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Culture:
Public School Systems (for those with children):
Economy:
Food:
Cost of living:
Crime:
Infrastructure/transportation:
Urbanity:
Desirable suburbs:
Climate:
I'll take Knoxville. Usually I'd go with the bigger city, but Knoxville looks much more intact and seems to have a better future. It's also somewhat close to other cities in east TN/western NC, and Appalachia interests me more as a region than the Deep South.
Culture: Memphis
Public School Systems (for those with children): Probably Knoxville
Economy: Knoxville
Food: Memphis
Cost of living: Memphis
Crime: Knoxville
Infrastructure/transportation: Memphis
Urbanity: Memphis
Desirable suburbs: Memphis
Climate: neither
I’d live in Memphis. It’s bigger and more interesting.
Knoxville has never resonated with me.
Culture: Memphis by far - the music history, impact and legacy of Memphis cannot be touched by many US cities
Public School Systems (for those with children): Knoxville - definitely better on the whole
Economy: Knoxville - not as many jobs, but in better diverse shape overall
Food: Memphis - can't get much better BBQ and country cooking than in Memphis--amazing!
Cost of living: close, but Memphis slightly lower
Crime:Knoxville better easily
Infrastructure/transportation: Memphis - definitely, just because it's much bigger and has the downtown monorail, the very cool and unique trolley system, and a lot more interstates
Urbanity: Memphis - just because it's so much bigger: 640k vs 190k
Desirable suburbs: Memphis-the Memphis suburbs in the east and in northern MS are super nice and highly livable and desirable. Knoxville is no slouch either, but Memphis is better
Climate: Knoxville; Memphis has that super muggy and super humid Mississippi Delta weather, where the summer lasts from March until November, sometimes. Knoxville is hot and humid too, but at least a few degrees cooler overall and the beautiful smoky mountains are within half hour
Knoxville edges Memphis overall for me, based on this criteria.
I could live in either city and in either suburb though. But would prefer Knoxville since it is closer to a lot more attractions, mountains and cities.
Culture: Memphis by far - the music history, impact and legacy of Memphis cannot be touched by many US cities
Public School Systems (for those with children): Knoxville - definitely better on the whole
I agree with both of those.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jjbradleynyc
Economy: Knoxville - not as many jobs, but in better diverse shape overall
Knoxville may not have as many jobs but it also doesn't have as many people without jobs. Knoxville's unemployment rate (July '21): 3.9%. Memphis: 6.9% https://www.bls.gov/web/metro/laummtrk.htm
Quote:
Originally Posted by jjbradleynyc
Cost of living: close, but Memphis slightly lower
Memphis has lower cost of living only because it has a whole lot more ghetto neighborhoods where houses can be bought for a song. And even the nice neighborhoods in the city are just a few blocks removed from ghetto neighborhoods, hence the lower prices which are more than made up in astronomically high property taxes. Memphis keeps jacking up its taxes to the point that people with money will continue fleeing to North Mississippi and Collierville.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jjbradleynyc
Infrastructure/transportation: Memphis - definitely, just because it's much bigger and has the downtown monorail, the very cool and unique trolley system, and a lot more interstates
Memphis does not have "a lot more interstates" than Knoxville. Memphis has I-40, I-55, I-22, I-69, I-269, I-240. That makes 6. Knoxville has I-40, I-75, I-81, I-140, I-275, I-640. Also 6.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jjbradleynyc
Desirable suburbs: Memphis-the Memphis suburbs in the east and in northern MS are super nice and highly livable and desirable. Knoxville is no slouch either, but Memphis is better
I would put Oak Ridge over any Memphis suburb every day of the week and twice on Sundays. Collierville and Germantown are nice, but they're not any nicer than Farragut or Maryville. The North MS burbs are pretty meh, no different from Knoxville's meh suburbs (Loudon, Lenoir City, Clinton). Memphis has absolutely nothing even remotely similar to Knoxville's many lakefront suburbs.
Memphis does not have "a lot more interstates" than Knoxville. Memphis has I-40, I-55, I-22, I-69, I-269, I-240. That makes 6. Knoxville has I-40, I-75, I-81, I-140, I-275, I-640. Also 6.
.
Memphis has interstates 55, interstates 40 and the newly formed interstate 22 and interstate 69 going through it's metro region. That is 4 major arteries.
Knoxville has 2 major arteries going through it--interstate 75 and interstate 40.
It's sort of cheating to say Knoxville has interstate 81, since interstate 81 starts about 30-35 miles east of Knoxville, not really in Knoxville.
Of course I suppose for now it could be said similarly about interstate 22 in Memphis--but I think it is planned to go over US highway 78, leading into Memphis.
The other ones you mention are "loops" or "spurs" of interstates that go around or near the metro area, so sure, they are highways, but not major interstates that run from one state to the next.
Both cities have interstate 40 going through them. One of the largest and busiest east-west interstate route in the US. Also, Knoxville does have I-75, which itself stretches from Michigan to Florida.
Culture: Memphis
Public School Systems (for those with children): Tie (KCS vs SCS+the suburban districts)
Economy: Memphis, it's larger and more diverse with more corporate HQs
Food: Memphis
Cost of living: Tie
Crime: Knoxville
Infrastructure/transportation: Memphis
Urbanity: Memphis
Desirable suburbs: Memphis
Climate: Knoxville
Memphis has more amenities as a substantially larger city, but I would easily choose Knoxville for scenery and better weather overall.
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