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Baghdad by the Bay, I thought of when I recall San Francisco, a term coined by the late
Herb Caen whom I just read about in wikipedia.
Agree with the Poster who said where you live, is what is referred to The City.
New York is one port of I think of immigrants, San Francisco another port. Each has its own flavor, I believe. Only have known the delights of San Francisco, particularly in the 1950's and would enjoy a visit to the other City.
Pretentious? It's called grammatically correct. I call San Francisco "the City" because I live in the Bay Area. If I were to say I'm going to "the City" and meant New York City...then people on the West Coast wouldn't know what the heck I was talking about.
Yeah, apparently a few folks are allowing their subjective view to outweigh 150+ years of historical context and commonly accepted regional terminology that extends over quite a sizable geography.
In casual conversation people just mean whatever city they are closest to. As others have said, out in the country that might mean a place with a population of 25,000. If you are in the suburbs of a city you mean that city. If you are somewhere that is between multiple large cities I think most people would specify which one they mean.
On a national level when I think of the archetypal American city I think of New York and then Chicago.
Here in Charlottesville Virginia I don't think people would really say that, but if they did I would think they meant DC which is about two hours away.
I also wonder what people in a place like Trenton mean if they say "I am going to the City". Maybe someone from central Jersey can answer that question.
Trenton is the northern end of the Philly area and tends to be more oriented towards that city. However, Mercer County is right in between the Philly and NYC, and if you just go a couple miles up the road to Princeton, "the city" definitely means Manhattan (especially because there are a ton of commuters to there in Princeton).
If you check the satellite view on GMaps, you can see a very thin strip of undeveloped land between the Trenton surroundings and the Princeton surroundings that serves as an unofficial boundary between the two metros. I am sure this will be filled in over the next ten years.
There are two different and distinct conversations happening here.
First, yes you could call a large city thats nearby, "the city" . As in Im going into the city this weekend. Easy.
The second conversation is actually a nickname "The City", there are ONLY two places that have historical nicknames of, The City. San Francisco, and Manhattan.
All of the others that are popular have a descriptor....ie: Motor City, Sin City, River City, Mile High City, City of Brotherly Shove, Alamo City, City of Angels, Steel City and so on and so forth.
There are two different and distinct conversations happening here.
First, yes you could call a large city thats nearby, "the city" . As in Im going into the city this weekend. Easy.
The second conversation is actually a nickname "The City", there are ONLY two places that have historical nicknames of, The City. San Francisco, and Manhattan.
Yes, thank you. You explained it much better than me.
Only NYC and SF are "The City" in terms of colloquial usage. Every major city is "the city" in regards to immediate surroundings.
Trenton is the northern end of the Philly area and tends to be more oriented towards that city. However, Mercer County is right in between the Philly and NYC, and if you just go a couple miles up the road to Princeton, "the city" definitely means Manhattan (especially because there are a ton of commuters to there in Princeton).
If you check the satellite view on GMaps, you can see a very thin strip of undeveloped land between the Trenton surroundings and the Princeton surroundings that serves as an unofficial boundary between the two metros. I am sure this will be filled in over the next ten years.
People still aren't getting it, IMO. This has nothing to do with Philly area or NYC area, or what people consider as their major nearby city. It has to do with "The City" as a proper term. People know what you mean by "The City" in Boston or DC, or even Buffalo or Pittsburgh, to say nothing of Philly.
Similarly, if you say "The City" in LA, they know you're referring to SF. It doesn't mean that people in LA are making some judgment of LA as a city vis-Ã -vis SF.
It would be like calling Manhattan "Center City". No one would know what the hell you're talking about. Now obviously Manhattan is the "center city", but it isn't a term that is applied as a proper name towards Manhattan.
I know the term quite well because I lived in DT Brooklyn but people in DC don't refer to Manhattan as "the city." Most people in the hood say, 'I'm going to NYC or I'm going up top for the weekend' but never the city. The only people that say "the city" are transplants from New York.
You don't get it. Obviously if you said "the city" it would refer to DC. "The City", in caps, is well-known as NYC in DC. I know this because I grew up in Wisconsin, and had never heard the term until I moved to Bethesda. There, everyone knows what "The City" means.
We're talking about "The City", as a proper term, like "The District".
If you are going to "The City," where are you going?
San Francisco
New York City Chicago
Boston
Los Angeles
Washington DC
Philadelphia
San Diego
Seattle
Atlanta
Best regards, sincerely
HomeIsWhere...
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