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This is a good comparison that I hadn't thought of. There are definitely similarities, but I personally have the same issue that they are completely different scales so they don't seem that similar in light of that. Baltimore is much bigger. I personally think that St. Louis (and possible Louisville or Cincinatti) are the most similar to Baltimore. when you consider size/scale.
(Urban Area)
Baltimore - 2.3 million in 717 sq. mi
St. Louis - 2.2 million in 923 sq. mi
Cincinatti -1.7 million in 787 sq. mi
Louisville - 1 million in 476 sq. mi
On a scale/grandeur perspective, St. Louis is for sure Baltimore's closest match. Cincinnati & Louisville while decent sized cities simply aren't in St. Louis/Baltimore's weight class when it comes "big city feel" so its hard to directly compare them in that regard.
If you put St. Louis, Philly & Norfolk in a blender, Baltimore is what you'd end up with.
True. Baltimore looks like a GIANT Norfolk, VA but with a future. Baltimore has nothing in common with the soft East, I mean North East.
Except historic ties dating back idk ~300 years, hundreds if not thousands of brownstones that still litter the city, major electrified rail, a subway (a blight ****ty), historic Art Deco skyscraper, a former heavy metal industry, shipping industry, historic train stations etc... etc..
I could go on but you get my point
Mobile Alabama was 10 and Boston was a 1, Baltimore would fall somewhere between a 4-3
Ethnic diversity is only one aspect of "urban" which Durham has, Charlotte annexed nearly it's entire home county which is why it has the overall numbers. That's like saying Jacksonville Florida is more diverse and bigger than Miami because they did basically the same thing Charlotte did.
Other aspects of "urban" are:
Higher education: Duke University (Charlotte has nothing to compare)
Fine dining: Durham has won multiple James Beard Awards (Charlotte has never won one)
The arts: DPAC is constantly ranked among the top 5 attended live theater venues in the country
Politics: Politics of "urban" areas are usually considered to be left leaning. Durham County is the bluest county in the state (Mecklenburg is a lighter blue than Durham County and only because of the minority population, were it not for the minority population Mecklenburg would likely be a red county just like every other county in the Charlotte region. Durham County is a darker blue county because they have a higher percentage of white liberals and other liberal minorities than Mecklenburg. Mecklenburg is the lone blue dot in a sea of red counties of the greater metropolitan area. Even so, Mecklenburg only when Democratic in the 2020 election by 30% compared to Durham County going Democratic by a whopping 62%. Charlotte is a much more conservative city than Durham overall in a much more conservative metro than the Triangle.
I would go by the actual definition of urbanity instead of this one. How much of the city percentage-wise... is urban? How many places are walkable and dense, and connected to residential/retail/commercial? I live here and I love the place but in terms of urbanity Durham is about the same as the other cities in the state. It's a sprawlfest with a small but vibrant core.
It's the grittiest major city in NC. It has more industrial bones than NC's other cities. People often mistake that for urbanity but it's not the same thing.
I agree with your other points. It's an interesting comparison and one I'd never thought of. Still, I kinda feel like a city with an actual harbor would compare better to Baltimore. I think the physiography of a city matters.
Ethnic diversity is only one aspect of "urban" which Durham has, Charlotte annexed nearly it's entire home county which is why it has the overall numbers. That's like saying Jacksonville Florida is more diverse and bigger than Miami because they did basically the same thing Charlotte did.
Other aspects of "urban" are:
Higher education: Duke University (Charlotte has nothing to compare)
Fine dining: Durham has won multiple James Beard Awards (Charlotte has never won one)
The arts: DPAC is constantly ranked among the top 5 attended live theater venues in the country
Politics: Politics of "urban" areas are usually considered to be left leaning. Durham County is the bluest county in the state (Mecklenburg is a lighter blue than Durham County and only because of the minority population, were it not for the minority population Mecklenburg would likely be a red county just like every other county in the Charlotte region. Durham County is a darker blue county because they have a higher percentage of white liberals and other liberal minorities than Mecklenburg. Mecklenburg is the lone blue dot in a sea of red counties of the greater metropolitan area. Even so, Mecklenburg only when Democratic in the 2020 election by 30% compared to Durham County going Democratic by a whopping 62%. Charlotte is a much more conservative city than Durham overall in a much more conservative metro than the Triangle.
Philadelphia is similar. (But DC and Baltimore are very close to merging)
Merging into what?
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