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Because when douchebags sense that a city isn't welcoming to douchebags, it gets labeled "provincial."
I don't know. I've only visited it several times. I was thinking South Philly could be ethnically cliquish, which wouldn't be a problem for me, and that the "Main Line" was fairly uppity. But these were my presumptions. I was looking for a more detailed analysis. I knew that, when we lived in North Jersey, everybody under the sun lived there and no one cared, and that's less than 100 miles away from PHL.
It IS Seattle. Volumes are written on this. So true about the Intermountain West and Pacific Northwest. Then, I would have said Twin Cities, based on what non-native professional friends have told me, and then proceeded to move away.
I could see Saint Louis and Detroit folks having the "what the hell are you doing here?" attitude. I'm presuming most transferred there for work-related issues. I mean, the automakers recruit at schools nationwide.
Lastly, for some reason, I could see Philly, and maybe even Boston, being provincial at the local level, under an otherwise high level of sophistication and culture.
None of the Sunbelt cities, in my opinion, are unwelcoming. In LA, nobody cared where you were from. In ATL, only the white Southern Baptist locals cared somewhat, and then cut you slack. I think FL and big Texas cities are "open season."
I agree with your comments for sure. You can throw in Chicago as being like Philly and Boston.
As far as St. Louis and Detroit go, I don't think at all, that the attitude is necessarily one that is unfriendly or unwelcoming to transplants, I think it has more to do with the fact that those cities fell fare from their once lofty positions as 4th largest city, that there is a "self-loathing", low self-esteem mentality that permeates, just a lack of pride for what their cities are capable of, and therefore many just can't understand what a transplant would see in those places.
Its funny that even though people always tell me that "You would love Seattle, Denver, those are perfect for you" just because I am into nature and the outdoors, but despite Californias issues, from a cultural standpoint, you have nothing to "prove."
This would be Boston by a mile. I guess those who aren't familiar with all of the cities on the poll might mistakenly think it is somewhere else.
I was holding my breath on this one, thinking that it would come up.
As I stated earlier, I voted Seattle, but that's because the almost back-to-back comparison with having lived in Atlanta prior to the PNW was a shock to the system.
With regard to Boston, I have heard that it is pretty reserved and provincial, despite the presence of great schools, ethnic diversity, and innovative industries. I'll go on to say that I saw this play out in grad school. The tri-state NY area people were "the life of the party"...borderline obnoxious to some, but great and fun people to know in my book. The New Englanders were a different breed. I remember there was one suburban Bostonian that took advantage of an exchange program in Europe for a term. I casually asked him "how much would that have run?" His answer: "that's none of your business." I think that most people can add up some numbers for the published higher tuition, housing, travel and the like and come up with a ball-park figure. I've gotten these kinds of reactions from New Englanders on several instances. The (middle and working class) NYers I know are a lot more colorful and "open book." Several NYers have also told me straight up that "the people aren't as friendly up THERE." We are talking about a difference of some 250 miles.
But, hey, the same is true in Europe. Bologna and Florence, 59 miles apart, are two different worlds when it comes to receiving transplants from other parts of Italy. Bologna is considered to be Italy's most progressive and open-minded city, and Florence is considered to be a closed-loop.
I don't think being wary of transplants makes you provincial and not progressive or open-minded. As I said earlier in this post about New Orleans (which is applicable many places) it can be annoying when someone moves to your "cool" city and acts as if they know everything about the place.
I don't think being wary of transplants makes you provincial and not progressive or open-minded. As I said earlier in this post about New Orleans (which is applicable many places) it can be annoying when someone moves to your "cool" city and acts as if they know everything about the place.
I disagree. First, when I was a kid in LA, I befriended people that were not from the area, either in school or at work. If they had a great sense of humor and seemed smart, I wanted to know them. I think this is partly because my parents were from overseas, as were many of my friends' parents. Second, it is pathetic when this happens in a place of work among professional peers. I specifically recall working for a SEA outfit where the pecking order was organized along university alumni lines...and it was not cool. Finally, some people actually DO get to know quite a bit about a city before transplanting there...that should be flattering to the citizen of that city. Though we lived in North Jersey when I was younger and for a short time, I am fascinated by the map of NY and like to look at the RE section, so I can spout out names like Pelham Manor, Howard Beach and Jamaica Estates, and the locals look at me like "really, you know about those places...that's pretty good."
I don't think being wary of transplants makes you provincial and not progressive or open-minded. As I said earlier in this post about New Orleans (which is applicable many places) it can be annoying when someone moves to your "cool" city and acts as if they know everything about the place.
It's even worse when somebody moves to a city that has an unduly negative reputation and then acts as though they're more enlightened simply because they're from somewhere else.
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