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Not sure what math you've been using...Orlando and Tampa are 6 hours from Atlanta. Austin is 7 1/2 from New Orleans, San Antonio 8. Tampa is closer to New Orleans - by a good margin, than Austin is to ATL.
Orlando and Tampa are within an 8 hour drive of:
rest of Florida
Atlanta, GA
Charleston, SC
Savannah, GA
Charlotte, NC
Asheville, NC
Chattanooga, TN
Wilmington, NC
Birmingham, AL
Biloxi, MS
Mobile, AL
Myrtle Beach, SC
1 more hour to New Orleans
San An/Austin:
rest of Texas
Oklahoma City, OK
Tulsa, OK
Little Rock, AR
Fayetteville, AR
1 more hour to Memphis
That's about it. Favorite cities is subjective, but I clearly give central Florida the edge here over central TX. More diverse set of cities in more states. It's clearly easier to get out of Florida more than people think. Central Texas is perfect if you like exploring Texas...or Oklahoma.
Central Texas closer to Mexico yes, and central Florida is closer to the Caribbean, its the same thing. Orlando and Tampa also have more nonstop flights and more international destinations.
The only international destination that Austin has over Tampa is Amsterdam on KLM coming in 2022, overall TPA is stronger. Orlando is obviously a monster. Central Florida clearly offers more destinations overall both domestic and international.
So I'd say Central Florida beats Central Texas in both flying and driving. It is clearly not as isolated as people think.
SFB is basically one secondary airline - allegiant
SRQ is two hours from Orlando.
PIE has only 2 million in yearly passenger traffic.
So its really Tampa and Orlando. I'll given the FL combo the edge here.
None of the towns below are MAJOR cities,
Asheville, NC
Chattanooga, TN
Wilmington, NC
Birmingham, AL
Biloxi, MS
Mobile, AL
Myrtle Beach, SC
Don't try to sneak in New Orleans and Memphis lol with it only an hour farther than Austin to those towns.
You can't drive to the Islands lol and Mexico is much more important than the Carribean for trade and gets as much for tourism.
The rest of Texas without naming towns is misleading given the size of the state and its population
I-4 is kind of a big deal... The scale of the project is quite massive. (An additional 20 miles of work is in plans by the way.)
And if we're going to discuss tollways, the metro is no slouch either. Tons of work has been done in recent years, including the Wekiva Parkway and all. You're vastly underestimating the work that has been done (and continues to be done) in Orlando.
The widening of I-4 in Orlando, known as the “I-4 Ultimate,” is a massive, six-year reconstruction and expansion project that will transform 21 miles of highway – adding two tolled “express lanes” in both directions and rebuilding bridges and interchanges along the highway’s length. So tolled lanes ok
I was not underestimating anything becuse no detail was given on the scope nd no credit was given to what has gone on in Austin. What someone posted about Air connectivity was much more informative. Austin is playing catchup but has added capacity and voters just approved new funds. https://cities-today.com/austins-us7...t-from-voters/
You clearly don't know what you're talking about, but let's not let facts muck things up.
I clearly KNOW what I'm talking bout. Fiserv has offices everywhere big deal. KPMG does have a presence in Orlando which is significant.
But Orlando has got nothing the last five years of the size that central Texas has gotten:
Tesla plant is under construction - a 400 million investment;
TWO apple campuses worth over 2 billion, the second under construction.
Oracle Software moved their HQ there
Samsung Semiconductor plant, the only location outside of Korea; and TODAY, Samsung announced central Texas will be getting a SECOND chip plant, valued at 17 billion.
A new 524 acre film production campus in Bastrop, south of Austin was announced last month. This will be the second major investment in film production. Two prominent directors, Rich Rodriguez and Rick Linklater live and work there.
Netflix and Amazon Prime just leased more space there last month.
Other significant operations include VMware, Facebook, IBM, and Applied Material Devices, which for the latter, though based in San Jose, its CEO works out of Austin.
Plus Austin is the home town for Indeed.com, Whole Foods and Dell Technologies.
Water Street is the largest downtown development in the country.
