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Currently Nashville is at about 2+ million population and Austin is at about 2.2+ million population. Honestly anything could happen, but Austin will probably still be ahead. It really depends, Nashville is starting gain traction, so the gap may not be as big in a couple decades. One major advantage Nashville has is that there's no other major competition within a 200-250mi radius, excluding Atlanta.
Competition from nearby cities really isn't a thing. Coastal areas have taught us this.
As for sports teams, you have 4.5 million people between Austin and San Antonio with just one NBA team to show for it.... and a soccer team, but that's still nowhere near the level of prestige of the NFL, MLB, and even the NBA, at least on a nationwide scale.
The more I think of it, that region seems to be the next logical place to put a team.
Competition from nearby cities really isn't a thing. Coastal areas have taught us this.
As for sports teams, you have 4.5 million people between Austin and San Antonio with just one NBA team to show for it.... and a soccer team, but that's still nowhere near the level of prestige of the NFL, MLB, and even the NBA, at least on a nationwide scale.
The more I think of it, that region seems to be the next logical place to put a team.
I think MLS will at least be at the NHL level within a decade. I believe that soccer as a sport is more popular than baseball at this point, it's just a matter of MLS grabbing more of the share from Europe and Mexico. Austin FC could set a new bar for level of support in that league. There is no other city where MLS is the professional sports franchise, and Austin has long outgrown the time when UT athletics was treated as the local team. The excitement for the team is very visible. (Pretty much every bar with TVs has been packed during the two matches).
But beyond the two teams at the moment, I don't see any new ones any time overly soon. What would it take to get an NFL team going these days? I have to imagine it's a multi-billion dollar investment. I don't see anyone putting that down for a team in San Antonio. London and Toronto make more sense. If a team does eventually want to come, you probably put it on the I35 corridor (Kyle, San Marcos, New Braunfels, etc) and try hard to brand it as Central Texas. Otherwise I don't think you will capture both cities effectively enough for it to be worth it. No way would San Antonio Cowboy fans switch to an Austin team, and the majority of the Austinites that would travel to watch a San Antonio team would be transplants who are fans of the opponent.
I could see MLB in Austin being discussed in a decade, particularly if MLS is extremely successful. Unlike the Cowboys, the Rangers and Astros don't have much following here. Austin at this point has the corporate base to support MLB if they could get a stadium in a decent spot. NHL maybe could have happened if UT had decided to build an NHL-ready arena but I don't see it now as the venue they are building will be too small. Would have to think Houston is higher on the list there.
I thought Austin was already overtaken by Nashville lol. Both cities are growing fast, but Nashville seems to be growing at a faster pace, with so many highrises and apartments being built surrounding and in Downtown with many more proposed.
I thought Austin was already overtaken by Nashville lol. Both cities are growing fast, but Nashville seems to be growing at a faster pace, with so many highrises and apartments being built surrounding and in Downtown with many more proposed.
Not so fast. Both MSAs are growing fast but Austin is growing faster. In the last three years for large metros, Nashville was the tenth fastest growing metro with a growth rate of 5.56%. Austin was the fastest growing large metro at a clip of 8.37%. Since Austin was already ahead in population and GDP, the gap between the two MSAs is growing, not closing and if present trends hold that is likely to continue . . . https://learn.roofstock.com/blog/most-affordable-cities
Last edited by homeinatx; 04-26-2021 at 12:22 PM..
I thought Austin was already overtaken by Nashville lol. Both cities are growing fast, but Nashville seems to be growing at a faster pace, with so many highrises and apartments being built surrounding and in Downtown with many more proposed.
That's just not accurate. Austin is certainly growing faster in all of these categories, and has done so consistently for many years. Austin has a lot more high rise construction happening right now than does Nashville.
Comparatively, Nashville will be like a mini Atlanta and Austin will be like a mini Dallas. Like where Dallas pulls ahead of Atlanta, but not by a huge margin. At the most, Austin may be 500k-1mil more population than Nashville in the future, similar to how Dallas is to Atlanta.
Austin is in a league of its own. I am very surprised and I’m also surprised the growth has only accelerated. I didn’t even think it would maintain the status-quo.
Austin is certainly an interesting city in the United States to watch.
Not so fast. Both MSAs are growing fast but Austin is growing faster. In the last three years for large metros, Nashville was the tenth fastest growing metro with a growth rate of 5.56%. Austin was the fastest growing large metro at a clip of 8.37%. Since Austin was already ahead in population and GDP, the gap between the two MSAs is growing, not closing and if present trends hold that is likely to continue . . . https://learn.roofstock.com/blog/most-affordable-cities
It's difficult to argue with these facts. Truth is, Nashville's growth is impressive and it's amazing to see happen before my eyes... but Austin's growth is just that much more impressive. Both cities are on the up and up, but something drastic would have to occur for Nashville to be on a trajectory to surpass Austin anytime soon.
Metrics that favor Nashville are tourism and airline passengers, but that doesn't undo Austin's accelerating growth in population, economy, and high-rise construction. Nashville doesn't slack in ANY of these categories, but the gap between the two is noticeable. The same goes for pretty much any other mid-sized city as well when compared to Austin.
I thought Austin was already overtaken by Nashville lol. Both cities are growing fast, but Nashville seems to be growing at a faster pace, with so many highrises and apartments being built surrounding and in Downtown with many more proposed.
I didn't know Austin was ever ahead of Nashville? I think if lead with stats and not emotion and bias, it's clear Nashville has been and will remain ahead.
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