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Popular TV shows like "Its Always Sunny..", "Mare of Easttown" and movies like "Creed" and "Silver Linings Playbook".
At best, its stagnated but not really declined in this sense; if we're only talking about population growth than yes but "relevant" can mean a lot of things....but my lifetime of 35 years, I can't see a decline, if anything I see a rejuvenation, and not just cuz I'm a homer.
This is a pretty good point that doesn't get brought up.
Mare of Eastown probably did for the Philly suburbs what all the Boston movies from the 2000's did with its working class neighborhoods.
Well, you started off the conversation saying no one around you (presumably in San Diego) talks about Raleigh, therefore it is irrelevant. You then threw in an off-the-wall LA Olympics bit to underline your point.
The fact is Raleigh likely isn't a place to be mentioned in San Diego. We don't have the Olympics (World University Games '29 though, so watch out lol). It's really just a normal mid-major region, whose bread-and-butter is an educated workforce, and has been one of the major areas for domestic migration (particularly on the East Coast) for several decades.
I agree it likely isn't relevant to you or your life. But people aren't just accidentally moving here by the hundreds of thousands. It has some relevancy to some people some where.
I don't disagree that Raleigh is rising in relevance, its GDP numbers alone show that, but its mostly the MSA/CSA and I'd argue the actual city is not very relevant.
The post I originally replied to showed Raleigh and Los Angeles in tier rankings with L.A. "staying the same" while Raleigh was rising.
I happen to think being awarded the Olympics is an indicator of rising relevance, more so than population increase caused by people moving somewhere for practical reasons.
Politically, I would agree if we didn't host 2 national conventions in the last 23 years. The State being one of the so called "Purple States"...its actually pretty relevant politically. The President lives in the Metro and has been in office for 10 of the last 14 years.
2 National Championships in the last 15 years; a notorious fanbase and teams that are always talked about. Its baseball, soccer and football team has made it to the finals this season alone. Villanova won two Final Fours in the last 7 years.
Home to some of your favorite rappers and entertainers as well; never mind Cooper, Fey, Kevin Hart, Seth Green, Dicky, Uzi, Pink and Meek; even Taylor Swift grew up in the CSA!
Home to Comcast, the largest Cable company in the US and UK. Vanguard one of the largest investment management companies, Amerisource Bergen (10 on the Fortune 500), DuPont, etc.
Not one but TWO Ivy Leagues in proximity and One of the big 3 Liberal Arts Schools.
One of the top 10 Children's and General hospitals in the USA that get patients from the world over.
Popular TV shows like "Its Always Sunny..", "Mare of Easttown" and movies like "Creed" and "Silver Linings Playbook".
At best, its stagnated but not really declined in this sense; if we're only talking about population growth than yes but "relevant" can mean a lot of things....but my lifetime of 35 years, I can't see a decline, if anything I see a rejuvenation, and not just cuz I'm a homer.
I see I should have plowed through the prior posts before posting my last one.
Some minor adjustments:
Comcast is also now the owner of one of the "Big 3" legacy broadcast TV networks, which also has a film studio attached to it. (One of the sitcoms on NBC had a storyline related to Comcast's acquisition of the company.)
All three of the following liberal arts colleges perennially make the top tier of small colleges in America: Bryn Mawr (one of the "Seven Sisters"), Haverford, Swarthmore. (Just curious: which of these was your "one of the Big 3"? All three are heavyweights.)
The Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania perennially ranks on U.S. News' Top 20 honor roll, and Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (the nation's oldest) often ranks No. 1 on that mag's ranking of pediatric hospitals. Biomedicine is one of this city's strongest suits.
And I don't know whether this counts as influence, but: The city remains the birthplace of the nation. That's a historical legacy, sure, but it does help raise its profile.
Oprah, Belushi, etc., did not Chicago make. Stars are moving out of LA, as well, does that mean it's lost relevance? Didn't think so. As far as the real things a city is rated by (business, etc.), Chicago is still an Alpha city. I hope I don't have to say that again. Daytime talk shows don't have as much relevance as finance, etc. ER? Seriously?
