2035 Murfreesboro vs. Chattanooga vs. Clarksville

[keithps]

Originally Posted by nashvols

How so?




Listen, I get that you really love Murfreesboro, but you seem to have this thing for comparing it to larger independent cities, both here and on the city v. city forum. You say it's not just another suburb. You're right. Perhaps I should have made the Mount Juliet comment more clear -- those places listed essentially did not exist as cities before the suburban movement spilled over the county lines. Places like Murfreesboro and Franklin have been organized towns and county seats for two centuries. However, they were both still very much small towns until the auto age.

When you talk about cities with "real" downtowns, look at some places with more than 100,000 that are the primary city in their metro. I think you will see a distinct difference between those places and Murfreesboro.

City population aside, there is a Grand Canyon sized gap between the city amenities that Murfreesboro offers and what Chattanooga offers.

I mean, you can look at the population growth and see that Murfreesboro is much more like a suburb than Chattanooga. In 1930, Chattanooga had population of 119,000, Nashville had 153,000 and Murfreesboro? 8,000. Murfreesboro's huge population ascent directly coincides with the huge population growth in Nashville.

Murfreesboro has existed for 200 years, but so have tons of TN cities, and that doesn't make them huge powerhouses.

[Hey_Hey]

Originally Posted by Shakeesha

And without Murfreesboro and Rutherford County, Nashville would be smaller than Memphis.

That's just not true. It's easy to look up. Even without Rutherford County, the Nashville MSA is still 160,513 people larger than the Memphis MSA. Rutherford County is part of the Nashville MSA and has 288,906 people.

Nashville MSA - 1,792,649
Memphis MSA - 1,343,230

1,792,649 - 288,906 = 1,503,743 (Nashville MSA without Rutherford)

[MetropolitanTN]

One thing that has always confused me on this board is peoples perception of cities and suburbs. Ive seen it more than once on here that if a city is older, been established for a while, has its on identity, etc then it cant be a suburb. The two are not mutually exclusive. Franklin is a good example. I think the distance throws people but its really not that far. Im in South Murfreesboro and it takes me 35 mins to get downtown. A lot of larger metros (much larger than Nashville) have suburbs equally distant from downtown if not further. Sure, Murfreesboro is its own city with its own identity, but its also a suburb of Nashville. It didnt start as one like some others have, but I certainly think it has become one has regional growth has exploded.

This is just my two cents from someone that has lived here for 1.5 years only.

[Shakeesha]

I think the city realizes that^ MetropolitanTN, and has hired outside consultants to start to help reshape the city. It can't continue to grow out of control without a cost. The unrestrained growth, largely due to proximity to Nashville and leaders' inexperience with urban planning has quickly erased any perception of the city's historical significance and identity. Many are unaware of Murfreesboro's significance during civil war (Stones River National Battlefield), it's beautiful housing stock around Main Street, extensive greenway system, having the largest undergraduate university I'm the state, or its recent national and international headquarters relocations. Many mistakes have and continue to be made as the city grows, but without input/voting from city residents, it's going to stay just like that. So when someone says just a suburb, it lends a negative connotation and dismissive tone to Murfreesboro, which as you pointed out is an exception, being it's own city and having grown more and more suburban, simultaneously. Hopefully, the city will follow the advice from the outside consultants (it's time), and allow more development reflective of a city this size. I don't think being next to major city and developing in a suburban manner are mutually exclusive either (see Boston and it's suburbs, there even Nashville wouldn't hold up as urban). For comparison purposes, here is a list of cities smaller than Murfreesboro (in some cases, much smaller), that are much more urban.

City Population:

Asheville, NC: 75,000
Athens, GA: 115,000 consolidated city/county
Charleston, WV: 50,000
Columbia, MO: 115,000
Wilmington, DE: 70,000
Evansville, IN: 117,000
Fayetteville, AR: 80,000
Cambridge, MA: 100,000

Here is a list of cities larger than Murfreesboro that are much more urban:

City Population:

Chattanooga, TN: 170,000
Savannah, GA: 144,000
Eugene, OR: 160,000

Murfreesboro could use anyone of these cities as a model for urban planning done right. I'll save the mass transit argument for another thread...don't get me started chile...

http://www.nps.gov/stri/index.htm

http://www.greshamsmith.com/projects...ction-headquar

http://www.dnj.com/story/money/busin...ters/30209187/

http://www.enovatemedical.com/