NA cities actually did grow much faster. Melbourne's "doubling in ten years" during the 1850's doesn't even come close. Chicago, for example, grew 6x in the 184

NA cities actually did grow much faster. Melbourne's "doubling in ten years" during the 1850's doesn't even come close. Chicago, for example, grew 6x in the 1840s, almost 4x in the 1850s, and 2.5x in the 1860s.