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I don't believe that these states are very similar to each other outside of the areas of each state that border each other. As has been already mentioned, you can reach Philadelphia from Richmond in almost half the time that it would take to reach some of the areas of southwestern Virginia that you named. Also, I think that it can be said that a good portion of the state, maybe even more than half, never venture to southwestern Virginia. For many Virginians, Virginia ends somewhere in the Shenandoah Valley. Also, like many posters have mentioned, about 70 percent of the residents of Virginia live outside of the area that you are using to gauge the Virginia "feel". I think that it would be pretty difficult to get a feel for an entire state from the least populated region of that state. Let's not forget that the mountains serve as a physical barrier to that part of the state and that Appalachia has a culture of it's own that spans several states, Northern and Southern.
@Murk I agree that Richmond typically looks to Northern cities for inspiration in regards to future development. There have been numerous studies done by Richmond officials on cities such as Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, DC ect where we bring back infrastructure development ideas. This, to me, makes sense because Richmond is a much older city than some larger Southern cities. Just look at the way we are redeveloping our Main Street Station in the fashion of Reading Terminal in Philly.
The 95/64 Corridor in eastern Virginia has three metro areas of over 1 million, each separated by about 75 miles.
NoVa is approaching 3 million
Richmond is approaching 1.5 million
Hampton Roads/VA Beach metro is approaching 2 million
Transplants outnumber natives in HR and NoVa and Richmond is pretty darn close.
The western part of the state is I think what a lot of people not familiar with Virginia envision as the standard.
NoVa AND Hampton Roads AND Richmond are much different from those areas to the west of 95/64. NoVa is not, however, that drastically different from RVA and HR. That's another misconception people have of Virginia, that NoVa is the shining city on a hill in relation to the rest of the state. That may hold true for non urban Virginia but the other two metro's are firmly ensconced in the new economy and it's citizens are well traveled and prosperous, NoVa is the big brother but the two siblings are not that far behind.
There is nothing in Tennessee or Kentucky and pretty much never will be like the 95/64 Corridor in Virginia There are however many similarities between the rest of Virginia and those two states.
All in all I would agree with the prior poster who stated that Virginia is the outlier of the three.
@Murk I agree that Richmond typically looks to Northern cities for inspiration in regards to future development. There have been numerous studies done by Richmond officials on cities such as Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, DC ect where we bring back infrastructure development ideas.
That's great but Richmond is still a southern city that competes with other southern cities.
Last edited by JMT; 06-17-2017 at 05:21 PM..
Reason: Baltimore and New Orleans are not part of this thread.
These States seem very similar to me than they are different and I wonder what people would consider when choosing to live in either of these three States. All three are similar in culture, weather, speech, and are relatively close to each other. All three states have some Appalachian influence and Southern influence, and they all have mid-sized cities. I understand economy and jobs can drive people toward one state over the other, but are these States really all that different, broadly speaking?
Tennessee and Kentucky are similar in their offerings except Kentucky has no answer for Nashville, and no place like Memphis. Virginia is different than the other two. Virginia has a larger population, more urban cities, northern influence, and the people have different accents. Northern Kentucky and some of Louisville are very midwestern. Murfreesboro is the fastest growing city in TN. Bowling Green is the fastest growing city in KY. Falls Church is the fastest growing city in VA. Without NOVA, Virginia and Tennessee would be about even. I would rank the states:
Most of VA's populated metro areas (N. VA, RVA, Hampton roads) are more similar to Central Maryland (DC & Baltimore) than anything. Outside of that, its mostly like North Carolina in many suburban, exurban, and rural areas. Only the western fridges feel like West Virginia.
Kentucky & Tennessee are brothers. The eastern parts of both states are similar to West Virginia and appalachian in culture. The rest of the area is very Upper Interior South. Feels like a mix of Alabama and Indiana. Outside of Memphis, both states are very poor and mostly white.
Virginia is more diverse (especially in N. VA) and the state overall is more black. It is apart of the "New South" but the only area in this New South thats economically tied to the Northeast Corridor.
Virginia is southern Mid Atlantic, the other 2 are Upper Interior South.
