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Louisville blows KC out of the water. I am basing my criteria on Yelp reviews, travel blogs, write ups in national magazines and rankings. Louisville food is meh? Then why is it ranked in the top 20 of every food list? KC made it to the top of Travel+Leisure list because they were trying to do something different. Per capita, KC cannot compete with the Louisville food scene. So, what places in Louisville underwhelmed you? You visited for a weekend and made up your mind? I have spent several weeks in KC at various times over the past decade, and it is definitely not a place I would return if I did not have another convention or business dealings there.
For me, the list is easy
1 tie Nashville and Louisville
2 Indianapolis
3 KC (its redeeming factor is the Plaza...the rest of the city is as bland as can be and it loses all its young people to Denver and Texas or other hip places).
Wow... it's like this post is from 1990.
No, actually KC has about a million more in its metro area than Louisville does. So does Nashville and Indy. So you can see which of the four is out of its league.
Louisville sucks as far as Mexican and Asian cuisine goes. I was thoroughly underwhelmed. And barbecue? Don't even.
The skyline is rather bland as well. I would actually put it under Des Moines, IA (a city more in its league but hasn't annexed its way into a million people). KC is getting new construction downtown by the day. It's an awesome place to be right now.
What sort of public transit does Louisville have? Bus? Cars? At least KC has a streetcar line! Nashville has light rail which I suppose will take the cake.
Louisville weather sucks. KC's summers are awful, but no worse than Louisville summers, and at least KC doesn't get as many awful ice storms as Louisville does. KC is actually more dry and sunny during the winter than Louisville is by a long shot.
I never wanted to hang with you. I only wanted to open your eyes as to why you are wrong. I am in Indy the first Wednesday of every month for business. What can you show me there to surprise me? Woodruff Place lol? Indy is just not considered a hip city like Nashville and Louisville and that is ok because Indy is doing just fine.
How can you possibly compare Louisville and Nashville in terms of hipness? Nashville is so much more popular than Louisville as a vacation destination that the two cannot even compare. Nashville may not be somewhere I want to live, but it's definitely "hip" to much of America. Even Indianapolis is a more popular tourist destination than Louisville. I know you're a Louisville homer, but come on!
To most of America, Indy and Louisville are equally hip (not hip at all). Stop pretending that Louisville is the same as Portland or Austin. In fact, Indy probably has more recognition to most of America (and probably the world) than Louisville. People from Chicago aren't flocking to Louisville because it's so hip. People from Indianapolis aren't flocking to Louisville because it's so hip. Louisville has a good horse race and good restaurants for a city its size, but it isn't anything especially unique. You act like Indianapolis sucks, but you never mention large and beautiful neighborhoods like Meridian Hills, Meridian-Kessler, or Butler-Tarkington. You never mention Geist, or Irvington (an old and established neighborhood that's seen significant investment in the last decade, while being tucked in-between some of the roughest neighborhoods in the city, something you don't see in Louisville).
You also mention that Carmel doesn't depend on Indianapolis. Carmel is not just some random city that has always existed on the edge of Indianapolis. Carmel grew from 6,691 people in 1970 to 86,682 people in 2010. That is not an independent city. That is a suburb that grew as a direct result of Indianapolis annexing most of Marion County, and overall population growth in the region. Same goes for Westfield, Fishers, Plainfield, Avon, and Greenwood. Zionsville and Noblesville actually existed in a somewhat familiar state, albeit much smaller.
Best shopping: Nashville or KC
Better homes: very subjective, but IMO Louisville and Nashville
Best job market/pay: Indy
Lowest cost of living: Louisville?
Nightlife: Nashville (entertainment capital and a lot of Kentucky goes there as their Vegas for birthday weekends, long weekend, bachelor/ette parties, etc.) and Louisville (the 4am last call does it for me, but that's subjective as well)
A city where there's always something to do individually or as a family: all of them are big enough to always have something to do
Sports: Indianapolis for pro sports, Louisville for college sports
Different food choices to try: Louisville is always rated one of the most underrated food cities and we just got voted the #2 city best local food scene, just under Minneapolis and just above Nashville
Lowest crime rate: Louisville is the only one that doesn't show up on here, with KC being the most dangerous, followed by Indy, followed by Nashville
Moderator cut: link removed, linking to competitor sites is not allowed
Indianapolis homers have a false sense of the importance of their city due to its excellent downtown. In reality the strength of a city lies in her neighborhoods. Both Louisville and Nashville crush Indy in that regard.
And KC is in a different, and higher, league in terms of neighborhoods than Nashville and Louisville. But that's not what the OP asked about...
Nashville has light rail which I suppose will take the cake.
No it doesn't. I think they might have a commuter rail proposal in the works? But I'm pretty sure the Tennessee Senate made light rail and even dedicated lane BRT illegal in Nashville.
Regardless, all 4 cities have subpar transit. I don't really know whose is the worst, they're all so pitiful as to be embarrasing. And it's not one of the OP's criteria.
Louisville had a substantially larger built urban city than KC, Indy, or Nashville, really until about WWII.
