Which of these Northeastern/Midwestern cities is the most nationally recognized? (job, America)
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St Louis. Pittsburgh is clear second, but it is indeed second.
Architecture: The Arch is far more well known than anything in Pittsburgh, period.
Branding: Bud is America's most well known beer brand, and one of the most well known in the world. It is also well known it is founded in and based out of STL. There's really no company in Pitt that is as iconic and connected to the city as Bud is with STL.
Sports teams: This is where it's close. Steelers are well known and have a large regional fanbase, as do the Cardinals. It depends who you ask. I personally would give the edge to the Cardinals, as they are a charter member of the National League of baseball and have a rich and well known history dating back to the 1800's.
Industry: Pitt is more well known due to steel
Overall: St Louis is more well known and known for more things.
Last edited by CCrest182; 01-07-2021 at 11:34 PM..
For a while, there was a Gold Star Chili franchise on South Street here in Philly, and a few stores here carry Skyline in cans.
It may not be as widely known as the Philadelphia cheesesteak or the Chicago hot dog, but I would say that Cincinnati chili is well enough known beyond the region to be included on this list.
(Of course, the king of these foods associated with specific cities is Buffalo wings.)
St Louis. Pittsburgh is clear second, but it is indeed second.
Architecture: The Arch is far more well known than anything in Pittsburgh, period.
Branding: Bud is America's most well known beer brand, and one of the most well known in the world. It is also well known it is founded in and based out of STL. There's really no company in Pitt that is as iconic and connected to the city as Bud is with STL.
Sports teams: This is where it's close. Steelers are well known and have a large regional fanbase, as do the Cardinals. It depends who you ask. I personally would give the edge to the Cardinals, as they are a charter member of the National League of baseball and have a rich and well known history dating back to the 1800's.
Industry: Pitt is more well known due to steel
Overall: St Louis is more well known and known for more things.
I would disagree with a few of the points you made.
Yes, St. Louis is known for the arch and as the "gateway to the west".
But after that it drops off quite quickly.
I would say 9/10 people have no idea that Budweiser is from St. Louis.
I honestly thought it was from Madison, Wisconsin.
Budweiser does a great job every year with advertising, but it never makes references it is from St. Louis. So unless you are a total beer geek you would have no idea.
In terms of sports, the Steelers are most definitely the clear winner here. MLB overall is a slowly dying sport with declining fans throughout the league and the Cardinals have little fanbase outside the immediate metro.
The Steelers are one of the top NFL teams in regards to fanbase area, with fans all across the USA. Similar to the Cowboys and Patriots.
St. Louis is known for the arch but that is about it.
The Steelers are really what makes Pittsburgh to be very much the more recognized city, nationwide.
It is unfortunate that St. Louis lost its NFL team.
I would disagree with a few of the points you made.
Yes, St. Louis is known for the arch and as the "gateway to the west".
But after that it drops off quite quickly.
I would say 9/10 people have no idea that Budweiser is from St. Louis.
I honestly thought it was from Madison, Wisconsin.
Budweiser does a great job every year with advertising, but it never makes references it is from St. Louis. So unless you are a total beer geek you would have no idea.
In terms of sports, the Steelers are most definitely the clear winner here. MLB overall is a slowly dying sport with declining fans throughout the league and the Cardinals have little fanbase outside the immediate metro.
The Steelers are one of the top NFL teams in regards to fanbase area, with fans all across the USA. Similar to the Cowboys and Patriots.
St. Louis is known for the arch but that is about it.
The Steelers are really what makes Pittsburgh to be very much the more recognized city, nationwide.
It is unfortunate that St. Louis lost its NFL team.
Not sure this statement could be any more inaccurate. The exact reason the Cardinals draw the 2nd most fans in baseball (behind only the Dodgers) is because they attract such a wide fanbase outside of the metro. There are literally Cardinals fans from coast to coast.
I would disagree with a few of the points you made.
Yes, St. Louis is known for the arch and as the "gateway to the west".
But after that it drops off quite quickly.
I would say 9/10 people have no idea that Budweiser is from St. Louis.
I honestly thought it was from Madison, Wisconsin.
Budweiser does a great job every year with advertising, but it never makes references it is from St. Louis. So unless you are a total beer geek you would have no idea.
In terms of sports, the Steelers are most definitely the clear winner here. MLB overall is a slowly dying sport with declining fans throughout the league and the Cardinals have little fanbase outside the immediate metro.
The Steelers are one of the top NFL teams in regards to fanbase area, with fans all across the USA. Similar to the Cowboys and Patriots.
St. Louis is known for the arch but that is about it.
The Steelers are really what makes Pittsburgh to be very much the more recognized city, nationwide.
It is unfortunate that St. Louis lost its NFL team.
As has been mentioned, the Arch is the only iconic recognizable structure in any of these cities outside of their own regions.
Anyone who has ever payed the slightest bit of attention to Budweiser's marketing, knows very well they're from St. Louis. I even think they say that in a lot of their commercials.
Can't even fathom how anyone would associate Budweiser with Madison.
