[grardb]

I totally agree with you re: meaningless comparisons. However, I think the MSA comparison is pretty flawed as well.

For example, the Los Angeles metro area has a higher density than both NYC's and SF's (which is higher than NYC's), but it's obvious – to me at least – that in reality, considering only areas that most people would agree are remotely close to being in/near "the city," the density order of these three would be more like: 1) NYC 2) SF 3) LA.

But yeah, at the end of the day, I'm mostly being pedantic :)