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I am interested in comparing these 4 midsize metro regions. They all seem somewhat comparable in terms of size and economy. I'm basing this off
Economy-Which city has the most promising and diversified economy
Transportation-Both via car and public
Walk ability
Architecture-are the homes interesting?
Food
Scenery/Topography
Nightlife/entertainment
Weather
Suburbs quality: Planned communities? Good schools parks pools etc
Location
Potential growth for the future
Last edited by JMT; 09-25-2016 at 03:14 PM..
Reason: Skyline discussions are not allowed.
I am interested in comparing these 4 midsize metro regions. They all seem somewhat comparable in terms of size and economy. I'm basing this off
Economy-Which city has the most promising and diversified economy
Transportation-Both via car and public
Walk ability
Architecture-are the homes interesting?
Food
Scenery/Topography
Nightlife/entertainment
Weather
Suburbs quality: Planned communities? Good schools parks pools etc
Location
Potential growth for the future
My subjective answers:
Economic Stratification: Charlotte. Nashville is a close second.
Transportation: Via Car---Indianapolis seems to have the least gridlock; Via Mass Transit---Pittsburgh seems to have a very high amount of transit ridership
Walkability: Pittsburgh (on an overall city scale---I know places like Uptown Charlotte are "walkable", but the majority of Charlotte isn't like Uptown).
Architecture: Pittsburgh (subjective, of course, as I love older rowhomes and Victorians, which are abundant in Pittsburgh).
Food: Toss-Up (all cities have some great restaurants).
Scenery/Topography: Toss-Up (love the steep hills of Pittsburgh, but Charlotte is attractive for being so close to both the beach and the Blue Ridge Mountains).
Nightlife/Entertainment: Nashville (honorable mention for Charlotte).
Weather: Charlotte (Nashville is a close second but seems to get more winter ice storms than Charlotte).
Suburbs: Charlotte or Nashville (Pittsburgh's suburbs suck, and the suburbs of Indianapolis seem very bland and boring).
Location: Toss-Up Between Pittsburgh (Closer to Major NE Corridor Cities with direct Amtrak connection) or Charlotte (Near both I-95 Corridor and Atlanta)
Future Growth Potential: Nashville (it's kicking the ass of Memphis for TN whereas Charlotte and Raleigh/Durham have been duking each other out for decades with no clear winner right now. Indianapolis will always have the handicap in the minds of educated progressives of being in a state that many on a national scale think are inhabited by Evangelical anti-gay bigots).
All four cities are different, so I can't comfortably vote for one "winning" in this poll. Pittsburgh wins handily if you want an older, denser, more walkable city with character. The other three all have nice quaint older neighborhoods, but they don't comprise the MAJORITY of those cities the way they do in Pittsburgh. The other three have more of a "boomtown" feel to them with lots of newer construction, rapid population growth, and lost of urban sprawl, which the majority of Americans seem to favor these days.
Last edited by JMT; 09-25-2016 at 03:14 PM..
Reason: Skyline discussions are not allowed.
Economy-Charlotte
Transportation-Pittsburgh
Walk ability-Pittsburgh
Architecture-are the homes interesting? Nashville for high end homes, Pittsburgh for overall architecture
Food-Nashville for upscale, Pittsburgh for everyday
Scenery/Topography-Pittsburgh
Nightlife/entertainment-Nashville
Weather-Charlotte
Suburbs quality: Planned communities? Good schools parks pools etc-Nashville
Location-Nashville
Potential growth for the future-Nashville due to location, lower taxes, and a large population of college students
Charlotte and Nashville are growing very fast. Pittsburgh has the history, architecture, and more service oriented economy. Each city offers something different, some good, some bad. I would choose Nashville overall.
Economy-Charlotte..Nashville/Pittsburgh..Indy Charlotte has the largest economy plus being the second largest banking center in the country. Nashville is exploding with growth. It's catching up. Pittsburgh is going through the same but on a real smaller scale. Indy is stagnant.
Transportation-Pittsburgh/Charlotte..Indy.....Nashville. Pitts and Charlotte both have light rail. Indy has BRT. Nashville is really lacking in this area. At least it's blessed with being centrally located with lots of interstates and secondary highways.
Walk ability-Pittsburgh..Charlotte..Indy/Nashville. Pittsburgh is the most walkable followed by Charlotte. Indy and Nashville aren't really walkable outside a few areas.
Architecture-Nashville/Pittsburgh..Charlotte..Indy. Nashville and Pitts has beautiful architecture. Again, Charlotte and Indy seems bland.
Food-Pittsburgh/Nashville, Charlotte..Indy. Nashville has an exploding food scene and it's very diverse. Same with Pittsburgh. Charlotte is next. And again Indy is lacking.
Scenery/Topography-Def Pittsburgh followed by Nashville. Charlotte...Indy. Pittsburgh has the most beautiful entrance of any city in the US. the hills with the river and skyline is beautiful. Nashville is next with the green rolling hills and many rivers and lakes. Charlotte and Indy are last.
Nightlife/entertainment-Def Nashville
Weather-Charlotte/Nashville...Indy...Pittsburgh. Nashville and Charlotte both have 4 seasons and generally good weather. Indy is in the middle.