I dont really care how much Austin is building. I know it's Manhattanizing. That doesn't make it special. Raleigh is just as red hot and isn't building a million shiny towers. Apple is bringing 4,000 $100k jobs to Raleigh, and that likely wont include skyscrapers, and who cares?
Austin, Tampa, Orlando, and San Antonio are all developing in different ways, but are all prospering right now. Yes Water Street is huge for Tampa, but it would be huge anywhere else. Nor is WS the other thing happening the Bay. There is much more happening in Orlando that whats seen in the core.
Austin is leading the pack and is an it girl city right now, but what is happening in Austin is not new or earth shattering. And it all looks the same and is putting strains on the infrastructure. It's not all positive. What's happening in Austin is remarkable, especially in such a short amount of time, but it is not king of the universe. I dont think Tampa or Orlando are concerned that theyre not throwing up as much.
Raleigh is nowhere near as hot as Austin, which back in the 1990s was the same size but the Texas capital has surpassed it. Just based on housing market appreciation, tells you Raleigh isn't growing s fast.
That said, between Orlando and Tampa, I think the latter is better place to live and work. Orlando is tourist and convention town, just like Houston is about the energy industry and healthcare
SFB is basically one secondary airline - allegiant
So what? They have one of their largest hubs there. Sanford also has several European charter Airlines.
Quote:
SRQ is two hours from Orlando.
But it's only 30 minutes from Downtown St. Petersburg, which is part of this discussion.
Quote:
PIE has only 2 million in yearly passenger traffic.
Again, so what? You're always preaching that Metro's need more than one Airport, this is Tampa Bays alternate Airport. Like Sanford, it's another Allegiant hub.
Quote:
So its really Tampa and Orlando. I'll given the FL combo the edge here.
How could you not? The Orlando & Tampa combo make Austin & San Antonio seem like mid-sized cities.
Quote:
None of the towns below are MAJOR cities,
Asheville, NC
Chattanooga, TN
Wilmington, NC
Birmingham, AL
Biloxi, MS
Mobile, AL
Myrtle Beach, SC
Don't try to sneak in New Orleans and Memphis lol with it only an hour farther than Austin to those towns.
It doesn't matter if they're major or not, they are all popular destinations for Floridians.
Quote:
You can't drive to the Islands lol and Mexico is much more important than the Carribean for trade and gets as much for tourism.
The Carribean is important whether you think so or not, and nobody has better connections to it than Florida. Quintana Roo is the largest tourism hub in Mexico, and Cancun is closer to Tampa & Orlando than Austin & San Antonio.
Quote:
The rest of Texas without naming towns is misleading given the size of the state and its population
Orlando is a vibrant, growing Metro area that also happens to be the tourism capital of the world. Thankfully, all of that is located in the SW corner of the Metro and 90% of residents don't even interact with it.
If the residents drive on I-4, then yes, they're interacting with the tourists.
The widening of I-4 in Orlando, known as the “I-4 Ultimate,” is a massive, six-year reconstruction and expansion project that will transform 21 miles of highway – adding two tolled “express lanes” in both directions and rebuilding bridges and interchanges along the highway’s length. So tolled lanes ok.
And you completely dismissed it and said it wasn't progress, before you even knew what it was. Yet Austin has still not addressed the deplorable I-35, the so called NAFTA Highway is a total embarrassment. Orlando is wrapping up the final portion of a complete Beltway as well.
Quote:
I was not underestimating anything becuse no detail was given on the scope
You never gave it a chance to be detailed, you immediately dismissed and minimized it.
Quote:
nd no credit was given to what has gone on in Austin.
They obviously haven't done enough, the traffic has become infamous.
I clearly KNOW what I'm talking bout. Fiserv has offices everywhere big deal. KPMG does have a presence in Orlando which is significant.
No, you absolutely do not know what you are talking about. You completely dismissed everything I mentioned about Orlando, and you have no clue as to what presence FiServ or any other FinTech firm has there. You also seemed to ignore the Defense Industry, including Simulation. You attempt to portray Orlando as a one-dimensional tourism town was weak and frankly, pathetic. And the link you posted re: Orlando's largest employers was so old it listed AirTran as a major employer, LOL!
Quote:
But Orlando has got nothing the last five years of the size that central Texas has gotten:
Tesla plant is under construction - a 400 million investment;
TWO apple campuses worth over 2 billion, the second under construction.
