It seems like PHX lives in SD in the summer time.

ColDayMan · #3 Posted: **Jul 23, 2012, 2:18 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by mello

Well of course they are in the same basic region. I don't know what your definition of "Hinterlands" is exactly.

Akron is 30 miles from Cleveland, it is a suburb and in the Metro area in my book. Obviously Phoenix and Vegas are not in a similar relationship to LA as Akron to Cleveland. I can't speak much for LA but I know that Phoenicians love to come to San Diego in the hot months May-October. It seems like PHX lives in SD in the summer time.

Akron is most certainly NOT a suburb of Cleveland by anymeans. They were two independent cities that grew up with each other in the same region. One just simply overshadowed the other.

As for the LA/Vegas/Phoenix thing, ditto to what everyone else said. Vegas yes, Phoenix no.

westak · #4 Posted: **Jul 23, 2012, 10:33 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by ColDayMan

Akron is most certainly NOT a suburb of Cleveland by anymeans. They were two independent cities that grew up with each other in the same region. One just simply overshadowed the other.

As for the LA/Vegas/Phoenix thing, ditto to what everyone else said. Vegas yes, Phoenix no.

THANK YOU!

Akron is NOT a suburb of Cleveland. There is a reason Lebron James never viewed Cleveland as his home town. I've got love for Cleveland but I can go months/years(I don't) without visiting or going there and everything I need here. The same can be said about Youngstown and Canton.

mello · #5 Posted: **Jul 24, 2012, 6:18 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by westak

THANK YOU!

Akron is NOT a suburb of Cleveland. There is a reason Lebron James never viewed Cleveland as his home town. I've got love for Cleveland but I can go months/years(I don't) without visiting or going there and everything I need here. The same can be said about Youngstown and Canton.

Canton and Youngstown are too far from Cleveland geographically to be burbs. My point is I guess what West Coast people consider a suburb is different than in the Eastern half of the US. When I look on a map Akron is right there, its like saying Long Beach or Anaheim are not burbs of LA or Fort Lauderdale to MIA.

Well ok how about Akron isn't a suburb of Cleveland but its in the metro area?

westak · #6 Posted: **Jul 24, 2012, 4:25 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by mello

Canton and Youngstown are too far from Cleveland geographically to be burbs. My point is I guess what West Coast people consider a suburb is different than in the Eastern half of the US. When I look on a map Akron is right there, its like saying Long Beach or Anaheim are not burbs of LA or Fort Lauderdale to MIA.

Well ok how about Akron isn't a suburb of Cleveland but its in the metro area?

Yeah, I'm not trying to give you hard time, I'm assuming your not from this area so I see how looking at map would make one think Akron is suburb of Cleveland. In reality when I was growing up Akron always had much stronger ties to Canton and the I've never understood how these two cities are not officially in the same Metropolitan area. As I've gotten older Akron and Cleveland's suburbs have essentially grown together around the National Park and I could see the cities officially becoming a part of each others MSA's.

Gordo · #7 Posted: **Jul 23, 2012, 5:38 AM**

First off, I haven't live in LA for over a decade - lived there for about 3.5 years in and around USC.

Common thoughts on Vegas/Phoenix from your average Angelino when I lived there:

Vegas - nice weekend party destination
Phoenix - that's the place in Arizona where people move and buy four houses after selling their LA place

In my travels since, I would say that Vegas tends to have pretty strong ties to LA culturally, but Phoenix? Nah. Similar in the same way that Atlanta and Miami are similar, I suppose - same general region of the country, but that's basically it.

LosAngelesSportsFan · #8 Posted: **Jul 23, 2012, 6:07 AM**

Las Vegas has very strong ties to LA. its basically LA's back yard. However, as time goes on and Vegas grows up a bit, its not as dependent on LA as it used to be.

From what i gather, Phoenix doesnt have too strong of ties to LA other than the fact that they despise our sports teams and the fact that LA fans take over any time we play a road game over there.

fflint · #9 Posted: **Jul 23, 2012, 6:11 AM**

You could make the argument that Vegas is notably tied to LA, in that Southern Californians drive the tourist economy there, but I don't see any similar argument for Phoenix.

Chase Unperson · #10 Posted: **Jul 23, 2012, 7:37 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by fflint

You could make the argument that Vegas is notably tied to LA, in that Southern Californians drive the tourist economy there, but I don't see any similar argument for Phoenix.

Agree.

South Californians make up about 1/4 of all Vegas visitors.

Westsidelife · #11 Posted: **Jul 23, 2012, 7:01 AM**

This is how it is:

Angelenos view Las Vegas as their backyard playground.

Phoenix is totally irrelevant.

glowrock · #12 Posted: **Jul 23, 2012, 11:09 AM**

I generally agree with the rest of the forumers on this one, Cirrus. Vegas is definitely L.A.'s weekend playground, but Phoenix isn't really on the radar screen much of the time. Sure there are similarities, but I don't think the two cities are tied together in more than very cursory ways.

Aaron (Glowrock)

emathias · #13 Posted: **Jul 23, 2012, 12:45 PM**

I'm guessing that the relationship between Phoenix and L.A. is comparable to the relationship between, say, St. Louis and Chicago. Both cases show distinct cities that have some regional economic links, and there is some migration between the two, but nobody thinks either is controlled by the other. Also, both Phoenix and St. Louis have major league sports teams named the Cardinals so obviously I'm right ;-) ...

Private Dick · #14 Posted: **Jul 23, 2012, 2:17 PM**

Isn't Phoenix something like 400 miles away from Los Angeles?

Quote:

Originally Posted by mello

Akron is 30 miles from Cleveland, it is a suburb and in the Metro area in my book. Obviously Phoenix and Vegas are not in a similar relationship to LA as Akron to Cleveland. I can't speak much for LA but I know that Phoenicians love to come to San Diego in the hot months May-October. It seems like PHX lives in SD in the summer time.

Yeah, I would think the Akron to Cleveland relationship is much stronger, simply based on close proximity. I wouldn't consider Akron a suburb of Cleveland really though, since it has its own suburbs. Nearby, connected cities in the same greater NE Ohio region/CSA -- of which Cleveland is the major hub -- definitely.

photoLith · #15 Posted: **Jul 23, 2012, 4:39 PM**

LA and Vegas are kinda the same culturally, but Phoenix, no way. Its so far away from both LA and Phoenix that I just dont really see any tangible ties to those cities. Tucson is also completely different from Phoenix even though its just a couple hours away, it has a completely different feel from Phoenix. I couldnt stand PHX but I loved Tucson when I was there.

Kingofthehill · #16 Posted: **Jul 23, 2012, 7:40 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by photoLith

LA and Vegas are kinda the same culturally, but Phoenix, no way. Its so far away from both LA and Phoenix that I just dont really see any tangible ties to those cities. Tucson is also completely different from Phoenix even though its just a couple hours away, it has a completely different feel from Phoenix. I couldnt stand PHX but I loved Tucson when I was there.

Not true. Not in any way. Only somebody who has clearly been to neither city could make a statement so glaringly wrong and factually incorrect. Stick to what you know, please

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