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Most intellectually rigorous and highly ranked university - Rice - of any university in any of the cities listed - unless you give Duke to Raleigh. Largest and most varied museum district of these cities plus NASA and one of the largest, if not the largest medical center in the U.S. By far the best fine arts scene - legacy and living. The MFAH, the Menil collection, the Rothko chapel are all institutions with global reach and import. The De Menils were arguably the most important arts patrons, not called Guggenheim of the twentieth century. Houston is an international fine arts destination in a way all the other cities on this list are not, with the exception of some events in Miami. Probably also the best performing arts city and definitely the best live theater city on this list - homegrown and repertory. The intellectual/creative scene in Houston is not massive, but that is true for most places. Pound for pound for elite intellectual and cultural institutions and the kind of activities they enable, Houston is superior to any city on this list. Also the most diverse, cosmopolitan, and best food city on this list, which helps.
I would rank 'em
1.Houston
2. Atlanta - though for black cultural and intellectual life Atlanta would be 1
And then three is up for grabs depending on how you weight criteria. I can see plausible cases for third for the Research Triangle, but not for Raleigh on its own, Dallas, though the truly world class art institutions are in Fort Worth, Miami - overall an anti-intellectual culture, but a major fine arts scene and a truly terrific ballet company, Austin, though the museums are mostly mediocre, New Orleans which has great legacy institutions and a unique artistic culture...
But Houston and Atlanta are in a different league to the rest, and Houston edges Atlanta.
Houston gets points for Rice, but I think it could be argued that it has less of an impact on Houston intellectually and creatively compared to some other colleges/universities and their respective cities. Given Houston's size, it would need another top tier institution or two to contribute to a more intellectual vibe. It also does well with respect to arts museums/cultural facilities, but that doesn't necessarily correlate with a more creative culture; for instance, few cities outdo DC when it comes to that, but the culture isn't what most would describe as creative. For the arts, I think the presence of colleges/universities specializing in such and having a number of art galleries give a city more of a creative vibe than the presence of museums.
Ultimately, I tend to think of cities whose universities power their economies via the application of research in obvious and disproportionate ways to have more of an intellectual vibe. Boston is likely the best example of this in the U.S.; of the cities on this list, I think Austin and Raleigh/the Triangle are the best examples. Of the big cities, Atlanta seems to do this the best with GA Tech and the economic impact it has on the city with Tech Square and Emory and its relationship with the CDC. I think the dominance of the energy industry in Houston blunts a potential intellectual vibe from taking root. The presence of the TMC helps somewhat, but not in the same way healthcare and life sciences, due to the presence of Duke and UNC, impact the Triangle.
When it comes to creativity with respect to the arts, I think Austin is a good example with events like South by Southwest and Austin City Limits. The Triangle, primarily the Durham area, is underrated in this regard but is very much worth mentioning. VCU's presence in Richmond is another example. Music industry hubs like Nashville and Atlanta will have a certain creative element to them. Of course there is New Orleans which needs no explanation.
Pound for pound, I think Austin and the Triangle are probably the best answers here.
Houston gets points for Rice, but I think it could be argued that it has less of an impact on Houston intellectually and creatively compared to some other colleges/universities and their respective cities. Given Houston's size, it would need another top tier institution or two to contribute to a more intellectual vibe. It also does well with respect to arts museums/cultural facilities, but that doesn't necessarily correlate with a more creative culture; for instance, few cities outdo DC when it comes to that, but the culture isn't what most would describe as creative. For the arts, I think the presence of colleges/universities specializing in such and having a number of art galleries give a city more of a creative vibe than the presence of museums.
Ultimately, I tend to think of cities whose universities power their economies via the application of research in obvious and disproportionate ways to have more of an intellectual vibe. Boston is likely the best example of this in the U.S.; of the cities on this list, I think Austin and Raleigh/the Triangle are the best examples. Of the big cities, Atlanta seems to do this the best with GA Tech and the economic impact it has on the city with Tech Square and Emory and its relationship with the CDC. I think the dominance of the energy industry in Houston blunts a potential intellectual vibe from taking root. The presence of the TMC helps somewhat, but not in the same way healthcare and life sciences, due to the presence of Duke and UNC, impact the Triangle.
