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Yeah definitely- Boston and DC are a snoozefest to me compared to say, Miami or Nashville.
Its just an age thing more than not.
Everyone is right. Like the mods have said there are no right answers
Oh no I get it. I was 25 once. But to me, a place like Nashville and Austin is a "hey it's Friday night, let's head downtown and get trashed" or "there's gonna be 100k people down on 6th or Broadway for Halloween, let's go check it out."
We're clearly into different things and we should be. When I'm in even Boston or DC, I feel like it's almost too busy. But people actually live down in their downtowns. They don't just pop up to get trashed and head back to the burbs. There's some of that for sure, but people actually just walk and take the train in those cities. To me, those are indications of vibrancy and bustle. But it's subjective like you said. To each their own.
Nashville is not the place that some of this forum have elevated it to. Seems we are measuring vibrancy now by bars and the amount of drunk activity. And that's just a few streets of high activity neighborhoods versus miles of vibrant neighborhoods in DC. I agree Nashville and Austin have more CONCENTRATED nightlife in a smaller area than D.C does if that's what we are defining as vibrant.
Can't speak for Nashville fully, but Austin, like I think a lot of sun belt cities, lacks neighborhood bars and just walkability outside of it's direct core. I think Milwaukee or a place like Baltimore likely does that better. JMO. There's no good or bad. We all have different definitions. Any given weekend there's likely 30K-100k people within a one mile block in Austin. To me that's not vibrancy, that's a bunch of people getting drunk together.
I guess I'll just never understand the assertion that downtown Nashville has vibrancy that's comparable to the large "legacy" cities in the US.
I completely acknowledge that it has some nodes of urban density and activity, but its core is either too focused on tourist-based strips like this: https://goo.gl/maps/NDNyqGh2Wt36FRqKA
I give credit to Nashville for efforts to diversify and mature its downtown, but it's definitely still a work in progress.
Ew
Quote:
Originally Posted by the resident09
Very true, New Orleans is an entire tier above Nashville in that regard.
At least. I do put NO a little below SF, Chicago and the east coast cities. Agree with your post about DC being the happy hour capital. It's just always buzzing and it's very important and self important people that are building careers, not 30 year old couples who find babysitters on Friday night and decide to take in 2.00 LITs all night.
Quote:
Originally Posted by annie_himself
Nashville seems like it has like 10 blocks of vibrancy. How is that above downtown New Orleans? The entire Quarter and CBD are vibrant day and night, weekend or weekday.
Different leagues for sure. Nashville and Austin are party cities where people from the burbs take Uber in to get trashed. Places like NO, DC, NYC, etc have people living in the core, just out and about.
Last edited by Gaylord_Focker; 08-20-2021 at 05:22 PM..
Oh no I get it. I was 25 once. But to me, a place like Nashville and Austin is a "hey it's Friday night, let's head downtown and get trashed" or "there's gonna be 100k people down on 6th or Broadway for Halloween, let's go check it out."
We're clearly into different things and we should be. When I'm in even Boston or DC, I feel like it's almost too busy. But people actually live down in their downtowns. They don't just pop up to get trashed and head back to the burbs. There's some of that for sure, but people actually just walk and take the train in those cities. To me, those are indications of vibrancy and bustle. But it's subjective like you said. To each their own.
I agree, I don't get the notion that "people commuting and running errands is not vibrant". A highly urban city with people everywhere is vibrant, and it really doesn't exist year-round in any city in the south (including New Orleans).
I agree, I don't get the notion that "people commuting and running errands is not vibrant". A highly urban city with people everywhere is vibrant, and it really doesn't exist year-round in any city in the south (including New Orleans).
Yeah, otherwise frat row of any college town is "vibrant." Or, a restaurant where people drive 70 miles to eat is "vibrant." It's about being out, not for an event, but just to be out. But again, I think this is about preferences.
Different leagues for sure. Nashville and Austin are party cities where people from the burbs take Uber in to get trashed. Places like NO, DC, NYC, etc have people living in the core, just out and about.
People do that in NO too. Its a solid mix of both I'd say.
