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1. Future population growth. Will these cities/metros still be in the same peer group of cities with one another 30 years from now? Charlotte, Nashville, Austin, and Raleigh will keep chugging along.
2. Brightest future / economic prosperity - Charlotte, Nashville, Austin, and Raleigh. No clear-cut winner. All 4 doing doing extremely well with no end in sight.
3. Big city Amenities - such as parks, libraries, museums etc. - Charlotte, Nashville
4. Food/restaurants - Austin
5. Culture - I never answer the "culture" or "diversity" questions. Way to vague and subjective.
6. Cost of living - Kansas City, Columbus
7. Night life - , Nashville, Austin
8. Infrastructure - Kansas City
9. Crimes - Columbus, Raleigh
10. Diversity - NA
11. Education levels of residents - Raleigh
12. Public transportation - Charlotte
13. Health care - Raleigh
14. Street/road/highway congestion - Columbus
All 8 of these metros should do well for the foreseeable future to varying degrees. Charlotte, Nashville, Austin, and Raleigh moreso and Indy less so. These were some good comparisons!
I don't think Jacksonville or Raleigh belong here if talking metro areas, especially since Louisville is noticeably absent. Charlotte should win objectively if based on economic output.
Yeah, I know, in my mind I was thinking "Research Triangle" that includes Raleigh-Durham, and Chapel Hill and all the universitys, a metro population right at 2.1 million.
I picked Jacksonville because it's most recent population estimate has it right at 900,000 and it's metro area is right at 1.5 million in 2017, and it's been growing by at least 10% each decade since 1980. I thought the metro was closer to 2 million.
I thought about Louisville but it's metro area is right at 1.3 million and that seemed quite a bit smaller than the others.
Actually, I didn't realize that Louisville was that much smaller than Indianapolis. I thought Louisville was closer to 1.7 million.
I agree. I wish they would change it to include Durham. It makes zero sense.
I couldn't agree more. I always include Durham in the RDU area. I've dealt with the Census Bureau with this issue and other metros of the same reason and they never can give good reasons for randomly subdividing metro areas like this. Makes absolutely no sense on any level.
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To me, these five are already going at a full gallop:
Austin
Columbus
Nashville
Charlotte
Raleigh
And these three will be doing so within the next decade:
Kansas City
Indianapolis
Jacksonville
That being said, It seems to me the bloom is starting to come off the rose for Austin due to growth related issues, and I'm afraid that the same might be happening in future for Nashville as well.
To me, these five are already going at a full gallop:
Austin
Columbus
Nashville
Charlotte
Raleigh
And these three will be doing so within the next decade:
Kansas City
Indianapolis
Jacksonville
That being said, It seems to me the bloom is starting to come off the rose for Austin due to growth related issues, and I'm afraid that the same might be happening in future for Nashville as well.
Nashville has a while before its bloom fades. The city keeps attracting new companies and developers from out of state. The test will be the mayoral election in a few weeks. If Nashville elects the wrong candidate then the growth may stifle.
I couldn't agree more. I always include Durham in the RDU area. I've dealt with the Census Bureau with this issue and other metros of the same reason and they never can give good reasons for randomly subdividing metro areas like this. Makes absolutely no sense on any level.
I agree. I should have labeled it "Raleigh- Durham" or "RDU" or the "Research Triangle". But at the same, the title of the poll clearly says "cities/metros" . It's not like the poll title was labeled as solely "Raleigh" .
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Shakeesha
Nashville has a while before its bloom fades. The city keeps attracting new companies and developers from out of state. The test will be the mayoral election in a few weeks. If Nashville elects the wrong candidate then the growth may stifle.
IMO Nashville is going to face the same problems with transportation infrastructure that Austin is, and these are problems that are already getting attention in the media.
Austin
Kansas City
Indianapolis
Columbus
Nashville
Charlotte
Raleigh
Jacksonville
I thought it might be interesting to compare these 8 Midwestern and Southern cities/metros. Currently, they are about the same size in population and still relatively "new" to the "big city" game. They are "new" to being recognized on a nationwide scale as being a "big city". They all seem to be on the upswing and in a state of boom.
I left out Ft Worth because it's part of the 7 million Metroplex, whereas these cities are about 1.5 million to 2.5 million and do not share their metro with another major city.
How would you rank these cities in terms of:
1. Future population growth. Will these cities/metros still be in the same peer group of cities with one another 30 years from now?
Jacksonville is already not really in this group anymore and the gap will only widen. The rest will be about the same I think with Nashville and Austin closing the gap more, but slowing while KC and Indy and Columbus will see more robust growth in the next decade. Raleigh has comparable MSA numbers, but as a city (amenities etc), I just don't think it compares to any of these cities.
2. Brightest future / economic prosperity.
This is hard to predict, but I will go with the easy picks and say Austin, Nashville, Raleigh and Charlotte will continue to win this category, but things could easily change.
3. Big city Amenities - such as parks, libraries, museums etc.
Kansas City, then Indianapolis.
4. Food/restaurants
Kansas City (having a signature food bbq while also have a very diverse dining scene outside of bbq give KC the edge)
5. Culture
All about the same, but the smaller metros would rank lower (Jacksonville, Raleigh etc)
6. Cost of living
Again, pretty similar (KC is not as cheap as people think it is) while cities like Austin and Nasvhille are spiking in popularity, so they are getting to be more expensive for what you earn.
7. Night life
Don't really know. This depends on age. For example, Austin and Columbus are giant college towns, so if you are under 25, they would win. Nashville looks great if you are 21 and not a year older. The rest all seem about the same.
8. Infrastructure
Charlotte with their airport, extensive light rail etc.
9. Crimes
Too subjective and mostly doesn't affect people's lives in any city regardless of crime stats. None of these cities would bother me as far as crime.
10. Diversity
All pretty much the same IMO.
11. Education levels of residents
Probably Raleigh, Nashville.
12. Public transportation
Charlotte, followed by KC
13. Health care
Have no idea.
14. Street/road/highway congestion.
From my experience all are about the same except Nashville and Austin which have bad traffic.
P.S. I wanted to include Oklahoma City and Richmond. I don't know why but for some reason the poll wouldn't let me do 10 cities, so they were cut from the line-up.
OKC is somewhat comparable to Jacksonville and Raleigh, but it really punches below its belt. Richmond would be one of the smaller cities here, but it would compare to Indy and Columbus and pretty much blows away Raleigh and even Jacksonville.
I would choose KC out of all of these. KC is not my favorite city. Most of my favorite cities are coastal cities plus Chicago, Minneapolis and Denver. But KC beats a good portion of the cities between the coasts as far as amenities, things to do, pro sports, urban districts, architecture, just enough grit to not feel fake, but not so much grit that is feels ghetto. KC is just about right out of these cities.
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