What are Richmond's peer cities? (Norfolk, Salem: education, finance, metro area)

[Poquoson7]

Originally Posted by JoeTarheel

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.

Why yes it can mean anything can't it, and it doesn't have to be a city exactly like Richmond does it, thanks for the clarification. Richmond is Richmond, and like I said prior, it doesn't need or have a peer city in my opinion. Your opinion is that it "very much does have peer cities." My opinion is that it does not. Richmond is a unique piece of geography and stands on it's own.
Boomtowns in the sunbelt are all peers of each other, as are rustbelt cities to each other.
The question is can a city be unique without becoming a homogenized peer of some other city.
I believe Richmond is such a city.
There are no right or wrong opinions fellow traveler, only the opinions themselves.

[RVARoughingIt]

Originally Posted by Port Pitt Ash

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

I've not been to neither Providence nor Tacoma, but I'd say that Richmond has a very robust scene especially compared to the likes of Charleston and other mid to larger sized cities.

I live in The Slip, the nightlight district, and can take photos this weekend if that would help. But this would just be one neighborhood, the Bottom, Carytown, and Main Street in the Fan all have their own flavor to them in terms of nightlife. (Though, I'd say the Bottom is seeing more restaurants and less bars and night clubs).

[Port Pitt Ash]

Originally Posted by RVARoughingIt

I live in The Slip, the nightlight district, and can take photos this weekend if that would help.

Actually I think that would for both nightlife and street level activity in the day. If that's not to much trouble. Thanks.

[Tiger Beer]

Originally Posted by Poquoson7

Why yes it can mean anything can't it, and it doesn't have to be a city exactly like Richmond does it, thanks for the clarification. Richmond is Richmond, and like I said prior, it doesn't need or have a peer city in my opinion. Your opinion is that it "very much does have peer cities." My opinion is that it does not. Richmond is a unique piece of geography and stands on it's own.
Boomtowns in the sunbelt are all peers of each other, as are rustbelt cities to each other.
The question is can a city be unique without becoming a homogenized peer of some other city.
I believe Richmond is such a city.
There are no right or wrong opinions fellow traveler, only the opinions themselves.

That is a good way to say it. Some people stretch to say Pittsburgh or Louisville as all 3 have that walkabilty pre-auto feel to their basic city structure. Its interesting how few cities in the u.s. are like that.

But generally speaking, Richmond is quite unique. Well, so is somewhere like Pittsburgh in that same regard.

[murksiderock]

Originally Posted by 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

Noooooooo.....

In terms of city-only population, we can compare Richmond to two dozen cities with a city-only population of between 200,000 and 250,000...

In terms of industry--you do realize that Richmond has a larger government presence, larger education and finance presence than Winston, right?

In terms of population of the MSA, we can compare Richmond to Birmingham, or to Memphis, or to Raleigh or Louisville or Oklahoma City...

In terms of importance to its state as a state capital, we could also compare Richmond to Columbus, Ohio, or Albany, New York, or Nashville, Tennessee, or Austin, Texas...

In terms of history, we could compare Richmond to Baltimore, or Savannah, or Norfolk, or Albany again, or Boston....

The bottom line is you can bend "peer cities" to mean anything you want it to mean. Charleston is not a peer city to Richmond, and neither is Winston-Salem, no matter how you try to twist the definition....

That said, Richmond isn't really a peer of Pittsburgh; however, understand there's a reason that people find the two have similarities for comparison...

[Gardner222]

Remember Virginia Cities have an archaic type of designation as Independent from their Counties. Richmond will never realize
its potential as a CITY until Virginia eliminates this designation. Its humorous a city like Winston Salem could ever be included
in a peer city comparison with Richmomd but that is because of the ignorance of Virginia cities by the outside world. The suburban areas there are often overlooked in demographic data. Roanoke has the same problem in that the surrounding
county is practically non existent when economic data is analyzed. I dont know how Richmond can compare itself to other cities.
It is a much more important economic, cultural City than it is ever given credit for. Unfortunately, noone will ever know about it.

[Amg09]

Originally Posted by Gardner222

Remember Virginia Cities have an archaic type of designation as Independent from their Counties. Richmond will never realize
its potential as a CITY until Virginia eliminates this designation. Its humorous a city like Winston Salem could ever be included
in a peer city comparison with Richmomd but that is because of the ignorance of Virginia cities by the outside world. The suburban areas there are often overlooked in demographic data. Roanoke has the same problem in that the surrounding
county is practically non existent when economic data is analyzed. I dont know how Richmond can compare itself to other cities.
It is a much more important economic, cultural City than it is ever given credit for. Unfortunately, noone will ever know about it.

THANK YOU for mentioning that very important statistic because not many people know that Virginia cities are independent entities. The reason why this is important is because cities in Virginia do not have the same benefits as other cities. Richmond can't annex like other cities can in other states. Look at Raleigh for example, its population is over 400,000, which actually ranks above St. Louis. "Wait, so is Raleigh larger than St. Louis?" Absolutely not! The St. Louis MSA sits at 2.8 million. Raleigh is able to grow as a city because unlike Richmond, it can expand. People will look at the demographic data from the US Census Bureau and say "Richmond is smaller than Winston-Salem, NC. Richmond ranks down there with Knoxville". When you take in account the Richmond MSA population is 1.3 million, you'd see it ranks above both Winston-Salem and Raleigh.. even New Orleans for that matter. Similarly, Norfolk city is less populated than Greensboro but the Norfolk-Virginia Beach metro ranks above the Memphis, Jacksonville, and Milwaukee areas at more than 1.7 million.

The numbers for the city limits itself can be deceiving, because the whole story isn't always told. Richmond is very urban and densely populated and there is no doubt in my mind that if Virginia cities were not independent bodies anymore, Richmond and other cities in the state would grow.

[Port Pitt Ash]

Would you consider Durham a peer?

[ny_guy]

Originally Posted by Port Pitt Ash

Would you consider Durham a peer?

I think parts of Durham have a similar vibe but Durham isn't as walkable/dense as Richmond is.

[murksiderock]

Originally Posted by Port Pitt Ash

Would you consider Durham a peer?

Not hardly. It's smaller, less vibrant, less wealth, less of almost anything...