In the most recent Census, Huntsville officially surpassed Birmingham as Alabama’s largest city by population.

But, according to Magic City residents and columnist John Archibald, bigger doesn’t always mean better.

In recent Facebook posts, The Huntsville Times and The Birmingham News shared part of an article by AL.com’s Diane Mwai that details all of ways Birmingham is still technically bigger than Huntsville – at least for now.

Residents of both cities flooded the comments with their own thoughts on the rankings, Huntsville’s growth, and which city is the cooler of the two.

Several Birmingham commenters said it was more important to be part of the state’s largest metro area than the largest individual city.

“Birmingham metro has 1/3 of Alabama’s economy, so that’s all that matters,” Robert Crenshaw commented.

“Never understood why this matters?” Cole Barnes wrote.

“Atlanta population is just over 500k. But you add the metro area it’s over 6.3 million. Most big cities have large metro areas. If you look at Birmingham and Huntsville city plus metro. Then my money is on Birmingham having a comfortable lead.”

And many Huntsville residents say they would prefer not to be part of the state’s biggest city or metro.

“Nobody in Huntsville wants to be as big as Birmingham!” said Bonnie Walters.

“What a nightmare!!”

“Need a sign on the Rocket saying ‘We’re Full, Keep Driving’,” wrote DeWayne Rudolph II.

There are factors outside of size that put Huntsville above Birmingham, according to some.

“Huntsville is so much prettier than Bham,” wrote Terri Mckeller.

Others had a less positive take on the Rocket City.

“Huntsville is the Applebee’s of Alabama,” wrote William Kennedy.

What are your thoughts on the two cities? Visit The Birmingham News or The Huntsville Times Facebook page to share.