What are Richmond's peer cities? (Virginia Beach, Norfolk: credit, live in, restaurants)

[Shakeesha]

Louisville, Memphis, Birmingham, New Orleans in no particular order.

[spencer114]

Size wise Ottawa seemed similar.

[Mutiny77]

Originally Posted by Amg09

Actually Richmond isn't a small city. Richmond is characterized as a large sized city by the US Census Bureau in terms of jobs and population. As of 2013, it's population was over 214,000 and rapidly growing. The Richmond MSA has approximately 1.3 million people. Charleston, SC is much smaller than Richmond, with a population of around 128,000. Charleston's MSA has a population of about 664,000.

That's an outdated statistic for Charleston; its MSA is 728K and has grown by 9.5% since 2010 according to the latest estimates. That said, Charleston is noticeably smaller but the two cities feel similarly dense and extensive within their cores, although Richmond has more of a traditional skyline which is certainly a difference.

To me, Richmond gives off similar vibes as other historic Southern cities around its size, like Louisville and NOLA (which were mentioned).

[Tiger Beer]

Some interesting descriptions of Richmond on here.

Granted, I mostly went out The Fan, and that entire side of Richmond. My understanding of Richmond is that much of the city, most people don't go to much, unless they live there. I'm thinking of pretty much every side that isn't downtown, and that sliver westward from downtown, which includes The Fan and all of those other great neighborhoods.

When I was The Fan and those neighborhoods, I loved Richmond. It just seems very healthy, lots of active businesses, lots of people walking around. I mostly liked it because it has a....ahmm...like a really CLEAN HEALTHY version of Baltimore/Philadelphia for just 'regular people', if that makes sense. What I mean by that, is, if you go to somewhere like Baltimore's Hampden, sure its hip and cool; but it is also feels like you have a lot of street uchins about with some drugs on them or in them. Richmond has the urban feel, without the urban ills attached to it.

That being said, I didn't view the other sides of the cities. I have no idea what those are like, but people seem to describe them in the way that they describe all the other big cities with high murder rates in certain neighborhoods. I didn't see them, so no idea what they'd look like.

That being said, seeing that sliver of neighborhoods westward, and including downtown Richmond itself, I really liked the feel of the city quite a bit. I also liked the kinds of people I saw out and about. It is a hard city to describe, but that is basically my impressions from a SHORT VISIT.

[JoeTarheel]

In terms of industry and city-only population: Winston-Salem
In terms of population of city and MSA: Birmingham
In terms of MSA population only: Louisville
In terms of importance as a state capital: Raleigh or Columbia
In terms of history: Charleston

Richmond (like most other cities) has a vibe all it's own and is hard to pin down because it's like another city in one way but completely different in another

[Port Pitt Ash]

How comparable is the nightlife, energy level, and street level activity to Charleston, SC, Providence, and Tacoma?

[Poquoson7]

Richmond is Richmond and unique in it's own right, doesn't need or have a "peer" city.

[JoeTarheel]

Originally Posted by Poquoson7

Richmond is Richmond and unique in it's own right, doesn't need or have a "peer" city.

Peer city can mean anything...a city of similar size, a city with a similar economy, or a long list of other comparisons. It doesn't have to be a city that is exactly like Richmond, so it very much does have peer cities.

[goldenage1]

Originally Posted by Port Pitt Ash

How comparable is the nightlife, energy level, and street level activity to Charleston, SC, Providence, and Tacoma?

You might try asking this in the City-Versus-City forum. Most of the local responders would not have lived in any of the three.

[Port Pitt Ash]

Originally Posted by goldenage1

You might try asking this in the City-Versus-City forum. Most of the local responders would not have lived in any of the three.

You speak for most locals? Isn't this a travel and city forum? I'd be inclined to believe people here have traveled to other places and/or are interested in moving to other places. Otherwise what's the point?