After this session we went to the Ryman Auditorium for the closing ceremonies and some testifying. One woman from Battle Creek, MI gave thanks for me since I had a good discussion with her on starting a community-based website for her own neighborhood. Several people throughout the conference were quite interested in the idea of a community-site, so I’m glad I could be there to provide some sparks.
The Nashville music scene is very strong and the performers are all quite professional. The music is fairly mainstream, unlike Cleveland’s broader range of experimentation, but there are enough similarities and differences in the cities that I think they could lean a lot from each other.
Similarities:
• Very diverse populations
• Similar population size [Actually, Cleveland has about 75k less]
• Great music scenes
Differences:
• Nashville is friendlier and has an extremely enthusiastic and vibrant mayor. [Not a slam on Mayor Jackson, but Bill Purcell was awesome.]
• Cleveland has better tech infrastructure, a larger downtown and public transportation [even if I had to walk the last mile after getting off the rapid].
• Nashville entertainment is much, much cheaper.
• Cleveland has a lake and parks all over the place and a larger variety of entertainment.
To me, it seems like Cleveland has better assets, but Nashville is leveraging theirs to more effect, which is why it is more of a destination for tourists and people moving to their area.