Consider the terms Twin Cities, Tri Cites and Quad Cities and put them into terms of Michigan. Just how many of them in the state? And are there any metros that aren't considered Twins, Tris or Quads that should be?

Starting with Twin Cities, there is just one Twin Cities in Michigan: Benton Harbor and St Joseph in the southwest corner of the state.

There are many others that could be. Consider Lansing/East Lansing, Iron Mountain and Kingston as well as Houghton and Hancock in the Upper Peninsula. How about Kalamazoo/Portage and Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti. In all these cases, the 'second city' is more than a suburb to the other.

How about Mackinaw City and St Ignace? Being on opposite ends of the Straits of Mackinac and joined by the tourism industry around Mackinac Island these two could also be twin cities.

There are other smaller twins in northern Michigan like Whitehall/Montague, Frankfort/Elberta and Beulah/Benzonia. Mid-Michigan has Alma/St Louis and Muir/Lyons. Finally, Jonesville/Hillsdale in Southern Michigan.

When it comes to Tri-Cities, Michiganders will probably immediately think of the Tri-Cities of Saginaw-Bay City-Midland, the so-called Great Lakes Bay region. While these are Michigan's Tri-Cities, there are other well known Tri Cities in Washington and Tennessee.

Michigan has a Tri Towns in West Michigan: Grand Haven, Ferrysburg and Spring Lake.

Would it be odd for Flint to slip into the Saginaw-Bay City-Midland region to become a Michigan version of the Quad Cities? After all, the greater Mid-Michigan region is often "Flint and the Tri Cities."

Are there any other potential Tri Cities in Michigan? Consider Marquette, Negaunee and Ishpeming? Elsewhere, Iron River once had 4 adjacent communities Mineral Hills, Stambaugh, Gaastra and Caspian. Today only Gaastra and Caspian remain - another Tri Cities?

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Or at the western end of the UP: Ironwood, Bessemer and Wakefield.

There is just one Quad Cities region in the county straddling the Mississippi River between Iowa (Davenport) and Illinois (Rock Island, Moline, East Moline).

The area around Muskegon could be at least a Quad if not Quint Cities - Muskegon, Muskegon Heights, North Muskegon, Norton Shores and Roosevelt Park.

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Perhaps there should be many more Twin-, Tri- and Quad-Cities in Michigan than we consider today.

The YouTube channel Geography King recently took a look at Tri and Quad City areas across America.

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Gallery Credit: Google Maps Street View

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