When it comes to creativity with respect to the arts, I think Austin is a good example with events like South by Southwest and Austin City Limits. The Triangle, primarily the Durham area, is underrated in this regard but is very much worth mentioning. VCU's presence in Richmond is another example. Music industry hubs like Nashville and Atlanta will have a certain creative element to them. Of course there is New Orleans which needs no explanation.
Pound for pound, I think Austin and the Triangle are probably the best answers here.
Fair point. It will be interesting to see what this development led by Rice does for the city.
But I don't understand what Austin has that DFW or Houston does not
For one, Austin has UT which is a highly regarded public research institution whose presence looms over the city in a way that none in Houston or Dallas do in those cities. The companies spawned by UT and those that set up shop in Austin are often tech-oriented and as result, the city has a highly educated population. That gives it more of an intellectual vibe compared to Houston which, as it was mentioned earlier, tends to have a more blue-collar vibe, and Dallas which has more of a corporate and flashy/preppy vibe. It would also seem that Austin's vibe is more creative, again with the research coming out of UT and, on the arts side, you have the formats represented by events like South by Southwest and Austin City Limits, plus other 'niche' events and venues. In terms of creativity as an approach to life as you mentioned, the rise of Whole Foods can't be omitted. That was Austin's way of using a supermarket format for a natural/health foods store and taking it nationwide by acquisitions and expansion. I don't think it's off the mark to say it was a pioneer in that respect.
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or how Atlanta has this in spades but the two big Texas metros do not.
I don't think Atlanta has it in spades, but I think it has an edge over the two big Texas metros, particularly Dallas. Dallas is pretty weak on the higher ed front which puts it at a disadvantage when it comes to intellectualism and at best it is even with the other two on the creative front. I think Atlanta has more of an openness to it compared to the other two due to its Civil Rights legacy and the fact that it serves as the default big city for a wide swath of the Southeast. That's a big reason why it has a large LGBT population and why its nightlife was historically notable.
That certainly looks promising. I do think Houston has some untapped potential when it comes to the practical and economic benefits its colleges and universities can have on the city.
At this point, Austin is in third place and the top contender in Texas when it comes to the subject at hand IMO. Why do you think Houston and Dallas are "undervoted"?
Combined they have 8 votes. Nashville has 11. That's not an onest vote.
Combined they have 8 votes. Nashville has 11. That's not an onest vote.
That's not an actual reason. You're not providing any actual justification for what you're saying. How do you determine what's an "honest" vote here?
Nashville having more votes than both is very understandable. Nashville has a large, robust collection of colleges and universities which is definitely a necessary prerequisite for intellectualism and its music industry and culture is one that fosters a level of creativity. Two of the city's nicknames are the Athens of the South and Music City USA.
That's not an actual reason. You're not providing any actual justification for what you're saying. How do you determine what's an "honest" vote here?
Nashville having more votes than both is very understandable. Nashville has a large, robust collection of colleges and universities which is definitely a necessary prerequisite for intellectualism and its music industry and culture is one that fosters a level of creativity. Two of the city's nicknames are the Athens of the South and Music City USA.
This laughable. As a person who has spent some time in both cities, to pretend that Nashville is culturally or intellectually in the same class as Houston is untenable, even in terms of higher ed. There are around 100K college students in Nashville, there are more than 300K in Houston. Nashville has around 30 nationally accredited institutions of tertiary education, Houston has over 100. Rice is almost universally higher ranked than Vanderbilt. The HBCUs are comparable. University of Houston is a bigger and better university than MTSU, and if you are going to count MTSU, you could count Texas A&M up the road from Houston, an R1 institution with over 50 K students.
Then there is the pesky fact, that Houston is a global city. There are over 80 foreign consulates in Houston, many with cultural attaches, who run film festivals, literary readings, theatrical performances etc. Nashville, count 'em, has five. Houston has multiple foreign language newspapers and radio stations. How many does Nashville have?
Nashville is a fun city with a truly great music scene, but its cultural and intellectual life compared to a city like Houston is distinctly parochial.
That Nashville has triple the votes of Houston on this thread tells me that the voters really have no clue about intellectual and cultural life.
I'm not sure Gainesville, university at all, is particulaly intellectual. The SEC is what it is and what it isn't is an intellectual or scholastic powerhouse. The state of Florida might actually he the least intellectual place on the planet, so UF is going to struggle in that milieu (even though it is by no means a bad school).
What, you don't think Florida Man is a creative intellectual?
Well maybe not so much intellectual, but he sure is creative in the ways he gets arrested
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