The 'ville' PCSA Comparison: Greenville versus Jacksonville versus Knoxville versus Louisville versus Nashville

[Mutiny77]

Originally Posted by Facts Kill Rhetoric

Perhaps it is just me but I find any city in the United States with the suffix "-ville" attached to the end of its name to be a dead giveaway that it is a Southern city. To me, no debate needed with those with regards to what region they are in.

For instance;

- Louisville (in the South)

- Greenville (in the South)

- Jacksonville (in the South)

- Knoxville (in the South)

- Nashville (in the South)

- Huntsville (in the South)

- Asheville (in the South)

- Fayetteville, Arkansas (in the South)

- Charlottesville (in the South)

Even Evansville, which is in the Midwestern state of Indiana is itself right on the border of the South. It probably has some well established suburbs across the Kentucky state line in the South. I guess in the case of Evansville, Indiana that the apple didn't fall that far from the tree after all.

Very interesting observation. While there are plenty of places that end in -ville all over the country, it appears that practically any mid-major/major city ending in -ville is Southern. Nearly half of all U.S. states have a Greenville but the one in NC appears to be the one with the largest municipal population and the one in SC anchors the largest metro.

Fun fact: there are two unincorporated communities and one former settlement named Greenville in California and they are all spelled the same way.

[jessemh431]

I always find it funny that Hicksville, NY is on Long Island. Long Island couldn't be more polar opposite of what people what consider "hick" and it's definitely not Southern even though it ends in "-ville."

[projectmaximus]

Originally Posted by Mutiny77

Very interesting observation. While there are plenty of places that end in -ville all over the country, it appears that practically any mid-major/major city ending in -ville is Southern. Nearly half of all U.S. states have a Greenville but the one in NC appears to be the one with the largest municipal population and the one in SC anchors the largest metro.

Fun fact: there are two unincorporated communities and one former settlement named Greenville in California and they are all spelled the same way.

Haha I was gonna say the same thing, there are so many examples of each city across the country including many states in the north, midwest, and west. However it is noticeable that the most well-known of them all seems to be in or near the south.

[Trafalgar Law]

Here are some ending delineations and/or suffixes:

1. "-ville": Origins in France, used to denote cities and/or towns (examples: Townsville, Australia; Louisville, United States; Nashville, United States).

2. "-polis/-apolis": Origins in Greece, used to denote cities and/or city-states (examples: Minneapolis, United States; Indianapolis, United States; Annapolis, United States).

3. "-burg/burgh": Origins in Germany, used to denote walled fortresses, cities, and towns (examples: Pittsburg, California; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Harrisburg, Pennsylvania).

4. "city": Root word derived from Latin but present day origins from the United Kingdom, used to denote cities and/or towns (examples: Salt Lake City, United States; Kansas City, United States; New York City, United States). Unlike the previous terminology explained, this is not a suffix but is rather instead a delineated ending, most commonly used in the United States to delineate between a city's name when it shares a name in common with either its state or country (or some other named geographic expanse - in the case of Salt Lake City the expanse being the Great Salt Lake).

5. "town": Origins in the United Kingdom, used to denote cities and/or towns (examples: Morgantown, United States; Youngstown, United States).

6. "-civitas": Origins in Latin, used to denote cities and/or towns (I am not aware of any known examples in the United States but countries just to the south of the United States may use the terminology as applicable.)

Personally I hate using "New York City" because adding the word "city" at the end of it just sort of cheapens the use of the name for me (plus sounds tacky as hell). I personally prefer and quite like using the simple "New York" when referring to the city.

[fivenine]

Nashville is the hip city out of the five although Louisville is quietly making a move as well. Greenville is the up and coming city. Knoxvillle would be best compared to a Lexington, Chattanooga, or Springfield, MO than it would be to Nashville or Louisville.

Nashville has the great night-life, good dating scene, strong growth and job base, and features warm weather with just enough of a taste of winter to be a four-season climate. Its main cons are it is very easy to get priced out due to the rapid cost of living, has some awful traffic, and crime is an issue in places.

Louisville has its issues (crime on the west-end) and local politics are not so nice but it is probably one of the most underrated cities in the country. It has great food, good nightlife, nice views of the Ohio River, a growing downtown, neighbors with a lot of character, and just like Nashville overall friendly people. Louisville would be even more impressive if it wasn't held back by the state of Kentucky.

Greenville is in a very nice scenic area. With its proximity to the mountains, growth, and closeness to the coast, I expect this city to continue growth. This would be a good area for someone who may have got priced out of Charlotte to settle down in.

I don't know much about Jacksonville so I won't speak on it. Sometimes people will go on what they heard about a city or place and base their judgment solely on that instead of visiting the place or at the very least researching it. I try to avoid the temptation of doing such.

Knoxville to me was a bit underwhelming compared to the cities on this list. It is your moderately scenic small city with a university in it and not anything more or less. Knoxville is built on a part of the Valley-Range province that isn't quite as scenic as you see further northeast towards Virginia or down towards Chattanooga. It is also a bit smaller than many of the ville cities here and would probably be best compared to Lexington, KY or Springfield, MO versus Nashville, Jacksonville, or Louisville.