Nashville vs. Louisville (Charlotte: metro, cities, towns)

[hectorector]

Originally Posted by stx12499

Furthermore, Louisville has perhaps the largest suburban park expansion in the country that will create a 100 MILE RING around Louisville-Jefferson, adding literally THOUSANDS of acres of parks in the suburbs:

LouisvilleKy.gov - City of Parks - City of Parks

I've lived in both cities. Nashville has a more vibrant, tourist friendly downtown (at this point). The MSA is also growing faster, and the economy is a little better (not that Louisville's is bad its just not in the boom that Nashville is). But all in all, Louisville is 10 times as interesting for anyone interested in histroric, urban, walkable neighborhoods and a sense of place with local restaurants and boutiques. Both are great growing cities that are similar in size but realistically much different in many ways, especially culturally. Also, Louisville is a much more urban, concentrated city. Nashville is more spread among multiple centers with Franklin and Mufreesboro. Louisville has nothing like Franklin outside its core county.

And it never will. You won't here about fortune 500 companies, corporate headquarters, retail, urban highrises coming to Louisville because the city is a blue clollar town past its prime. Ofcourse there are more historic neighborhoods because the city cannot let go of the past. Nashville is becoming a world class city offering all kinds of cultural life and vibrancy due to its young population and wealth of educational offerings. Nashville is on the radar with Charlotte and Atlanta. The city has 610,000 while the metro is approaching 1.7 million. In ten years you won't recognize this place. The ring cities of Franklin and Murfreesboro will also not be recognizable in ten years as well. Louisville will never be in the same league as Nashville.

[kshe95girl]

Just an opinion, but why doesnt Nashville do something about the butt-ugly area around the stadium? I drive through about 4 times a year, from Fl to STL, and its REALLY ugly! I have been in other areas which are quite lovely, so I just dont get it?
Also, they NEVER seem to get done with the constuction on the highways, I always have to plan around that when driving through....

[IngleDave]

All in due time. The $40 million first phase of the Riverfront Development plan will kick off before long turning most of the stadium parking lots into an urban forest (with grass parking for the games) and loads of other river goodies. Believe me, we're looking at Louisville and Chattanooga for river ideas on this one. The area will begin to change as evidenced by the large condo development, 5th and Main, and the continuing development of East Nashville. Highway construction will probably not end any time soon as the infrastructure ages and the burgeoning population continue to fight it out. If you think about the projects that have been done, 40 near the airport, Briley Parkway, 65N and S, things are getting done. It just can't be done all at once. Nashville is changing at an unpredecented rate all over town, but these things take money and time. In 5 years, the entire area will transform and really begin the reflect the state of our local economy. Nashville has always had to make excuses for itself for not being a big city. That is changing now and will become very evident. Louisville was a much larger city long ago the same way Birmingham was so the city density difference is easy to explain. It's difficult to explain what we'll see in the coming years, but please stay tuned, it should be a sight to behold.

[kshe95girl]

Originally Posted by IngleDave

All in due time. The $40 million first phase of the Riverfront Development plan will kick off before long turning most of the stadium parking lots into an urban forest (with grass parking for the games) and loads of other river goodies. Believe me, we're looking at Louisville and Chattanooga for river ideas on this one. The area will begin to change as evidenced by the large condo development, 5th and Main, and the continuing development of East Nashville. Highway construction will probably not end any time soon as the infrastructure ages and the burgeoning population continue to fight it out. If you think about the projects that have been done, 40 near the airport, Briley Parkway, 65N and S, things are getting done. It just can't be done all at once. Nashville is changing at an unpredecented rate all over town, but these things take money and time. In 5 years, the entire area will transform and really begin the reflect the state of our local economy. Nashville has always had to make excuses for itself for not being a big city. That is changing now and will become very evident. Louisville was a much larger city long ago the same way Birmingham was so the city density difference is easy to explain. It's difficult to explain what we'll see in the coming years, but please stay tuned, it should be a sight to behold.

Cool, thanks for for the info, I look forward to watching the changes when I come through!

[censusdata]

One thing that Nashville, Indianapolis, Atlanta, Columbus, and Raleigh all that Louisville does NOT is a state capitol. That is undoubtedly is huge advantage those cities have, since government jobs aren't as affected by economic cycles.

[IngleDave]

I'm not sure if I'm supposed to do this or not, but I'll post a link to the Riverfront Concept Plan. Makes for some interesting reading. It reassuring to know that Nashville is finally planning something grand for the Cumberland asset.

Nashville.gov - Planning Department - Waterfront Redevelopment Plan

[shinestx]

I don't really see much in common between the two cities. Louisville is an older city with a traditional core. It give me a huge midwestern vibe, and seems very, very industrial.

Nashville, obviously newer, has many growing pains. It's definitely a region that recently decided that it wanted to have a city at the center. So now it's trying to come up with a city to suit the growing population. One thing it has that Louisville does not have is a top tier university like Vanderbilt. Vandy has done more for Nashville than anything else.

IMHO: Nashville is a sunbelt boom city that has more in common with Dallas than Louisville.

[RangerDuke08]

Heck how you even pronounce Louisville?

[IngleDave]

If you're from around here (the region), it's Lu-uh-vuhl. Elsewhere, it's probably Looieville. Or Looie-vuhl.

But never Lewis...like Jerry Lewis ville. That would never do.

[JMT]

Originally Posted by IngleDave

If you're from around here (the region), it's Lu-uh-vuhl. Elsewhere, it's probably Looieville. Or Looie-vuhl.

But never Lewis...like Jerry Lewis ville. That would never do.

Actually, the little town of Louisville, Tennessee (near the Knoxville airport) is pronounced "Lewisville" and it makes me cringe every time I hear it.