The Steelers are popular indeed, perhaps more so than even the Cowboys. These teams have geeky fans win or lose.
I think the Patriots bandwagon is carrying a much lighter load these days.
St. Louis has never been a great football city with hugely popular teams, so losing a couple in the modern era didn't make much of a difference anyway.
Even though football is the most popular sport, it makes it sound like Pittsburgh is a one-trick pony and that sports are everything. They're not, and sports certainly aren't the only thing that makes a city well-known nationally, though they can play a big role.
Personally, I think of ketchup and steel mills as much as I do the Steelers.
The Cardinals probably have the widest fan base in baseball outside of maybe the Yankees or Red Sox.
As a Royals fan who has lived in Kansas City and don't even like the Cardinals, I found it highly annoying that their were so many Cardinals fans in Kansas City and even in places westward from there.
Honestly all the Yankees hats seen nationwide probably have more to do with fashion or association with New York than they actually do baseball. If you see a Cardinals hat, it's probably about baseball.
Even though baseball plays second fiddle to football in modern times, there's little doubt that the Cardinals have just as much name recognition as the Steelers even though people are more likely to have seen the latter on national TV.
Show random people around the country photos of the arch, they automatically know it's St. Louis.
Show a picture of downtown Pittsburgh nestled among the mountains and rivers (it is a pretty city), nine out of ten would have no idea what they're looking at unless you happen upon a mob of geography geeks like those of us on C-D, or you're only asking people in neighboring states.
Not knocking Pittsburgh, but average people around the country can at least visualize something about St. Louis, know what sports team plays there, and most likely associate a brand it. Pittsburgh has two of those three, sort of, but unless a person makes an effort to know what it looks like, they don't have any idea what Pittsburgh looks like.
Quote:
Originally Posted by STL2006
Not sure this statement could be any more inaccurate. The exact reason the Cardinals draw the 2nd most fans in baseball (behind only the Dodgers) is because they attract such a wide fanbase outside of the metro. There are literally Cardinals fans from coast to coast.
Even though most of the popular St. Louis World's Fair food origin stories are myths, the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair (which was intended to celebrate the centennial of the Louisiana Purchase, which occurred the year before) coincided with many dramatic changes in the way Americans ate and what they ate, and thus the fair became associated with several foods that had become popular around the time of the fair, including the ice cream cone, the hot dog, the hamburger and iced tea. One origin story that isn't a myth: the R.T. French Co. did introduce its now-iconic yellow mustard at the 1904 fair. (This essay on Serious Eats gives you a good explanation of what the fair contained and why it was such an important event in American history.)
The first Olympic Games in America were held in that same year in that same city.
Then you have the city's association with the blues in music, and, as previously mentioned, with beer, even though the country's biggest brewer is now part of a Belgian/Brazilian conglomerate. (This Bud's still for you.)
It even has an association with barbecue, though this Kansas City native considers it undeserved. ("St. Louis-style ribs" are so called not because of how they're cooked but because of how the ribs are trimmed: by removing the point and the top crossbone, you get a uniform rectangle that cooks quicker and more evenly on a grill, and many a barbecued St. Louis rib is grilled rather than slow-smoked — the latter the price of admission to the land of real barbecue.)
This has always been a little odd for me too. There’s no doubt STL is associated with BBQ (I hear it all the time when I travel — “Oh good BBQ in St. Louis.”), but like you I think it’s mainly because STL cut spare ribs are pretty much the standard and show up on menus everywhere as such.
I do think the success of some top STL BBQ restaurants has backed that up in recent years (Pappy’s, Bogart’s, Sugarfire, etc), but the truth of the matter is all of the places either do KC style, Memphis style, or a blend of both. You’ll get no argument from me, I think KC BBQ is the best hands down.
The Cardinals have always been a well known brand nationally. They've always had classic unis too. And this coming from a Yankees fan who lives 8 miles from The Stadium.
As I said in a previous post in this forum the Steelers are still the most well known brand nationally out of these choices listed. But the Cards are a close second I would say.
Also how do people not know Anheuser Busch is based in St. Louis? Have you been sleeping in a bubble for decades? The 3 things I've always known about STL were the Arch, the Cardinals and Anheuser Busch. Definitely on my to-do list to catch a game there and check out the food/drink scene.
As far as the recognizable structures, I think the Inclines in Pgh are pretty recognized by a lot of people. Not at the level of the St. Louis arch , but it does add an element in Pittsburgh that is very unusual in the USA. I think these, combined with the bridges and the large fountain at the confluence of the rivers, give Pittsburgh a lot of physical recognition.
there are two sets of inclines, the Duquesne incline which is the one probably more recognized.
Busch has been the name of a few fairly famous baseball stadiums for decades. I can’t imagine anyone associating it with Madison.
I'm assuming that poster got A-B mixed up with Miller Brewing Company, which is based in Milwaukee.
But yeah, their claim that most people don't know where it's based is absurd. Bud is one of, if not the most "American" brand in the country, by a decent margin.
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