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People: Toss up, Atlanta and Raleigh have more northern transplants than Birmingham
Weather: Toss up
Education: if your talking about higher ed, then I gotta go with Raleigh
Diversity: Atlanta
Entertainment: Atlanta
Scenery: Birmingham
Public Transportation: Atlanta
Better for Students: Toss-up
Jobs: IDK
Architecture: Birmingham
Cost of living: Birmingham
Crime rate: IDK, but will give the nod to Raleigh
Immigrant Friendly: Atlanta, not saying that Birmingham and Raleigh are not anti-immigrant, but Atlanta is more well known.
People: Toss up, Atlanta and Raleigh have more northern transplants than Birmingham
Weather: Toss up
Education: if your talking about higher ed, then I gotta go with Raleigh
Diversity: Atlanta
Entertainment: Atlanta
Scenery: Birmingham
Public Transportation: Atlanta
Better for Students: Toss-up
Jobs: IDK
Architecture: Birmingham
Cost of living: Birmingham
Crime rate: IDK, but will give the nod to Raleigh
Immigrant Friendly: Atlanta, not saying that Birmingham and Raleigh are not anti-immigrant, but Atlanta is more well known.
There are over 30 institutions of higher learning in the metro area:
A few of the most notable are:
Emory University
Georgia Tech
Morehouse College
Spellman College
Agnes Scott College
Georgia State University
Clark Atlanta University
Clayton State College and University
Kennesaw State University
That is not even half.So other than Duke,NC State and UNC being such powerhouses ,those alone can't match up to the sheer size and collective quality of those in Atlanta
That is not even half.So other than Duke,NC State and UNC being such powerhouses ,those alone can't match up to the sheer size and collective quality of those in Atlanta
What does "collective quality" mean for one student going to one school? Duke, NC and NC State are as you admit powerhouses and puts them ahead of practically every school in Atlanta.
We have UAB, Samford, and Birmingham-Southern and some other junior colleges and trade schools, but I would never try to tell a non-med school student that Birmingham has a significant advantage over what Raleigh has to offer.
What does "collective quality" mean for one student going to one school? Duke, NC and NC State are as you admit powerhouses and puts them ahead of practically every school in Atlanta.
We have UAB, Samford, and Birmingham-Southern and some other junior colleges and trade schools, but I would never try to tell a non-med school student that Birmingham has a significant advantage over what Raleigh has to offer.
I agree you can't make up for quality by having quantity, but Atlanta has some high quality schools as well. Emory is a decent answer to Duke, although a bit lower in the rankings. Georgia Tech and UNC are pretty close, with a slight advantage to UNC perhaps. NC State is more prestigous than GSU, but not by leaps and bounds anymore. If UGA were within metro Atlanta rather than 10 miles outside of it, it would probably tip the scales (UGA is top-20 among public universities these days).
But Atlanta does have depth Raleigh can't answer for (to my knowledge). Ogelthorpe and Agnes Scott for small liberal arts schools. Morehouse and Spelman for HBCUs. And a host of other universities of various types.
The Raleigh-Durham area does OK with HBCUs with Shaw, NC Central, and St. Augustine. They don't have the same clout as Morehouse and Spelman, but it's a good showing for them. Had Wake Forest never moved from Raleigh to Winston-Salem, that area would be an even bigger higher ed center than what it is now.
education: ATL has better HBCU's,but Overall I'd probably give the edge to the Raleigh-Durham area.
diversity: Toss up
entertainment: ATL for sure. The R-D area sucks in this category IMO
scenery: ATL without a doubt
public transportation: ATL without a doubt.
better for students: Toss up with the edge maybe leaning more towards the R-D area.
jobs: The R-D area wins because of RTC, which is one of the main reasons the R-D area has gone under like a lot of other places in the US during the recession.
architecture: Debatable, but some might say that Raleigh's Skylines can rival with that of ATL's, which I highly doubt, but that's just my opinion. I think Birmingham Architecture wins overall though and It's the most Unique out of the 3
cost of living: Brigham
crime rate: Birmingham has less crime I believe, but I could be wrong.
immigrant-friendly: I honestly don't know
OVERALL, I would choose Atlanta because IMO the R-D area was rather boring whenever I visit and Birmingham by all means is just not my cup of tea.
Last edited by TONY TONE; 03-23-2011 at 08:03 PM..
It's amazing how Raleigh continues its torrid growth despite how little love it gets on City-Data general and city vs city forums.
BTW, Raleigh's crime rate is lower than both Birmingham and Atlanta. In fact, it has the lowest crime rate of any large city in NC. Its "top to bottom" education is better than Atlanta and Birmingham: inclusive of public school education through college. Its adult citizens are better educated than both other metros. Raleigh's unemployment rate is also lower than both Atlanta and Birmingham.
Many of the other criteria are subjective while some others are objective. Without checking the facts, I'd guess that Raleigh is the most expensive of the three cities.
All three cities have similar landscapes and flora though Birmingham's is probably the most dramatic with that mountain slicing through town. Atlanta and Birmingham are closer to the mountains while Raleigh is closer to the coast.
By sheer numbers of people, Atlanta is going to have (by far) the most to do. But, I completely disagree that Raleigh is boring. I split time between SouthBeach and Raleigh and am not bored in Raleigh and neither are my friends who visit me from Miami. I guess it's a function of the fact that I hang my hat downtown and not in the burbs.
As for the people, well....that's going to depend on what sort of people you are seeking and what sort of people you find agreeable to you.
As for diversity, that's both objective and subjective. All three cities have sizeable African American communities though Raleigh's is the smallest by percentage. Conversely, Raleigh has a very fast growing Asian and South Asian community and, likewise, the largest % of Asians of the three. If you are inclined to measure diversity by the percentage of the population that is not white, then Birmingham wins by a mile. While Raleigh is the only city of the three that has a majority white population in the city limits, it also has the highest % of hispanics of the three and the highest diversity rating.
I agree you can't make up for quality by having quantity, but Atlanta has some high quality schools as well. Emory is a decent answer to Duke, although a bit lower in the rankings. Georgia Tech and UNC are pretty close, with a slight advantage to UNC perhaps. NC State is more prestigous than GSU, but not by leaps and bounds anymore. If UGA were within metro Atlanta rather than 10 miles outside of it, it would probably tip the scales (UGA is top-20 among public universities these days).
But Atlanta does have depth Raleigh can't answer for (to my knowledge). Ogelthorpe and Agnes Scott for small liberal arts schools. Morehouse and Spelman for HBCUs. And a host of other universities of various types.
Everyone knows Atlanta metro has a number of great universities...but considering the size (and if you are including it as Raleigh-Durham), Raleigh comes out ahead in that. Smaller cities aren't going to have as many universities anyways. No city in the South compares to Raleigh-Durham in terms of the number of top universities for its size.
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