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I imagine most people do this. If you don't live in a major city that is well-know to everyone, how does your sense of place change as you get further and further away from it?
For example, I grew up in Forest Grove, Oregon which is a smallish college town/suburb of 30,000 25 miles West of Portland. If I were anywhere in Northwestern Oregon or Southwestern Washington State, if someone were to ask me where I was from I would say Forest Grove. Outside of that 100 mile radius, I would probably answer Portland unless I knew the person asking had an intimate knowledge of Oregon geography. Outside the US I would probably would have answered Oregon although recently Portland has become so well known among people under 35 that Portland is better known.
I would be very interested to hear other people's thoughts on the matter? I imagine someone mathematically inclined could devise some sort of gravity model.
I imagine most people do this. If you don't live in a major city that is well-know to everyone, how does your sense of place change as you get further and further away from it?
For example, I grew up in Forest Grove, Oregon which is a smallish college town/suburb of 30,000 25 miles West of Portland. If I were anywhere in Northwestern Oregon or Southwestern Washington State, if someone were to ask me where I was from I would say Forest Grove. Outside of that 100 mile radius, I would probably answer Portland unless I knew the person asking had an intimate knowledge of Oregon geography. Outside the US I would probably would have answered Oregon although recently Portland has become so well known among people under 35 that Portland is better known.
I would be very interested to hear other people's thoughts on the matter? I imagine someone mathematically inclined could devise some sort of gravity model.
How large is large?
The biggest town in my STATE is only 100,000 people.
If I used the largest close city, that would be Calgary, Alberta Canada, so I'd have to change my nationality as well as be outside my state to say I'm from a certain area.
Funny thing, the city of Calgary has more population than my entire state.
How large is large?
The biggest town in my STATE is only 100,000 people.
If I used the largest close city, that would be Calgary, Alberta Canada, so I'd have to change my nationality as well as be outside my state to say I'm from a certain area.
It's all subjective, I'd imagine. If you're from Great Falls, is that what you'd answer if you were in Spokane, Boise or Calgary? Would you just say Montana outside of the state? I would guess most people outside of Montana or adjoining states would know the name of any towns or cities in the state.
It's all subjective, I'd imagine. If you're from Great Falls, is that what you'd answer if you were in Spokane, Boise or Calgary? Would you just say Montana outside of the state? I would guess most people outside of Montana or adjoining states would know the name of any towns or cities in the state.
Possibly, but many only know Bozeman or Billings, and there's a lot of state outside of those 2 towns in south central Montana.
When I was in the military, about the closest I could say that anybody knew was to say Montana, and in Europe I would have to describe "you go to the far northwest corner of the US, then come east about 200 miles/400 kilometers, and just south of Canada.
Adjoining states know some of the bigger towns, but anything smaller than Kalispell, (population 24,000), or Miles City, (population 8,000)
so, no, they don't. If I told you I was from Wilsall or Clyde Park, or Springdale, would that tell you where I was from?
To many people from somewhere else you either live outside Yellowstone Park or Glacier Park.
Depends on what you mean by adjacent. Like is Long Beach LA? Yeah is Riverside? No
Is Revere Boston? Yes, is Acton? No.
People might make comments or whatever but there is an understanding your lifestyle/experience in Revere/Quincy isn’t much different than East Boston/Dorchester but Hingham or Acton are actually very different.
I feel like this also depends on the context of the question and/or who is asking.
I grew up mainly in an affluent inner-ring suburb of Chicago. If I were just having a general conversation with someone, like someone next to me on a flight, I'd just say "Chicago" so they'd have an idea of how far from home I was.
If it were in a more social-justice context, or I knew the person was interested in that stuff, I might say "suburbs of Chicago" or "a suburb touching Chicago". The background of a white guy who actually grew up in the city vs. outside the city will be pretty different. Definitely if we'd been talking about inner-city issues like terrible public schools, crime, and poverty, I wouldn't want to give the wrong impression of my background (although of course, many people in major cities don't deal with that stuff either).
I might even just say "Illinois" if we were talking about state-level politics and laws, or something like the weather or native flora/fauna you grew up with, which is more of a regional thing and has little to do with urban vs. suburban vs. rural.
Last edited by TheTimidBlueBars; 08-25-2022 at 07:04 PM..
If I'm talking to another native New Englander, I'll say the actual town because they've probably heard of it and have an idea of where it is.
If I'm talking to someone from outside New England, I'll say the state, or I'll just say "outside of Boston". However, saying Boston is only true in the sense that it's the only anchor for the whole New England region. The small town I grew up in was a 2 hour drive from Boston and we had no interaction with it on a day-to-day basis aside from watching Channel 5 and NESN.
Location: northern Vermont - previously NM, WA, & MA
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Originally Posted by MB1562
If I'm talking to another native New Englander, I'll say the actual town because they've probably heard of it and have an idea of where it is.
If I'm talking to someone from outside New England, I'll say the state, or I'll just say "outside of Boston". However, saying Boston is only true in the sense that it's the only anchor for the whole New England region. The small town I grew up in was a 2 hour drive from Boston and we had no interaction with it on a day-to-day basis aside from watching Channel 5 and NESN.
Having grown up 45 minutes north of Boston, I can echo these sentiments, though where I was at definitely had a large commuter flow to Boston/128. It's just a thing for most anyone in Massachusetts east of Worcester to be inclined to say they live in, near, or outside of Boston. I'd wager most people in Massachusetts wouldn't know the accurate demonym for their own state. And then it gets quite ambiguous for anyone googling this topic. Nobody says Massachusettsian or Bay Stater, and I mean nobody! They would sooner say M***hole and own it with pride. But Boston, outside Boston, and Bostonian is normally always the default answer.
Last edited by Champ le monstre du lac; 08-26-2022 at 06:03 AM..
Having grown up 45 minutes north of Boston, I can echo these sentiments, though where I was at definitely had a large commuter flow to Boston/128. It's just a thing for most anyone in Massachusetts east of Worcester to be inclined to say they live in, near, or outside of Boston. I'd wager most people in Massachusetts wouldn't know the accurate demonym for their own state. And then it gets quite ambiguous for anyone googling this topic. Nobody says Massachusettsian or Bay Stater, and I mean nobody! They would sooner say M***hole and own it with pride. But Boston, outside Boston, and Bostonian is normally always the default answer.
Accurate assessment.
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