Raleigh closer in stature to Austin or Birmingham

[murksiderock]

Originally Posted by JMatl

If you're implying I was doing that, you are way off. Richmond could thrive even more with better air service, there's no debate to be had. The fact that DC is 2 hours away is great for leisure travelers, but trust me when I tell you business people hate it. The differences between RDU & RIC are pretty dramatic in passenger #'s for two metros so close in size, with RDU having more than 3 times the passengers. On a positive note, I just saw RIC is getting their first nonstops to the West next month, to L.A. and Vegas on jetBlue. Hopefully the area will support them, this is a pretty big deal.

All I'm doing is pointing out that there is a correlation between RIC having lower passenger volume and fewer destinations, with being in a location directly abutting Washington. But I do agree more destinations from Richmond is a success and benefit for Richmond...

Originally Posted by Heel82

and now you seem to be straddling some line which only you can properly see.

Literally, you're the only person who seems to be confused by where I am on Raleigh. We're not derailing another thread with your penchant for incessant, needless arguing, bruh...

[Heel82]

Originally Posted by murksiderock

All I'm doing is pointing out that there is a correlation between RIC having lower passenger volume and fewer destinations, with being in a location directly abutting Washington. But I do agree more destinations from Richmond is a success and benefit for Richmond...



Literally, you're the only person who seems to be confused by where I am on Raleigh. We're not derailing another thread with your penchant for incessant, needless arguing, bruh...

Stop asking for how the Triangle vs Charlotte compare, or in this case where you ever said Durham and Raleigh are better viewed independently, if you are just going to ignore my answers. What’s the point of asking?

[Heel82]

I will redo list of amenities in the Triangle however just because:

- The largest collection of museums in the state are located here, with NC Museum of Natural History (1.2 million visitors), the NC Museum of Art (700,000), and the NC Museum of Life and Science (550,000) being the standouts

- The highest concentration of major college programs in the country, with 1.6 million seeing a Big 3 basketball or football game in 2019 and routinely seeing a title-competing team in one of those sports

- Hundreds of festivals in the area, with Moogfest, Hopscotch, Artsplosure, and World of Bluegrass being the most notable, the latter being I believe the largest festival in the state (I’ll name drop that I saw Steve Martin’s band here once)

- Cat’s Cradle and the Ritz getting most of the hype for local live music venues, but the Lincoln, Motorco, Pour House, and the Cave are also great and there are dozens of others I’ve never been to

- At least a dozen outdoor amphitheaters in the area, ranging from Walnut Creek (20,000) and Midtown (10,000), to Koka Booth and Red Hat, down to that tiny one in Cary’s Bond Park.

- Memorial Auditorium hosts NC’s symphony, an opera company, a ballet company, and a Broadway series, while DPAC is nationally recognized for attendance to its slate of a second Broadway series along with performers and shows; not to be overlooked is the historic Carolina Theatre which hosts several film festivals (Scorcese!), along with Durham’s own symphony and its own schedule of stand ups, singers, movies, and other performers

- Raleigh Little Theatre is the largest community theatre in the area (40,000+ attendees to a dozen annual productions), but there are over 40 theatre programs in the area (shout out to Sweet Bee’s in Pittsboro!)

- Over 12% of Raleigh is dedicated to parks, and there are nearly 200 miles of trails crisscrossing the region, with the Neuse River Trail (the longest greenway between DC and Atlanta I believe, which goes from North Raleigh -and full disclose, my neighborhood- to Clayton) and the American Tobacco Trail (from Durham to Cary) being the longest trails in the system

- The only two restaurants in the state to receive 5 Diamonds are in the Triangle; 4 Triangle restaurants received 4 Diamonds whereas no other region in the state had more than 1

- Ashley Christensen won the 2019 James Beard Outstanding Chef in America, and the Triangle routinely leads the state in Beard nominations and semifinalists

- The exhaustive list of panels, lectures, performances, screenings, shows, and activities at the 3 research universities each month is too long so it’s enough to say it exists

- Arguably the most important amenity a region could have is the public school system, so I’ll suffice to say arguably the two best school districts in the state are here; almost as impressive is the fact that one of them is in the top 15 largest systems in the country


That is an incomplete list of amenities in the area. And I think you can stack it up against Austin, Birmingham, Nashville, Memphis, or even Charlotte and see how it shakes out. It won’t tick all the boxes, but on balance I think it’s comparable to all-comers.

[Big Aristotle]

^^^
Not necessary, RDU as a metro has as much stature and more in certain categories when compared to peer-sized metros across the country, not only southern-peer cities/metros in the South. The only slight is lack of the "bigger" urban central city, however it has enough in that regard for most people...such an overrated metric in my opinion given my experiences having lived in large urban cities (and in the city).

Not to discount some of the amenities (and headaches) of living in large metro cities, it just isn't significant enough to demote a metros stature given the context of the city v citys being discussed. it's not like we're comparing Raleigh's urban area to NYC or Philly...that is an obvious difference. And to an extent, urban south and urban north are two different things but it's still urban.

[Mutiny77]

Originally Posted by Big Aristotle

^^^
Not necessary, RDU as a metro has as much stature and more in certain categories when compared to peer-sized metros across the country, not only southern-peer cities/metros in the South. The only slight is lack of the "bigger" urban central city, however it has enough in that regard for most people...such an overrated metric in my opinion given my experiences having lived in large urban cities (and in the city).

Not to discount some of the amenities (and headaches) of living in large metro cities, it just isn't significant enough to demote a metros stature given the context of the city v citys being discussed. it's not like we're comparing Raleigh's urban area to NYC or Philly...that is an obvious difference. And to an extent, urban south and urban north are two different things but it's still urban.

Looking at stature through the lens of all the "things" a place has, I think that in addition to the Triangle's decentralized nature, the lack of defining geographical features and more historic urban cores can be somewhat detracting as well. However, as I've said elsewhere, I believe the region's educational, economic, and QOL superlatives more than make up for anything that may be perceived as lacking on those fronts. It is those qualities that both undergird and drive the region's growth and prosperity, befuddling those who seemingly find zero appeal in a city lacking a large cache of older buildings or a nearby body of water or mountain range and nearly driving themselves crazy by their inability to comprehend the fact that others see differently.