We're Number 5!
According to information released in today's Fresno Bee, our fair city is now the 5th largest in California. With 495,913 inhabitants, Fresno edged out Long Beach for the last spot in the state's top five. Fourth place is a LONG way away: San Francisco has 845,000 people.
Oddly, the city we just moved from was the fifth largest in West Virginia. Morgantown is growing, but the smallish city boundaries keep the official population at about 30,000. (The census bureau counts it as a metropolitan statistical area with 110,000 people all told.)
And even stranger still, the town of Visalia (just south of Fresno) grew to 123,670 people. I bet that most West Virginians have never heard of Visalia. I hadn't. But it would the largest city in West Virginia -- by more than double! Yet in California it ranks as the 47th largest city. This sure is a big state with lots of people and lots of cities.
Living in bigger cities is nothing new for us. We used to live in Prague, Czech Republic, a city of 1.2 million. But I am always fascinated with the dynamics at work in cities. Every city has unique attributes that pique my interest and attract me for various reasons.
Each city has beauty and ugliness. Some things require attention from God's people. Other things attest to the God-given skill and creativity given to us humans. In cities, we clearly see both the imago Dei (image of God) that is planted with us and the fallenness of our existence that dates back to Adam & Eve's original sin. Cities bring both opportunity and oppression, hope and decay. Just as God's grace has allowed us to live in community and build cities, I pray that God will give His people courage to see and love cities as He loves them. After all, we are longing to live in the CITY of GOD one day. So shouldn't cities hold some attraction for all of us?
Oddly, the city we just moved from was the fifth largest in West Virginia. Morgantown is growing, but the smallish city boundaries keep the official population at about 30,000. (The census bureau counts it as a metropolitan statistical area with 110,000 people all told.)
And even stranger still, the town of Visalia (just south of Fresno) grew to 123,670 people. I bet that most West Virginians have never heard of Visalia. I hadn't. But it would the largest city in West Virginia -- by more than double! Yet in California it ranks as the 47th largest city. This sure is a big state with lots of people and lots of cities.
Living in bigger cities is nothing new for us. We used to live in Prague, Czech Republic, a city of 1.2 million. But I am always fascinated with the dynamics at work in cities. Every city has unique attributes that pique my interest and attract me for various reasons.
Each city has beauty and ugliness. Some things require attention from God's people. Other things attest to the God-given skill and creativity given to us humans. In cities, we clearly see both the imago Dei (image of God) that is planted with us and the fallenness of our existence that dates back to Adam & Eve's original sin. Cities bring both opportunity and oppression, hope and decay. Just as God's grace has allowed us to live in community and build cities, I pray that God will give His people courage to see and love cities as He loves them. After all, we are longing to live in the CITY of GOD one day. So shouldn't cities hold some attraction for all of us?
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