Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
San Antonio's heritage and overall theme is one of a meeting of cultures on both sides of the border. The Spanish colonial charm is more likely to appeal to a wider range of people.
Nashville is about a tacky glamorization of white southern hill culture.
Nashville is about a tacky glamorization of white southern hill culture.
That's funny, I feel that way about San Antonio. The River Walk experience looks like an ultra-tacky substitute for the beauty and grandeur of the canals in Venice.
If Venice is the paradigm, San Antonio is the 'Murican, Dave and Buster's equivalent. The ugly boats, the garish yellow, orange, and red umbrellas in the patio cafes along the river give off more of a Disney World theme park ride vibe than an elegant, cosmopolitan city experience.
Nashville, for what it's worth, has far more celebrities living in its metro. Not to say a celebrity presence is the essential element to urban sophistication but I think, overall, Nashville is more cosmopolitan.
I agree with you that Nashville - especially the neon-drenched downtown - does feel pretty tacky though.
Last edited by paris-on-ponce; 04-30-2015 at 10:15 AM..
Nashville is rapidly evolving into a cosmopolitan southern metropolis, with celebrities, good restaurants/chefs, at least as many "attractions" as San Antonio, and far more in the way of urban "cosmopolitan" living. SA's downtown has limited commercial appeal, no real residential base, lots of middle-American tourism, and a Disneyfication of some historical sites. From my limited experience in SA, the hill country to the north seems to contain all of the important people in the area, as well as many of the attractions and the vast bulk of SA's commercial space/activity.
Conversely, Nashville is booming with downtown shopping (catering to residents), downtown dining (catering to residents), tons of new high-rise hotels and condos/apartments going up, highly concentrated attractions (and a nightlife/party scene rivaled by few in the country, certainly not SA), and a citywide improvement focus on the general urban area of Downtown/SoBro/Gulch/Music Row/Midtown. Nashville has even made attempts at rail transit, and one cannot discount having a world class university like Vanderbilt right in the center of town there to supply an upper echelon of younger people/faculty and as a force that attracts bright minds from around the world for research, meetings, school, work, etc.
I think I could live in either, happily. But I would think Nashville is significantly more "cosmopolitan" than San Antonio. I put Nashville and Austin in a similar league, and I think both have more universal appeal than SA.
I've only spent about a week in Nashville and several days in SA, so I speak with limited experience. And in San Antonio I stayed entirely within the downtown area.
Both cities are nice, but Nashville strikes me a bit more cosmopolitan. It feels like it has a bit more diversity economically and racially, and it also draws people (tourists and relocations) from a wider spectrum.
That's funny, I feel that way about San Antonio. The River Walk experience looks like an ultra-tacky substitute for the beauty and grandeur of the canals in Venice.
If Venice is the paradigm, San Antonio is the 'Murican, Dave and Buster's equivalent. The ugly boats, the garish yellow, orange, and red umbrellas in the patio cafes along the river give off more of a Disney World theme park ride vibe than an elegant, cosmopolitan city experience.
Nashville, for what it's worth, has far more celebrities living in its metro. Not to say a celebrity presence is the essential element to urban sophistication but I think, overall, Nashville is more cosmopolitan.
I agree with you that Nashville - especially the neon-drenched downtown - does feel pretty tacky though.
I think a lot of posters are incorrectly assuming that sophistication and cosmopolitanism are synonyms--they're not.
A cosmopolitan city is one that appeals to haute culture, popular culture, subcultures, and many international cultures alike. Though San Francisco is more sophisticated, the quintessential cosmopolitan city for me is Chicago: you can see world-class art, get hammered on cheap beer, pig out on hot dogs or a Michelin-rated restaurant, see a ballet, sun bathe on the beach, go to a monster truck rally, listen to jazz, etc.
Paris-on-ponce does make the point that Nashville is more sophisticated than San Antonio, but is it more cosmopolitan? I'm still not convinced.
I think a lot of posters are incorrectly assuming that sophistication and cosmopolitanism are synonyms--they're not.
A cosmopolitan city is one that appeals to haute culture, popular culture, subcultures, and many international cultures alike. Though San Francisco is more sophisticated, the quintessential cosmopolitan city for me is Chicago: you can see world-class art, get hammered on cheap beer, pig out on hot dogs or a Michelin-rated restaurant, see a ballet, sun bathe on the beach, go to a monster truck rally, listen to jazz, etc.
Paris-on-ponce does make the point that Nashville is more sophisticated than San Antonio, but is it more cosmopolitan? I'm still not convinced.
I think I see your point and I'm not trying to argue semantics but sophisticated and cosmopolitan are synonymous.
I would say they are about equal on a cosmopolitan standpoint. I won't give Nashville the edge merely based on having a more modern skyline, and being the epicenter of country music. San Antonio is the bigger city, attracts more visitors both domestic and international visitors, and also has a vibrant downtown. The S.A. downtown area is experiencing a resurgence, thousands of residential units are under construction along with major civic projects underway.
Last edited by SweethomeSanAntonio; 05-16-2015 at 12:08 AM..
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
