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Deviating a bit I’d like to nominate Cleveland. One thing Bbmm is correct about is there is at least some tension in much of the Northeast about city proper/suburb stuff.
But not just Suburbanites, but Clevelanders. themselves seem quite keen on claiming everything from like Youngstown to Sandusky as Cleveland.
I think it’s because they fancy themselves the top dog in the state, but increasingly that’s not a clear cut argument so they just say “well Youngstown/Canton/ etc. is Cleveland too “
Are there any examples of this in film/TV? I'm pretty ignorant of this region and hadn't heard about this until this thread. The fact that I've never heard anyone claim Sandy Springs should be a clue to me, but I would never have thought it would be on the level of Boston or D.C.
Deviating a bit I’d like to nominate Cleveland. One thing Bbmm is correct about is there is at least some tension in much of the Northeast about city proper/suburb stuff.
But not just Suburbanites, but Clevelanders. themselves seem quite keen on claiming everything from like Youngstown to Sandusky as Cleveland.
I think it’s because they fancy themselves the top dog in the state, but increasingly that’s not a clear cut argument so they just say “well Youngstown/Canton/ etc. is Cleveland too “
This is somewhat of a reverse effect-the misnomer is actually emanating from inside the city. This must come from the feeling of being shafted with their MSA boundaries.
See that’s interesting to me as someone who hasn’t explored LA yet. I always got the feeling that LA residents might be more lax about these labels given the shape of LA’s unique city limits. I don’t think that’s gatekeeping, I just sensed that some of those areas might get a sort of casual, unofficial pass for LA
There are cities not called Los Angeles that have more "L.A. cred" than actual places inside L.A. city limits. Beverly Hills, Inglewood, Gateway Cities, Compton, West Hollywood, etc. vs places like Woodland Hills.
Somewhere upthread someone posted that Philly is a city that people tend not to claim as being from. I also found that in Detroit. If people were talking to other folks, especially in the Midwest or Northeast, they almost never said "I'm from Detroit" if they lived in Oakland, Southfield, the Grosse Pointes, or any other Detroit burb. Then they'd later go on to clarify that this 'burb was "just outside Detroit". The rep of the city was (is?) so bad nobody wants to be associated with living there if they actually don't.
In fact, many years ago I was surprised to hear the comedian Tim Allen say often that he was from Detroit. Must have been the last white guy in the city I thought. Then I learned that he was in fact raised in a 'burb (Birmingham). Even Eminem only spent part of his young life in Detroit, going to high school in nearby Warren (according to Wiki) So there are exceptions. But not many, I'd wager.
In fact, many years ago I was surprised to hear the comedian Tim Allen say often that he was from Detroit. Must have been the last white guy in the city I thought. Then I learned that he was in fact raised in a 'burb (Birmingham). Even Eminem only spent part of his young life in Detroit, going to high school in nearby Warren (according to Wiki) So there are exceptions. But not many, I'd wager.
This, like most impressions of Detroit stopped being the case about 25-30 years ago. Suburbanites started using Detroit as a blanket term for the region when downtown started becoming cool again/sports teams started moving back into the city. I'm sure Eminem also helped that along. Though you are correct, he spent the majority of his childhood in Warren. I've heard people as far away as Flint claim to be part of the Detroit area.
I’ve caught more than a few New Yorkers deliberately say they are from “New York” when they are from Binghamton or Buffalo or something. They know it’s misleading. Sometimes they add the correction if the conversation heads down that path, sometimes they just go along. It seems to be more recent or younger transplants though. Older ones seem to go out of their way to say the “upstate” qualifier.
To be honest, most people simply give the state they are from if from out of state. Ohio, Maryland, Virginia, Florida, California, etc. Boston and Pittsburgh are the big exceptions I can think of.
I’ve caught more than a few New Yorkers deliberately say they are from “New York” when they are from Binghamton or Buffalo or something. They know it’s misleading. Sometimes they add the correction if the conversation heads down that path, sometimes they just go along. It seems to be more recent or younger transplants though. Older ones seem to go out of their way to say the “upstate” qualifier.
To be honest, most people simply give the state they are from if from out of state. Ohio, Maryland, Virginia, Florida, California, etc. Boston and Pittsburgh are the big exceptions I can think of.
I don't feel like looking through all the comments in this thread, but someone has like pointed out the most important point: it's the audience that matters. If you are talking to someone from NY, you can tell them specifically where you are from. If you are talking to someone from California, saying some small town or county is meaningless.
I’ve caught more than a few New Yorkers deliberately say they are from “New York” when they are from Binghamton or Buffalo or something. They know it’s misleading. Sometimes they add the correction if the conversation heads down that path, sometimes they just go along. It seems to be more recent or younger transplants though. Older ones seem to go out of their way to say the “upstate” qualifier.
To be honest, most people simply give the state they are from if from out of state. Ohio, Maryland, Virginia, Florida, California, etc. Boston and Pittsburgh are the big exceptions I can think of.
People from Upstate specifically don’t say Upstate because they think it’s their state too. They want to correct people when they wrongly assume it’s the city and go “there is a whole big state up there you know you big dummy”
They are not trying to claim to be from New York City, it’s basically the opposite
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