Using "The City" (Austin: town, friends)

[sanmiguel]

Originally Posted by trayanh

I've thought "the City" only means "New York City"

No, San Franciscans have simply referred to it as "The City" for many years. If you told anyone in Northern California that you live in The City, they would automatically know that that you meant SF. The Golden State Warriors were originally based in SF before moving across the Bay to Oakland. During the 70's , their uniforms bore not the initials SF but rather the words THE CITY.

[mark311]

"The City" is definitely a San Francisco thing. People wouldn't say it if they were in a suburb of Oakland and were going into Oakland. Even people in Oakland would say they were going to "The City" when they were going to San Francisco. Just a guess, but maybe it's a shortened version of "The City by the Bay". I've only heard people say that they're going downtown or going into Austin here (sometimes even say South Austin, Central Austin, etc.)

[G Grasshopper]

Thanks, all. I think we will go with "going to town." At this point the "fixin' to go to town" would sound pretty fake, with my son's California accent and my Wisconsin accent. (Although I used to have a Texas accent, back when I was a young person, but I think I left it in Texas when I drove over the border.) My husband, who is a native Texan, could probably pull it off. I have the impression that "the city" is used for a lot of cities around the country. I think I have heard it in other places besides NYC and San Francisco. But I like "the town" anyway. It sounds more friendly.

[Jennibc]

We usually say downtown....even though it's north of us.

[theSUBlime]

The only City I know is New York City, but hey, it's a regional thing.

[G Grasshopper]

I just heard someone who lives outside of New Braunfels refer to that town as "the city," as in "My friends from the city came out for a barbeque." I asked what city she was referring to, San Antonio, maybe, but she said no, she meant New Braunfels!

[love roses]

I just say "going downtown".

[CarnivalGal]

Austin of more of a large town than a city. I would never refer to it as going into the city.

I am from the Philadelphia 'burbs (actually much closer to center city, aka "downtown" Philly, than Lakeway is to Austin), and I would only very rarely hear people say they were going into the city. Usually it was older folks who used that terminology.

[Idlewile]

Interesting discussion. As a native Californian, having grown up in northern cal and lived in SF, also lucky enough to spend summers in NYC and also having lived in Atlanta, Boston and Denver as an adult, "the City" IS San Francisco and it's a San Francisco term of endearment. I don't really hear "going into the city" all that much on the east coast, unless you're in CT or NJ and referring to going into NYC. Still, "going into the city" isn't the same as "the City"; as cliquish as it may sound, San Franciscans take great pride in referring to their town in this manner and it's part of the local speak. You will rarely here natives say "San Fran" and you will never hear any self-respecting CA resident refer to SF as "Frisco". It's either "the City" or "SF".

Currently, here in Boulder/Denver metro area, if you're going into the heart of Denver, from a suburb, you might say "going downtown".

[Melissa78703]

Austin used to be a town at one point in time. With the 16th largest population, I'd say that it's definitely a city now, but I have difficulty referring to it as such. I live in a neighborhood west of downtown; apparently I live "downtown" now (when I really don't).

I dunno, whenever I'm going out of Austin, specificity helps. E.g., "I'm going to Lakeway," "I'm traveling to Round Rock," etc. Similarly, if I were anywhere else, I've heard "I'm going/driving into Austin" most frequently. I spent a few weekends with a couple who lived in Lakeway. When they said, "Let's go into town for dinner," they meant Cedar Park, not Austin!