VA is far more appealing in my opinion, one of my favorite states in the nation. The other 2 are just... blah
Virginia is the best of the three, on paper, until you consider that they have the most aggressive, arrogant and nit-picky traffic cops, and perhaps the strictest traffic laws, out of any of the 50 U.S. states. Plus, while western Virginia and southeast Virginia are mostly beautiful, there's too much hyper-political, type A, ex-"New Yawka" influence in northern Virginia for me to have any real desire to ever live there. Even in southeast Virginia, Williamsburg is nice to just visit, Richmond has beautiful architecture but not much more going for it IMO, and Virginia Beach/Norfolk is just a poor man's Florida. Now, to Virginia's credit, they have the most developed and advanced cultural, physical, transportation, and education infrastructures of the three states, and are among the most developed and advanced in these regards nationwide. UVA, Virginia Tech, University of Richmond, William & Mary, Washington & Lee, and George Mason are all well-respected on the East Coast; UVA, well-respected internationally.
Tennessee has Nashville, which is a booming city that can be exciting to visit, but is full of people who aren't generally as friendly as they think they are. Plus, I saw Nashville described here on C-D as, basically, an underwhelming Charlotte, and that might well be true, though Nashville is rapidly growing and evolving into its own thing. Memphis is a dump; a soul- and music-molded dump, but a crime-ridden dump nevertheless. Knoxville and Chattanooga are pleasant enough small cities, but both generally, "blah." Clarksville and Jackson are just ugly. Now, I do like their east Tennessee mountains (Smokies) about as well as the Shenandoah Mountains in western Virginia. Tennessee has a fairly advanced cultural infrastructure because of Nashville and Memphis; its physical and transportation infrastructures are above-average nationally, and the state does a great job of incentivizing its residents to attend community colleges and some state universities, though their K-12 schools are generally lacking in quality. Tennessee does also have Vanderbilt, which is one of the premier research universities in the world, and Rhodes and Sewanee are also respectable private colleges.
Kentucky is great in the sense that it's the easiest state of the three in which to escape from society, "the man," the grid, any of that stuff. I think of it as being the truest outdoorsman's paradise of the three states, if one is into that sort of thing and does their research. The Commonwealth also has arguably the most geographic diversity of the three states, or is at least tied with Virginia (Kentucky has bluegrass, knobs, and a sort of extension of the low-lying Delta region along the Mississippi River, whereas Virginia has the ocean and tidelands). But, eastern Kentucky is an impoverished dump full of people who have never left, but are hyper-defensive, to the point of being cranky or even hateful to "outsiders," about the area. I like western Kentucky alright, but that's really just because I have family there. Louisville has some of the most unpleasant people I've had the misfortune of meeting anywhere in the U.S., and Northern Kentucky (which is just Cincinnati south) isn't that far behind. Lexington is gorgeous, but also bland; it also has a strange combination of the snooty and the hokey/hillbilly. Its cultural, physical, transportation and educational infrastructures are the least advanced and developed of the three states, and rank among the worst nationally, although Governor Bevin (even more so than his predecessor, who also did a decent job) is striving to improve the quality of highways. While their K-12 schools and public colleges generally suck, Murray State is a decent regional university. Centre, Berea and Asbury are overlooked and underappreciated private colleges at the national level.
With all this said, I feel the most comfortable, the most "right" in Kentucky out of the three states. I just do. The state is full of oft-forgotten but still charming and friendly small towns that merit a visit if one is in the area; e.g., Paducah, Owensboro, Henderson, Russellville, Lebanon, Stanford, Frankfort (its downtown anyway), Berea, Burkesville, or London. I much prefer its small towns to its sizable metropolitan areas.
If I were to leave California permanently, I'd probably consider Arizona, New Mexico or Utah before considering a return to Kentucky or before considering a move to Tennessee or Virginia. Even as Southern tier states go, I'd consider the Carolinas, Texas or Oklahoma before any of the others.
Last edited by EclecticEars; 06-16-2017 at 11:44 PM..
Kentucky and Tennessee have more in common with each other than either does with Virginia, as a whole. However, Tennessee has consistently been a faster growing state than Kentucky for many years, and there is an exceptional momentum in the Nashville area that has no equivalent in the Bluegrass state. The lack of income tax on earnings, and having a long history of being right-to-work (only implemented very recently in Kentucky) give Tennessee a much better business climate. Also while eastern Tennessee has some very low economic status rural counties, they don't constitute as large a share of the state's population as those in eastern Kentucky, nor are they as isolated from interstate highways and metropolitan centers. Tennessee never had much of a coal mining history which unfortunately is associated with major social and economic problems today in parts of Kentucky and other nearby states.
