"Major population center" is completely relative to the region. Ely is large enough in a massively empty region that it appears as a control city in places as far away as Las Vegas and shows up on maps and globes on-par with cities like Reno. Closer to another city, this is nothing, but this is the middle of nowhere in Nevada where this is about as large and prominent as you can get. I would say the same about Delta as well, which is less remote, but still a major place along this route.

I am open to starting a discussion thread on the Forum or Slack, and welcome Flap Slimy Outward (who creates this changeset and has also contributed to this discussion here) if they would like to participate.