Nashville close to taking over Memphis as TN's largest city (Knoxville: real estate market, 2014)

[BeeHoyal]

In metropolitan statistical terms:

Nashville 1.792 million residents
Memphis 1.305 million residents
Knoxville .852 million residents (higher if you include Sevierville)
Chattanooga .528 million
Clarksville .268 million

[nashvols]

Originally Posted by emanresu1

In metropolitan statistical terms:

Nashville 1.792 million residents
Memphis 1.305 million residents
Knoxville .852 million residents (higher if you include Sevierville)
Chattanooga .528 million
Clarksville .268 million

Combined statistical areas:

Nashville - 1,912,819
Memphis - 1,370,129
Knoxville - 1,103,782
Chattanooga - 945,148
Tri Cities - 509,170

[Drake744]

Population of the actual city is very misleading at times and that's why I really only count metro area populations. Atlanta's official population is 447,841. Miami's official population estimate for 2013 is 417,650. Does anyone think the Nashville metropolitan area is larger than that of Atlanta or the South Florida region despite the more populated central city? No. Just like I don't think anyone really thinks the Memphis area is the largest in Tennessee, no matter what the populations of Nashville and Memphis officially say.


Side note I thought it was funny last summer I was listening to 104.5 and this guy called in to complain about ESPN's "lack of basic knowledge" when the team from South Nashville was in the Little League World Series. They were showing facts about Nashville and the graphic (rightfully) said Nashville was Tennessee's second largest city behind Memphis. This caller proceeds to call out ESPN for "not even knowing Nashville was the state's biggest city". The hosts were like uhhhh, Memphis is actually larger than Nashville. It was pretty funny. Shows how little some people here actually know about Memphis.

[BeeHoyal]

Shelby County is around 300 square miles larger than Davidson. I guess that is bigger.

[Shakeesha]

Originally Posted by Drake744

Population of the actual city is very misleading at times and that's why I really only count metro area populations. Atlanta's official population is 447,841. Miami's official population estimate for 2013 is 417,650. Does anyone think the Nashville metropolitan area is larger than that of Atlanta or the South Florida region despite the more populated central city? No. Just like I don't think anyone really thinks the Memphis area is the largest in Tennessee, no matter what the populations of Nashville and Memphis officially say.


Side note I thought it was funny last summer I was listening to 104.5 and this guy called in to complain about ESPN's "lack of basic knowledge" when the team from South Nashville was in the Little League World Series. They were showing facts about Nashville and the graphic (rightfully) said Nashville was Tennessee's second largest city behind Memphis. This caller proceeds to call out ESPN for "not even knowing Nashville was the state's biggest city". The hosts were like uhhhh, Memphis is actually larger than Nashville. It was pretty funny. Shows how little some people here actually know about Memphis.

That has likely changed since then. Nashville is the largest city now.

[sldream]

Originally Posted by Tempest455

The bottom line is, Nashville is growing. While Memphis will continue it's decline.

Memphis actually isn't on a decline. This may have been true along with a period of stagnation within the last ten years but it would be grossly inaccurate to say there's a decline currently in motion. Not many cities across the country including the largest metros have benefitted from such a sharp population shift and subsequent housing development to accommodate it at the same rate as Nashville.

There will be a point where it will stabilize and slow down and even reverse, that's just natural cycle of migration. Just think, no one had any idea as recent as 5-6 years ago Nashville would be anything like it is today. Most places go through periods of stagnation and later resurgence at some point. Every major city has and will again.

I am professionally invested in both Memphis and Nashville and can comment with certainty that there is a ton of development all over Memphis either in motion and/or planned and funded.Funded is the operative word here. Estimates are greater than or equal to at least 5 billion dollars. That's too much investment to consider it close to a decline. Most people are unaware what's going on unless they're personally affected whether it be proximity or financially. Additionally It's central location is not ignored by a long shot from a business perspective.

What is often lost in discussions like these is what's good for Memphis is good for Nashville and vice versa and for Tennessee as a whole. We should not have adversarial stances from a prosperity perspective. We are family in a sense and should be uplifting each other's communities. It's such a waste and drag to only complain and not offer suggestions for mutual improvement. There's enough dough for everybody to make bread. (Sorry I can't remember the movie quoted)

[jabogitlu]

Most people are unaware what's going on unless they're personally affected whether it be proximity or financially. Additionally It's central location is not ignored by a long shot from a business perspective.

I'd agree with this. I love Memphis so much (would definitely live there again, and could definitely 'settle down' there one day), so I keep up with its development news. While the development taking place there isn't as of the same depth or breadth as Nashville (not by a long shot), most of the development occurring in Memphis is taking place as a result of local benefactors and entrepreneurs stepping up and taking charge of the direction of their city. Some obvious examples include Overton Square, Sears Crosstown, and the Chisca. Additionally, Henry Turley (a local guy) has basically single-handedly driven the resurgence/development of Mud Island, Uptown and South Bluffs / South End.

Nashville's development is exciting. That city is living on the edge; who knows when another glass-front high rise will be announced, with architecture that pushes the edge and jobs that will bring hundreds or thousands more to the city? Truth be told, it's an exciting time for both cities in Tennessee. Even Knoxville, Johnson City, and Chattanooga are taking on high quality development projects (the rate of change in downtown Johnson City is pretty amazing, considering how stagnant it had been for the past three decades). It's a great time to be in Tennessee.

[sldream]

Also,I often wonder what does it matter which one is bigger or better; we're both smaller and worse than those places classified as Alpha or World cities and would take a hundred years or more to catch up to any of those. To be frank, neither Nashville or Memphis is anywhere near making that list which is why one should make the most of their environment because some other place is always perceived as greener or "bigger and better" than the next.

[UKWildcat1981]

The race relations are way better in Nashville than Memphis which helps growth. I like Memphis as a city but Nashville is my home and it is the premier city in TN by far.

[sldream]

This is still the south and I think the perception about better race relations is because the minority demographic are in fact minorities in Nashville. There just isn't a large number to contend with, with Nashville having a larger Caucasian population. The Latino and some other ethnic communities would probably disagree with that statement.

As for Memphis, yes there are some racist idiots on all sides of the fence. There are also lazy folks who think they are owed the government to take care of them and their offspring indefinitely and that "white folk" are keeping them from doing one thing or another. It's a shame, but I choose to acknowledge the positives.