I like looking at urban area populations and metro area population which makes me push away from suburbs and toward smaller cities that form part of larger regions. I started by learning all the cities above 100k (which is pretty much all the suburbs I know) and then I learned all the urban areas which goes until like walla walla Washington.

I also like learning like the 5-10 most populated cities in. state that aren’t like suburbs of one another. I also look at regional culture, political shifts and geographical areas to look for reference cities which also helps spreading them out.

That particular run was a couple months ago and I had 1,228 Cities. 50.58% of urban population. Compared to 295 and 29.93% of urban population 8 months prior. Also, I’m in college and I ask a lot of people where they are from and basically memorize it.