Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Two cities I've considered moving to (for different reasons) are Milwaukee & Nashville.
I've never come across the comparison of these two cities on here and was surprised to see they have very similar populations.
Roughly speaking:
Nashville: 610,000 city with a 1.60 million metro
Milwaukee: 600,000 city with a 1.55 million metro
So let's take a closer look at:
- Cost of living
- Most interesting downtown & near
- More manageable, yet still has a living in the city feel.
- Better 4 season weather
- Most walkable/car-free/limited living
- More livable neighborhoods/points of interest
- Race relations & diversity
- Best nightlife & the nightlife vibe in each
- Most common musical genres in each, most lively
- What are the people like in each city?
- Festivals types & quality in each city
Two cities I've considered moving to (for different reasons) are Milwaukee & Nashville.
I've never come across the comparison of these two cities on here and was surprised to see they have very similar populations.
Roughly speaking:
Nashville: 610,000 city with a 1.60 million metro
Milwaukee: 600,000 city with a 1.55 million metro
So let's take a closer look at:
- Cost of living
- Most interesting downtown & near
- More manageable, yet still has a living in the city feel.
- Better 4 season weather
- Most walkable/car-free/limited living
- More livable neighborhoods/points of interest
- Race relations & diversity
- Best nightlife & the nightlife vibe in each
Milwa
- Most common musical genres in each, most lively
- What are the people like in each city?
- Festivals types & quality in each city
I won't necessarily go point by point, but I'll cover some of your bullets.
Milwaukee should have a lower cost of living overall. Nashville has had some of the fastest rising rents in the country over the past few years.
Current average rent in Nashville is $1148, average in Milwaukee $907.
Nashville would have lower taxes though, with TN having one of the lowest total tax burdens in the country and no state income tax.
Nashville has a bigger tourist draw then Milwaukee, so it has a lot more nightlife, restaurants, events, etc. than most cities of similar size.
Milwaukee is more dense and more walkable. Milwaukee also claims to have one of the best and most reliable bus transit systems in the nation, and I have no reason to doubt that. Nashville is pretty weak in the transit department. There are few places you can live in Nashville without at least some access to a car.
Nashville is often named one of the friendliest cities in the US, and on the Nashville forum, transplants often comment on how friendly everyone is here. From my experiences in Wisconsin, the people also seem friendly there.
Nashville and the surrounding area has tons of festivals, many with attendance of 50,000 or more.
Also, Nashville has a huge music scene, with tons of concerts, live music, etc. Even when you fly into the airport, there is live music as you get off the plane (at least at the terminal I've flown into 3 times in the past month.) I love getting off the plane, hearing the live music, and knowing I'm home.
While Nashville is obviously best known for country, there is so much more music here. Two of the largest music festivals in the country- CMA Music Fest (country) and Bonaroo (all sorts of music) are both in Middle TN. Bonaroo has attracted some of the biggest names in music from all sorts of genres. Bonnaroo Music Festival - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Nashville also has an amazing symphony center.
But my favorite part of living in Nashville is the creativity. Being surrounded by so many creative people is amazing. The mom you meet at PTO is also a songwriter who performed at the Bluebird last night. The guy playing the church piano has recorded at Abbey Road multiple times. The song sung at 5th grade graduation was written especially for the class by a Grammy winning songwriter. The newest tenant in one of our rental properties is in Blake Shelton's band. A friend gives you her newest demo CD before it is released because you helped her while she was on bed rest. The Gatlin brothers sing an impromptu acapella song one Sunday morning. Those are all true stories that have happened to me, and I could list examples all day. Being surrounded by so much creativity is amazing and unlike any where else I have ever lived.
- Cost of living: Milwaukee. Nashville keeps getting more expensive.
- Most interesting downtown & near: Nashville has more well known attractions.
- More manageable, yet still has a living in the city feel: Nashville becomes very suburban outside of the core. Milwaukee is more urban and doesn't come close to having the traffic congestion of Nashville.
- Better 4 season weather: Nashville experiences all four seasons pretty evenly. Winters rarely see more than one large snow or ice storm. Summers settle in the mid 80s through mid October.
- Most walkable/car-free/limited living: Milwaukee is pedestrian friendly. Nashville is not.
- More livable neighborhoods/points of interest: Subjective
- Race relations & diversity: Both cities are equally diverse. Nashville is significantly more racially integrated and accepting.
- Best nightlife & the nightlife vibe in each: This one is tough because both cities offer a great night life. Nashville's is definitely more tourist oriented, while Milwaukee's is more micro-brew/sports bar oriented. Nashville is a city for extroverts while Milwaukee is a city for introverts, if that makes sense.
- Most common musical genres in each, most lively: ?
- What are the people like in each city?: The people are friendly in both cities. Milwaukee displays the typical Midwestern reserved, well-mannered, matter of fact, come as you are persona. Nashville displays the typical bible thumping Southern hospitality, outgoing, sometimes inappropriate behavior, loud, but always friendly.
- Festivals types & quality in each city: Nashville has larger festivals but bigger is not always better. Each city offers great festivals.
My two cents: You can't go wrong in either city. Milwaukee is like a mini Chicago, giving you a piece of the city life without all the headaches. Nashville is like a mini Atlanta, giving you a piece of the city life without all of its drama. You won't be bored in either city. They are both very family friendly and relatively affordable.
