Descriptive city nicknames (credit, home, live)

[VTinPhilly]

Over the years I've read or heard of humorous descriptions given to certain American cities. A few that come to mind are for:

BOSTON: "....where the Lowells talk only to Cabots,
and the Cabots talk only to God"

RICHMOND: "a hotbed of social rest"

ATLANTA: "if Atlanta could suck as hard as she can blow, she'd have the Atlantic at her doorstep"


CHARLESTON: "where the Ashley River meets the Cooper River to form the Atlantic Ocean"


Any others?

[edsg25]

“The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco.”......Mark Twain, while famed SF columnist with endless love of his city saw it as "Bagdad by the Bay"

across the bay, Gertrude Stein on Oakland, " “there is no there there,"

Laissez les bon temps roulez (Let the good times roll)....New Orleans

JFK saw Washington, DC, as " a city of Northern charm and Southern efficiency,"

And A. J. Liebing saw Chicago as "the second city"; for Carl Sandberg, it was "hog butcher to the world", Norman Mailer anointed it "the great American city"

Cal from the 1960s on contributes to its home town being "the People's Republic of Berkeley" as well as "Beserkly"

And UW, the midwestern version of Cal, makes Madison "70 square miles surrounded by reality" as well as "Mad City"

The Cayahouga River catching fire contributed to Cleveland being the pejorative "Mistake by the lake", something that city has long outlived.

Lewis and Clark are responsible for St. Louis being considered "the Gateway to the West"

Dorothy Parker viewed LA as consisting of "72 of suburbs in search of a city."

and, of course, "What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas."

the Big Apple, according to Michael Scott, is "New York, New York. City so nice they named it twice"

While Atlanta, a city given credit for being the place the New South emerged, is "the city too busy to hate."

And let's add "the home of the bean and the cod" to your Boston quote.

[jFug]

Erie, PA

"The Flagship City", named so for the US Brig Niagara who's homeport is Erie.

"The Gem City", for the sparkling Lake.

[MojaveCovfefe]

Palmdale: Come for the sunsets, stay for the meth

[C24L]

Midland,Texas-The Tall City

[kidphilly]

Did W.C. Fields Insult Philadelphia On His Gravestone?

[bartonizer]

Bellingham, WA. "The City of Subdued Excitement"

[kidphilly]

Originally Posted by bartonizer

Bellingham, WA. "The City of Subdued Excitement"

have never heard that but is at least a little entertaining if not humorous


Better then city of overt boredom I would think




Subdued excitement, sounds like the pursuit of mediocrity


Is that used often? just find that one intriguing

[ajams22]

I like Lana Del Rey's description for Los Angeles in her "Tropico" short film.

"Los Angeles, The City of Angels, A Land of Gods and Monsters. The in-between realm where only the choices made from your free will, will decide your souls fate.

Some poets called it the Entrance to the Underworld, but on some summer nights, it could feel like paradise."

I realize it's a little longer than a nickname

[VTinPhilly]

Dallas

My all time favorite humorous song about a city is Big "D" from the musical "The Most Happy Fella".
A few of the lyrics go something like this....

"You're from Big D, I can guess,
from the way you drawl and the way you dress....

You're from Big D, my oh yes
I mean Big D, little a, double l--a--s

and that spells Dallas
where every home's a palace
'cause the settlers settle fer no less

Hooray for Big D, my oh yes, I mean
Big D, little a, double l--a--s

and that spells Dallas
I mean it with no malice,
but the rest of Texas looks a mess....."


The show opened in Boston and Philadelphia in the Spring of 1956 before going on to Broadway where it became a big hit. The song "Big D" also became very popular at the time but is seldom (if ever) heard today.