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.
It's a stretch to call Huntsville a mountain city, as the highest elevation in the vicinity appears to be Lewis Mountain at 1400'. Chattanooga's mountains are offshoots of the Cumberland plateau at around 2100', but since they rise up near downtown it can feel like a mountain city. Knoxville is in the center of a wide valley, though the 5500' thunderhead mountain is included in the metro. Roanoke is right up against the mountains and includes them in the suburbs, but the city proper is in the valley. Fayetteville is surrounded by low mountains (up to 2500') but is in a 1400' valley.
Asheville is the only one I would consider a true mountain city.
The Blue Ridge Parkway runs just south of downtown Roanoke. I would say it is much of a mountain city as Asheville. It has a little mountain with an overlook of town, Mill Mountain.
Huntsville does have a mountain feel, especially if you live in the Hampton Cove area and cross that mountain daily. There is not a major road within Asheville quite like Cecil Ashburn Dr and Governors Dr in Huntsville.
Monte Sano State Park in Huntsville is a great place to hike.
economy growth and job prospectus: Huntsville
diversity: Huntsville
downtown vibe: Asheville
Nightlife: Asheville
Daytime activities: Asheville
Your overall favorite and why: Huntsville is my favorite with Asheville being a close second. Huntsville is growing and has a lot of development going on. I like mountains and hiking in the area. It is also not overrun by tourists like Asheville. The people are very friendly and it is easy to get around.
I'm not quite certain on any of your criteria since I haven't spent that much time in any, so I'll go based on some other points:
Location: Knoxville (seems to be closer to the Midwest, Northeast (tied with Asheville), and Canada, of any of these cities).
Sports: Knoxville (It has UT right in town (tied with Fayetteville UA here), and is not too far from Nashville, Atlanta and Cincinnati for more)
Urbanity: Knoxville (Largest metro of these, and it shows. Largest walkable downtown core, and seems to have the most happening).
Climate: Asheville (Best year round climate for any reasonably sized city in the lower 48 not on the Cali Coast, IMO)
Nature: Tie between Asheville and Knoxville, though I think Asheville is slightly closer to hiking than Knoxville is, so slight lean towards Asheville. The others are nice also but not quite on that level)
Livability: For my tastes and based on various things, Knoxville.
I would choose Knoxville here for sure. If Asheville was larger (or even just had a significant university, it would be close to or matching Knoxville. Asheville is overpriced relatively to Knoxville also though).
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.
