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.
Jacksonville, FL
Macon, GA
Tallahassee
Chattanooga
Little Rock
Lexington, KY
Columbia, SC
the NC Triad (Greensboro/Winston-Salem/High Point)
Hampton Roads
Richmond
Mobile
Baltimore
San Antonio
The light rail is fairly undeveloped for how fast the city is growing and the infrastructure is suffering as well. So many outrageously expensive apartments are going up while wages stagnant. CLT will be a homelessness capital of the east coast in the next decade or two.
Undeveloped???? That doesn't make any sense at all. There is tons of tod and development along the blue line and the Gold line....
Last edited by QC Dreaming 2; 07-19-2022 at 05:48 AM..
San Antonio... I give it 50/50. Overshadowed by the giants (DFW/Houston) and the way overhyped by the media little brother 60 miles to the north, Austin. It's booming just as much as the other cities but flies under the radar. Downtown and the areas around it just started developing heavily maybe a decade ago. The majority of the corporate presence has historically been in the suburbs. It's always interesting when people come here and judge the entire city off the Riverwalk/Downtown when truthfully the desirable parts of the city are the northern/northwestern suburbs (sort of a downtown Phoenix vs Scottsdale dynamic going on here... minus the historical aspect of downtown SA). The north/NW side should be an entirely different city IMO, but that's a different argument. Regardless, it'll be interesting to see how the city fares in 5-10 years.
My takes are
Jacksonville
Mobile
Norfolk/VA Beach
Baltimore
Little Rock
Memphis
Detroit
Baltimore
Atlantic City
I’d Hartford/New Haven in the mix? I feel like considering it’s distance from Boston/New York there would have been another big NEC city in CT. Maybe the Geology of the CT river made it infeasible and kind of pointless and the Hudson just won out regardless since it cut the artery to the west. And the mouth of the CT river is shallow and sandy/shifty so it’s fall line cities didn’t get maritime trade.
Philadelphia especially, as it is a larger version of Baltimore. A big "nothing burger".
I'm guessing you're saying this because both cities have a lot of rowhouses... but having lived in both, I can tell you that this is a very inaccurate statement. Philly is closer to a mini-NYC than a large Baltimore.
Location: Miami (prev. NY, Atlanta, SF, OC and San Diego)
7,409 posts, read 6,542,189 times
Reputation: 6677
Have you ever lived there?…from an urban perspective, it is subpar:
1. 1 pro sports team for the entire metro
2. 1 runway airport, often involving connections through other city hub airports—speaking of which, it is the largest city without being a hub for a legacy airline. Maybe you don’t travel much.
3. Often bypassed for big concerts and other cultural events (if you bring up LA is “only” 2 hours away, often in traffic, I will point out Philly—same distance from NYC as SD is from LA) does not have this problem).
4. Major homeless crisis (top 4 city for that) contributing to an overall dirty downtown
5. I frequently needed to drive 80 minutes north to South Coast Plaza in OC to buy my favorite brands from favorite high end retailers that do not operate there.
6. No highly ranked Law or MBA program in the metro—does not even make top 60 in the country in either (#64 Law and #85 MBA, per USNWR)—which is mediocre, at best, and why best jobs outside biotech/defense contractors (10% of the workforce?) are limited v other cities in career paths and advancement.
7. Mediocre nightlife, especially for professional adults, outside of craft beer bars. I need more than that.
It certainly has advantages—if you are a beach bum or enjoy outdoors with varied topography including access to mountains and deserts, it is great.
Having actually lived in other big cities with top tier urban amenities, the items I mentioned above matter. From an urban perspective—this is CityData.com; not RuralAmerica.com, SmallerCity.com (where one does not realize what they are missing) or Suburbia.com—it is subpar. There are 2 other big beach cities that DO offer superior urban amenities—can walk and chew gum at the same time. Like I said earlier, if I were a palm tree where weather is the only thing that matters it’s great; but I’m not and need greater URBAN amenities.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Veritas Vincit
People who put San Diego on this list are kinda insane. It's like some myopic city nerd thing (which I understand could describe a sizable constituency on this particular sub-forum), because quite frankly the only 'performance' a city has to deliver is to satisfy the folks that live there. Judging by how eager people are to live in San Diego and how many lists for QOL it tops, it seems like it does a pretty good job at that.
Last edited by elchevere; 07-29-2022 at 07:26 AM..
Have you ever lived there?…from an urban perspective, it is subpar:
1. 1 pro sports team for the entire metro
2. 1 runway airport, often involving connections through other city hub airports—speaking of which, it is the largest city without being a hub for a legacy airline. Maybe you don’t travel much.
3. Often bypassed for big concerts and other cultural events (if you bring up LA is “only” 2 hours away, often in traffic, I will point out Philly—same distance from NYC as SD is from LA) does not have this problem).
4. Major homeless crisis (top 4 city for that) contributing to an overall dirty downtown
5. I frequently needed to drive 80 minutes north to South Coast Plaza in OC to buy my favorite brands from favorite high end retailers that do not operate there.
6. No highly ranked Law or MBA program in the metro—does not even make top 60 in the country in either (#64 Law and #85 MBA, per USNWR)—which is mediocre, at best, and why best jobs outside biotech/defense contractors (10% of the workforce?) are limited v other cities in career paths and advancement.
7. Mediocre nightlife, especially for professional adults, outside of craft beer bars. I need more than that.
It certainly has advantages—if you are a beach bum or enjoy outdoors with varied topography including access to mountains and deserts, it is great.
Having actually lived in other big cities with top tier urban amenities, the items I mentioned above matter. From an urban perspective—this is CityData.com; not RuralAmerica.com, SmallerCity.com (where one does not realize what they are missing) or Suburbia.com—it is subpar. There are 2 other big beach cities that DO offer superior urban amenities—can walk and chew gum at the same time. Like I said earlier, if I were a palm tree where weather is the only thing that matters it’s great; but I’m not and need greater URBAN amenities.
I have family there. I think what I take from all your points is that San Diego doesn't have all the things you want, but that's a long shot from the city 'not working' or 'missing its mark'. I don't know why one would go to San Diego and expect it to have the same level of everything as New York or L.A. or be the same as Miami. San Diego is attractive to folks who want a different vibe than those places.
Location: Miami (prev. NY, Atlanta, SF, OC and San Diego)
7,409 posts, read 6,542,189 times
Reputation: 6677
Quote:
Originally Posted by Veritas Vincit
I have family there. I think what I take from all your points is that San Diego doesn't have all the things you want, but that's a long shot from the city 'not working' or 'missing its mark'. I don't know why one would go to San Diego and expect it to have the same level of everything as New York or L.A. or be the same as Miami. San Diego is attractive to folks who want a different vibe than those places.
While I don't expect it to rival NYC it IS the 8th largest city (yet "acts"/feels much smaller than that) in the country and can and should have more and better urban amenities. Great cities aren't born or happen by accident. From a natural standpoint, I agree, the weather, beach, nearby mountains and desert are fantastic along with the slower pace (can be good and bad) but from an urban standpoint it definitely stands room for improvement--though, as you point out, many residents there are fine with the status quo or good enough. I think it's a great place if one prefers more of a suburban lifestyle, is in college, from a small town/smaller city and/or retired.
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.
