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With my limited time in Austin and many many time in Charlotte, Austin definitely has a better core.
Agreed...so does Nashville. Much more interesting, much more active, much nicer street-level experience and street-level architecture. Charlotte looks great passing by on I-77 at night, but actually being downtown on the streets is....a much different experience.
Tampa, a bit more debatable, as its core is still quite lacking.
Yeah, Tampa is hard to judge. It has a good sized urban footprint, but it’s spread out too much. Someone who lives in Channelside probably isn’t waking over to Tampa Heights though it’s one contiguous urban area.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Arcenal813
I'd actually add in West Palm Beach to this list, and either place it before or after Tampa, above Fort Lauderdale.
I made a mistake leaving off WPB. The last time I was there was about 5 years ago and it was starting to come together pretty well. At that time I think Sarasota may have still been better, but I’m sure WPB has improved a lot since. I’m not sure where it stands on the list at this point but it should have been included.
Agreed...so does Nashville. Much more interesting, much more active, much nicer street-level experience and street-level architecture. Charlotte looks great passing by on I-77 at night, but actually being downtown on the streets is....a much different experience.
So u haven't really experienced Charlotte at night especially Wednesday to Sunday because it's crowded and it extends way beyond uptown. The core includes SouthEnd, Plaza Midwood, Music Factory, etc and all those other spots and neighborhoods that I mentioned. I gotta post pictures lol. Yall trippin...
That being said, I actually like Midtown Baltimore. Great architecture, cultural district, and arts college (MICA) school of the Arts, the BSO. The Original Washington Monument. Diverse neighborhood, with a diverse selection of restaurants.
Yeah, Tampa is hard to judge. It has a good sized urban footprint, but it’s spread out too much. Someone who lives in Channelside probably isn’t waking over to Tampa Heights though it’s one contiguous urban area.
I made a mistake leaving off WPB. The last time I was there was about 5 years ago and it was starting to come together pretty well. At that time I think Sarasota may have still been better, but I’m sure WPB has improved a lot since. I’m not sure where it stands on the list at this point but it should have been included.
Right. I hope Tampa can get it together. Terrific urban footprint, but so much empty space, and quite frankly, just not easy to navigate.
As for WPB… It’s nothing to write home about, but it does a great job in terms of having decent retail, and being surprisingly walkable — something I found Ft Lauderdale to be sorely lacking in during my visit last weekend.
I don't know... All three (Tampa, WPB, and Ft Lauderdale) could do much better overall, considering how well Orlando and St Pete do in this department... I guess really it's a toss-up for me between those three, fighting for a spot above Jacksonville and Sarasota.
Last edited by Arcenal813; 05-06-2022 at 04:06 PM..
So u haven't really experienced Charlotte at night especially Wednesday to Sunday because it's crowded and it extends way beyond uptown. The core includes SouthEnd, Plaza Midwood, Music Factory, etc and all those other spots and neighborhoods that I mentioned. I gotta post pictures lol. Yall trippin...
What's your exact definition of "core" in this context? I enjoy the 5-7 block (depending on your surely liberal definition of "block") stretch of Plaza Midwood's 1 street of activity, but to call it part of 100 N. Tryon St.'s "core" is disingenuous at best. I won't even dignify your "Music Factory = core" section with a response because after reading such a statement, I can only assume you are quite young and have never actually been to a true city. Your only frame of reference seems to be Charlotte, so I do understand why you think it's the end-all-be-all of southern US happenings given its admittedly impressive interstate-drive-by-skyline!
Last edited by LordHelmit; 05-06-2022 at 05:15 PM..
What's your exact definition of "core" in this context? I enjoy the 5-7 block (depending on your surely liberal definition of "block") stretch of Plaza Midwood's 1 street of activity, but to call it part of 100 Tryon's "core" is disingenuous at best. I won't even dignify your "Music Factory = core" section with a response.
I'll chime in... Tryon has a more... Urban flare, I guess you could call it? Perhaps it's the corporate presence during the day, the student life at night, the nearby transit, etc.
It feels like an actual "city." Something I am just not finding in Nashville quite yet. Nashville reminds me more of a mashup of Orlando's I-Drive (Broadway) meets its Downtown (locals.) It just doesn't have that city lifestyle that Charlotte has.
That's just me though.
I'll chime in... Tyron has a more... Urban flare, I guess you could call it? Perhaps it's the corporate presence during the day, the student life at night, the nearby transit, etc.
It feels like an actual "city." Something I am just not finding in Nashville quite yet. Nashville reminds me more of a mashup of Orlando's I-Drive (Broadway) meets its Downtown (locals.) It just doesn't have that city lifestyle that Charlotte has.
That's just me though.
I feel ya. There is no question that Tryon in Charlotte has tall buildings and a M-F 9-5 "flare" to give you that big city urban canyon view and feel, but this thread is about Best Midtown/Downtown areas and I guess my standards are different than a normal CBD? I've lived in LA, lower Manhattan, Brooklyn and Boston and more, and spent tons of time in southern cities, so Tryon @ Trade etc is just a 9-5 corporate vibe at its best and dead at its worst. I would MUCH rather be on Broadway in Nashville or 6th St in Austin, or really any of the surrounding areas, than I would be in the heart of uptown Charlotte where nothing at all is happening. That's just me, though. I understand people have different peferences.
Which cities have the top amenities for residential, office, entertainment, hospitality and retail, in the southern US? If you combine their downtown and midtown areas--if the city has a district defined as such.
My top rankings would go like this, in 2022, in my opinion:
30 El Paso
29 Greenville
28 Knoxville
27 Virginia Beach
26 Winston Salem
25 Little Rock
24 Savannah
23 Chattanooga
22 Louisville
21 Jacksonville
20 Raleigh
19 Fort Worth
18 Oklahoma City
17 Charleston
16 Memphis
15 Birmingham
14 Orlando
13 Richmond
12 Tampa
11 St Petersburg
10 Fort Lauderdale
9 San Antonio
8 Austin
7 Nashville
6 Charlotte
5 New Orleans
4 Houston
3 Dallas
2 Atlanta
1 Miami
Thoughts and opinions?
This is a breakdown of number of walkable neighborhoods with at least a 80 Walkscore rating followed by population within those areas combined. Some cities have better Downtowns and Midtowns than others. I think walk scores tells us how walkable a city regardless of title for neighborhoods. Here I go with my list.
Miami 4 neighborhoods with 117310
New Orleans 20 neighborhoods with 95651
Austin 9 neighborhoods with 57406
Atlanta 13 neighborhoods with 48826
Dallas has 6 neighborhoods with 40680
Richmond 11 neighborhoods with 39587
Houston has 2 neighborhoods with 37539
Charleston has 6 neighborhoods with 16807
Savannah has 9 with 15502
Knoxville has 3 neighborhoods with 13098
Ft. Lauderdale has 4 neighborhoods with 10512
Louisville Ky has 3 neighborhoods with 10355
El Paso has 5 neighborhoods with 10276
Orlando has 6 neighborhoods with 9959
Charlotte has 4 neighborhoods with 9749
San Antonio has 2 neighborhoods with 6093
St. Petersburg has 2 neighborhoods with 6075
Nashville has 2 neighborhoods with 5806
Birmingham has 2 neighborhoods with 3872
Oklahoma City has 3 neighborhoods with 3551
Tampa has 2 neighborhoods with 3287
Ft Worth has 1 neighborhood with 761
The ones that where not mentioned do not have any high density areas that are totally walkable.
Last edited by mjtinmemphis; 05-06-2022 at 06:10 PM..
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