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I'd probably replace Charlotte with Atlanta here due to Atlanta's capital city status and the higher ed scene, two defining characteristics that Charlotte lacks. And there's also the music scene/industry that Atlanta has in common with Austin and Nashville.
Those are valid points about the state capital and the higher education (and maybe I shouldn't have included Charlotte in my list of cities), but to me Atlanta feels a lot more "big city" than Austin, Nashville, and certainly Raleigh. It's size is just so much greater. Physically the buildings are so much more massive, Atlanta has MARTA whereas there is little/no rail in the other cities. Also the demographics in Atlanta feel a lot different.
And to me Atlanta feels like it is from an earlier era. While Atlanta is "new" compared to Boston, Philly, NYC, etc, I think that Austin, Nashville, and Raleigh all feel "new" compared to Atlanta.
Just thinking as I type, but the most developed core sections of Austin, Nashville, and Raleigh seem kind of like Midtown Atlanta, whereas IMO those places don't feel very much like downtown Atlanta at all...
Those are valid points about the state capital and the higher education (and maybe I shouldn't have included Charlotte in my list of cities), but to me Atlanta feels a lot more "big city" than Austin, Nashville, and certainly Raleigh. It's size is just so much greater. Physically the buildings are so much more massive, Atlanta has MARTA whereas there is little/no rail in the other cities. Also the demographics in Atlanta feel a lot different.
And to me Atlanta feels like it is from an earlier era. While Atlanta is "new" compared to Boston, Philly, NYC, etc, I think that Austin, Nashville, and Raleigh all feel "new" compared to Atlanta.
Just thinking as I type, but the most developed core sections of Austin, Nashville, and Raleigh seem kind of like Midtown Atlanta, whereas IMO those places don't feel very much like downtown Atlanta at all...
I gotcha. Just thought I'd throw it in since NOVA was mentioned (which I know doesn't comprise the entirety of metro DC, but still).
In the long run, I think it'll always be Greensboro/Winston-Salem. The main difference might be the fact that the Research Triangle has more transplants, while the Triad feels a little more North Carolinian/southern. I attended college in Greensboro for two years, and it's more common to hear thicker southern accents over there. In Raleigh, accents are a little more neutral and it's not as common to run into people who are actually from the area. The Triangle feels newer, and it has been growing faster than the Triad for a long period of time. While the two metros aren't identical, there are definitely similarities. For one, Winston-Salem and Durham are very similar. Also, there is certainly interaction between the two metros, as the I-85/I-40 corridor is slowly developing more.
A good case could also be made for Northern Virginia, but particularly areas in the Triangle along the lines of southern Durham County, Morrisville, Cary, and North Raleigh. The immediate surroundings of Research Triangle Park, basically. Other areas like Garner or Clayton might be a little too southern. However, we don't really have anything along the lines of Arlington or Alexandria down here. It's the areas further from DC that are more similar (Fairfax, Reston, Manassas).
Besides Greensboro/Winston-Salem and Northern Virginia, I'm thinking Austin, Atlanta, Charlotte, Columbia, Richmond, and Nashville.
Last edited by JayJayCB; 07-27-2015 at 12:37 PM..
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