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Education yes, outside Education Raleigh pretty much flat lines after that in comparison to Nashville. So Yea, not much competition
Not true.
The Triangle wins in the education aspect in two areas: educational institutions (and it may have better local schools than Nashville) and educational attainment rates. The Triangle has higher per capita and median household income rates as well as a higher median value of owner-occupied homes. Nashville wins in terms of tourism and local culture for sure, and probably nightlife. They are both roughly equal when it comes to diversity. Geography could probably go either way. The Triangle is definitely safer.
For future growth, right now Nashville is growing faster. However, Raleigh has the whole research triangle thing going on and that's bring in a ton of jobs and educated professionals. Though, Raleigh has to compete with Charlotte for growth as right now Charlotte is leading in growth. Nashville doesn't have any inner-state rivals it has to compete with.
This is all not true. Raleigh is growing faster than Nashville and its growth has nothing to do with Charlotte's growth. The Triangle and Charlotte are not in competition for each others' growth opportunities.
Sorry to get all detailed below but I am tired of this non truth in thread after thread after thread.
Since 2010, Raleigh's urbanized area population (1,130,000) has passed Nashville's (1,105,000) and this number does not include Durham's UA.
Since 2010, Raleigh's MSA has been growing at an annual rate of 2.3% and Nashville's MSA has been growing at a 1.75% rate. Since the Raleigh MSA is tiny in land area compared to Nashville's, let's compare the CSAs for more apples to apples comparison by population.
Since 2010, the Raleigh-Durham CSA of 2,117,104 (5510 sq miles) has been growing at a 1.95% annual rate compared to Nashville at 1,951,644 people (7768 sq miles) and a 1.68% rate. In summary, the Triangle has more people in less land area and is growing faster. Each year the Triangle is putting distance on greater Nashville's population.
By municipal growth rate alone, Raleigh's population has increased 11.68% since 2010 and Nashville's has increased 8.88%.
The only metric by which Nashville is "growing faster" is by municipal limits net population increase and that's because its land area is huge and the city has so much more land area on which to count people added. Nashville (475 sq miles) added 53,388 since 2010 and Raleigh (143 sq miles) added 47,174. If Raleigh added an extra 332 square miles and counted the people....well....
FWIW, Raleigh's MSA & CSA have also been growing at faster rates than Charlotte. Charlotte's municipal limits have grown at a faster rate (13.08%) this decade after Raleigh grew at a faster rate the previous decade. But, both of them are growing faster than Nashville.
The two NC CSAs have also added more people than Nashville since 2010
Charlotte: +208,040
Raleigh-Durham: +204,486
Nashville: +163,204
*all numbers and calculations are 2015 numbers except the UAs, which come from April, 2016*
It's always been present on this board (it just used to seem more subtle), but there is a lot of people who over-romanticize Nashville on City-Data. I get it, there are plenty of reasons to love Nashville, and in truth, I've enjoyed myself every time I went. Admittedly, I haven't been since '10, and hopefully I get some news soon that will send me there for a few months on a work assignment. But it definitely has the "big fish in a small pond" thing going on, based on comments I hear from the Nashville Booster Club on CD. It's a great city, the alpha in its state, but people know where/what tier Nashville belongs in real life. To say that Raleigh shouldn't be compared to Nashville, which had been mentioned in this thread and other threads recently, is a bit naive and kinda highlights how the pro-Nashville crowd views their city...
Big Fish, Small Pond
Nashville is the largest city in its state, where the next largest city is a chronic underperformer plagued by social and economic issues, so it looks outstanding next to said city. Nashville is in a state bordered by Mississippi, Arkansas, Kentucky, and Alabama, states that have generally poor reputations, so to most people, Nashville looks outstanding compared to those states. Though Nashville is ~250 miles from Atlanta, the next 4 million-plus city is nearly 500 miles away (Chicago). These things subconsciously inflate the perception of Nashville, coupled with the fact that city has a great brand and is one of the largest music centers in the nation...
Compare this to Raleigh...it isn't the largest city in its state. The largest city in its state, in present day reality, is a true major city, yet Raleigh has comparable economic growth rates (so it doesn't suffer "2nd City Letdown" as you see in Tennessee), and in fact is quite competitive with its largest city in several ways. Raleigh's location along the Eastern Seaboard gives it exposure to a wide array of both similarly-sized cities and much larger cities. And while Raleigh certainly has a positive image, it's brand is not as resonating as Nashville’s, so typically it flies under the radar. These things do not change the fact that in most arenas, Raleigh compares very well to Nashville, even if the knee-jerk is to say otherwise...
It's always been present on this board (it just used to seem more subtle), but there is a lot of people who over-romanticize Nashville on City-Data. I get it, there are plenty of reasons to love Nashville, and in truth, I've enjoyed myself every time I went. Admittedly, I haven't been since '10, and hopefully I get some news soon that will send me there for a few months on a work assignment. But it definitely has the "big fish in a small pond" thing going on, based on comments I hear from the Nashville Booster Club on CD. It's a great city, the alpha in its state, but people know where/what tier Nashville belongs in real life. To say that Raleigh shouldn't be compared to Nashville, which had been mentioned in this thread and other threads recently, is a bit naive and kinda highlights how the pro-Nashville crowd views their city...
Big Fish, Small Pond
Nashville is the largest city in its state, where the next largest city is a chronic underperformer plagued by social and economic issues, so it looks outstanding next to said city. Nashville is in a state bordered by Mississippi, Arkansas, Kentucky, and Alabama, states that have generally poor reputations, so to most people, Nashville looks outstanding compared to those states. Though Nashville is ~250 miles from Atlanta, the next 4 million-plus city is nearly 500 miles away (Chicago). These things subconsciously inflate the perception of Nashville, coupled with the fact that city has a great brand and is one of the largest music centers in the nation...
Compare this to Raleigh...it isn't the largest city in its state. The largest city in its state, in present day reality, is a true major city, yet Raleigh has comparable economic growth rates (so it doesn't suffer "2nd City Letdown" as you see in Tennessee), and in fact is quite competitive with its largest city in several ways. Raleigh's location along the Eastern Seaboard gives it exposure to a wide array of both similarly-sized cities and much larger cities. And while Raleigh certainly has a positive image, it's brand is not as resonating as Nashville’s, so typically it flies under the radar. These things do not change the fact that in most arenas, Raleigh compares very well to Nashville, even if the knee-jerk is to say otherwise...
Big Fish, Small Pond
Nashville is the largest metro in its state, but second-largest city. Just a point of clarification there.
Tennessee also borders GA, NC, and MO, states that have better reputations than the other states it borders. But that aside, I don't think anyone is thinking about that when they think of Nashville itself.
Also, I wouldn't say that Nashville is a big fish in a small pond; Tennessee is the 16th largest state in the country. I think Boston (especially) and Baltimore would be better examples of big fish in small ponds.
The major distinction between Nashville and the Triangle is that Nashville is THE primary city of its metro, while the Triangle is multinodal. As a city, I think Nashville has the edge on Raleigh on a few fronts but as regions, they are much more comparable.
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