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Nashville wins this match up. Although I do like Cincinnati, Nashville is growing and its economy is red hot.
I agree with almost all of this, except scenery. I think the hills and Ohio River Valley around Cincinnati are very beautiful and make for amazing skyline views.
Also, maybe a tie for housing. Nashville has the better older SFH neighborhoods probably, but Cincinnati definitely wins in the urban housing stock with OTR.
The setting is one of Americas finest...walkable/bikeable to urbanCovingtin and Newport
Up the Miami River old industrial hubs of Hamilton and Middletown are rapidly rediscovering their riverfront urban bones...rapidly merging with resurgent Dayton.
Nashville does not have the same nearby urban districts.
Despite all of the praise that Cincinnati receives from City-Data users, it is a surprisingly threadbare city, both in and outside of its central business district. Many of the commercial and residential neighborhoods in and around Cincinnati city limits are in relatively poor condition by Midwestern standards. As a result, I am under the impression that there is a limited concentration of wealth and economic investment in the Cincinnati metropolitan area. Unless I am mistaken due to my limited experience in Cincinnati, the average visitor will be hard-pressed to find extensive tracts of concentrated wealth in the city and its suburbs, especially compared to nearby Cleveland, Columbus and Indianapolis. Even if they do, those areas are not going to be as well-coiffed as Chagrin Falls or Shaker Heights. IMO, the lack of investment in urban renewal and redevelopment in Cincinnati is more indicative of a lackluster economic, an apathetic voting bloc and corrupt politicians at the city and county levels of government.
Despite all of the praise that Cincinnati receives from City-Data users, it is a surprisingly threadbare city, both in and outside of its central business district. Many of the commercial and residential neighborhoods in and around Cincinnati city limits are in relatively poor condition by Midwestern standards. As a result, I am under the impression that there is a limited concentration of wealth and economic investment in the Cincinnati metropolitan area. Unless I am mistaken due to my limited experience in Cincinnati, the average visitor will be hard-pressed to find extensive tracts of concentrated wealth in the city and its suburbs, especially compared to nearby Cleveland, Columbus and Indianapolis. Even if they do, those areas are not going to be as well-coiffed as Chagrin Falls or Shaker Heights. IMO, the lack of investment in urban renewal and redevelopment in Cincinnati is more indicative of a lackluster economic, an apathetic voting bloc and corrupt politicians at the city and county levels of government.
This would be incorrect. Look at Hyde Park, Oakley, Mt Lookout, Montgomery. Even places that are not seen as the hip areas are starting to see investment in their business districts. Yes the city and county governments are pretty sad but there is a lot of development happing in and around the city.
COL: Cincinnati, I'm pretty sure.
Economy: Comparable, I think Cincinnati has better traditional economy network there with GE and P&G, but Nashville is bustling and with tourist economy present.
Climate: Comparable.. with Cincinnati with milder summers, Nashville with milder winters-maybe a slight edge to Nashville because Piedmont cities just seem to be so forested.. and you can get to climate cooling mountains faster from Nashville.
Crime: Nashville more violent crime rate overall but Cincinnati higher murder rate.. even because one can find plenty of areas to be safe in both.
Education: Nashville area for college, Cincinnati area for K-12 I think
Food/Cuisine: Nashville I would assume is attracting more foodie culture there overall, so I'll say Nashville. That said Cincinnati might win ethnic food, and I love Graeter's Ice Cream and Skyline Chili.
Housing: Both have good housing stock
Transportation: Not sure.. but from what I have heard, Cincinnati
Livability: Subjective.. but I think the living might be a little easier in Cincinnati
Culture: Cincinnati has better arts and high culture institutions than Nashville does, but Nashville literally is music city.. so I guess it depends on taste.
Location: I would tend to prefer the Midwest and Cincinnati's improved ability to connect to other major cities and regions... Cincinnati is also not much further removed from mountains/hiking than Nashville is, and it's a shorter drive from Cincinnati to a big body of water (Great Lakes, but still, plenty for me)
Shopping: I would pretty strongly assume Nashville here.
Sports: Close.. but for me Cincinnati because of the MLB. You can also more easily get to other cities/sports markets from Cincinnati, though Nashville that might be true with for college sports.
Things to Do: I don't think I'd be bored in either. Nashville might be more vibrant/happening overall being the IT city it is (I really don't think I've ever had my perception of a city change from "eh" to "maybe I need to get there for a weekend soon" faster, than when I was watching the NFL Draft in Nashville. That said, maybe Nashville, but both offer plenty.
