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Agreed. "Progressive" on City-Data seems to only mean LGBT rights and acceptance and prominent atheism, which I don't believe its limited to that. That is an aspect of progressivism but there are other meanings as well. A lot of cities are economically progressive but not as socially progressive as Austin or the Pacific Northwest.
One of the rare times when we sort of agree, bcrhis. LGBT relations probably wouldn't be a good measuring stick for the NC cities in terms of progressivism either as Nashville offers a little more protections to its LGBT citizens than either Charlotte and Raleigh. Atlanta and Nashville were also the only large cities in the Southeast outside of Florida to crack a 50 on the HRC's Municipal Equality Index. BTW, Austin has a 91 in this index well ahead of other TX cities.
Admittedly, I do not take such a list as gospel and I cannot see a 50 as being a good indicator of a city being uber gay-friendly when many of the usual "progressive" suspects have a score at or hovering somewhere close to 100. But suffice it to say that Raleigh and Charlotte are probably much closer to Nashville under that criteria than they are to some of the metros of the West and Northeast.
Does anyone think it has to do with marketing?
Like in North Carolina there is: The Metrolina: Charlotte-Gastonia-Salisbury, North Carolina-SC - population 2,338,289 The Triangle: Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill, North Carolina - population 1,690,557 The Piedmont Triad: Greensboro—Winston-Salem—High Point, North Carolina - population 1,603,101
Could Tennessee market any areas like that?
Well one thing that hurts the Memphis/West TN part of Tennessee is poor marketing, because the only thing Memphis does to market itself is promote stuff from the last century that's 50+ years old (Elvis, Blues, BBQ, etc). Blues and Elvis are not even relevant/current forms of music like they were 50 years ago. That's one reason why Nashville has shot so far ahead of Memphis these days with it's Country music scene (Country music is the best selling genre of music in America).
Not very many people want to live in Memphis either, it's crime ridden and not very attractive. I have been there many times and I have yet to see anything that would make me want to live there. Eastern TN is a different story, although I would hate to see lots of people moving there and ruining it.
I would actually like to live in eastern NC around Jacksonville, but only because it's very similar to south Alabama where I have always lived.
I've always said North Carolina has the least in common with Tennessee out of all the states that border NC (SC, VA, GA, TN). TN is Upper South, but it's the interior Upper South like Kentucky and Arkansas. North Carolina and Virginia are the coastal Upper South states. Geographically, TN is much more hilly than NC even though NC has higher mountains. Most of NC's population lives pretty far from the TN border, so there isn't a lot of interaction between the two states. I imagine it's the same case in TN, Knoxville isn't too far from the NC/TN border along with Asheville in NC, but that's really about it. For NC, there is more interaction with SC and VA. I think the major urban areas of TN are less transplant saturated than the major urban areas of NC, so I'd say this gives TN a slightly more southern vibe. It seems like TN has a bit more in common with Kentucky, while NC has a bit more in common with VA.
There seems to be more development along the East Coast in general. People from New Jersey in New York can easily reside in metros like Charlotte and Raleigh/Durham without being too far from home, taking advantage of the cheaper housing and warmer weather. The North Carolina/Tennessee relationship is the same as Virginia/Kentucky, you'll probably find more transplants on the East Coast. South Carolina is getting hit hard with many northeastern transplants at the moment, which isn't really the case further west in states like Alabama or Mississippi. Being located along the East Coast helps IMO.
The three major metros of NC (Charlotte, Piedmont Triad, Research Triangle) aren't very far apart, all located along I-85. This isn't the case in Tennessee. In NC, driving from Raleigh to Charlotte will take less than three houses. In TN, driving from Memphis to Knoxville will take more than five. Also, Memphis isn't as progressive as Charlotte or Raleigh/Durham which is probably a big reason why the two states aren't as similar. From what I've heard, Memphis lacks transplants and holds more of an "Old South" image akin to Birmingham, Jackson, Mobile, Montgomery, etc. Charlotte, the largest city in NC, is historically much more progressive and "New South" which is a reason why it continues to grow. While the Nashville metro is certainly "New South" along with Knoxville to a lesser extent, Memphis lagging behind is probably the biggest reason why TN isn't as populated or similar to NC these days.
My wife has her undergrad degree from Vanderbilt and her graduate degree from Duke. While it's true that Vanderbilt is up there in the rankings, Duke is higher ranked, has better name recognition, and carries a LOT more weight than Vanderbilt...
Last edited by NoClueWho; 03-11-2015 at 12:37 AM..
My wife has her undergrad degree from Vanderbilt and her graduate degree from Duke. While it's true that Vanderbilt is up there in the rankings, Duke is higher ranked, has better name recognition, and carries a LOT more weight than Vanderbilt...
Agreed. This is a fact with plenty of statistics to back it up.
Yep NC seems to be the ideal state(one of anyway) where alot on the east coast coast mix and thrive its state that really seems to have a little bit of everything while retaining in certain areas its southern charm about it......I would put Virginia kind of in that category as well although to a bigger extent with NOVA having such a big influence.
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LGBT relations probably wouldn't be a good measuring stick for the NC cities in terms of progressivism either as Nashville offers a little more protections to its LGBT citizens than either Charlotte and Raleigh. Atlanta and Nashville were also the only large cities in the Southeast outside of Florida to crack a 50 on the HRC's 
