attributes of a city

For the spring break me and my friend decided to drive to Texas. It was a long ride - around 849 miles one way. When we were approaching Texas it was already very dark. We were low on gas and were looking for an exit with gas. Almost at the very western end of Louisiana there was something looking like a city. And map also indicated exits 24, 23 and so on. We were happy - finally... GAS! That city looked gorgeous - a lot of lights, some tall buildings. It looked more like a city decorated for Christmas than a regular city - all the lights were the same color. The first weird thing, there were no any signs of any food or gas stations available at those exits.
Once we got closer we could not see any billboards or displays with well-known brands or anything of that kind (that was the second weird thing). So our supposedly city turned out to be an industrial region with lots of chemical plants. That's it! No gas stations, no food places - just factories. Looks so great from a distance.
So if back home you see a lot of light approaching some exists you can be 100% sure you are approaching a city or a town. When you see the same here, you cannot be that certain. When there are no billboards, and shiny "markers" of fast food places, gas stations - this is not a city. And you should not be surprised that all the lights are on... it the USA. It's a culture here to leave all the lights on. (Back home there would not be a lot of outdoor lightning, only lights to indicate heights of the plant for the planes and few others outdoor lights).

So... look for McDonald's, Exxon, BP, KFC or something of that kind to determine if you are approaching a city.