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Originally Posted by TunedIn
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The differences are greater than this. The downtowns of Northern cities such as Boston and New York serve as important employment and entertainment centers with massive influxes of daily commuters. The most important and easily quantifiable difference though is population density which I've already referenced in these pages. It's not even close. Southern cities simply more closely resemble sprawling suburbs, and in my own opinion, uglier and far less appealing than their northern counterparts. Walkable is an extremely relative term here. And safe? Greensboro, Durham, Raleigh, Winston, Charlotte? Maybe if Baltimore and D.C. are your references. Greensboro witnessed a record number of homicides this year.......before November. Going back and forth between here and New England, the the difference in crime and gun violence is shocking. Completely different cities with completely different cultures. Growth here though, is easily outpacing that of the North and is likely to continue unless or until economic, political and/or social policy changes negate intrinsic benefit. So better or worse is arguable, but they're undeniably very different.
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And what you call "urban" is simply not a good quality of life metric for many people, it isn't and just not on the top of their list. Maybe decades ago, it was necessary to hit the "city" but technology and lifestyle centers etc have transformed where people work, live and can be entertained. Don't get me wrong, downtowns should offer certain aspects of vibrancy and entertainment, it simply doesn't have to be large scale to satisfy most people.
Urban does not always translate to great walkability. Where I live in Durham is more walkable and accessible to amenities than the place I had in DC city. Sure, downtown DC offers much more, but there's a fine line of diminishing returns (cost, been there, done that) as to why I don't live there anymore. I simply don't miss it and guess some big city "urban" enthusiast might feel differently.
I think the growth here is due to the lower cost of living, less urban or urban enough (a preference or choice; or some people simply don't need it large scale urbanity anymore), and climate....that's it.
I don't agree that suburban is less appealing, because there are many urban areas in inner city NE cities that are extremely run down, only salvageable via bulldozer.
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