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So, I'm sure we've all been there-talking to someone who mentions living somewhere and then its later revealed they actually live like 35 miles away from that place. I never really encountered this until moving out west, where you'll see some pretty extreme examples.
Dormont sits on the border of Pittsburgh, and I've never once in my life heard anyone refer to it as Pittsburgh, then all of a sudden something 75 miles from Los Angeles is "L.A.", things in different counties are "San Francisco", etc.
Where in the country does this type of thing occur most? Why is it a thing some places and not others?
I'm talking about the obvious head scratchers, not someone living in an unincorporated area that touches the city in question, etc.
The reasons for this seem to be pretty complex and region dependent.
SFO and BOS would likely roughly tie, because the boundaries of the city proper are small compared to the metro that people might instead use them as a proxy for.
SFO and BOS would likely roughly tie, because the boundaries of the city proper are small compared to the metro that people might instead use them as a proxy for.
Yep, and honestly if you’re from somewhere like Concord, NH you might say you’re from Boston since it’s the closest major city despite being far.
Yep, and honestly if you’re from somewhere like Concord, NH you might say you’re from Boston since it’s the closest major city despite being far.
I've never been to NE but I assumed Boston had to be way up there because its so culturally dominant for multiple states, and "New England Patriots" naming convention is probably just dumping fuel on that fire.
Eh, most people claim bay area over SF which makes sense
I'd say Atlanta easily. Less than 10% of the metro population lives in city limits. Its an incredibly suburban city. Most people who live in "Atlanta" live in Marietta, Kennsaw, Conyers, Gwinnett, Morrow, Douglasville, etc
Eh, most people claim bay area over SF which makes sense
I'd say Atlanta easily. Less than 10% of the metro population lives in city limits. Its an incredibly suburban city. Most people who live in "Atlanta" live in Marietta, Kennsaw, Conyers, Gwinnett, Morrow, Douglasville, etc
Interesting, I worked with a lady once who, when telling me where she lived before said "metro Atlanta." I thought that was a very measured and appropriate description for the layman.
Not LA. I always hear "I'm from Orange County" or "from the Inland Empire" or "from Irvine", even if people from the county might just give the city.
I've heard people from Kankakee County (in Chicago's CSA) and even Madison, WI (not in the CSA) claim to be from Chicago. I'm not sure how I feel about it. On the one hand, it shows a lot of people think the city is worth claiming, but on the other, it really illustrates how little-known any of our satellite cities or suburbs are on a national scale.
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.
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