Location-Nashville, Pittsburgh, Charlotte/Indy. Nashville is the most centrally located. Pittsburgh is in a pretty good location too. Charlotte and Indy aren't really well located.
Potential growth for the future-Nashville for the reasons Shakeesha said above. Being the Athens of the South helps alot with growth. Also Pittsburgh it's revitalizing. I know charlotte is growing fast, but with recent events and stuff, it may slow. Also the NC government is really hindering it's cities. Indy is stagnant.
Overall I'd choose Nashville then Pittsburgh. Charlotte and Indy don't seem like nothing special
Last edited by funtraveler1; 09-26-2016 at 08:14 AM..
Tie between Nashville and Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh one of the few cities that can rival or even surpass Nashville in Natural
Beauty, Like Nashville it has Lovely Hills, all those bridges and the Two Rivers Merging together to form a bigger River Right in it's Downtown is Very Unique and a sight to see, As Far as A City even though slightly declining in population, I Hear It is very Livable, and What about those Steelers, Black and Yellow Black and Yellow lol
Indianapolis is alrite, I Don't Love it and I Don't Hate it
Charlotte needs to stop trying to be like Atlanta and be more like Chicago. All that growth in it's City Limits it should focus on Densifying instead of being Suburban Cookie Cutter Blandsville Yawn City. Sick and Tired of Cities in the South trying to Mimic Atlanta or striving or even seeing Atlanta as the end all be all of Southern Cities....What ever happen to Walkability Urbanity Vibrancy can the South for once have a REAL DOWNTOWN.....Why doesn't the South Have any REAL CITIES like Philly Chicago or Boston....in it's place are basically Bland "downtown" "Business Districts" with Suburbs Attached. Bravo New Orleans and Nashville etc, which are few Southern Cities that are the Exception to that rule.....CHARLOTTE wat is it like 800,000 now....Probably gonna be 900,000 tomorrow?? fast as that city is growing, At that Rate Charlotte is probably one of the few places in the South that has a Real Chance of being a Real City...It can Build Up instead of Out, It can be a Real Urban LEADER instead of a Suburban Follower....Such a Shame such a gifted City's Final Ambition is simply follow the herd and be atlanta, jr, just another dallas, smaller version of houston, Yea it has a good Economy, But The SOUTH Doesn't need another friggin Overgrown Collection of Suburbs Calling itself a City .Charlotte is Squandering a Huge Opportunity Man, Charlotte Should look to Chicago and Boston Man (Guide to being Real Cities) But Whatever let me get off my rant
Pittsburgh really isn't much like the other three cities much at all. Nashville and Charlotte are in the sun belt. While Indianapolis technically is not, it shares more commonalities in terms of built form with sun belt cities than the rust belt, because it was a relatively small city before 1950, and urban renewal ripped most of the old urban fabric out of its heart, so it doesn't have many historic neighborhoods left. In contrast Pittsburgh still has dozens of residential neighborhoods which were mostly built out before 1900 - something which is pretty clear when you are on the ground and exploring the city. If you added up the walkable, "old urban" stock of Charlotte, Nashville, and Indianapolis, it still wouldn't amount to half of what Pittsburgh has.
I think Pittsburgh easily wins several categories here, including public transit, walkability, architecture, and scenery. I'd also argue that in terms of nightlife and food we're near the top, if not the absolute top now. But Pittsburgh is also clearly near the bottom in terms of economy, weather, and growth.
It all comes down to where you are planning to live in the area. If you want to live in an urban neighborhood in the city core, Pittsburgh is unquestionably better. But comparing the suburbs (keeping in mind that in all of the other cities, many of the "suburbs" are within city limits) there isn't a huge difference. Really if you want a suburb with historic housing, a walkable business district, and good transit access with good schools, there's only a handful of choices in Pittsburgh - in part because the city never really went downhill in the same way that many other core cities did, so we maintained middle-class family neighborhoods like Squirrel Hill inside of city limits.
Tie between Nashville and Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh one of the few cities that can rival or even surpass Nashville in Natural
Beauty, Like Nashville it has Lovely Hills, all those bridges and the Two Rivers Merging together to form a bigger River Right in it's Downtown is Very Unique and a sight to see, As Far as A City even though slightly declining in population, I Hear It is very Livable, and What about those Steelers, Black and Yellow Black and Yellow lol
Indianapolis is alrite, I Don't Love it and I Don't Hate it
Charlotte needs to stop trying to be like Atlanta and be more like Chicago. All that growth in it's City Limits it should focus on Densifying instead of being Suburban Cookie Cutter Blandsville Yawn City. Sick and Tired of Cities in the South trying to Mimic Atlanta or striving or even seeing Atlanta as the end all be all of Southern Cities....What ever happen to Walkability Urbanity Vibrancy can the South for once have a REAL DOWNTOWN.....Why doesn't the South Have any REAL CITIES like Philly Chicago or Boston....in it's place are basically Bland "downtown" "Business Districts" with Suburbs Attached. Bravo New Orleans and Nashville etc, which are few Southern Cities that are the Exception to that rule.....CHARLOTTE wat is it like 800,000 now....Probably gonna be 900,000 tomorrow?? fast as that city is growing, At that Rate Charlotte is probably one of the few places in the South that has a Real Chance of being a Real City...It can Build Up instead of Out, It can be a Real Urban LEADER instead of a Suburban Follower....Such a Shame such a gifted City's Final Ambition is simply follow the herd and be atlanta, jr, just another dallas, smaller version of houston, Yea it has a good Economy, But The SOUTH Doesn't need another friggin Overgrown Collection of Suburbs Calling itself a City .Charlotte is Squandering a Huge Opportunity Man, Charlotte Should look to Chicago and Boston Man (Guide to being Real Cities) But Whatever let me get off my rant
1Nashville
2Pittsburgh
3Indianapolis
4Charlotte
What are you ranting about? Do you not know why most Southern cities (including Nashville) developed the way they did? And do you even know what's been going on in Charlotte (and Atlanta for that matter) for the past several years? It sure doesn't sound like it.
