Since there was so much discussion if Charlotte was under- or over-rated, I decided that I better rate everyone.......so much to everyone's pleasure that's what I did. Listed are primary cities of each metro in the South over 1 million people (I cheated by using Norfolk instead of VA Beach, but it still didn't help) and used the most common topics that we bitch and argue about on here.
Metro Population, 5-Mile Population, Miles of rail line (heavy and light rail only), Pro Sports Franchises, Fortune 500 Companies, Top Colleges, Top High Schools, Skyscrapers.
If anyone is interested, I can explain the exact methodology for these different categories and how I weighted each. I did this blind without looking at the results until the end, so as not to favor any city with my criteria or weightings.
Here they are.
Rank City Index
1 Houston 1.00
2 Atlanta 0.95
3 Dallas 0.86
4 Miami 0.80
5 Charlotte 0.39
6 New Orleans 0.34
7 Tampa 0.34
8 San Antonio 0.29
9 Austin 0.28
10 Nashville 0.27
11 Jacksonville 0.24
12 Orlando 0.21
13 Birmingham 0.19
14 Richmond 0.17
15 Memphis 0.16
16 Norfolk 0.15
Now here is the same list normalized by metro population, since obviously larger cities were at an advantage......so this next list is a rank per person.
Rank City Index
1 Charlotte 1.00
2 New Orleans 0.98
3 Atlanta 0.77
4 Austin 0.74
5 Jacksonville 0.74
6 Houston 0.74
7 Nashville 0.73
8 Birmingham 0.68
9 San Antonio 0.59
10 Dallas 0.58
11 Miami 0.57
12 Richmond 0.57
13 Memphis 0.50
14 Tampa 0.49
15 Orlando 0.44
16 Norfolk 0.35
Well shit, it truly wasn't my intent for Charlotte to do so well here, but it does somewhat make my case that it offers many of the ammenities that the larger cities do.
I plan to modify this by adding arts (either museums or spending), per capita income, and un-employment. )Please feel free to make suggestions on other categories.....I simply used what are most commonly argued on here.
Of course all of this is very academic and doesn't consider people qualitative values. (avg. temp., "coolness", architecture stylings, or any other subjective matters".
Metro Population, 5-Mile Population, Miles of rail line (heavy and light rail only), Pro Sports Franchises, Fortune 500 Companies, Top Colleges, Top High Schools, Skyscrapers.
If anyone is interested, I can explain the exact methodology for these different categories and how I weighted each. I did this blind without looking at the results until the end, so as not to favor any city with my criteria or weightings.
Here they are.
Rank City Index
1 Houston 1.00
2 Atlanta 0.95
3 Dallas 0.86
4 Miami 0.80
5 Charlotte 0.39
6 New Orleans 0.34
7 Tampa 0.34
8 San Antonio 0.29
9 Austin 0.28
10 Nashville 0.27
11 Jacksonville 0.24
12 Orlando 0.21
13 Birmingham 0.19
14 Richmond 0.17
15 Memphis 0.16
16 Norfolk 0.15
Now here is the same list normalized by metro population, since obviously larger cities were at an advantage......so this next list is a rank per person.
Rank City Index
1 Charlotte 1.00
2 New Orleans 0.98
3 Atlanta 0.77
4 Austin 0.74
5 Jacksonville 0.74
6 Houston 0.74
7 Nashville 0.73
8 Birmingham 0.68
9 San Antonio 0.59
10 Dallas 0.58
11 Miami 0.57
12 Richmond 0.57
13 Memphis 0.50
14 Tampa 0.49
15 Orlando 0.44
16 Norfolk 0.35
Well shit, it truly wasn't my intent for Charlotte to do so well here, but it does somewhat make my case that it offers many of the ammenities that the larger cities do.
I plan to modify this by adding arts (either museums or spending), per capita income, and un-employment. )Please feel free to make suggestions on other categories.....I simply used what are most commonly argued on here.
Of course all of this is very academic and doesn't consider people qualitative values. (avg. temp., "coolness", architecture stylings, or any other subjective matters".