What city is most comparable to Nashville? (compare, places, population)
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1. Both cities are great examples of the "New South."
2. Both cities are viewed as desirable destinations in regards to pop culture and celebrities (movie stars, musicians, etc.). This is something that Charlotte, for example, can't really relate to. (No offense to Charlotte).
3. Both cities are famous for music. Southern hip hop in Atlanta and country/rock in Nashville.
4. Both cities are popular for weekend trips, even for people as far away as North Carolina (I can confirm).
5. Both cities have similar terrain, roughly. Atlanta is Piedmont with foothills in the suburbs, while Nashville has a lot of hills in some areas, too.
I can understand why Charlotte is compared to Nashville, but I think Charlotte is more similar to Dallas, actually.
Surprised Memphis wasn't an option, even if both cities are noticeably different in perception. You can find great honky tonks in the Memphis region just like you can find non-country talent in Nashville. Memphis is positioned to be "discovered" like Nashville was and regain its footing as equals. Both of course are in Tennessee, have their downtowns abutting a river with their CBDs a similar size, CST/CDT, have a pro sports team in an arena downtown, AAA baseball, and Lower Broadway/Beale Street are similar in function and form, and there's a B.B. King's blues branch and Hard Rock Cafe on each. They were more evenly comparable in a few decades ago, but it seems like that a lot of people want to weight down Memphis for Nashville's gain. Memphis isn't much less "New South" than Nashville is quite frankly, and it doesn't have a transit system and has no plans to start one, unlike Austin, Charlotte, or other sunbelt cities.
And Nashville has blue collar industry, such as auto plants for GM/Nissan, manufacturing for Dow Chemical and Cummins, and a noticeably growing logistics sector. Not as big as Memphis, but its certainly there, and its location where multiple major interstates crisscross doesn't hurt. Both are Bible Belt cities as well on I-40. The northside of Nashville has some rough neighborhoods just like south Memphis does. And the new African-American Music Museum shows that its celebrating black culture just like Memphis does, even if the media image remains skewed white for the time being for Nashville. Just overlook the Opry and you'll find that the two largest cities in TN aren't too different from each other, and assume Nashville is well ahead due to more 21st century McMansions and strip malls found there.
I'd say Austin for topography and scenery and Raleigh for demographics. Austin and Nashville mirror each other quite well with the scenery. Both have decent sized rivers running through downtown, both have rugged terrain to the north and west, Austin with the hill country and Nashville with the Highland Rim and Cumberland Plateau. Both have bar districts in the immediate downtown and vicinity, until recently with Austin's approved transit plan, both have one line of commuter rail. I've always looked at Austin as a more hippie less Black version of Nashville.
With Raleigh the population demographics are very similar as neither have are majority minority but both have fairly large and respectable Black and Hispanic populations.
1. Both cities are great examples of the "New South."
2. Both cities are viewed as desirable destinations in regards to pop culture and celebrities (movie stars, musicians, etc.). This is something that Charlotte, for example, can't really relate to. (No offense to Charlotte).
3. Both cities are famous for music. Southern hip hop in Atlanta and country/rock in Nashville.
4. Both cities are popular for weekend trips, even for people as far away as North Carolina (I can confirm).
5. Both cities have similar terrain, roughly. Atlanta is Piedmont with foothills in the suburbs, while Nashville has a lot of hills in some areas, too.
I can understand why Charlotte is compared to Nashville, but I think Charlotte is more similar to Dallas, actually.
I Can definitely see a Similarity with Atlanta from a Perception and topography standpoint, and they Both have "The Gulch" But a couple of Nashville politicians have explicitly stated that Nashville doesn't want to be like Atlanta, but there similarities nonetheless
I think it is most similar to Austin with a bit of Raleigh. Those three have a lot of commonalities.
All are state Capitols of southern states and have the "New South" thing going. All are fast growing in terms of population and business with rising national profiles.
All are pretty sprawly, but Nashville and Austin have better downtowns. And of course those two have similarities with music culture and vibrant nightlife.
Nashville and the greater Triangle are very similar in size.
Raleigh/Durham is actually pivoting towards biomedical and pharma tech at the moment. Billions in development just last year alone. Nashville leadership would be smart to get some of that pharma action as well especially with the amount of universities in the region. Does Nashville have an innovation hub or center tied to a university?
Yes - Vanderbilt has one of the largest recipient of federal medical research dollars and is also very strong in Grad programs for Education, law, nursing, and business. It also has one of the largest university endowments in the country and brings a diverse group of folks from the US and around the globe.
Probably Austin? Austin is a bit bigger, but Nashville was larger as recently as 2000 or so, and has more regional influence (thus things like pro sports teams). Both are big music hubs in different ways (Nashville is the center of country music and has a big mainstream recording industry, Austin has a very big indie, live music, and festival scene.) Both have quickly expanding economies. Both are very popular for three day binge-drinking getaways. (Nashville for the Northeast and South, Austin for Texas and the west coast). Geography is similar. I believe that both have similar numbers of college students in the metro, including two academically strong universities in UT and Vanderbilt.
In terms of differences, while both economies are thriving they have different strengths. Nashville has a little tech momentum but it's nothing like Austin which has been a tech hub for 30-40 years. (Raleigh is more similar to Austin in that way). Nashville has a more traditional, diverse, economy with a big healthcare presence. Austin is definitely the much more progressive/left-leaning of the two. Nashville is white/black, whereas Austin is 30% hispanic with a larger asian presence, but smaller than average black population. Austin is definitely a bit more crowded and developed at this point in time. Nashville is a bit more decentralized with a larger secondary city (Murfreesboro) that is further away from Nashville than Round Rock is from Austin. As mentioned, Nashville is more of a regional power, whereas Austin's regional influence is hemmed in by San Antonio, Houston, and Dallas. Nashville is historically larger and more significant, has more old buildings, etc.
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