"New York City" with 8M is only the political and corporate entity of "New York City", which is not relevant to the "feeling" of a city. New York City metro has

"New York City" with 8M is only the political and corporate entity of "New York City", which is not relevant to the "feeling" of a city. New York City metro has about 20 million people. That's what you experience when you're there. If you talk about political entities, then San Francisco is tiny at about 860k, less than Jacksonville and San Jose. Does SF feel smaller than either of those?