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So I use to live in Baltimore, and I've visited Charlotte a lot recently. I think both cities have a lot to like. I'm wondering which is the best overall. Some criteria to consider.
1. Downtown
2. Walkability
3. Economy
4. Transportation (car, and public)
5. Bars/Resturaunts
6. Safety
7. Suburbs
8. Scenery
9. Outdoor recreation
10. Friendliness
11. Climate
12. Architecture
13. Where would you rather live?
*I'm no expert on either city to be fair, so I'm sort of an outsider looking in. But I happen to have a good idea on both cities.
1. Baltimore
2. Baltimore
3. Charlotte
4. Baltimore
5. No clue, but I'd guess Baltimore
6. Charlotte
7. Baltimore (Thanks in large part to its metro being contiguous with DC's metro)
8. Tie, lean Baltimore
9. No clue
10. I'd imagine Charlotte
11. Charlotte
12. Baltimore
13. I'm not exactly crazy for either city, but if you made me chose, probably Charlotte (just to see what it's like, probably wouldn't be permanent). But based on this criteria, Baltimore would win this contest.
1. Downtown - Baltimore, slightly
2. Walkability - Baltimore
3. Economy - Charlotte
4. Transportation (car, and public) - Tie
5. Bars/Restaurants - Charlotte for restaurants. Bars, I have no idea
6. Safety - Charlotte
7. Suburbs - Charlotte
8. Scenery - Baltimore, only because of the water. Charlotte's is very green and beautiful
9. Outdoor recreation - Charlotte
10. Friendliness - Charlotte
11. Climate - Charlotte
12. Architecture - Baltimore
13. Where would you rather live? Charlotte, hands down. Not even close.
I agree that Baltimore is a urbanist's paradise as far as built environment is concerned. Baltimore is as urban as it gets! It is more urban than the majority of US cities. However, I would definately chose Charlotte over it becuase it being urban does not make up for things like high crime, blight, weather, etc.
As you mentioned, except for folks on these type of urban forums, most Americans are not looking for the "ultimate urban experience". But prefer clean, growing, modern cities that have a lot of upside economically and have decent weather with affordabilty. I think Charlotte fits that profile. Plus it's dowtown is pretty nice and offer at least some urban pleasures which is rare for a sunbelt city.
I was with him up until the last sentence as there are plenty of Sunbelt cities with nice downtowns offering at least some "urban pleasures." That's more the rule than the exception.
1. Downtown- Charlotte
2. Walkability- Baltimore
3. Economy- Charlotte
4. Transportation (car, and public) Baltimore
5. Bars/Restaurants Tie?
6. Safety Charlotte
7. Suburbs Charlotte
8. Scenery Charlotte
9. Outdoor recreation Charlotte
10. Friendliness Charlotte
11. Climate Charlotte
12. Architecture Charlotte
13. Where would you rather live? Charlotte
1. Downtown: Charlotte (More walkable and much nicer, but less things to do)
2. Walkability: Baltimore (Baltimore is one the densest cities in the nation, if that's your thing)
3. Economy: Charlotte
4. Transportation: (car, and public) Baltimore
5. Bars/Restaurants: Slight edge to Bmore because I love their crabcakes!
6. Safety: Charlotte
7. Suburbs: Tie (could live in either one's suburbs)
8. Scenery: Charlotte (Just all around prettier city)
9. Outdoor recreation: Charlotte (Love the mountains in an hour)
10. Friendliness: Charlotte
11. Climate: Charlotte
12. Architecture: Tie (Bmore for old. CLT for the newish)
13. Where would you rather live? Charlotte
2 different cities. People would probably end up choosing based on region of the country they want to be in. From Maryland originally, and have lived in Baltimore. I definitely could not live in the city permanently. I've visited Charlotte, and really liked it. It is a very clean, modern city, with very good cost of living. So based on preference/criteria, I'd probably choose Charlotte to live in over Baltimore, but because of region of the country (which is very high on my list of criteria), I'd ultimately probably choose Baltimore.
Charlotte to live in and it's not even close. Even with the better transit, Baltimore's a mess.
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