Charlotte vs. Orlando vs. Nashville vs. Las Vegas (living, best, cost)
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First, I made this thread out of pure curiosity. I'm not seriously thinking about moving to any of these cities but I am very interested to see what the cities have to offer for a person in my situation.
So a little about myself.
1-I'm a married, 30 years old with one toddler.
2-Me and my Wife own a multimedia marketing company along with our regular 9-5 jobs.
3-We're African American
4-Very active in the local networking community due to our business.
So that's a simple rundown. My Wife and I live in Houston and prior to that lived in Atlanta. Due to our budget and being close to Family we really don't see ourselves living in too many other places in America at this stage in our life. I prefer big diverse metropolitan areas to reside in. Grew up in a small city so I'm good on going back to that slower pace of living. But with congestion and growing crime I'm entertaining the thought of possibly looking into cities I consider big ENOUGH. Just window shopping that's all. But tell me which city would you feel would be the best option or how would you rank each of these cities for a Black middle class family.
Traffic/commute-
Weather -
K-12-
Crime -
Cost of living -
Amenities-
Scenery -
Local culture-
Food -
Traffic/commute-Best traffic probably Nashville at this point--but it's getting worse as it grows and time progresses.
Weather - Las Vegas for winter and sunshine overall. The summers can be miserable, depending on your preferences. But the humidity is minimal, compared to Orlando.
K-12- not really acquainted with the schools, so cannot compare them unfortunately.
Crime - Safety is relative, and I would be most comfortable moving to any of these metros with a family, but Vegas would probably be last out of this grouping.
Cost of living - All similar in general and with housing, but Nashville housing is getting pricier as time progresses.
Amenities-Orlando has the sunshine, year round tropical and theme parks. Vegas has gambling and is close to the Grand Canyon Hoover Dam, and Utah national parks. Nashville has the incredible music scene, bars and general "down home" friendliness and fun. I'd say Charlotte probably ranks last here, but it is closer to the beach and the Smokies and Asheville in general.
Scenery - Charlotte and Nashville are in beautiful hilly and mountainous areas nearby. Vegas has some amazing desert scenery in the area. Orlando is pretty flat but tropical year round.
Local culture-I'd say Nashville is tops here. The incredibly rich country music scene and character of the region has built up a lot of down home friendllness and warmth, and something you won't find anywhere else.
Food - Nashville here. The restaurants in the region are just so good and the "meat plus 3" entrees and Nashville hot chicken are hard to beat.
As far as diversity goes, I think Vegas and Orlando might edge Nashville & Charlotte, although all 4 cities are good and growing with diversity.
In terms of economy, Charlotte wins out, followed by Nashville. Vegas and Orlando rely too heavily on tourism right now.
My ranking based on your preferences goes like this, for these cities--they are all very close, though:
I've lived in Orlando, live in Charlotte, been to Nashville many times, and been to Las Vegas twice.
Traffic/commute- Very hard to say. Best to worst, probably Charlotte/Nashville/LV/Orlando
Weather - Depends on your personal preference. Me, Charlotte/Nashville/Orlando/LV
K-12- Charlotte/Nashville/Orlando/LV
Crime - Charlotte/Nashville/Orlando/LV
Cost of living - I'm going to use buying power (COL vs. average income) Charlotte/Nashville/Orlando/LV
Amenities - Depends on what you mean by "amenities" (things to do? Health care? Transportation?)
Scenery - Charlotte Nashville tie/Orlando/LV
Local culture - A bit subjective, but I'd say Nashville/Charlotte/Orlando/LV
Food - Orlando (underrated)/Charlotte (very underrated) Nashville tie/LV. Really, all 4 have excellent food scenes. My wife and I travel extensively around the nation and experienced all 4.
Unique Recreational Assets With Universal Appeal - Orlando/Charlotte/Nashville/LV. This is based my personal preferences. I'm sure some are shocked that I put LV so low. But when you take gambling out of the equation, their assets dwindle. There's still a good bit to do, but compared to the other 3, they're last, IMO.
Overall - Charlotte/Orlando/Nashville in that order, but all are very close. I would recommend any of them. Las Vegas falls way below these as a place to live, again, IMO.
I've lived in Orlando, live in Charlotte, been to Nashville many times, and been to Las Vegas twice.
Traffic/commute- Very hard to say. Best to worst, probably Charlotte/Nashville/LV/Orlando
Weather - Depends on your personal preference. Me, Charlotte/Nashville/Orlando/LV
K-12- Charlotte/Nashville/Orlando/LV
Crime - Charlotte/Nashville/Orlando/LV
Cost of living - I'm going to use buying power (COL vs. average income) Charlotte/Nashville/Orlando/LV
Amenities - Depends on what you mean by "amenities" (things to do? Health care? Transportation?)
Scenery - Charlotte Nashville tie/Orlando/LV
Local culture - A bit subjective, but I'd say Nashville/Charlotte/Orlando/LV
Food - Orlando (underrated)/Charlotte (very underrated) Nashville tie/LV. Really, all 4 have excellent food scenes. My wife and I travel extensively around the nation and experienced all 4.
Unique Recreational Assets With Universal Appeal - Orlando/Charlotte/Nashville/LV. This is based my personal preferences. I'm sure some are shocked that I put LV so low. But when you take gambling out of the equation, their assets dwindle. There's still a good bit to do, but compared to the other 3, they're last, IMO.
Overall - Charlotte/Orlando/Nashville in that order, but all are very close. I would recommend any of them. Las Vegas falls way below these as a place to live, again, IMO.
I'm surprised, but not shocked. I think that you take gambling out of the equation and LV still has much more to do than any of the others unless theme parks are your idea of fun. Same for food scene. I don't think that any of the others are anywhere close to LV, much less putting LV last. It has quite a few Michelin stars iinm.
I wouldn't want to live in LV, but it does food and entertainment on another level from its peer cities.
weren't you looking at like Philly NYC and Boston a few months ago, this is a drastic shift to the sunbelt.
Anyway:
Charlotte
Vegas/Orlando
Nashville
Nah I was curious what those cities offered for Black middle class families but I wasn't serious about looking there. At this point in my life I'm definitely not interested in living in the Northeast based off a lack of family that way but it's something I would have seriously considered when I was single in my 20's. These sunbelt cities is just window shopping. Curiosity that's all. I'd probably be more serious about these sunbelt cities though more than the NE cities more so due to COL and distance from Family as well.
Food and culture mean a lot to most people, including African Americans. Nashville and Charlotte have a lot of soul food joints and there are several African, Middle Eastern, and Indian restaurants in both cities. Don't know if you go to church, but I would think Charlotte and Nashville would have better choices for an African American family.
Weather, scenery and amenities are subjective to me, don't know about that. I do love the desert landscape of Las Vegas, and I personally appreciated the year round mild weather of Orlando. It's a toss up for me:
Charlotte
Nashville
Orlando
Las Vegas
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