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I know the immediate thought of many people will be that this is an unfair battle due to Richmond's small size in comparison to the two biggest cities in Tennessee; the metro areas of all three, however, are quite comparable.
I've lived in Richmond for many, many years, and I was originally supposed to move to Memphis a few years back. I ended up in New Orleans, though, and while I love it, it's a little bit too far from home and flight costs are just too high for me to be able to visit friends and family as much as I would like to.
Everytime I come back to visit Richmond, there is more and more to offer; its come a long way since its crumbling-to-the-ground 80s-early 00s days. To be honest, I can't think of a city in America with as much to offer at a population of 200k or less.
I'm still not sure that I'm ready to move home, though. Closer to home, yes. But home...maybe not.
I'm trying to narrow in on cities that would be within a 12 hour drive (or quick flight) from home, but have a similar vibe to Richmond.
My choices, I guess, would be:
Baltimore
NYC
Atlanta
Philadelphia
Boston
Providence
Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill
Charlotte
Charleston
Pittsburgh
Memphis
Nashville
Knoxville
Birmingham
Some, such as NYC, I can immediately eliminate because they're just too big.
Therefore, I have been looking at Memphis and Nashville. For those of you familiar with Richmond and one or both of these cities, how would you compare them? What would be the pros and cons of each? I really don't like to make a list, but since city data requires it, I'd be looking at things like:
Housing costs
Attitude of people (I like slow paced, laid back)
Entertainment/things to do
Architecture
Weather
Food
Traffic
...and anything else that you feel is relevant.
Would Memphis and Nashville be the best selections off the list, or would another city fit the bill? I basically like "character" and genuity; I don't like strip malls, chains, and "anytown" America.
Nashville is what most would consider to be more progressive and it's growing faster than Memphis. Memphis is a little more gritty with more steady, average growth. Both have a recognizable sense of place.
It's interesting, because if I think about it, Richmond seems to have qualities of both. Geographically, it's closer to Nashville. I think Memphis's downtown has more historic architecture relative to the entire downtown than Nashville's, which is a similarity it would have with Richmond.
Both have much to offer, but honestly I think you left a city off your list that, to me, comes closest to being Richmond's Southern counterpart: Louisville.
You're completely right; I did leave Louisville off, and it is closer in distance than a few of the cities on my list. I've only spent 24 hours in the city, but it did seem very similar in feel to Richmond. I will look into it, as well.
I think I'm VERY qualified to answer this question. I grew up about half an hour south of Richmond (Prince George) and have "visited" it literally hundreds of times for various reasons. Also, my mother is a Memphis native and I also lived for a year down there, in Southaven about 5 minutes from city limits. Numerous forays around Memphis too. Never been to Louisville but I did go to Nashville once and enjoyed it greatly. Now that all my credentials are checked out lol...
Richmond is the number one city on this list, with Nashville following at no. 2. Memphis is incomparable for many reasons that you have to actually "feel" out instead of them being told to you. As big as Memphis is, in pop and land, it has the feel of a small city everywhere except Midtown and the sections of Downtown around Beale. There is no cultural diversity there, it is about as standard and stereotypically southern as any place on the map. The city/county government are a mess, the school district is crap. They do have many DIFFERENT shopping areas, but not many high-end retailers. The city is depressing, its mired in its ghost (the 50s to 80s golden years), and is in population decline. The natives are very narrow minded, and thats putting it lightly. While Memphis and Nashville are similar size, Nashville blows Memphis away. I'll always love Memphis, I have great memories in my travels there. But it is to the South what Detroit is to the Midwest, no joke...
Nashville is in its boomtown phase. Very vibrant young population, and a diverse atrs community. Nashville isnt very urban outside of its downtown, however it is more urban than Memphis and offers more big-city amenities. The fact that it is an educated population helps too. The best thing Memphis has is U of Memphis, which in no way stacks up to Vanderbilt or Tennessee State even. Nashville has an increasingly diverse culture as well, and is on its way to Charlotte status...
Richmond, while being the smaller of these cities in all categories, trumps them all in everything else. The city is internationally recognized as a Gamma World City in 2010 for its prestige in federal government and finance, an honor neither Memphis, Nashville or Louisville has ever had. Richmond has the same amount of shopping as these other cities, but offers the luxury shopping of a bigger city like Baltimore or Pittsburgh. Like Nashville, it has very good institutions of higher education, which I'd give them a tie on. Out of the three cities I know of, Memphis feels small, Nashville feels progressive and almost on a Charlotte/Cincinnati wavelength, and Richmond feels much bigger than its city and metro pops actually are. Richmond is the winner here, and I think anyone with a fair analysis would tell you the same amongst these chosen cities...
^ How is Nashville more urban than Memphis when Nashville has a population density of 1200 vs Memphis with 2100? Nashville is as dense as the county that Memphis is in (Shelby County) So if you really want an accurate comparison, you'd have to compare Shelby County with Nashville, and Shelby County has 300,000 more people.
