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I'd say this is more of a thing for the nation's large historic cities. So I'd also guess places like Boston, San Francisco, Cincinnati, and New Orleans fit in that category but not Charleston, Santa Fe, or Albany.
Agreed, but maybe less true if the city grew quickly during the car age like Atlanta or Detroit. SF might be the anomaly.
Surprised that not one has bought up the big differences between Detroit and the Detroit suburbs. Although the city itself has recovered somewhat from its 2013 bankruptcy and the horrible decades before that, and while all Detroit suburbs are certainly not alike, there still seems to be a yawning gap between the city and its 'burbs. They generally are demographically, economically, and culturally very different.
Sure you have some downmarket 'burbs like Inkster, and some nicer parts of the city like Indian Village or the University District, but on the whole, the ambience between Detroit and its suburbs is pretty different. And the population of the city of Detroit is a very small part of the larger Detroit metro, which adds to the imbalance.
And yes, I do agree that Baltimore City and Baltimore County are also two very different animals for the most part. As with Detroit there are neat areas of the city and downmarket suburbs. But people there make it very clear that they live in the city, the county, or further out in the Baltimore metro.
Last edited by citylove101; 12-26-2022 at 04:29 PM..
It seems like if a person from Northern New Jersey says they “live in New York,” there’s often a quick rebuttal that they live in New Jersey. Same for Chicago where saying you live in Chicago means the city proper, and Chicagoland is the only acceptable term for someone from the suburbs.
NYC may be an atypical example. People from northern NJ don't say that they're from NYC but neither do people from Brooklyn or Queens.
LA is hard to pin down because the county is also "Los Angeles". Still most people from various areas don't say that they're from "LA". People usually say the name of their city or neighborhood. Or maybe the greater area, such as the "South Bay".
Surprised that not one has bought up the big differences between Detroit and the Detroit suburbs. Although the city itself has recovered somewhat from its 2013 bankruptcy and the horrible decades before that, and while all Detroit suburbs are certainly not alike, there still seems to be a yawning gap between the city and its 'burbs. They generally are demographically, economically, and culturally very different.
Sure you have some downmarket 'burbs like Inkster, and some nicer parts of the city like Indian Village or the University District, but on the whole, the ambience between Detroit and its suburbs is pretty different. And the population of the city of Detroit is a very small part of the larger Detroit metro, which adds to the imbalance.
Yeah the cities that experienced pronounced mid-century White flight also fit in this category although for several, demographic changes have been afoot in their previously homogenous suburban areas for some years now. That has slowly changed some aspects of their local social/political culture and broken down a bit of the existing urban/suburban divide. Birmingham is another good example where all of this has happened and is happening.
Frankfort is like all the riff raff of the county concentrated and much blacker than the adjacent county. A better neighborhood for county similarities would probably be Cedonia or Cedmont.
Gwynn Oak is more similar socioeconomically to Woodlawn or Randallstown. Until you get right next to Mondawmin. Northwest Baltimore and far western Baltimore blend pretty well into their adjacent county counterparts *socially*, whereas Northeast Baltinore and far eastern Baltimore blend in better physically.
Northern cities like Chicago/Boston/NY come to mind. I grew up in the NW burbs and will tell strangers I'm from "Chicago". If they're familiar with the area I'll sometimes get the "you're not from Chicago" comment but it's just more relatable than saying "I'm from Arlington Heights, Illinois" or insert other suburb lol.
In Texas things are a little different with annexation and what not, but I've noticed a lot of people will claim their suburb before the city. For example people in San Antonio talking to someone from Houston or Austin "I'm from Stone Oak/Alamo Heights/Boerne/Shavano Park"
I've heard the same for The Woodlands/Katy/Sugar Land, etc.
DC. DC natives hate the term DMV and quick to point out its only about the city. Maryland and Virginia suburbs are foreign lands to them.
DMV literally means DC, Maryland Virginia.
Also I find it interesting other cities people mention have regional amenities named regionally.
Like while Washington- Intl Is in VA, it’s Named Washington, while Newark is not New York. The Washington Commanders play in MD. The Washington Metro served the region . Compared the MBTA or Patriots which aren’t named Boston because they’re not in Boston/contained to Boston.
In addition there are a lot of towns like District Heights that derive their name from being next to DC and that doesn’t exist in like Boston or Philly.
Also I find it interesting other cities people mention have regional amenities named regionally.
Like while Washington- Intl Is in VA, it’s Named Washington, while Newark is not New York. The Washington Commanders play in MD. The Washington Metro served the region . Compared the MBTA or Patriots which aren’t named Boston because they’re not in Boston/contained to Boston.
In addition there are a lot of towns like District Heights that derive their name from being next to DC and that doesn’t exist in like Boston or Philly.
One of my favorite things about Mary Walsh was how he always said:
“In the City of Boston” “from the City of Boston” it could be about the most mundane things too lol.
He would NEVER just say ‘Boston’, always made it a point to say the “City of Boston”
Last edited by BostonBornMassMade; 12-28-2022 at 09:12 AM..
I kind of feel like cities with less cultural difference across borders are more defensive. Cause like Everett, Revere, Somerville, Lynn, Malden etc are pretty much Not Boston only politically, but extremely similar in almost every way. (Even Brookline is quite a lot like neighboring Boston neighborhoods), however Bostonians are very defensive. Although most of Boston’s suburban cities are more functional even if they have similar densities and poverty rates and urban layout so they are in no means identical.
New York is kind of similar, NNJ and Yonkers are strongly like NYC. LI is not though. But they are similarly territorial.
But then like Atlanta and it’s suburbs are almost nothing alike but I feel like people are much more permissive of like Cobb County being “Atlanta”
I think Miami is similar, All of Miami-Dade County claims Miami, but the suburbs are way different than the city.
Chicago contains nearly the entire urban core as well so the suburbs are totally distinct from the city culturally.
Thats an interesting breakdown and accurate with my experience as well. It seems only other transplants are concerned with 'ITP' or city limits in Atlanta. Theconversations like,
"where are you from"
"Boston"
"where in Boston?"
that's usually a loaded question, daring the person to say anything other than a neighborhood within city limits
"where are you from
"Atlanta"
"where in Atlanta"
You're alllowed to say virtually anyplace in north Georgia and get a pass
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