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Originally Posted by btownboss4
If you have 20,000 people per square mile over 35-45 sq miles you just have more people doing stuff.
Unless you propose Philadelphians just are multiple times more likely boring and sit in their house or whatever, they’re are typically far more people around Center City/UCity than NOLA’s urban core neighborhoods.
Well yeah, more people because its bigger. But I don't think that makes it necessarily more vibrant. Center City isn't particularly a nightlife neighborhood from what I hear, so I'd imagine that New Orleans can be more vibrant despite Philadelphia's huge population. After a Saints game, people flood downtown, I'd imagine in Philadelphia people go to other more nightlife oriented neighborhoods.
Quote:
Originally Posted by whereiend
I agree, I don't get the notion that "people commuting and running errands is not vibrant". A highly urban city with people everywhere is vibrant, and it really doesn't exist year-round in any city in the south (including New Orleans).
Explain how New Orleans doesn't have people in the city year round.
People do that in NO too. Its a solid mix of both I'd say.
Well yeah, more people because its bigger. But I don't think that makes it necessarily more vibrant. Center City isn't particularly a nightlife neighborhood from what I hear, so I'd imagine that New Orleans can be more vibrant despite Philadelphia's huge population. After a Saints game, people flood downtown, I'd imagine in Philadelphia people go to other more nightlife oriented neighborhoods.
Explain how New Orleans doesn't have people in the city year round.
There is like an order of magnitude more people who live/work in Center City vs a comparable region of NOLA. French Quarter/CBD/Garden District. So there is almost always more people around barring like Mardi Gras. Unless BAC is a parameter for vibrancy I don’t see it.
New Orleans is impressive compared to comparable cities (Buffalo, Richmond, Louisville) but not Philly, DC, SF, Boston.
It's funny....for someone that grew up in Nashville, I find it genuinely interesting what people think of our downtown. Because it's changed so much through the years.
Most people think of The District when they think of DT Nashville (Lower Broadway + 2nd Ave N). That's more or less 7 blocks of public debauchery. It's insane, and it ranks well with some of the nation's best bar districts. But that's just a sliver of downtown.
There has been a residential, hotel, and restaurant boom downtown. The residential population is 10x what it was in 2000. I can't give you an exact figure in the increase in hotel rooms, but it's in the 10,000s as well. The location of Bridgestone Arena, finished in the mid-90s, really was a catalyst for downtown development. That and a new convention center (2013) made downtown explode. If you haven't been to Nashville in the last few years, it's a different city.
I never thought of "Downtown" having different neighborhoods, but as it has grown, distinct neighborhoods have grown. What were nondescript warehouse districts and brownfields are now midrise and highrise districts. The Gulch, SoBro, Rolling Mill Hill, Rutledge Hill, Lafayette, North Capitol, Hope Gardens, and of course, the original CBD.
I'm not going to tell you that Nashville is on par with the biggest cities in the country in terms of vibrancy, but the transformation it has gone through in the past 10 years is incredible. If you haven't been here relatively recently....it's...different.
There is like an order of magnitude more people who live/work in Center City vs a comparable region of NOLA. French Quarter/CBD/Garden District. So there is almost always more people around barring like Mardi Gras. Unless BAC is a parameter for vibrancy I don’t see it.
New Orleans is impressive compared to comparable cities (Buffalo, Richmond, Louisville) but not Philly, DC, SF, Boston.
The Garden District isn't downtown by the way. I'm only talking about downtown, the Quarter, CBD, and Warehouse District compared to Center City. Is BAC a drunk joke?
It's not impressive compared to those cities, its not even in their league.
People putting Nashville or New Orleans over Philly & DC in terms of vibrancy?
Are they vibrant for cities their size, absolutely. But to say that DT Nashville or NOLA has more people out and about during a weekday or weekend night than Center City in Philly or the Mall in DC is utterly ridiculous.
They operate on completely different scales
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But to me, a place like Nashville and Austin is a "hey it's Friday night, let's head downtown and get trashed" or "there's gonna be 100k people down on 6th or Broadway for Halloween, let's go check it out." 
