Southern city with most fast-paced CBDS going into 2020? (compared, Atlanta, people)

[meep]

This is limited to CBDs within southern metros, not the entirety of the metro area.

Most fast paced? Most improved since 2010? Most stagnant since 2010?

This should be interesting to see as most of the south’s major cities are urbanizing.

[Arcenal813]

Hmm... Not saying this because I live here, but Orlando should be in this discussion, as its CBD is literally doubling in size with the addition of the UCF Downtown campus and the Creative Village...

My votes would be Austin and Orlando. For poll purposes, given the selection, Austin.

[jjbradleynyc]

Most fast paced: close but I gave Nashville the edge, due to the constant surge and flow of tourists on Lower Broadway--which is comparable to shoulder to shoulder sea of crowds you see in Times Square. Combine that with the incredible amount of construction projects, government workers in the capital area, and the workers/residents in the core of downtown, and Nashville edges other cities.

Others that even exceed the hustle & bustle of Nashville, but lack that major tourist surge are Atlanta, Dallas, Houston & Austin.

The most improved goes to Austin here.

The most stagnant goes to New Orleans.

[Mutiny77]

Originally Posted by jjbradleynyc

The most stagnant goes to New Orleans.

I'm not seeing that at all.

[Arcenal813]

Wish I could edit my post... Are we talking most fast-paced GROWTH or just most fast-paced in general (as in rat-race, NYC style?)
If the latter, I'd say Dallas. I love Atlanta, but its CDB is anything BUT fast-paced.

[Dallas12]

Originally Posted by Arcenal352

Wish I could edit my post... Are we talking most fast-paced GROWTH or just most fast-paced in general (as in rat-race, NYC style?)
If the latter, I'd say Dallas. I love Atlanta, but its CDB is anything BUT fast-paced.

Hmmm... interesting. I'm curious as to why you would say Dallas? I can see why you'd say outside the CBD, but inside?

[Arcenal813]

Originally Posted by Dallas12

Hmmm... interesting. I'm curious as to why you would say Dallas? I can see why you'd say outside the CBD, but inside?

It's really the only one to me that stands out as being "fast-paced," where people are running about on narrow streets in tightly-packed city blocks with a decent level of street-level density.
I was there for work one week and really felt like I was in a well-grounded urban environment.

I hate to use Googlemaps for anything here, but the image below pretty much describes my experience there:
https://www.google.com/maps/@32.7806...7i13312!8i6656

It's the only one I've seen (of the cities mentioned here) that has that noisy, busy urban vibe to it.

[Charlotte485]

That's a hard one. You really have to know the individual cities.


Charlotte's CBD is booming rapidly. The same probably goes for Nashville, Austin, Houston, Dallas, Atlanta. There's cases to be made for each, really.

[jjbradleynyc]

Originally Posted by Mutiny77

I'm not seeing that at all.

With this criteria, I don't see it as "most improved," as compared to the others, since 2010. New Orleans development has not been robust.

It has a good flow of folks in the french quarter, but that is not the immediate downtown area. If you include the french quarter, then the bustle and energy increases.

[mjtinmemphis]

I am surprised Memphis and Louisville aren't on the list.

This is kind of a hard thread to give an answer to. Unless one has equal experience in all southern cities, it would be hard to come up with a balanced opinion. Tourism produces a different vibe compared to a downtown with a large workforce, rapid transit and useful amenities.

This year I've been to Nashville, Memphis, Atlanta and Dallas. To stay with the flow of the thread, I will leave Memphis out of my post.

Nashville is building like crazy. I think I've seen more growth and buildings going up than the other 2 cities I've visited. Most of the foot traffic is casual tourist traffic that doesn't hussle like it does in a big city.

Atlanta gets picked on a lot because of low density but I did feel the big city thing in Atlanta. I guess its because I took marta in from the airport to Five Points. It felt organic and yes the city felt alive but not like Chicago.

Dallas seemed a little bit more like a big city. I did not take dart into downtown but it seemed just a little busier.

I wish I could comment on the others especially Miami and Charlotte. Cities are changing so fast now. Things could definitely pop out ahead for Atlanta within a year or two but as of right now, I will give a slight advantage to Dallas.