There are many parts of Nashville that feel suburban and sometimes even rural. Whereas with Memphis, it feels urban or semi-urban from Downtown all the way to East Memphis, and this is a huge chunk of Memphis that is fairly affluent. And if you think that Downtown is just the areas around Beale, then you're wrong. Ever heard of Mud Island? Nashville has nothing like it...
Harbor Town Community Association Memphis, TN | Flickr - Photo Sharing! (http://www.flickr.com/photos/49394874@N08/6261684194/in/photostream/ - broken link)
And please take a drive around East Memphis if you think that Memphis is the Detroit of the South. The area is almost too perfect. You'd never guess that you were in Memphis, but it's actually a pretty big chunk of Memphis. It feel suburban (as in older suburban, not new & cookie-cutter), but compared to most of Nashville, it feels urban.
^^^ man listen, I factor in population density, but it isnt the only factor to base this opinion off of. Yes Memphis is more dense, but Memphis is very rural in some areas. I have been all through Memphis, my favorite libraray in America is in East Memphis. East Memphis is largely affluent, but its old money, and more suburban than urban. And I said the only urbanity in Downtown is around Beale and towards Mud Island, yes. The rest of Downtown is projects, dirty alleyways and abanded warehouse. That picture you uploaded is worth a thousand words. What other US city with 600k+ population has a skyline that bland? The city itself is nearly half the metro area, which is telling of Memphis' spere of influence. Dont get me wrong, I love Memphis. But its certainly not on Richmond's level, and has been surpassed by Nashville for at least a decade...
^^^ man listen, I factor in population density, but it isnt the only factor to base this opinion off of. Yes Memphis is more dense, but Memphis is very rural in some areas. I have been all through Memphis, my favorite libraray in America is in East Memphis. East Memphis is largely affluent, but its old money, and more suburban than urban. And I said the only urbanity in Downtown is around Beale and towards Mud Island, yes. The rest of Downtown is projects, dirty alleyways and abanded warehouse. That picture you uploaded is worth a thousand words. What other US city with 600k+ population has a skyline that bland? The city itself is nearly half the metro area, which is telling of Memphis' spere of influence. Dont get me wrong, I love Memphis. But its certainly not on Richmond's level, and has been surpassed by Nashville for at least a decade...
If parts of Memphis seem rural to you, then Nashville is definitely rural. And yes, East Memphis is suburban, but it makes areas in Nashville look rural in comparison. The central library is kind of on the edge of East Memphis. From there, you can head East for a good 20 minutes and be surrounded by nice areas in the city limits.
And Downtown has a lot of ghetto nearby, but most of downtown is fine. The South Bluffs area is another nice area in downtown...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/suzannegrider/1962551800/ (broken link)
And yes, Memphis skyline sucks, but I could ask you, what kind of "city" with 600K+ only has a population density of 1,200? That's no city, more like a big sprawly suburb with a nice Downtown in the middle
Memphis is nearly half of the metro because it's not sprawling all over the place, which is a plus in my opinion. Yes, there is some sprawl, but the population is more compact and concentrated in Shelby County. If Memphis consolidated with Shelby County, like Nashville did with Davidson County, then it would have 300,000 more people than Nashville, but it would have about the same population density
and you dont have to say you love Memphis if you dont. The majority of your post indicates that you dont really care for it. Im not gonna lie and say that I love Nashville, because I dont..
What other US city with 600k+ population has a skyline that bland?
I don't really understand what skylines have to do with it (and "bland" is pretty subjective). Memphis's skyline is more or less appropriate for its size and has a couple of architectural gems.
The city itself is nearly half the metro area, which is telling of Memphis' spere of influence.
I think that's a good thing myself. It typically means there's less regional balkanization although that might not necessarily be the case for Memphis since the metro area extends across three states.
I really do love Memphis. But their glory days are past. The city is in disrepair. Sure, I'll say Nashville is more of an oversized suburb. But it is both more vibrant and more culturally diverse than Memphis. For people over 50, Memphis is probably the choice given the memory of Memphis' heyday. For us younger than 40, I think most people first think of Nashville when you hear "Tennessee". For those in between, its probably divided. Of course this doesnt encompass everyone, but I'd say thats a generalization of where the Memphis versus Nashville thing goes....
I really do love Memphis. But their glory days are past. The city is in disrepair. Sure, I'll say Nashville is more of an oversized suburb. But it is both more vibrant and more culturally diverse than Memphis. For people over 50, Memphis is probably the choice given the memory of Memphis' heyday. For us younger than 40, I think most people first think of Nashville when you hear "Tennessee". For those in between, its probably divided. Of course this doesnt encompass everyone, but I'd say thats a generalization of where the Memphis versus Nashville thing goes....
I do agree that Memphis has more challenges to overcome than Nashville or Richmond, and that's largely due to remnants from its history as a Mississippi Delta city.
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