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Overall, if your city has a below-average dating scene like the ones getting a lot of votes in this poll, you're not going to be "cool" with the mingling crowd, since the only reason why the San Antonios, Charlottes, Indianapolises, and OKCs of the world (namely their suburbs/exurbs) grow is for people escaping a higher cost of living city or even a college downtown for an affordable alternative as well as supporting a family, while working in a mundane role such as a sales associate, call center worker, or some other "back office" job. This results in a lot of watered-down, family-friendly entertainment from being the main events in a lot of these communities along with more time simply being spent at home watching TV, playing games, or enjoying social media. They don't provide emerging cultural scenes like the Raleigh/Durhams, Austins, Orlandos, or Boises do which have a larger percentage singles/DINKs. Jacksonville has the combo of both settlers and retirees moving in, and is part of the reason why I passed on a trip to that city later this year from my father who will have a conference there.
Idk if I would list San Antonio in the watered down cultural group and have Austin in the more family friendly group.
San Antonio has the richer culture and the more family friendly vibe. Sure Austin has a lot of bars which gives it a more vibrant night life, but San Antonio has a decent nightlife plus it has more cultural aspect to it. Plus it has a Six Flags, SeaWorld and Huge Schlitterbahn Water Park so San Antonio is as big or bigger weekend draw for Texas families than Austin.
Austin is getting better, but for a while it catered to a more niche crowd while San Antonio was more family oriented.
San Antonio and then maybe Charlotte. San Antonio was long the third metro in Texas, and has been surpassed in relevance by Austin even while itself growing at breakneck speed. It seems the clear winner (or loser) here. In Charlotte's case, it's relevance is not in much danger of being surpassed, and it's still speeding by national peers (as is San Antonio). But like SA, it's regional peers (namely Nashville and the Triangle) have caught up.
As for the two leaders, Phoenix seems similarly relevant as always. Cheaper alternative to living in Cali, desert alternative to retiring to Florida. As for Jacksonville, it feels like the 4th wheel in Florida, which it kinda always did. Not sure I see the argument for either to be honest.
I don't see how Charlotte could be viewed as a peer to Nashville or "The Triangle."
It seems CLT alone guarantees a high level of relevance. I've never really wanted to go there, but have been to CLT multiple times due to its primacy as an air hub.
That's not even getting into other things like the Lynx, Charlotte's tall skyline, its much larger metro population that's growing at a faster rate than Nashville's, etc.
So if the assertion is that Nashville and others have "caught up" to Charlotte in the same way Austin has to San Antonio, disagree.
I have to ask OP; do you really think that Charlotte isn't "building streetcars, high rises, and continuing to add big time amenities"? The fact that you've included it in your choices of poll cities would suggest that you do.
2006 Charlotte
Miles of streetcar--------------zero
Miles of light rail---------------zero
Buildings above 250ft tall------18
2020 Charlotte
Miles of streetcar--------------4
Miles of light rail--------------19
Buildings above 250ft tall---43
I totally agree that some cities simply add people without actually evolving into a "true city". I also agree that some cities grow without actually improving their stature and/or influence.
In Charlotte's case, that city had never hosted a major political convention back in 2006. All of a sudden, Charlotte hosted the 2012 DNC for Obama and was recently selected to host the 2020 RNC. How many cities go from hosting none of these type of events to hosting two in the span of 8 years? Charlotte is also hosting the 2019 NBA All-Star game (the city's second time hosting that particular event). Call me a homer if you wish, but I think listing Charlotte in this thread was a weird city to name. If anything, Charlotte and Austin are probably the fastest evolving midsized US cities right now.
As for transit beyond 2020, there are currently efforts to fund an ambitious $6 billion expansion of the current 19 miles of light rail. This plan would produce a system with over 50 miles of rail (light rail, streetcar, and commuter rail) by 2030. IMO, you might want to do a little more research on NC's largest city; Charlotte isn't just building a bunch of single family suburban homes. Far from it...
Taking this opportunity to acknowledge that this poster was correct in calling me out for the inclusion of Charlotte in the poll. On paper at least, it appears to be firing on all cylinders in metrics that supposed rivals aren't even the slightest bit competitive in.
If I redid the poll today, Charlotte, Phoenix, and Austin wouldn't be choices.
Re OKC, how is Scissortail Park doing? It looks like that plus Myriad Botanical Gardens are fantastic parks on the south side of Downtown, even the extension south of I-40 it appears. But there's not much around them in the Google Maps view.
Scissortail Park has been expanded to the south side of I-40 down to the river. Mostly a recreational park for ball fields and the like. The sides of of the park are slowly being developed. Lots of undeveloped area south of I 40. The original park is getting some development to the west in a large area that used to be industrial. It is called Strawberry Fields. The east side of the park got the hotel and convention center. There is some open area southeast of that area.
Assuming OKC continues to grow at it's current rate and doesn't boom or bust in a ridiculous manner...
it will probably take two decades for it all to be filled in.
I don't see how Charlotte could be viewed as a peer to Nashville or "The Triangle."
It seems CLT alone guarantees a high level of relevance. I've never really wanted to go there, but have been to CLT multiple times due to its primacy as an air hub.
That's not even getting into other things like the Lynx, Charlotte's tall skyline, its much larger metro population that's growing at a faster rate than Nashville's, etc.
So if the assertion is that Nashville and others have "caught up" to Charlotte in the same way Austin has to San Antonio, disagree.
Not sure I agree with your take. Having a taller skyline has little to do with what makes cities peers or else Austin, Nashville and Charlotte would have leaped frogged San Antonio a decade ago based on that logic. All three metros, Nashville, Raleigh and Charlotte are roughly in the same tier, with Charlotte being towards the top of course due to size and economy but both Nashville's and Raleigh's population and economy are growing faster percentage wise as of 2024 from my research. The gap may have been wide a decade ago between the three but it's not the case today.
Nashville MSA Emerges as One of America’s Fastest Growing Job Markets: https://www.nashvillechamber.com/blo...t-growing-job-
markets
"According to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, released earlier this month, the Nashville MSA saw a 10.4% growth rate from February 2020 through June 2023. That 10.4% growth rate ranks Nashville #4 of the 52 large metros, just behind Austin, Dallas, and Raleigh."
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