Cultural relevance matters (arguably) as much as economic relevance...this thread didn't specify a focus out of those two options, and it's only natural that people would tend to fixate more on the cultural end of things (since that is what they know without having to make the effort of research), though there've been several good economically-related posts in this thread, such as the list of the top 75 metros by GDP in 2001 vs 2021, and MarketStEl's overview of KC's economy....
I've been to Research Triangle Park a few times for work. Its definitely been a booming area but kind of dull. A lot of jobs, and more affordable nice suburban homes. Its great a place to raise a family it seems.
A friend of mine compared Raleigh favorably to Buffalo's largest suburb (Amherst, population 125k or so). It wasn't meant to be a 'serious' comparison, but just as a way of explaining/communicating the vibe of the place. So, not exactly a ringing endorsement. And that may be the only time I've ever experienced Raleigh as a conversational topic in 36 years of life in metro Buffalo, so, masssachoicetts, the lack of 'everyday attention' paid to Raleigh is not purely a Californian phenomenon (despite the obvious growth of Raleigh/the Triangle in recent decades)
I agree. Raleigh also had a blossoming Tech scene before the tech slow down. Not sure if it was affected but I know the tech scene was significant there.
But yeah, Raleigh is definitely in the picture on life Sciences.
You got to be under a rock to not have heard of the research triangle or of Duke University and UNC Chapel Hill.
That area has a booming economy with a bigger than expected per capita GDP
Probably >90% of non-North Carolinian Americans wouldn't be able to tell you that Duke and UNC are located in the same metro area as Raleigh...remember, the vast majority of humans aren't the nerds that we denizens of City-Data are.
Raleigh still doesn't have much of a national profile. Sure it has a big one in NC and nearby states, but does it have a big one outside of the south? Probably not. And I struggle to thibk of something Raleigh is very known for.
I am BY NO MEANS saying Raleigh sucks, as I'm sure it is a decent city. Just that while it might be fast growing, it doesn't seem to get discussed often. Not to the extent i.e. Nashville and Austin get discussed, anyway.
Btw while these places haven't totally faded, I'd say places like Akron and Buffalo don't have the prominence they used to decades ago. I'd also say South Bend while it hasn't lost all national prominence, has less than it used to have. Till the 1960s, South Bend had the headquarters of car company Studebaker. The Studebaker Museum btw is VERY worth checking out, if you're in South Bend.
You know how celebrities have a Q Score, which (supposedly) measures the familiarity/impact of their personal brand? I think if something similar were created for American cities in 2023, Buffalo's Q Score would still crush Raleigh's, even though Raleigh is objectively the more 'relevant' of the two places in terms of economic impact and the fact that it presents as a desirable relocation destination for many.
I don't disagree that Raleigh is rising in relevance, its GDP numbers alone show that, but its mostly the MSA/CSA and I'd argue the actual city is not very relevant.
The post I originally replied to showed Raleigh and Los Angeles in tier rankings with L.A. "staying the same" while Raleigh was rising.
I happen to think being awarded the Olympics is an indicator of rising relevance, more so than population increase caused by people moving somewhere for practical reasons.
I get your point, and I agree, but it's also a little hard to compare a city like Raleigh with LA. LA has always been a Tier 1 city in most of our lifetimes (Hollywood, glamour, etc.), so it's always been highly relevant and there's only so much it can "rise" in terms of relevance.
Raleigh was pretty much a small town that most people nationally wouldn't have known much about 20-30 years ago. So it's "rise" in relevance may be more noticeable than LA's, simply because LA has always been near the very top, so there's not a whole lot of room for it to increase its relevance.
I think that may have been what the post is getting at.
The Triangle’s largest pull is definitely along the East Coast. The Park and the universities created an educated white-collar environment that does well pulling businesses and transplants. It’s been particularly attractive to those leaving hcol cities in the Northeast. The cultural cache isn’t there yet, but as I said elsewhere culture follows economics. The Triangle’s profile will only grow.
Sometimes it's the other way around (economics following culture). See Florida, Richard
Even won the Stanley Cup. But Tobacco Road is still our bread-and-butter for sports. That said, the Triangle does have the most famous minor league baseball team in America.
Albuquerque Isotopes have to get the nod for second-most-famous, one would think, heh.
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