In Kentucky's favor, I think the Lexington area is very visually attractive and appears to be mostly safe and prosperous with steady growth. Louisville has great cultural amenities, and Bowling Green and Paducah are doing just fine compared to other places of comparable size across the country. It's mostly the parts of the state east of I-75 (aside from areas close to Lexington or Cincinnati) that are a major drag on Kentucky's overall performance.
Knoxville feels like a larger Roanoke in that they are in beautiful valley settings, are somewhat gritty, and have surprisingly active downtowns. Bristol TN is Bristol VA, so that's easy. Blacksburg is Johnson city? I'll pair Lexington with Charlottesville as they are refined and horsey. Louisville and Richmond for the historic architecture and great neighborhoods. Memphis and Hampton Roads as they were born on the water, big industry is shipping (air vs ship). Also large AA population. Nashville is beginning to feel more and more like NVA for the new construction and aggressive economy.... I know they are nowhere near the same size - no need to school me on that. I would say Bowling green is like Murfreesboro but as the latter grows more suburban maybe cookeville. That leaves Chattanooga. can we find another city with a heavy industrial past that has reinvented itself?
Knoxville feels like a larger Roanoke in that they are in beautiful valley settings, are somewhat gritty, and have surprisingly active downtowns. Bristol TN is Bristol VA, so that's easy. Blacksburg is Johnson city? I'll pair Lexington with Charlottesville as they are refined and horsey. Louisville and Richmond for the historic architecture and great neighborhoods. Memphis and Hampton Roads as they were born on the water, big industry is shipping (air vs ship). Also large AA population. Nashville is beginning to feel more and more like NVA for the new construction and aggressive economy.... I know they are nowhere near the same size - no need to school me on that. I would say Bowling green is like Murfreesboro but as the latter grows more suburban maybe cookeville. That leaves Chattanooga. can we find another city with a heavy industrial past that has reinvented itself?
I agree with your assessment and fully understand the context of your comparisons. Chattanooga is a hard one to place, but the closest is New Port News given both cities post industrial similarities and railroad history. They are about the same size and have active downtown revitalization efforts, although Chattanooga's is further ahead. New Port News has the better transportation infrastructure and superior airport. Clarksville shares similarities with Paducah and Owensboro. The main difference between the NOVA and Nashville comparison is that Nashville is largely alone in helping boost it's states economic growth and development status, while Virginia has Virginia Beach, the cities making up NOVA, and decent growth in the Richmond area. Kentucky has Lexington, Louisville, and Bowling Green to help its lackluster economy. None of Tennessee's other metro areas are booming.
Knoxville feels like a larger Roanoke in that they are in beautiful valley settings, are somewhat gritty, and have surprisingly active downtowns. Bristol TN is Bristol VA, so that's easy. Blacksburg is Johnson city? I'll pair Lexington with Charlottesville as they are refined and horsey. Louisville and Richmond for the historic architecture and great neighborhoods. Memphis and Hampton Roads as they were born on the water, big industry is shipping (air vs ship). Also large AA population. Nashville is beginning to feel more and more like NVA for the new construction and aggressive economy.... I know they are nowhere near the same size - no need to school me on that. I would say Bowling green is like Murfreesboro but as the latter grows more suburban maybe cookeville. That leaves Chattanooga. can we find another city with a heavy industrial past that has reinvented itself?
Although they have key differences, I think Roanoke has more in common with Chattanooga than it does with Knoxville. Roanoke and Chattanooga have more of an industrial heritage and were large railroad centers. Lookout Mountain above Chattanooga has some similarity to Mill Mountain (with the star) above Roanoke. Knoxville tends to have more modern suburban development than either Roanoke or Chattanooga, and the population is younger as a result of the major state university.
The comparison between Hampton Roads and Memphis is interesting. They have some factors in common, but the Hampton Roads area is very transient and much less racially segregated than Memphis. One is a polycentric area that has a relatively small sphere of influence at the edge of the country; the other has a single hub that dominates over a large amount of centrally located territory.
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