Scenery: Hmm... can I say comparable for this one too? I think Cincinnati sits in a more immediately pretty setting.. but I think if taken out to the wider metro level Nashville has the edge. So I guess it depends on what we're asking. Cincinnati might be compared to Pittsburgh in this sense, whereas Nashville a little more akin to Atlanta, but slightly further removed from mountain scenery by comparison.
Outdoor Activities: Hmm.. this is again, where these cities are a pretty good pairing for one another. Even though Nashville will, of course, win the poll. But my point for Cincinnati here, is perhaps just the midwest in it, I perceive it as having a better parks and rec infrastructure than Nashville. Nashville though on the other hand,I think has more cool nature preserves, outdoor opportunities, one could do a half day or full day or weekend trip to within a few hours than Cincy does overall (though, being within a few hours of one another, they share many of these amenities.
Better Future/Potential: I think Nashville seems to really be on a springboard right now.. it gets more hype than just about any midsized city out there, and even many much larger ones. I don't think the future for Cincinnati is poor, just that at least right now.. it seems like Nashville is having a moment.
My natural preference is going to be for Cincinnati here probably as a northerner/midwesterner... just exudes an awesome sense of character. That said both these places intrigue me. I really do need to spend a weekend in Nashville to see what the hype is about.
I'm planning on visiting both (Nashville sometime before the end of next summer, and Cincinnati during the fall of 2021 when UCF goes up there next), and will hopefully remember to revisit this thread and update my thoughts once I do.
This is a good analysis of both. A few additions to your points:
Housing: Cincinnati's downtown looks like an urban, northeastern city. Awesome rowhouses, small streets and density. Nashville has a huge amount of dense single family neighborhoods, tons of craftsman homes and bungalows in very pretty neighborhoods.
Things to do: Agreed on baseball, Nashville does have SEC football (at least the visiting teams are good!)
Transportation and Livability: Neither city has decent public transportation to speak of. Both have some awesome walkable neighborhoods where you can walk to restaurants and stores near your home, but travel to other parts of town requires a car for remotely convenient living. That said, Cincinnati has the occasionally unnerving feel of a city with roads way too big for the amount of cars. It's the rare situation where the infrastructure seems way too large for the amount of people, so traveling around is easy. Nashville on the other hand has traffic issues.
The overall winner is Nashville but just like every debate here, the real winner is Cincinnati because one district in the whole city has townhouses.
LOL-I get that the forum has a leaning towards places like that.. but I'm not sure that's entirely fair to Cincinnati.. I think these two cities are similar enough and have certain advantages on the other to where they are in a similar tier, and leaning is going to happen one way or another depending on subjective taste or maybe certain niche preferences.
I'll make a point for each one. In the case of Cincinnati, as culture is defined by arts museums, performing arts, etc. (if it is, and not music which obviously Nashville would win), I think Cincinnati definitely outperforms Nashville and perhaps a number of other larger metros too.
...and though I guess this is more architecture, I feel like this goes along with "culture" moreso than music does (Music should be it's own category, or a part of vibrancy, entertainment, etc.) https://www.google.com/search?q=cath...WsoIu4jpfcCmWM
The north transept is said to contain the world's largest handmade church stained glass window, at 67 ft × 24 ft (20.4 m × 7.3 m).
I know, I know... I'm puting my biases on display here.. but I feel like that's what anyone could do here when some other categories are splitting hairs. It's not like we are comparing Cincinnati to Atlanta here, where, in spite of history or charm or anything else, Atlanta has undeniable advantages due to economy and size.
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I'll follow up with what the other poster just mentioned about SEC Football.. and I'll one up that and say, despite that Cincinnati and Xavier being somewhat fascinating, not just in football but as an overall college sports program... Vanderbilt is more compelling than any in Cincy.
Vanderbilt Baseball has a case to be considered the best in all of college baseball over the last decade, with two CWS titles, 4 appearances, and regional appearances in the last 10 years. Basketball has been decent in the past decade with 5 NCAA bids. Heck, they've even managed 5 bowls in the last 10 years.. which at Vanderbilt and in the SEC is nothing short of remarkable.
I have very limited experience in Cincinnati but visit Nashville several times a year. I wouldn't consider living in Nashville due to it being southern in nature. Cincinnati seems more midwestern and has more high culture that I like.
As far as breakdown of the economy and everything else, I don't know. Growth doesn't always mean anything when there are low wages and insane subsidies involved. We have to look at the whole picture.
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