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This is a terrible comparison to begin with. Charlotte is a very nice city, but comparing it to a metro of 4 million more people is no fair. Compare it to Austin or Nashville or San Antonio.
If Houston was located in California or on the east coast this poll wouldn't even be nearly as close as it is.
^ I agree. The "where would you rather live" question may slightly balance it because some people may prefer a smaller city. But it's quite obvious that in terms of general amenities, Charlotte and Houston are not on the same playing field. Considering that most people that post here are likely urban enthusiasts to begin with, the larger city with more things to do is usually going to be the winner.
Houston is clearly the more legitimate and global city in virtually every category. I'm looking forward to watching them develop their core over the next couple decades along with their rail infrastructure as I can't see the city proper expanding any further outward. It's time for Houston to grow "up", not "out". Hopefully Charlotte can continue a similar trend, albeit on a smaller scale.
The volume and quality of urban amenities in Charlotte has increased substantially since this thread was created in 2010. While the same is likely true of Houston, I'm not convinced it offers much that is missing in Charlotte. It's difficult for me to ignore Charlotte's rolling terrain, the more visually pleasant and less cluttered built environment, lower susceptibility to severe weather of tropical origin, and better proximity to mountains as well as beaches with attractive sand and water.
Houston was performing fairly well economically relative to other metro areas during the Great Recession a decade ago, but more recent job growth has been less impressive. It has arguably the nation's largest presence of a highly lucrative but volatile industry, oil & gas. Charlotte has a very different industry mix, and while best known for its banking and financial sector, is very well rounded and serves as the major business hub of both Carolinas - which together have close to 15 million residents. Their economy tends to track with national cycles more closely than is true of Houston.
While both areas are growing quickly, Houston tends to be driven more by natural increase as a result of its unusually young demographics, as well as foreign immigration. Charlotte's international population is expanding but definitely not at Houston's level. When it comes to net domestic migration however, particularly from virtually anywhere east of the Mississippi River, Charlotte is a much more popular destination. Charlotte's domestic in-migrants include people of all different ethnic backgrounds and economic status, but college educated young adults are especially well represented.
The volume and quality of urban amenities in Charlotte has increased substantially since this thread was created in 2010. While the same is likely true of Houston, I'm not convinced it offers much that is missing in Charlotte. It's difficult for me to ignore Charlotte's rolling terrain, the more visually pleasant and less cluttered built environment, lower susceptibility to severe weather of tropical origin, and better proximity to mountains as well as beaches with attractive sand and water.
I can easily see why anyone would prefer Charlotte, but to suggest that its amenities are more or less on par with a city more than three times its size. That's just disingenuous. If I were to say the same thing about Houston compared to New York, no one here would let me get away with that.
I can easily see why anyone would prefer Charlotte, but to suggest that its amenities are more or less on par with a city more than three times its size. That's just disingenuous. If I were to say the same thing about Houston compared to New York, no one here would let me get away with that.
Comparing Charlotte to Houston in terms of daily amenities is like comparing Philadelphia to New York for daily amenities. Not Houston to New York.
Comparing Charlotte to Houston in terms of daily amenities is like comparing Philadelphia to New York for daily amenities. Not Houston to New York.
I wasn't suggesting that both comparisons were completely analogous. Only pointing out that Charlotte cannot fairly compete with a city 3x its size just as Houston cannot.
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