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What I said was the bulk of the arts and creative culture, not the bulk of culture in general...
Either way, I (mostly) disagree. This isn’t 1995. Structurally, Raleigh may have surpassed Durham though some of that is simply leveraging a larger footprint. But certainly in certain areas Durham is still ahead. But mostly they compliment each other. Raleigh’s deeper community theatre program is accessible to Durhamites and Durham’s unique Carolina Theatre takes all comers.
Given the poll has been couched to include both metros and specifically the greater Triangle, I don’t think there is much confusion of what one is voting for here.
This thread is ridiculously stupid, with homers out in full force. The truth is that of the cities in the list, it is between Houston and Atlanta, with DFW or Miami or NOLA third. Richmond is a a beautiful small city, but no one has had an idea there since Edgar Allan Poe. Raleigh, Nashville, Austin where I live - dumb as rocks once you get off campus - Tech bros are some of the most anti-intellectual people who will meet. Twitter was launched at SSW. No-one can have a thought in those character limits. They are all PODUNK country towns in comparison to the big 4, some with great universities. Intellectual culture is a minority culture in all cities, including London, Paris and New York. Numbers and cultural institutions beyond universities matter. Raleigh, Nashville, Richmond, Austin REALLY don't have them. NOLA is a singular place and always an outlier.
Intellectual Houston is more cosmopolitan than Atlanta, which is why it gets the edge...
I think the problem is that first you have two disparate ideas (intellectualism and creativity). It’s easier to the markings of intellectualism (universities, educated citizenry, leveraging brain power into some function outside the ivory tower). It’s harder to have a firm grip on creativity. Galleries and museums are everywhere, as are festivals and symphonies. How do you measure a city’s creative vibe? Not everything is ‘20s Paris. So we are meant to reconcile the competing ideas without a guide to how to go about that. Tricky business. Personal anecdotes and preconceived notions fills in the blanks.
This thread is ridiculously stupid, with homers out in full force. The truth is that of the cities in the list, it is between Houston and Atlanta, with DFW or Miami or NOLA third. Richmond is a a beautiful small city, but no one has had an idea there since Edgar Allan Poe. Raleigh, Nashville, Austin where I live - dumb as rocks once you get off campus - Tech bros are some of the most anti-intellectual people who will meet. Twitter was launched at SSW. No-one can have a thought in those character limits. They are all PODUNK country towns in comparison to the big 4, some with great universities. Intellectual culture is a minority culture in all cities, including London, Paris and New York. Numbers and cultural institutions beyond universities matter. Raleigh, Nashville, Richmond, Austin REALLY don't have them. NOLA is a singular place and always an outlier.
Intellectual Houston is more cosmopolitan than Atlanta, which is why it gets the edge...
This thread is ridiculously stupid, with homers out in full force. The truth is that of the cities in the list, it is between Houston and Atlanta, with DFW or Miami or NOLA third. Richmond is a a beautiful small city, but no one has had an idea there since Edgar Allan Poe. Raleigh, Nashville, Austin where I live - dumb as rocks once you get off campus - Tech bros are some of the most anti-intellectual people who will meet. Twitter was launched at SSW. No-one can have a thought in those character limits. They are all PODUNK country towns in comparison to the big 4, some with great universities. Intellectual culture is a minority culture in all cities, including London, Paris and New York. Numbers and cultural institutions beyond universities matter. Raleigh, Nashville, Richmond, Austin REALLY don't have them. NOLA is a singular place and always an outlier.
Intellectual Houston is more cosmopolitan than Atlanta, which is why it gets the edge...
This poll is truly risible.
What "institutions that matter" does Miami have, by the way? It is perhaps the least intellectual place on earth, let alone on this list. I actually think that Houston's creative and intellectual culture is underrated, but what exactly does Houston have that DFW or Raleigh do not?
Very good thread here. I think some people are sleeping on Nashville.
Having Vanderbilt and Fisk (one of the oldest HBCU's) is a solid combination for intellectual life. The two universities, along with many others including Belmont and Tennessee State, along with Meharry (big producer of Black doctors and then add the major Vanderbilt Health System - Rice in Houston lacks this even though the TMC is nearby) add to the special sauce that's allowing the city to thrive.
One thing no one has touched on yet is how the intellectual culture impacts city leadership. Nashville has had mayors who openly embrace intellectual/creative culture for decades. It's part of the reason why the rest of the country is just now catching on to how open the city is to these pursuits. The city also tends to speak with "one voice" when bidding for major events and corporate relocations.
People tend to compare Nashville to Austin, but Nashville in my opinion has a more entrenched intellectual culture given the prominent role higher education, government, and music have played in the city's development since at least the 1860s.
I think judging by the cities in listed in the poll Nashville, Raleigh, and Richmond are top three. Houston and Atlanta are very much up there, but are too diffused to have a cohesive intellectual/creative culture.
This is my sense, too, but I think that Austin really should be swapped with Richmond in your top 3. UT, the music scene, the political culture, and the tech sector are all things that Richmond really only dreams of matching.
This is my sense, too, but I think that Austin really should be swapped with Richmond in your top 3. UT, the music scene, the political culture, and the tech sector are all things that Richmond really only dreams of matching.
Richmond wouldn't be above Austin in this list, but I think you're underselling Richmond here. VCU's national profile is increasing each year, Richmomd without a question has the most prolific music scene in Virginia, and has a thriving tech and innovation community. It is far, far from the cultural backwater you're projecting, and any insinuation that assumes Raleigh has a greater creative culture deserves closer inspection...
This is my sense, too, but I think that Austin really should be swapped with Richmond in your top 3. UT, the music scene, the political culture, and the tech sector are all things that Richmond really only dreams of matching.
The political culture? Are you referring more to ideology?
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