Those historic stats do not count Louisville's Indiana urban neighborhoods like New Albany and Jeffersonville. New Albany was the largest city in Indiana until post Civil War actually.
Louisville was (and still is) the largest industrial and manufacturing city in the southeast. After WWII, the city saw a rapid decline, fading to almost irrelevance. Proponents of other cities like Indy or KC still see Louisville in this light.
In the last 10 years, the resurgence has been remarkable, and specifically, in the last 2-3 years. I discovered the city at the beginning of its rebirth and while I have traveled and lived all around, I considered it a second home.
A quick google search of Indy and Louisville as "hip" cities proves Louisville just gets more national press for this, and deservedly so. The most common mistake people make regarding Louisville is to think it is just about a horse race and bourbon (that horse a"race" is actually a 2 week festival btw). In fact, Louisville is one of the most festive cities in the USA. There are 7 hotels under construction or proposed downtown alone and the convention center is expanding to put it on par with Indy's. Unlike Indy, which gets most its tourists that are not from the 500 for conventions and sports, Louisville gets actual LEISURE travelers. And that is my point. Louisville is a city that is a lot more fun...bourbon, gambling, and great foods, arts and restaurants with 4 am last call bars.
If anything, Louisville, Nashville and KC have more in common in that they are hip, artsy foodie towns. Indy may have the best downtown in terms of having everything one needs to live (only midsized city around with that much national chain retail), but that is its main redeeming quality.
Finally, if these 4 cities were beers and I think this really helps you know about the cities, here is what they would be:
How can you possibly compare Louisville and Nashville in terms of hipness? Nashville is so much more popular than Louisville as a vacation destination that the two cannot even compare. Nashville may not be somewhere I want to live, but it's definitely "hip" to much of America. Even Indianapolis is a more popular tourist destination than Louisville. I know you're a Louisville homer, but come on!
To most of America, Indy and Louisville are equally hip (not hip at all). Stop pretending that Louisville is the same as Portland or Austin. In fact, Indy probably has more recognition to most of America (and probably the world) than Louisville. People from Chicago aren't flocking to Louisville because it's so hip. People from Indianapolis aren't flocking to Louisville because it's so hip. Louisville has a good horse race and good restaurants for a city its size, but it isn't anything especially unique. You act like Indianapolis sucks, but you never mention large and beautiful neighborhoods like Meridian Hills, Meridian-Kessler, or Butler-Tarkington. You never mention Geist, or Irvington (an old and established neighborhood that's seen significant investment in the last decade, while being tucked in-between some of the roughest neighborhoods in the city, something you don't see in Louisville).
You also mention that Carmel doesn't depend on Indianapolis. Carmel is not just some random city that has always existed on the edge of Indianapolis. Carmel grew from 6,691 people in 1970 to 86,682 people in 2010. That is not an independent city. That is a suburb that grew as a direct result of Indianapolis annexing most of Marion County, and overall population growth in the region. Same goes for Westfield, Fishers, Plainfield, Avon, and Greenwood. Zionsville and Noblesville actually existed in a somewhat familiar state, albeit much smaller.
Not with leisure travelers. Indy's tourism numbers are inflated due to conventions and sports (the Super Bowl was a nice pad)...they are not coming to see the city, but rather because they must to support their team or their work convention. That's why you'll never see Indy ranked as the top tourist destination in the US like Louisville:
I never said Indy sucks. I said its city neighborhoods are subpar. Its downtown and suburbs are excellent. Also, Loluisville has plenty of developing areas surrounded by bad areas. Beechmont is identical to Irvington, a historic streetcar "suburb" yet I doubt a single Indy poster has been there or to its urban commercial strip. I have been to Irvington on the other hand.
Unlike Indy, Louisville has an ace up her sleeve and that is bourbon. The city has recently rediscovered its "vice" roots and has half a dozen bourbon distilleries under construction as we speak in addition to the 3 that opened this year alone! This is a huge tourism thing right now
No, see my post above regarding hip. Most everyone considers Louisville more hip, even people from Indiana not on these boards. The most hip city in Indiana is Bloomington by far.
Carmel DOES depend on Indianapolis and is clearly a suburb. That was not what I said....but it doesn't need to be a suburb now and it is so big that it IS a threat to urban Indianapolis. I could spend my entire life in Carmel and never set foot in Indy, and some of its residents do just that save for an occasional game, wedding, etc.
No it doesn't. I think they might have a commuter rail proposal in the works? But I'm pretty sure the Tennessee Senate made light rail and even dedicated lane BRT illegal in Nashville.
Regardless, all 4 cities have subpar transit. I don't really know whose is the worst, they're all so pitiful as to be embarrasing. And it's not one of the OP's criteria.
You're right I don't know why I thought Nashville had light rail.
How can you possibly compare Louisville and Nashville in terms of hipness? Nashville is so much more popular than Louisville as a vacation destination that the two cannot even compare. Nashville may not be somewhere I want to live, but it's definitely "hip" to much of America. Even Indianapolis is a more popular tourist destination than Louisville. I know you're a Louisville homer, but come on!
