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I'm in Birmingham. Forty years ago, we had the country's worst unemployment, on par with Flint, Michigan. A used-up industrial town whose downtown was imploding and its main industry of steelmaking had shut down. Even worse, the city's racist past had completely destroyed its reputation with balkanized suburbs. It didn't help that we had to contend with the idiot state government in Montgomery.
Slowly but surely, the city's economy began to diversify into healthcare, banking, publishing, and other manufacturing. The pace was sometimes grinding, the changes were incremental, but the changes came nonetheless. And there were setbacks, chiefly when the banking meltdown hit in 2008. Before that, four superregionals sat on the same street corner facing one another. Within months, two of them were gone, not to mention a lot of jobs.
But again, Birmingham kept making strides. The most visible example is the almost complete renaissance of the city's once-deserted downtown. The economy keeps diversifying. It's gaining a reputation as a minor foodie town. And the city has low unemployment.
Most importantly, the old mossbacks that held us back, particularly in terms of the civil rights era, are all dying off. Cooperation between cities in the metro area is taking place in ways unheard of even ten years ago.
Hey, I'm not trying to oversell things. Lots of work to do. But it's a bazillion times better than what it once was, and certainly defies the stereotypes of what we once were.
So, yeah, I feel pretty good about my city's future.
Birmingham is a lot better city than many people realize. It gets a bad reputation but has beautiful scenery and pretty good amenities for its size.
Charlotte's future? Yeah it's pretty evident that Charlotte will have a bright future to look forward to. A diversifying economy (banking's still the numero uno, but healthcare (Centene's expansion), energy, and tech are looking up), investment in transit (new light-rail, new station downtown, streetcar, future plans for a better system), more new amenities (bars, breweries, shopping, sports teams, etc.), growth, and somewhat good leadership? Charlotte and really all of NC is in a really good spot right now. Charlotte's future is bright, even if somewhat dampened by the current crisis.
As ncstateofmind said, I think Charlotte is going to do very well. Though Charlotte's single largest industry is finance, it's much more diversified that those outside of NC realize. Earlier this month, Centene Insurance announced that their bring 3200 jobs here ( https://www.charlotteobserver.com/ne...243910837.html ), there are plans to build a new 220-acre park uptown ( https://www.charlottestories.com/cha...sJNK8rxXoduMC0 ), and the construction uptown is still moving along really well.
I live in a suburban town (Gastonia) just west of Charlotte. We are definitely in an upward direction. A brand new minor league baseball stadium and entertainment district is being built near our downtown right now. We are seeing good growth being so close to Charlotte. It also appears we in the Charlotte area in general are doing better than most metros nationally during these rough times.
A lot of them are heading to Nashville where the future is very bright.
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Originally Posted by Gaylord_Focker
Nashville is absolutely the brightest belt buckle in our great country.
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Originally Posted by ncstateofmind
Charlotte's future? Yeah it's pretty evident that Charlotte will have a bright future to look forward to. A diversifying economy (banking's still the numero uno, but healthcare (Centene's expansion), energy, and tech are looking up), investment in transit (new light-rail, new station downtown, streetcar, future plans for a better system), more new amenities (bars, breweries, shopping, sports teams, etc.), growth, and somewhat good leadership? Charlotte and really all of NC is in a really good spot right now. Charlotte's future is bright, even if somewhat dampened by the current crisis.
Both Nashville and Charlotte have a very bright future ahead!
Alexandria, VA, has a good future ahead of it. If anything, I'm worried about growth being too quick. I haven't bought a home yet but prices are going through the roof. They're already higher than D.C. proper and Amazon HQ2 will just accelerate those trends.
It seems to me that real estate prices in OT Alexandria are about $500 per square foot, whereas in Northwest DC they are typically $700-$1000 or more per square foot.
Salt Lake:
Positives moving forward in my opinion:
1. Continued improvement in infrastructure including new airport, increased transit, and better accessibility to the mountains.
2. The economy continues to do well and people keep moving here, helping to diversify the area.
3. Tourism due to the skiing, mountains, and national parks.
4. Continuing to build up and add density, creating more walkable and interesting areas in the city.
Negatives:
1. Increased cost of living for the lack of wages.
2. Continuing to sprawl out and worsening traffic and possible air quality(although studies show it has improved due to better technology in homes and vehicles).
3. Lack of accessibility to the mountains due to overcrowding and not planning for the growth.
Overall, I think salt lake has a very bright future and I love where I live.
Historically a mining town, the city and county government have been stepping up the tourism game and are also prepared to go full-bedroom community for Vail and Summit County. Most of what is happening in Leadville is pure market influence, but they seem to be doing a good job at managing it. The money had to flow in at some point. Vail & Summit County to the north, Aspen to the west, Buena Vista (Bougie Vista, you might say nowadays) to the south.
Leadville was having a rough go with it for a while, but it seems like 2010 was the turnaround point and 2020 is when it's really taking off. There's construction everywhere. The cost of living has been and will continue to rise, which is an unfortunate side effect. I'll admit that I came here in 2018 when I wanted an affordable place to settle down, but I'm an average guy.
Colorado won't stop being popular anytime soon, so I think the town will continue to boom, especially as more people can work from home. They'll want out of Denver and into anywhere in the mountains they can afford.
I think Midland, Texas will have more booms and busts as it always has and will become a ghost town once the crude oil dries up whenever that will be.I think it will continue to grow in population and more people will leave as jobs are cut.
A lot of them are heading to Nashville where the future is very bright.
"Alot of them". In 2018, Tennessee didn't even get 40,000 Californians. Who knows that the number is, the article stopped showing the numbers for other states. What kind of percentage are we talking about here then, out of 40 million?
This is so overstated on this forum, it is hilarious.
"This kind of math also means that despite all the chatter about an “exodus,” the 691,145 departures represent just 1.8% of the population. Only Michigan and Texas lose fewer residents on a percentage base.:
Of course other states will have more Californians than Nevada or people from Colorado. It's simple math and logic. It''s why so many ex New Yorkers are in many parts of the country compared to places like El Paso.
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Why or why not?
