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According to a lot of articles I read, Memphis offers a lot more in the way of violent crime than Birmingham does. Memphis is a pretty dangerous city.
Raleigh's Metro is pretty much exactly the same as Birmingham's metro. When you refer to the whole research triangle area, I assume you're referring to the CSA, which admittedly is a great deal larger than Birmingham's. But it doesn't negate the fact that Birmingham's metro continues to grow and is much larger with a larger economic presence than cities like Charleston, Columbia, and I would go so far as to say Birmingham is more well off than Memphis. Birmingham's downtown alone is twice as nice as downtown Memphis.
You should just come to terms with your bias against Alabama and admit it. Outside of Atlanta it's tied for the largest city in the south with New Orleans, which also begs the question, why wasn't New Orleans included on this list? New Orleans has seen some of the fastest population growth of any major city in the wake of restoration efforts since Hurricane Katrina.
I would put Birmingham over Columbia, Charleston, and Memphis in terms of best future prospects.
While the Metros are the same Birmingham really doesn't feel as big as New Orleans at all really. And New Orleans is definitely experiencing great things right now.
This is true and cannot be denied, which begs the question, why is New Orleans not a choice on this list?
That has very little to do with future outlook though. Both cities have been plagued with non-progressive and even corrupt leadership over the years which has stymied their growth--not to mention poverty and crime. They aren't too dissimilar in this aspect.
That's nice. However, there is far more to outlooks than people visiting a city for a couple days. Economically, B-Ham beats both these cities. Also, I don't know many people that visits Columbia, SC. Charleston, yes. Columbia? Am I missing something there?
Economically, Birmingham is bigger than both. However, the latter two have significantly better economic prospect, especially Charleston.
I've lived in Charlotte and Memphis. Durham for only 6 months and am very familiar with Nashville.
This isn't fair I would have to admit that I don't like Nashville for it's country music history and southern culture. But love the scenery. Tennessee isn't going to want to fund LRT or Street Car system. They pride themselves on having low taxes. For that reason they will not catch up to North Carolina cities.
Memphis has more potential than any other city on the list. If they where to implement smart growth strategy using it's current layout and central location it could do some nice things.
Raleigh/Durham is tied with Charlotte because of it's location in NC. Very pro business and has great potential. Not as much as Memphis but they've both accomplished more.
I've lived in Charlotte and Memphis. Durham for only 6 months and am very familiar with Nashville.
This isn't fair I would have to admit that I don't like Nashville for it's country music history and southern culture. But love the scenery. Tennessee isn't going to want to fund LRT or Street Car system. They pride themselves on having low taxes. For that reason they will not catch up to North Carolina cities.
Memphis has more potential than any other city on the list. If they where to implement smart growth strategy using it's current layout and central location it could do some nice things.
Raleigh/Durham is tied with Charlotte because of it's location in NC. Very pro business and has great potential. Not as much as Memphis but they've both accomplished more.
Why do you think Memphis has more potential than any other city? That city has got to recover a long ways before it begins to grow again.
I've lived in Charlotte and Memphis. Durham for only 6 months and am very familiar with Nashville.
This isn't fair I would have to admit that I don't like Nashville for it's country music history and southern culture. But love the scenery. Tennessee isn't going to want to fund LRT or Street Car system. They pride themselves on having low taxes. For that reason they will not catch up to North Carolina cities.
Memphis has more potential than any other city on the list. If they where to implement smart growth strategy using it's current layout and central location it could do some nice things.
Raleigh/Durham is tied with Charlotte because of it's location in NC. Very pro business and has great potential. Not as much as Memphis but they've both accomplished more.
No.
Tennessee as a whole hasn't (and probably won't) catch up to the entire state of North Carolina.
There's definitely other cities on the list that has more potential than Memphis.
I can understand the OP not including Birmingham b/c he doesn't think its future is bright. I would agree with him on that. But I absolutely disagree with the statement that it is not a major city in the south.
IMO Birmingham is on the same level as Memphis and is above Columbia and Charleston. Now Charleston has some great advantages like its history, tourism, culture, etc, but B'ham is still a more important city going by economic output or population.
And in a previous post I stated that I thought NOLA should be a choice. IMO among the medium-large southern cities the places to be for the next 20 years are Raleigh, Nashville, NOLA, and Charlotte.
Why do you think Memphis has more potential than any other city? That city has got to recover a long ways before it begins to grow again.
You are right. Memphis has a long way to recover from no growth to catch up.
When looking at geographic location. That opens a lot of opportunity for that city to establish itself as a business hub.
There is more room for population growth considering the layout of the area especially considering Nashville, Raleigh/Durham and Charlotte. The infrastructure in those cities can't handle what Memphis can.
I could have phrased my last paragraph a little better by saying that Raleigh/Durham and Charlotte will have the greatest growth than any other city on the list. When it comes to potential Memphis has it. Potential is just that.
As stated before, Tennessee will not fund LRT and streetcars for its cities like North Carolina. Memphis needs to attract a major hub for its airport. Tennessee as a state needs to stop being so red so its cities can flourish as cities.
You are right. Memphis has a long way to recover from no growth to catch up.
When looking at geographic location. That opens a lot of opportunity for that city to establish itself as a business hub.
Memphis is not centrally located within the South. I think those titles belong to Atlanta and Charlotte. FedEx isn't going to establish Memphis as a business hub either.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mjtinmemphis
There is more room for population growth considering the layout of the area especially considering Nashville, Raleigh/Durham and Charlotte. The infrastructure in those cities can't handle what Memphis can.
Really? Because for a metro of 2.3 million, Charlotte is handling pretty well and offers more public transportation then Memphis...
Quote:
Originally Posted by mjtinmemphis
I could have phrased my last paragraph a little better by saying that Raleigh/Durham and Charlotte will have the greatest growth than any other city on the list. When it comes to potential Memphis has it. Potential is just that.
Well of course Memphis has it, all of these cities have it. But the argument is which has the best, which would not be Memphis.
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