To most of America, Indy and Louisville are equally hip (not hip at all). Stop pretending that Louisville is the same as Portland or Austin. In fact, Indy probably has more recognition to most of America (and probably the world) than Louisville. People from Chicago aren't flocking to Louisville because it's so hip. People from Indianapolis aren't flocking to Louisville because it's so hip. Louisville has a good horse race and good restaurants for a city its size, but it isn't anything especially unique. You act like Indianapolis sucks, but you never mention large and beautiful neighborhoods like Meridian Hills, Meridian-Kessler, or Butler-Tarkington. You never mention Geist, or Irvington (an old and established neighborhood that's seen significant investment in the last decade, while being tucked in-between some of the roughest neighborhoods in the city, something you don't see in Louisville).
You also mention that Carmel doesn't depend on Indianapolis. Carmel is not just some random city that has always existed on the edge of Indianapolis. Carmel grew from 6,691 people in 1970 to 86,682 people in 2010. That is not an independent city. That is a suburb that grew as a direct result of Indianapolis annexing most of Marion County, and overall population growth in the region. Same goes for Westfield, Fishers, Plainfield, Avon, and Greenwood. Zionsville and Noblesville actually existed in a somewhat familiar state, albeit much smaller.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bluefox
Wow... it's like this post is from 1990.
No, actually KC has about a million more in its metro area than Louisville does. So does Nashville and Indy. So you can see which of the four is out of its league.
Louisville sucks as far as Mexican and Asian cuisine goes. I was thoroughly underwhelmed. And barbecue? Don't even.
The skyline is rather bland as well. I would actually put it under Des Moines, IA (a city more in its league but hasn't annexed its way into a million people). KC is getting new construction downtown by the day. It's an awesome place to be right now.
What sort of public transit does Louisville have? Bus? Cars? At least KC has a streetcar line! Nashville has light rail which I suppose will take the cake.
Louisville weather sucks. KC's summers are awful, but no worse than Louisville summers, and at least KC doesn't get as many awful ice storms as Louisville does. KC is actually more dry and sunny during the winter than Louisville is by a long shot.
I am calling your bluff. Where did you eat Mexican and Asian in Louisville? There are HUNDREDS of Mexican restaurants and probably about that many Asian
Also, nice try exaggerating KC by inflating its size and comparing Louisville to a city less than half its size:
KC has a MSA of 2 million
Louisville's is almost 1.3 million
Des Moines is 600k.
But wait, KC's MSA is inflated because it is in the middle of nowhere. Its MSA includes 8,000 square miles of land! Louisville's MSA is only half the size at 4100 square miles! If Louisville were to include the same land area, it would include Lexington and Frankfort, making Louisville actually bigger than KC. Either way, Louisville is a much denser population in its metro area than KC...if Louisville had the same population in double the land area, it would have 2.6 million people. Louisville, on the other hand, is less than 1.5 hours to three major cities. Some Louisville suburbs are only 40 mins to Cincinnati or Lexington burbs!
Not with leisure travelers. Indy's tourism numbers are inflated due to conventions and sports (the Super Bowl was a nice pad)...they are not coming to see the city, but rather because they must to support their team or their work convention. That's why you'll never see Indy ranked as the top tourist destination in the US like Louisville:
I never said Indy sucks. I said its city neighborhoods are subpar. Its downtown and suburbs are excellent. Also, Loluisville has plenty of developing areas surrounded by bad areas. Beechmont is identical to Irvington, a historic streetcar "suburb" yet I doubt a single Indy poster has been there or to its urban commercial strip. I have been to Irvington on the other hand.
Unlike Indy, Louisville has an ace up her sleeve and that is bourbon. The city has recently rediscovered its "vice" roots and has half a dozen bourbon distilleries under construction as we speak in addition to the 3 that opened this year alone! This is a huge tourism thing right now
No, see my post above regarding hip. Most everyone considers Louisville more hip, even people from Indiana not on these boards. The most hip city in Indiana is Bloomington by far.
Carmel DOES depend on Indianapolis and is clearly a suburb. That was not what I said....but it doesn't need to be a suburb now and it is so big that it IS a threat to urban Indianapolis. I could spend my entire life in Carmel and never set foot in Indy, and some of its residents do just that save for an occasional game, wedding, etc.
21 million visitors to indy, conventions are but a fraction of that. For nat'l convention 635k people. Contrast that with Chicago with 895k visitos for national conventions and atl with 535k visitors from national conventions. All three are but a fraction of visitors they receive just like any other mid size/large metro so nice try with the Indy doesn't get leisure travel. If you want to make Lou the it city of the universe, fine. Just don't expect others to see it for what it is. A nice small/mid size metro. I mean taking some obscure publication cnn ran as proof positive is well bleh. It's funny when all of those rankings mean nothing until the city they cheerlead is in one then it speaks volumes.
Derby two weeks and? 500 two weeks, brickyard 2 weeks, ibe year round with summer celebration 10 days.
Mini marathon usually 2 weeks of activities. No big deal.
What if you don't drink? What good is bourbon then. Same with beer/wine. No need to hype a winery and brewary to someone who doesn't drink. I'm still looking for this magical aha that lou is suppose to have here. If just doesn't.
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I don't know why I thought Nashville had light rail.