Economic Stratification: Charlotte. Nashville is a close second.
Transportation: Via Car---Indianapolis seems to have the least gridlock; Via Mass Transit---Pittsburgh seems to have a very high amount of transit ridership
Walkability: Pittsburgh (on an overall city scale---I know places like Uptown Charlotte are "walkable", but the majority of Charlotte isn't like Uptown).
Architecture: Pittsburgh (subjective, of course, as I love older rowhomes and Victorians, which are abundant in Pittsburgh).
Food: Toss-Up (all cities have some great restaurants).
Scenery/Topography: Toss-Up (love the steep hills of Pittsburgh, but Charlotte is attractive for being so close to both the beach and the Blue Ridge Mountains).
Nightlife/Entertainment: Nashville (honorable mention for Charlotte).
Weather: Charlotte (Nashville is a close second but seems to get more winter ice storms than Charlotte).
Suburbs: Charlotte or Nashville (Pittsburgh's suburbs suck, and the suburbs of Indianapolis seem very bland and boring).
Location: Toss-Up Between Pittsburgh (Closer to Major NE Corridor Cities with direct Amtrak connection) or Charlotte (Near both I-95 Corridor and Atlanta)
Future Growth Potential: Nashville (it's kicking the ass of Memphis for TN whereas Charlotte and Raleigh/Durham have been duking each other out for decades with no clear winner right now. Indianapolis will always have the handicap in the minds of educated progressives of being in a state that many on a national scale think are inhabited by Evangelical anti-gay bigots).
All four cities are different, so I can't comfortably vote for one "winning" in this poll. Pittsburgh wins handily if you want an older, denser, more walkable city with character. The other three all have nice quaint older neighborhoods, but they don't comprise the MAJORITY of those cities the way they do in Pittsburgh. The other three have more of a "boomtown" feel to them with lots of newer construction, rapid population growth, and lost of urban sprawl, which the majority of Americans seem to favor these days.
I'm a Cleveland native who voted for Pittsburgh... Wow, I'm surprised by a Pittsburgher stating that his/her city's suburbs "suck." Care to elaborate? Aren't places like Sewickley and Fox Chapel pretty exclusive? Aren't some of the South Hills burbs, like Mt. Lebanon, pretty nice? I've been to the retail strip in Mt. Lebanon and it seemed pretty cool, although I didn't see many of the houses there.
Pittsburgh really isn't much like the other three cities much at all. Nashville and Charlotte are in the sun belt. While Indianapolis technically is not, it shares more commonalities in terms of built form with sun belt cities than the rust belt, because it was a relatively small city before 1950, and urban renewal ripped most of the old urban fabric out of its heart, so it doesn't have many historic neighborhoods left. In contrast Pittsburgh still has dozens of residential neighborhoods which were mostly built out before 1900 - something which is pretty clear when you are on the ground and exploring the city. If you added up the walkable, "old urban" stock of Charlotte, Nashville, and Indianapolis, it still wouldn't amount to half of what Pittsburgh has.
I think Pittsburgh easily wins several categories here, including public transit, walkability, architecture, and scenery. I'd also argue that in terms of nightlife and food we're near the top, if not the absolute top now. But Pittsburgh is also clearly near the bottom in terms of economy, weather, and growth.
It all comes down to where you are planning to live in the area. If you want to live in an urban neighborhood in the city core, Pittsburgh is unquestionably better. But comparing the suburbs (keeping in mind that in all of the other cities, many of the "suburbs" are within city limits) there isn't a huge difference. Really if you want a suburb with historic housing, a walkable business district, and good transit access with good schools, there's only a handful of choices in Pittsburgh - in part because the city never really went downhill in the same way that many other core cities did, so we maintained middle-class family neighborhoods like Squirrel Hill inside of city limits.
Yes! ... I would echo, though, what I said above: as nice as housing is in in-city neighborhoods like Squirrel Hill, I don't believe it can match Fox Chapel. I don't know how the Burgh rates its burbs in terms of quality and exclusivity, but FC would have to rate at or near the top based on my casual Pittsburgh visits and obvervations.
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