Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Birmingham-Toledo is definitely a better match than Birmingham-Cleveland.
I put out Birmingham-Cleveland because it was the only one I could think of for Cleveland.
To be frank, Birmingham's the most midwestern-like city outside of the border south. It's understandable if it's the fallback answer for any midwestern city where you can't find a more tailored answer. Outside of foliage this wouldn't be that atypical for the midwest. A lot of other southern cities have this too, but in smaller proportions since they had bigger boons in the later bigger lot eras of the suburbs. The main stick out thing is the low density, but if you note that 1) there's a lot vacancy in the older neighborhoods and 2) since land is cheap, they didn't build on the steepest slopes (and really pushed that in the 80's/90's for lot size), while it's still off, it's not as bad as it reads (especially as it's picked up on the smaller lot theme a lot of faster growing southern cities have had recently without having used up a good chunk of its nearby undeveloped land to the degree they did during the spacious lot trend). It's still primarily southern, but more midwestern traits than other southern cities since it's primary boom period matched more the midwestern era than the southern eras.
It's the first city to do cashless bail. Has arguably the most progressive mayor in the country (a socialist). First gayborhood in America. Tons of socialists and other far left democrats on city council.
It's the first city to do cashless bail. Has arguably the most progressive mayor in the country (a socialist). First gayborhood in America. Tons of socialists and other far left democrats on city council.
Yes Chicago is a (dare I say very?) liberal city.
I guess it depends what people consider liberal. Do you consider the average Chicagoan to be as liberal as the average Minneapolitan?
It's the first city to do cashless bail. Has arguably the most progressive mayor in the country (a socialist). First gayborhood in America. Tons of socialists and other far left democrats on city council.
Yes Chicago is a (dare I say very?) liberal city.
If youre talking a large percentage of the population on some type of government dependency, I'd say the liberal lifestyle in Chicago (and many larger US cities) is most certainly embraced. Get out in most higher income, less diverse suburbs, not so much.
It's the first city to do cashless bail. Has arguably the most progressive mayor in the country (a socialist). First gayborhood in America. Tons of socialists and other far left democrats on city council.
Yes Chicago is a (dare I say very?) liberal city.
One minor correction: Illinois became the first state to eliminate cash bail. It's not just Chicago or Cook County.
I actually like the DFW and MSP pairing. Not the least of the reasons being that they also both are on I35 and both have the rather unique I35E and I35E splits.
Detroit has more but Chicago's has a good amount. It was tough to match Chicago. Miami for the skyline but in some ways Houston as well, or even Atlanta or Dallas.
Cities across such huge and diverse regions as the south and midwest are gonna be hard to match, and especially for Chicago which is clearly top dog in the midwest in a way that there is no equivalent city in the south. Chicago has a 3 million population lead on Miami and its GDP is close to double that of Miami - not really comparable. DFW is still smaller in population and GDP to Chicago, but quite a bit closer than Miami. Ditto for Houston. But Miami has a few dense urban neighborhoods - South Beach, downtown, and increasingly Brickell that while not nearly as urban in built form or population as Chicago's loop or north side up to Evanston are significantly more urban than the most urban neighborhoods in the other largest MSAs in the south (and we are counting Texas as the south for this thread.) The most urban neighborhoods in DFW, Houston and Atlanta are Coral Gables urban or Wynwood, at best. And Miami has a line of skyscrapers heading north up the coast from the city like Chicago. So in terms of skyline and urbanity, I can see why Miami could be a contender.
On the other hand, it is simply too small in terms of population, economy and amenities to be like Chicago. It has no world class museums or high cultural amenities except perhaps ballet, no tier one universities. It has better beaches and a global brand in a way that the other big 3 don't quite have. Both DFW and Houston have more comparable legacy institutions and Atlanta has the comparable higher ed status.
So since Chicago has no peer city in the south, I can see arguments for Miami, DFW and Houston, depending on criteria, and less so, but still possible - Atlanta.
UsNews Top 30 universities:
Chicago
9. North Western
12. UC
Atlanta
24. Emory
I would say Raleigh- Durham Chapel Hill has the more comparable Higher Ed status:
7. Duke
22. UNC
Sure, but The Research Triangle is not remotely in the conversation if you are trying to match Chicago to a Southern city.
Emory and Georgia Tech is a combo that it is a helluva lot closer to Chicago and Northwestern than SMU and UT-Dallas or Miami and FIU. The top Atlanta universities are AAU members unlike those in DFW or Miami.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
