Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I get the impression the average age of the most active folks in the General U.S. forum is about 17. That's why I shop sparingly in this particular forum.
I totally agree with SWB. I don't know when this happened to the General U.S. forum but it didn't always used to be this way. There used to be interesting threads about development and infrastructure, and posts from people wondering about where within the U.S. they should move to. The past few months though, it seems like every thread is a competition about which city is better. And for the life of me, I can not understand why people on this board get so offended when you express the slightest negative criticism of their city or state. Some people react as if you had just insulted their child.
Last edited by dullnboring; 09-25-2007 at 01:43 AM..
Reason: typo
I get the impression the average age of the most active folks in the General U.S. forum is about 17. That's why I shop sparingly in this particular forum.
Oh very well said, because I think this is EXACTLY the case. You can tell by the kind of stuff that sets them off and the whole: 'type how you talk'
You're kind of forced to pick and choose because you don't want to fall into one of those traps
All good points, SWB--perhaps we can have a moratorium on city-state bashing!
After all, it gets us nowhere and we don't learn much from these comparisons, imo!
Quote:
Originally Posted by ScrantonWilkesBarre
Is it just me, or has there been far too much of a competitive nature as of late on this forum? "My city is better than your city." "Your city can bite my city's dust." "Nobody likes your city." "My city's ego is so large because everyone likes it." Yada, yada, yada.
I'm guilty of this myself, getting into some hot water on another thread for claiming that Pittsburgh had a nicer skyline than Houston, but overall this is a trend on City-Data I'd like to see reversed. Why can't we just appreciate each and every city in America for its differences? Phoenix isn't any better than Buffalo due to the climate changes, nor is Seattle any better than Mobile for their disparities in literacy. EVERY city in America has someone who loves them and appreciates them, even downtrodden ones like Gary, Newark, Camden, Scranton, East St. Louis, etc.
Can we PLEASE stop with these repetitive "Which city is better than which city?" threads? All they seem to result in is endless bickering, and let's face it---you're never going to change anyone's minds about where they live.
P.S. Scranton is better than Boulder! (Just kidding!!!)
Agreed. It is just always going to happen that people stick up to their home cities. I was guilty of that houston argument too. Although, when somebody comes on and says that Pittsburgh's skyline has no architectural appeal I tend to get a little defensive. I think people should open there mind up a little on this forum.
No one said Pittsburgh's skyline had no architectural appeal.
But I have the solution to the problem:
Maybe if people would stop going around posting disparaging and nasty comments about cities and states that they hardly know anything about, this would not be an issue. I, too, have been guilty of this from time to time, but let's face it. When it comes to regions of this country, the Sunbelt and alleged "suburbish" cities tend to be the butt of many jokes and stereotypical judgments on this boys-club website. There's that handful of cities (all in the northern half of the U.S.) that always seem to be favored and described as flawless. But what I'm finding is that many people are not qualified or experienced enough...well rounded enough to make certain conclusions about certain places. This is a problem I'm been dealing with ever since I joined.
The day that we all open up our minds to respect different opinions and different walks of life is the day that there will be no more arguments...maybe.
All good points. However, we have a rather large and active P&oC forum--controversy abounds there. If folks have this inclination, I would humbly suggest they take to that forum.
Quote:
Originally Posted by downtownnola
I think alot of the bickering stems from the fact that most everyone on this forum enjoys a little debate. I myself love a good debate, but certainly don't enjoy bickering. I have never understood the point of going onto a particular forum and posting purposefully distracting, negative comments. These individuals are typically just trolling to get a rise out of everyone else. It's best to just ignore them.
I agree ScrantonWilkesBarre: it would be nice if everyone could just get along. We all need to remember that we are all different, and we all like different things. One person may love the 24/7 fast paced urban lifestyle while another person may love living in the suburbs, or even a quiet small town. Variety is the spice of life. I'm glad we're not all the same.
I'd rate Austin, Boston, SF, D.C., Miami, Portland, Seattle, San Diego above Houston. Size isn't the only determinent of what makes a city great. Tehran, Iran has a larger population than NY. But I'd rate NY above it. I'd even rate Dallas and Atalanta above Houston. In any event, it is absurd to compare SF to Houston. Houston has annexed much of its surrounding area. If you include the entire "Bay Area" (S.J., Silicon Valley, the East Bay), SF is a major metropolitan area. Houston is for people in oil, poor immigrants, locals who don't know any better, and transplants that can't afford the nice parts of the country. I still don't understand why we can't be honest on these forums- Houston blows.
I just found this one not even two seconds ago. A perfect example of why we have these problems. His comments were completely uncalled for and were a simple attempt to demean a place he evidently has personal* problems with.
EVERY city in America has someone who loves them and appreciates them, even downtrodden ones like Gary, Newark, Camden, Scranton, East St. Louis, etc.
SWB...I know it wasn't an intended slight, but did you really need to group Scranton in with Gary, Newark, Camden, and East St. Louis? Scranton really has NOTHING in common with any of those cities. We've only had 1 murder in 2 years in all of Lackawanna County. Those other cities have that many murders in any given hour. Scranton overall has more in common with your average clean, safe small town than it does with grimy crime infested cities.
Like I said, I know you know this, but I didn't want anyone else thinking that Scranton is another Gary or Camden.
Agreed. It is just always going to happen that people stick up to their home cities. I was guilty of that houston argument too. Although, when somebody comes on and says that Pittsburgh's skyline has no architectural appeal I tend to get a little defensive. I think people should open there mind up a little on this forum.
I totally agree with SWB. I don't know when this happened to the General U.S. forum but it didn't always used to be this way. There used to be interesting threads about development and infrastructure, and posts from people wondering about where within the U.S. they should move to. The past few months though, it seems like every thread is a competition about which city is better. And for the life of me, I can not understand why people on this board get so offended when you express the slightest negative criticism of their city or state. Some people react as if you had just insulted their child.
there are also some people who ONLY post either to criticize, or completely bash someone who makes the slightest criticism about (their) city. there's no value-add in *any* threads. baffling.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
All they seem to result in is endless bickering, and let's face it---you're never going to change anyone's minds about where they live. 
