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Opposite cities by about as much as one could think. Basically, I would recommend Jacksonville if someone literally hated everything about Seattle (or pretty much the entire PNW region)
Jacksonville and Seattle are both growing major metro areas with plenty of water in their vicinity, so I don't think they are truly opposites. Some of these posts seem to be depicting Jacksonville as an ultra conservative, static Deep South town, which is not even remotely accurate. It is certainly a work in progress, and has a lower profile than Seattle for many understandable reasons, but there are plenty of strong points that are helping drive growth in northeast Florida's major city.
For those who want to identify a complete opposite from Seattle, a declining, homogeneous small city with extreme weather far away from the ocean and any key points of interest would be a better choice - and that's not Jacksonville by a long shot.
Lol what does race have to do with anything? Why is any particular race worth bragging about? Very confused. If you want to argue cultural diversity, that’s one thing, but I doubt you’ll hear many people say “lots of [this race]” when discussing the positives of a city.
That poster is a black male, so I'm expecting that to be a personal preference. Calm down with your white fragility
To the poster (annie_himself) asking why these two shouldn't be compared-I don't think you're wrong that a number of people WOULD prefer Jacksonville-but the things that would make Jacksonville appealing and Seattle appealing are so very categorically different. It is effectively like saying "Which is better-New York City or Aspen, Co? Obviously those two are two different scales even yet, but the point is, yes a lot of people would definitely prefer Aspen.. but it doesn't mean it's a fit for comparison to NYC. The only 2 reasons I see these two coming up together, would be, if someone was unhappy living in Seattle and wanted to compare, or was unhappy in Jacksonville and considering the latter and wanted to compare. OR-if someone asked about an affordable, mid-sized city with affordable COL on coast in warm weather-in which case I would recommend Jax to them.
A more appropriate tiered comparison with Jacksonville might be Greater Jacksonville vs. Greater Hampton Roads (Virginia Beach/Norfolk/etc.). Still different, but similar enough in size and typology to where a fair comparison of pros and cons could be hashed out.
Jacksonville is a lot easier. The cost of living is a lot lower. The people are friendlier. The weather is better, all the Florida attractions are not far away. Seattle is faster paced and way more intellectual, urban, liberal etc. It also has a lit more tech related stuff. I would check out Kitsap County. You can take the ferry and be downtown in 20 minutes. Maybe Bremerton? The COL is a lit lower and you are close to Seattle.
That's the Jax tourism board official tagline lol. "Jacksonville: it's easier here." no kidding
Quote:
Originally Posted by stevielake
What's the restaurant and music scene like in JAX?
Whenever I think of Seattle I think of techies, starbucks, and grunge music.
The Jax community takes pride in its restaurant scene. I'd say it's maybe slightly above average for its size. Not really saying much but it's not lacking at all if you have the proper expectations. And this is with the restaurant scene taking HUGE strides over the last decade...prior to it was definitely lacking.
Music scene is about average as well. Lots of cool people doing cool stuff like anywhere else, but it's hardly a strong-suit. One big hurdle seems to be local venues to support these musicians. A number of longstanding, historic small venues that have catered to locals/indies have closed down in more recent years. Jax is starting to hold its own in the major venue circuit, nabbing a larger share of touring acts that used to skip the town, maybe that's where the shift has been?
Quote:
Originally Posted by jas75
Jacksonville and Seattle are both growing major metro areas with plenty of water in their vicinity, so I don't think they are truly opposites. Some of these posts seem to be depicting Jacksonville as an ultra conservative, static Deep South town, which is not even remotely accurate. It is certainly a work in progress, and has a lower profile than Seattle for many understandable reasons, but there are plenty of strong points that are helping drive growth in northeast Florida's major city.
For those who want to identify a complete opposite from Seattle, a declining, homogeneous small city with extreme weather far away from the ocean and any key points of interest would be a better choice - and that's not Jacksonville by a long shot.
I agree with your sentiments. It's hard to say "opposite" when you are talking about such multifaceted subjects. Sure there are many differences between the cities but there are some similarities as well.
Jax has mild weather by FL standards. Seattle has mild weather by northern standards. They both have tons of water activities. They are both growing very quickly...almost identical population percentage this decade, and really ever since the 80s (Jax's percentage growth is higher across the board but not by a lot). Large share of entrepreneurs (both have no state income tax and while Jax/FL is far more tax-friendly, Seattle has plenty of advantages in this area as well. On the tech front, Jax is 9th in VC funding per capita...not bad considering where they were five years ago) College football is pretty big in both cities from what I can tell. Anyway, just some thoughts...there's plenty of reason to say they are very different cities but there are similarities too.
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