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Columbia is more like a poor man's Raleigh than a poor man's Charlotte IMO.
You could say that, I see your point.
I had to go to the State House one day last week, and USC is far more substantial than I realized. Columbia has the perfect recession-proof economy --- the university, state government, a massive health care infrastructure with Prisma and Lexington Medical Center, Fort Jackson, and the behemoth that is Blue Cross/Blue Shield. People always have to have health insurance.
I had to go to the State House one day last week, and USC is far more substantial than I realized. Columbia has the perfect recession-proof economy --- the university, state government, a massive health care infrastructure with Prisma and Lexington Medical Center, Fort Jackson, and the behemoth that is Blue Cross/Blue Shield. People always have to have health insurance.
True. And there's a big EV plant on the way that will further diversity its economy and attract more private investment.
Maybe similar to Huntsville in a "strength of economy" category. But downtown Huntsville was quiet as a churchmouse, both times I went--and extremely under served with bars, restaurants and overall activity. I was expecting a lot more downtown.
I visited Huntsville in 2017 and 2019--before the pandemic. I was pleasantly surprised at the luxury level of their mall there on the west part of town though. And it did seem to have a good quality of life--a great city.
But the downtown, for me, and for the size of Huntsville, left a lot to be desired.
Chattanooga, in my opinion, is on a different downtown tier than Huntsville. I'd put downtown Huntsville alongside Augusta, GA or Macon, GA, or Murfreesboro, TN, Roanoke, VA or even Jackson, MS.
Chattanooga is in the same tier as Little Rock, Knoxville, Lexington, Greenville and Savannah. This is my opinion, based on downtown activity, energy and bars/restaurants, etc.
As for Knoxville, yeah, they can mostly hold their own against Chattanooga, but Chattanooga has more tourist traffic downtown, and I like their downtown a bit better overall, than Knoxville.
I have to say, I don't see the similarities between STL and Chicago. I think Milwaukee is a better fit for a poor man's Chicago.
I'm not sure what to compare STL to. In 2023 I might even call it a poor man's Kansas City.
That would be quite a reversal of fortune for Missouri's first big (and formerly biggest) city (but still biggest metro).
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