[AviationGuy]

Downtown Austin, with the explosion of skyscrapers and street life (finally away from 6th street) in the last couple of years. It feels like a significantly larger city when you're downtown. Even five years ago it didn't have much of that feel. Outside of downtown, though, it's just another sprawling southern city, although with some interesting pockets, especially south of the river.

That said, I don't think any cities in the south should be remotely compared with NYC or Chicago.