Metro Southern Areas in the 1 - 1.5 Million Range: Most Growth Potential (living, best)
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Which of these southern metro areas in the 1 to 1.5 million range (2020 estimates) are slated to have the most optimistic future?
Criteria is below:
*Best gentrification of inner city neighborhoods
*Best revitalization and development of downtown core for living/working/entertainment/social
*Best public transportation future and current options
*Best diversity in regional metro population
*Best culture in terms of museums, nightlife, and local in touch historical integration into the city
*Smartest growth -- green space incorporation, minimal sprawl and "leapfrog" development in region
Metro area options:
*Jacksonville, FL 1.6 million *right on cusp, so I included it
*Raleigh, NC 1.5 million
*Memphis, TN 1.4 million
*Richmond, VA 1.3 million
*New Orleans, LA 1.3 million
*Louisville, KY 1.3 million
*Birmingham, AL 1.1 million
Curious though how folks think Raleigh is doing in terms of cultural offerings, public transportation, preservation of green space, and building its downtown core?
I think older cities on this list like New Orleans, Richmond, Birmingham, Louisville and Memphis have a much better dense housing stock, as well as a better core downtown, than newer cities like Raleigh and Jacksonville.
All of these cities favor sprawl (especially Raleigh & Jacksonville), but I think downtown preservation, density and development are keys to balance for good growth.
Raleigh is the best city on this list for attracting jobs and creating a stronger economy than the rest. On this criteria, it leads the pack.
On the rest of the criteria though, I'm not sure if Raleigh leads, as much as it is perceived to...
Raleigh is only a separate MSA on paper; it is a rare case where the CSA (of 2M+) should really be thought of as the MSA for all practical purposes.
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