Oracle Software moved their HQ there
Samsung Semiconductor plant, the only location outside of Korea; and TODAY, Samsung announced central Texas will be getting a SECOND chip plant, valued at 17 billion.
A new 524 acre film production campus in Bastrop, south of Austin was announced last month. This will be the second major investment in film production. Two prominent directors, Rich Rodriguez and Rick Linklater live and work there.
Netflix and Amazon Prime just leased more space there last month.
Other significant operations include VMware, Facebook, IBM, and Applied Material Devices, which for the latter, though based in San Jose, its CEO works out of Austin.
Plus Austin is the home town for Indeed.com, Whole Foods and Dell Technologies.
Nobody ever claimed the bolded, including me. No city can really claim to match what is happening with the Tech growth in Austin. It's reached critical mass, and the State subsidies and tax breaks help fuel it.
SFB is basically one secondary airline - allegiant
SRQ is two hours from Orlando.
PIE has only 2 million in yearly passenger traffic.
So its really Tampa and Orlando. I'll given the FL combo the edge here.
None of the towns below are MAJOR cities,
Asheville, NC
Chattanooga, TN
Wilmington, NC
Birmingham, AL
Biloxi, MS
Mobile, AL
Myrtle Beach, SC
Don't try to sneak in New Orleans and Memphis lol with it only an hour farther than Austin to those towns.
You can't drive to the Islands lol and Mexico is much more important than the Carribean for trade and gets as much for tourism.
The rest of Texas without naming towns is misleading given the size of the state and its population
It doesnt matter if St Pete is one airline (really 4), dont move the goalposts. What matters is the destinations you can take from it, and the fact is St Pete, Tampa's secondary airport, has more destinations than San Antonios primary airport. That's a fact. You can fly to 0 Canada cities from San Antonio. You can fly to 3 just from St Pete. SRQ is 35 minutes from St Pete, which is next door to Tampa, it is in the Tampa Bay region, so it is central FL. Sanford is 25 minutes from Orlando. They all count.
You want to discredit that entire list calling them not major cities: 1. they are still travel destinations for the most part, especially Charleston, Savannah, and Asheville. Charleston had flights to the UK that were killed by the pandemic.
MAJOR cities aren't for everyone, nor does a city need to be major for people to be able to find something to do. There is nothing major about Jackson Hole, but look at where it puts you...To use your argument: all Austin-San An has is Dallas and Houston in that regard, both in state. OKC is not a major city. Tampa and Orlando has Miami-Fort Lauderdale, Atlanta, and Charlotte. So Central Texas still loses.
Not sure what your point is, I said add an extra hour to the 8 hr trip and you can get to Nola from Tampa. Add an extra hour to the 8 hour trip and you can get to Memphis from Austin. What is your point?
I'm not even trying to do a versus here, I'm just stating facts since you posted a bunch of inaccurate claims, I'm just countering them. You said Central Floridians had to fly to NYC, Boston, or Charlotte to get to other places. That clearly...is not true. If anyone has to do that, it is Central TX.
Also no one is crossing that border and taking their car to Cancun or Playa. People are flying. It is no different than flying to the Caribbean - which Tampa and Orlando have more destinations than TX has Mexico. Who cares about trade? In terms of this debate, Mexico is not "much more important." The Caribbean, with Cuba, the DR, PR, Jamaica, Bahamas, Grenada, Caymans, Aruba, Bardados, Turks, and Trinidad wins, easily. And Mexico is not hard to get to from FL. Orlando has Aeromexico too, and flights to Cozumel and Guadlarajara, which Austin does not have. San Antonio has has G-hara, but no Cozumel. And that's just flights, not cruises, which Tampa and Canaveral do have. And please lets even bring up the regions LATAM connections...none of it's a comparison here.
Sure Austin has a better tech scene or whatever and San Antonio has gondola rides, but when it comes to the topic of getting out of the region, you are not beating Central FL. You just simply aren't. Car, plane, train, or cruise ship, doesn't matter. Not saying Central TX is isolated, and obviously you have better west coast connections, but overall US and internationally, you are not being central FL in that regard.
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