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23. Charlotte - 2,296,000
24. Portland - 2,289,000
25. San Antonio - 2,234,000
26. Orlando - 2,223,000
27. Sacramento - 2,196,00
28. Cincinnati - 2,128,000
29. Cleveland - 2,063,000
30. Kansas City - 2,038,000
31. Las Vegas - 2,000,000
32. Columbus - 1,944,000
33. Indianapolis - 1,928,00
34. San Jose - 1,894,00
35. Austin - 1,834,000
36. Nashville - 1,726,000
I compiled a list of similar sized cities ranging 300,000 up and 300,000 below the 2 million mark. There are some big named cities on here that are thrown into the mix of their lesser known cousin sized counterparts. These are mostly Midwest and western cities, including a few southern. No east coast or far north cities.
My question is which city does the best for its size? Which has the most diverse economy? The best economic future? The best cost of living? The best skyline? Which is the most underrated? Compare and contrast them anyway you like but explain your reasoning. And please no defending a city just because you're from there, leave the bias out if you can.
Location: northern Vermont - previously NM, WA, & MA
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I can only speak to the cities I've been to, and in order my favorites are.....
Portland
Nashville
San Antonio
Austin
Cleveland
Las Vegas
Orlando
I like Portland the best for its vibrant downtown, quaint neighborhoods, small businesses, good food, best transit, excellent parkland, and scenic setting and in terms of quality of life and amenities I'd rank it the highest.
Nashville for its music, soul, cool skyline, good downtown, very friendly people, and nice neighborhoods. It's one of my favorite cities in the South.
San Antonio for its old world charm, great food, friendly people, good theme/water parks, and I think it paired with Austin are the rising stars out of the bunch with the best economic future. Austin is great for parks, music, improving downtown, and a great skyline. These two cities working together growing more cohesive infrastructure and upgrading transportation corridors while retaining their own unique character could potentially grow into the greatest cities in Texas.
I've only been to Cleveland briefly, I like the downtown (could have a better lakefront), and I really enjoyed the West Side Market. The city has got great bones, probably the best urban bones of any of these cities, though it has a mountain of restoration that needs to be done and needs an exponential population to return to the city to make it truly vibrant and reach its full potential.
I don't care much for Vegas or Orlando, so I won't make any further comment, just not my kind of cities.
Last edited by Champ le monstre du lac; 07-21-2013 at 12:57 PM..
I can only speak to the cities I've been to, and in order my favorites are.....
Portland
Nashville
San Antonio
Austin
Cleveland
Las Vegas
Orlando
I like Portland the best for its vibrant downtown, quaint neighborhoods, small businesses, good food, best transit, excellent parkland, and scenic setting and in terms of quality of life and amenities I'd rank it the highest.
Nashville for its music, soul, cool skyline, good downtown, very friendly people, and nice neighborhoods. It's one of my favorite cities in the South.
San Antonio for its old world charm, great food, friendly people, good theme/water parks, and I think it paired with Austin are the rising stars out of the bunch with the best economic future. Austin is great for parks, music, improving downtown, and a great skyline. These two cities working together growing more cohesive infrastructure and upgrading transportation corridors while retaining their own unique character could potentially grow into the greatest cities in Texas.
I've only been to Cleveland briefly, I like the downtown (could have a better lakefront), and I really enjoyed the West Side Market. The city has got great bones, probably the best urban bones of any of these cities, though it has a mountain of restoration that needs to be done and needs an exponential population to return to the city to make it truly vibrant and reach its full potential.
I don't care much for Vegas or Orlando, so I won't make any further comment, just not my kind of cities.
Excellent reasoning. Though Nashville is the smallest city on this list it is one of the most cultured cities, huge music scene there and tons of history. Its skyline is very modern and impressive for its size. I enjoy traveling through there.
I'm very curious about Austin, I have never been there, but it is a fast growing city in Texas and I think it has a chance to become something very different from Houston and Dallas.
Indianapolis has a lively and urban downtown for a city its size. Unfortunately it lacks any mentionable mass transit. It probably has the biggest sports scene of any city in here. Major universities located in the city or near the metro area, NFL, NBA, AAA baseball, Indy 500, Brickyard 400, and a minor league soccer and hockey team.
Orlando has more hotel rooms than any other city in the country. A world famous attraction Sea World, Disney World, Universal Studios, and a few other parks.
We all know what Las Vegas is known for.
Sacramento is perhaps one of the most underrated and least known California cities. While not overly dense it is enormous and houses a lot of wealth, the city holds promise.
Charlotte is among the fastest growing cities in this list, and the largest. They recently introduced a light rail in the city which seems to be doing very well.
Las Vegas seems to be slowing down...might pick up tho if it does,..it could be a juaggarnaut
San Antonio is growing but it will always have to contend with/be overshadowed by Dallas/Houston
Charlotte has the best skyline of the cities mentioned
Orlando is going to be Major
Cleveland is going to collapse
Kansas City not even on my radar
Portland...not on my radar
Sacremento...never no more or no less than California capital
Indianapolis shows promise
San Jose...eh who knows,....I know their trying to steal the Memphis Grizzlies!
Last edited by SteveTime; 07-21-2013 at 02:12 PM..
Which city does the best for its size? Lots of these cities do well for their size, but at the top I'd put Portland and Austin. Orlando and Vegas due to tourism.
Which has the most diverse economy? Pass
The best economic future? San Jose, Austin, Columbus
Which city does the best for its size? Nashville, Las Vegas, Portland, Charlotte
Which has the most diverse economy? Cincinnati, Cleveland
The best economic future? All the cities except for Kansas city and maybe Orlando.
The best cost of living? Cincinnati, Austin, Nashville, Cleveland, Indianapolis, Columbus, san Antonio, charlotte.
The best skyline? Cincinnati, Cleveland and Kansas city
Which is the most underrated? San Antonio, I think the rest of the cities are rated pretty fairly.
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