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I think that brand matters, regardless of any current reality in any of these places, and long term brand identity has deep roots in the consciousness of America. Among this list, Charleston has the oldest roots, while arguably Memphis has the most significant cultural roots over time. For that reason I'm voting for Memphis. Even with my vote, the irony isn't lost on me that greater Memphis is currently the most stagnant (growth) among the lot, with Birmingham running a close second. It just goes to show how important and long lasting some of these identities are.
I can't help but wonder if it was on purpose to compare Raleigh/Durham with this list. All of the other cities are legacy Southern cities that have much deeper cultural roots & identities, despite Raleigh/Durham (together) arguably being in a different tier than the others with 2.1 million people. Not so terribly long ago, the Triangle was smaller than all of them but Charleston. It's now at least several hundred thousand people larger than all of them, and much more than twice the size of Charleston.
It's true that the Triangle is newer than the others, but I included it due to RTP and the universities. Duke is arguably the best known college basketball program in the nation, and UNC isn't far behind.
People outside of NC aren’t as rabid college basketball fans. Do people even know that Duke is in NC anyway?
My guess would be that nationally people feel that Raleigh is a good place to live but they couldn’t tell you anything about the area. As someone who has been to Raleigh dozens of times, I’m hard pressed to create a mental image of the place. I’ve never been to Memphis but I can clearly see it (well what I image it to be) in my mind’s eye, if that makes any sense.
I voted Louisville because it is evocative as an old timey city with some new national buzz/brand recognition (there’s a new fox sitcom based there and that country song about the woman taking her Louisville Slugger to her cheating BF’s truck was a huge hit).
The Duke-UNC rivalry is pretty well known as being an intense rivalry. Anyone that watches ESPN in the winter is probably aware of Duke’s location in NC.
The Duke-UNC rivalry is pretty well known as being an intense rivalry. Anyone that watches ESPN in the winter is probably aware of Duke’s location in NC.
The Duke-UNC rivalry is pretty well known as being an intense rivalry. Anyone that watches ESPN in the winter is probably aware of Duke’s location in NC.
Agree it's well known, though I'm not sure I agree it adds a whole lot of name recognition/branding for RDU. I think in the scenario of this thread Raleigh is in the rare position of being an underdog. Not saying it doesn't have name recognition nationally. I do believe it is lesser known overall than Memphis and Charleston, and perhaps even Louisville. Certainly outside of college basketball, which isn't as ubiquitous in common culture as other sports.
Name recognition and branding always lags reality. The older south legacy cities benefit from their previous statures, where places like Raleigh, and a few other cities that have precipitously risen over the last few decades; are still catching up in that dept.
Oh I agree Duke-UNC have limited upside in making the area known in comparison to Ft. Sumter or Beale Street. I’d have both Memphis and Charleston above it for these purposes. But anyone halfway interested in sports knows Duke is 8 miles away from UNC.
College basketball is pretty well followed in this country. More people watched Virginia win the 2019 championship than Toronto win Game 6 that same year. UNC-Duke tv ratings are competitive with the highest rating non-Christmas regular season NBA games. College basketball is not college football, but it is a top 6 sport in this country more than likely.
Duke and UNC fans are common across the country. They have strong legacies (Coach K, Michael Jordan, etc.) and Kentucky is the only state that can truly rival North Carolina in terms of college basketball mania.
I don't know if the Triangle is an underdog compared to Richmond or Birmingham. Richmond, while underrated, is a city that most people don't know about apart from Civil War-related history and its proximity to D.C. Birmingham is famous for Civil Rights-related history and little else. If anything, all three are in the same boat in terms of recognition.
With that being said, I probably should have excluded Memphis from the poll.
I know Duke is in NC, but which little cluster of small cities is it? Like many people, I follow my state's teams a little, then watch snippets of the tournament, but I don't watch other teams during the regular season.
In a quick look, NFL game TV ratings seem to be multiples of NCAA basketball in the regular seasons.
PS, I know which cluster. Mostly because I watch the biotech/tech industries as a builder, and the Triangle has a presence in those categories.
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