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Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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When I was 19 I did a 2-1/2 month long summer road trip with a friend, 18,000 miles and 44 states. Whenever we met anyone they would see our California plates and ask where we were from, and we would say San Francisco. Actually, we lived in Lafayette, about 22 miles east of the city, but no one would have heard of that, and I was born in S.F. The younger people would get all excited and ask us about the hippies, Haight Ashbury, and the rock concerts.
Tacoma gets some name recognition from the fact its name is in the airport. Flyers will have head of SeaTac. There's also a funny comedy TV show about Tacoma firefighters (Tacoma FD) which also serves to put it on the map.
Considering that it's clearly a 'junior' city in a metro area dominated by another city, it's relatively well-known I think nationally. It's probably because it has its own history as a sizable city preceding Seattle's sprawl, which by default gives it more of a distinct identity and reputation than towns which solely got developed as bedroom communities.
I saw SF/SJ mentioned as a parallel, but perhaps you could even say New York and Newark as a comparison. Newark is also clearly in the shadow of NYC but has its own history as a significant city, its own urban identity and reputation, and a decent amount of name recognition.
Also the Tacoma Narrows Bridge collapse of 1940. Unfortunately it's more like a SF/Oakland relationship rather than SF/SJ.
When I was 19 I did a 2-1/2 month long summer road trip with a friend, 18,000 miles and 44 states. Whenever we met anyone they would see our California plates and ask where we were from, and we would say San Francisco. Actually, we lived in Lafayette, about 22 miles east of the city, but no one would have heard of that, and I was born in S.F. The younger people would get all excited and ask us about the hippies, Haight Ashbury, and the rock concerts.
When I travel abroad, I say I'm from San Francisco. In the 1980s and 1990s the associated images were gay friendly, scenic, Golden gate bridge, hippies, counter culture etc. Now tech is the absolute first thing people bring up, from Europe to Asia, it's tech. I find that kinda sad because that is just one aspect. Well at least that's better than domestically as the first thing people bring up in the US now is poop.
As an Angelino I think it's fine for people from all over to claim LA. LA is really a huge polycentric urban area. Just because Santa Monica isn't officially LA, it's still LA. Hell even the Angels changed their name to LA so I don't see why we can't just claim everybody around here. It's also why on subs like this we talk about what is the "real" population of LA. Is Riverside LA? My opinion - yes. They are just a far-flung suburb and everyone knows it.
Tacoma gets some name recognition from the fact its name is in the airport. Flyers will have head of SeaTac. There's also a funny comedy TV show about Tacoma firefighters (Tacoma FD) which also serves to put it on the map.
Considering that it's clearly a 'junior' city in a metro area dominated by another city, it's relatively well-known I think nationally. It's probably because it has its own history as a sizable city preceding Seattle's sprawl, which by default gives it more of a distinct identity and reputation than towns which solely got developed as bedroom communities.
I saw SF/SJ mentioned as a parallel, but perhaps you could even say New York and Newark as a comparison. Newark is also clearly in the shadow of NYC but has its own history as a significant city, its own urban identity and reputation, and a decent amount of name recognition.
Newark/NYC comparison works because on the map, they look fairly close, but travel times can take a while, which is what I was meaning by the SF/SJ comparison. When I lived in Oakland, I could hop on BART in be in downtown SF in 12 mins, but getting to Tacoma from Seattle on transit is much more of a time commitment, let alone dealing with the god awful traffic between the two on I-5 if you're unlucky enough to have to drive during rush hour.
As far as Atlanta, most people say they're from Atlanta when talking to someone not familiar with the area so that they have a general idea of where their from, if I tell someone I'm from Conyers or Covington they probably have no idea where that is
Downtown Tacoma actually has a good express bus connection to Downtown Seattle. Secondarily there's commuter rail though not all day.
As for the main topic, it's not false to claim to be from Seattle if you live in Tacoma, or any equivalent elsewhere. I bet most people would refer to their core city if speaking to someone who wouldn't know the area very well.
As far as Atlanta, most people say they're from Atlanta when talking to someone not familiar with the area so that they have a general idea of where their from, if I tell someone I'm from Conyers or Covington they probably have no idea where that is
I can see how Atlanta would win this overwhelmingly. Small city for a huge metro area whose suburbs have little to no external name recognition. Sandy Springs is the only one that seems to have any traction, I know Gwinnett from seeing Depeche Mode there.
I would have no idea where Conyers is and would think Kentucky for Covington.
What is the cut off for people claiming to be from LA? Would someone in Oxnard say they're from LA if they were visiting the East Coast or is that the territory when people just say SoCal?
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