Match a city in the South with a city in the Midwest (live, compare)

[Nemean]

The Atlanta-Birmingham-Huntsville relationship is similar to the Chicago-Milwaukee-Madison relationship. Birmingham/Milwaukee are historically more industrial cities generally overshadowed by Atlanta/Chicago which have similar backgrounds to the smaller city and Huntsville/Madison are current rising stars for their states. You can even throw in Nashville/Minneapolis as a secondary bigger city in another neighboring state that's not quite as big as Atlanta/Chicago that grew up more recently with Huntsville/Madison as a city in between.

[sub]

Memphis and Milwaukee.
Similar in size and scope all around.
Infrastructure layout is comparable.
Hindered in one direction by a body of water.
Milwaukee is very northern and Memphis is very southern.

Some differences are that Milwaukee’s economy seems more diversified and more historically middle class. It’s also not nearly as run down as Memphis can be.

St. Louis and Little Rock, sort of.

DFW and Twin Cities. Not a perfect match of course, but not too much of a stretch when you think about it.

[FL_Expert]

Originally Posted by murksiderock

Someone has to explain the DFW/MSP thing to me...

The downtowns of Dallas and Fort Worth are ~30-35 minutes apart in normal traffic, over 30 miles apart. Both the downtowns of Minny and St Paul (10 mi); and the downtowns of Virginia Beach and Norfolk (9.7 mi), are ~15 minutes apart. There's a light rail line that joins the Minneapolis and St Paul downtowns, and the Tide light rail in Norfolk runs to VB city limits (though this is about 3½ mi west of Town Center VB)...

VB and Norfolk don’t have real downtowns so they're not comparable to MSP.

[murksiderock]

Originally Posted by FL_Expert

VB and Norfolk don’t have real downtowns so they're not comparable to MSP.

This is false...

[Somnifor]

While it is superficially tempting to match MSP with DFW because they are both twin city type metros, Minneapolis and Atlanta neighborhoods outside of downtown but within their city limits are very similar. They are both built out of the same late 19th early 20th century architecture and urban form. They both also have a ton of 21st century urbanist infill. Minneapolis is a bit denser because it was a bigger city back then but you could take pieces of Minneapolis and put them in Atlanta or visa versa and they would look like they fit. One is new south, one is new Midwest.

[SEAandATL]

Some more to add:

- Tampa and Milwaukee. Their downtowns looks similar but that's about it.
- Jacksonville and Indianapolis (also considered Cincinnati being a river city with bridges) but they also have similar looking downtowns, a finance industry, and though not in JAX but nearby in Daytona a large racecar track. They are about the same size/population in their city propers and metros.
- Louisville and Cincinnati. Mentioned earlier in this thread and the other. Pretty much in the same area.
- Birmingham and Dayton. Their downtowns also look similar.

[bartonro]

I'll try, admittedly some of these are a stretch. With no order:

KC and Dallas - multiple employment centers (Plano, Arlington, Frisco, KC KS, Overland Park, etc), Dallas Texans KC Chiefs history, BBQ, Great Plains proximity

St Louis and Memphis - both river cities, high crime, MLB/AAA connection

Chicago and Miami - both are probably the most urban in each region, skyscrapers on the water

Detroit and Atlanta - big music histories, Delta hubs, a lot of Detroit's AA population has roots from Georgia, I-75, sprawl, high crime perception, proximity to flagship university

Cincinnati and Louisville- This one is the easiest. Ohio River cities, both on the edge of their region with qualities from the other, MLB/AAA connection, proximity

Columbus and Austin - state capitol, flagship universities, similar size, both growing among the fastest in their regions, tech presence

Des Moines and Little Rock - both under the radar state capitols of small states growing at a good rate

Indianapolis and Nashville - state capitols, 2 of the big pro sports, I-65, proximity, growing fastest among its region

Madison and Colombia, SC - fast growing, state capitols home to flagship state university

Matches I can see but are harder to come up with reasons for:

Cleveland and Birmingham - Steel? High Crime?

MSP and Dallas - Twin Cities? Fast growing in their region?

Omaha and San Antonio - military (Lackland and Offutt), proximity to flagship state university and state capitol

Grand Rapids and Greenville - similar size, both are the biggest city in a region full of smaller cities (Muskegon, Spartanburg, etc), have a reputation for being conservative

Milwaukee and New Orleans - similar size, love for the NFL, slow growing cities

Couldn't think of a match for Houston, Tampa, Charlotte among others, or I thought a different city matched better.

[2000_Watts]

Originally Posted by SEAandATL

Memphis - also Detroit as they are about the same population and once thriving cities about 50+ years ago now decaying. Also potentially KCMO or St. Louis

St. Louis is the most correct answer.

KCMO & Memphis share more similarities than residents of either city would ever admit tho:

Both KCMO & Memphis metros are split along land based state lines (KCMO with the Kansas state line being MUCH closer to the core with populations split MUCH more evenly between states.).

Both KCMO & Memphis have a smaller satellite/industrial suburb/secondary central city across a state line (West Memphis vs. KCK, while STL shares this trait with both cities)

Both KCMO & Memphis have large, geographically disconnected suburban expanses within their administrative boundaries (Cordova/Wolfchase, Memphis vs. KCMO Northland)

Both KCMO & Memphis have massive South Side Suburbaghettos (Whitehaven, Memphis vs. South KCMO/Hickman Mills/Ruskin Heights; albeit with more Black affluence in Whitehaven/Southaven)

Both KCMO & Memphis are laid on massive street grids that reach well into the surrounding countryside (East & South Memphis, especially)

Both KCMO & Memphis are large logistics hubs, rail hubs, and are sites of major river crossings (Admittedly, STL also shares these traits with both cities)

Both KCMO & Memphis have high growth suburbs across a state line (DeSoto County, MS vs Johnson County, KS)

[Shakeesha]

Originally Posted by Nemean

The Atlanta-Birmingham-Huntsville relationship is similar to the Chicago-Milwaukee-Madison relationship. Birmingham/Milwaukee are historically more industrial cities generally overshadowed by Atlanta/Chicago which have similar backgrounds to the smaller city and Huntsville/Madison are current rising stars for their states. You can even throw in Nashville/Minneapolis as a secondary bigger city in another neighboring state that's not quite as big as Atlanta/Chicago that grew up more recently with Huntsville/Madison as a city in between.

These are the best matches I have seen.

[Shakeesha]

Originally Posted by ClevelandBrown

Cincinnati-Louisville is probably the most obvious since they are on opposite banks of the Ohio River and only a couple hours apart.

St. Louis-New Orleasn would be next due to the French history and being Mississippi River towns.

After that it gets tough, though agree that Dallas-Ft. Worth would be paired with Minneapolis-St. Paul for the dual urban centers and I guess both being on I-35 links them.

Columbus and Austin being large state capital cities that each are home to the state's flagship univesity who both are powerhouses in college football makes that a pretty good pairing.

I would say those are the best four, after that seems like some major stretches

Cleveland and maybe Birmingham? Both have steel histories and Cleveland was a destination city for blacks from Alabama during the Great Migration.

Detroit and maybe Atlanta? Detroit being the epicenter of R&B in the 60s/70s with Motown Records and Atlanta being the new epicenter for rap music.There is the flimsy both being located on I-75 comparison.

Indianapolis and Nashville isn't too bad of a match.

I would say Indianapolis and Oklahoma City is a better match.