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One of the biggest misconceptions about Phoenix is that the grass is greener here, and itis some kind of Eden or something. I dont know why people feel that way. The truth is that Phoenix has seen the most foreclosures of any city in the country; Arizona ranks dead last (50th in public education in SAT/ACT scores, spending per pupil and graduation rates; Phoenix is the kidnapping capital of the country; there's no jobs; the pollution is really bad; and the people arent really that nice. I've lived in 3 other places besides Phoenix (Indianapolis Detroit and Washington DC) and its the worst place Ive lived.
LOL...I not surprised by this. You've rarely if ever had anything positive to say about Phoenix on CD, yet your comments rear their ugly heads anytime Phoenix is mentioned. If I didn't know better, I would think you had some sort of grudge against Phoenix because you spend so much time commenting about a place you seem to despise so much and care so little for.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Justabystander
Who thinks Phoenix is some kind of Eden? Flying into it, is looks like one big brown arid bowl, and landing in it, you feel like a pizza pre-heated to 425 degrees. There is very little that is attractive about Phoenix; the only redeeming quality it has is that it has a decent Feb. March with lots of fruit. Otherwise, I would take all three of your places metro areas that you have lived over it.
[/quote]Misconception: True Seattleites don't use umbrellas.
Fact: walk around the city on a rainy day and umbrellas are everywhere[/quote]
I actually found far less umbrellas in Seattle than anywhere. When I first moved there I found myself the only one with one. You see people with them but I find many more without.
Location: Baghdad by the Bay (San Francisco, California)
3,530 posts, read 5,133,609 times
Reputation: 3145
Quote:
Originally Posted by waronxmas
I will also add about Atlanta the misconception that it's the most sprawled out, suburban oriented, conservative, backwards, no soul having city on the planet.
Misconception #1: St. Louis is a conservative bastion
Contrary to the perception of people outside the midwest, St. Louis has always been very liberal. St. Louis started as a French city which then became an American city. Before the civil war, the St. Louis courts and juries voted to give Dred Scott his freedom before the US Supreme court in Washington overruled and decided that African Americans are not citizens. During the Civil War, the support of St. Louis for the Union was one of the key reasons why Missouri didn't go to the confederacy, allowing the Union to maintain control of the Mississippi and thus, the American West. It has been home to such famous and characters such as General Grant and General Sherman. Today, St. Louis is the only city not on a coast that received the highest scores for being LGBT friendly HRC Releases List of Most Gay Friendly Cities | Advocate.com
Misconception #2: St. Louis is a dying city with lots of poor people
St. Louis's awfully misconstrued population statistics is a shining example of why metro area populations need to be considered rather than "city" populations. The city of St. Louis now has only about 10% of population of the metro area of almost 3 million because the city itself is only 66 square miles. If you look at the metro area, between the year 2000 and the year 2010, the population actually grew 20%. The region's population decline turned around around the year 2000 and has been increasing ever since. Greater St. Louis - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The median income of a worker in the St. Louis area is about 50k, which you can live a very rich life with given the cost of living here.
Misconception #3: St. Louis is dangerous
Again because of the political boundaries, the crime statistics are wildly inflated since St. Louis city is tiny in land area but contains the roughest neighborhoods, which exist in any metro. The metro area has lower crime statistics per capita than many metros that are considered safer such as San Francisco or Washington DC. In a recent poll 74% of people living in St. Louis say they feel safe walking around at night, which is greater than just about any metro area except for NYC and Boston. nextSTL | From the Nation's "Most Dangerous" City: St. Louisans Say they Feel Safe Walking Alone at Night
Location: NYC based - Used to Live in Philly - Transplant from Miami
2,307 posts, read 2,766,789 times
Reputation: 2610
Quote:
Originally Posted by dalparadise
Eh, I still don't see it.
This is by Piedmont Park right?
Ah memory! I went to school in Atlanta . I lived in Parc Avenue condo / loft and used to walk to Caribou coffee shop on 10th?
From reading the comments in this thread, people are giving Atlanta too much credit or not giving it enough credit. Yes, it is suburban and you can't really deny that point, but some of you act like it's on the verge of being rural. Atlanta blossomed at an autocentric time in US history, and therefore it's car oriented, like Dallas, LA, and Houston. It is very sprawly. But there are several steps being taken by the city to create more urban areas (for example, Atlantic Station). I think that the video that was posted showed a decent amount of street life, but I guess since it is not NY level activity then it's just not good enough. Atlanta could definitely use some more activity, but it is getting better, not worse, and we need to recognize that.
Now back on topic:
Dallas - the city is actually liberal/progressive. Not as much as Austin, but the county still voted for Obama in 2012. Tarrant County to the west is also shifting to blue as well.
On the flip side, people look at how DC is largely a black-white city, and assume that the suburbs are not too diverse. Little do they know that DC suburbs are as diverse as suburbs of San Francisco or Los Angeles and are on average more diverse than those of NYC, Chicago, Philadelphia, or Boston.
Misconception #2: St. Louis is a dying city with lots of poor people
St. Louis's awfully misconstrued population statistics is a shining example of why metro area populations need to be considered rather than "city" populations. The city of St. Louis now has only about 10% of population of the metro area of almost 3 million because the city itself is only 66 square miles. If you look at the metro area, between the year 2000 and the year 2010, the population actually grew 20%. The region's population decline turned around around the year 2000 and has been increasing ever since. Greater St. Louis - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The STL metro did not grow 20% from 2000 to 2010, that's about the rate of growth that fast-growing Denver saw during that span. If STL had grown that fast it would have added 600,000 people to the MSA and it would be #15 in the U.S. in population, at over 3.5 million people.
Minneapolis-St. Paul- Misconception: Since it's cold during winter it is always cold and therefore never gets warm or hot. Reality: from April to October the weather is very similar to the rest of the Midwest/Northeast, and over the past 10 years the avg. July high temp has been 86 degrees.
Cleveland- Misconception: it's a dying Rust Belt city with no progression and nothing to do. Reality: it's turning the corner economically and because it was once a top 10 U.S. city around the turn of the 20th Century there are a plethora of top-notch institutions that cities even twice its size do not yet have.
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