Last edited by Shakeesha; 04-22-2015 at 11:01 AM..
My two cents: You can't go wrong in either city. Milwaukee is like a mini Chicago, giving you a piece of the city life without all the headaches. Nashville is like a mini Atlanta, giving you a piece of the city life without all of its drama. You won't be bored in either city. They are both very family friendly and relatively affordable.
Any idea how easy it is to take the train into Chicago? Tried driving near Chicago and it was a traffic nightmare.
I like the idea of Chicago, but probably wouldn't want to ever live there. It would be cool to have access to it for day trips though. Sort of like NYC in that respect - love NYC too, but it's just too much. I like lively, but with a little breathing room if that makes any sense.
Nashville seems like it's near a lot of places that you could take a weekend trip to.
If I were to land in Nashville the neighborhood over by Vanderbilt (no idea what it's called) would probably be my first choice.
The main attractions for me to Nashville are what I'd imagine is an interesting nightlife and better winters.
As far as Milwaukee goes I've heard it's a good city for festivals and bar hopping. Probably has a nice autumn (which is my favorite time of year), but really I know very little about the city. The art museum looks amazing though.
How do the people compare to say Columbus, OH?
I've only met one person from Milwaukee so I have no idea if he was a typical person from there. He sort of reminded me of a Nickelodeon cartoon from the 90's come to life.
It is really easy to take the train from Milwaukee to Chicago...I think Amtrak has like 7 trains daily each way; it costs like $23 and takes about 1.5 hours, if I recall correctly.
Milwaukee is really good for festivals, especially a variety of different ethnic festivals. Plus, Summerfest is a huge music festival which draws a lot of big names.
As someone mentioned, there are tons of neighborhood bar type places, but if you're looking for wilder nightlife then you'd find it lacking. But, there definitely are a few good bar hopping strips for students and young professionals.
As someone mentioned, there are tons of neighborhood bar type places, but if you're looking for wilder nightlife then you'd find it lacking.
Is that one-way or round trip on the train?
Just looking for something that's decent in the nightlife category. Something say on the level or Pittsburgh or Portland.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Shakeesha
Nashville is a city for extroverts while Milwaukee is a city for introverts, if that makes sense.
- What are the people like in each city?: The people are friendly in both cities. Milwaukee displays the typical Midwestern reserved, well-mannered, matter of fact, come as you are persona. Nashville displays the typical bible thumping Southern hospitality, outgoing, sometimes inappropriate behavior, loud, but always friendly.
I thought I read somewhere Milwaukee people were extroverted?
Last edited by Port Pitt Ash; 04-23-2015 at 10:26 AM..
Any idea how easy it is to take the train into Chicago? Tried driving near Chicago and it was a traffic nightmare.
I like the idea of Chicago, but probably wouldn't want to ever live there. It would be cool to have access to it for day trips though. Sort of like NYC in that respect - love NYC too, but it's just too much. I like lively, but with a little breathing room if that makes any sense.
It's actually very easy to go to Chicago from Milwaukee by train. The Amtrak Hiawatha has the most ridership of any segment of the Amtrak system. A lot of the people who've moved to Milwaukee over the past 20 years are exactly as you described... those who desire an urban environment, but are put off by the high cost of living and ultra-high density in huge cities like Chicago and NYC.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Port Pitt Ash
I've only met one person from Milwaukee so I have no idea if he was a typical person from there. He sort of reminded me of a Nickelodeon cartoon from the 90's come to life.
Definitely not "typical" in the broader sense, but people you could describe as "characters" are fairly common here. Every neighborhood seems to have their own version of a Milverine or a Pepperoni Canolli Guy.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Port Pitt Ash
I thought I read somewhere Milwaukee people were extroverted?
Yeah, I'm not quite sure where that person got that Milwaukeeans are introverted. If anything, Milwaukee's drinking culture makes some of the locals a lot more extroverted than they probably should be.
I won't deny that Nashville's nightlife is more tourist-oriented, but I don't think that has to be a negative for Milwaukee. The lack of tourist traps in places like the Third Ward or Brady Street makes it very easy for out-of-towners to grab a brew at a real Milwaukee tavern, which I would imagine is something most tourists would want to do when they come here anyway.
Last edited by MKEastsider; 04-23-2015 at 06:05 PM..
Definitely not "typical" in the broader sense, but people you could describe as "characters" are fairly common here. Every neighborhood seems to have their own version of a Milverine or a Pepperoni Canolli Guy.
Yeah, I'm not quite sure where that person got that Milwaukeeans are introverted. If anything, Milwaukee's drinking culture makes some of the locals a lot more extroverted than they probably should be.
Characters are always a welcome addition to a city for me. Although I do think it is something that should be organic and sadly today you get a lot of places that try too hard to manufacture these people.
This may be way off base, but I kind of think about it as that uncle who always was popular with the guys down at the bar, who also got a little too drunk at family get together's and enjoyed embarrassing the women in the family by saying/asking horribly inappropriate things (yet in a good-natured way).
If I were to land in Nashville the neighborhood over by Vanderbilt (no idea what it's called) would probably be my first choice.
That would either be West End, Hillsboro Village, or maybe the 12 South neighborhood.
All three are very expensive unfortunately. Of course, you can always luck out and find a deal but on average, you'd be looking at some of the highest rents in the city there.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
