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I've noticed if you say anything bad about certain cities, residents of those cities are quick to defend it's honour, whereas for other cities, they don't seem to care. Sometimes these cities suffer an inferiority complex (often being compared to a larger neighbour), other times it seems they're defending the fact the city well, just sucks and they're trying too hard to be cool.
Chicago, USA (often compared to NYC)
Melbourne, Australia (that's changing but Melbourne genuinely is a great city)
Toronto, Canada in terms of being the cultural hub, also the fact it doesn't seem that interesting
Houston, USA - people actually act like the city offers something - for a city with a metro of nearly 6 million this ugly sprawl-fest has a shameful downtown. Many cities with 100,000 in Europe beat it in vibrancy.
Perhaps Birmingham, UK? Yet do people really try to defend it?
Funnily I don't offer hear people from Sydney or LA get that defensive over their city.
I'm sort of curious about cities in Europe that suffer this complex too.
St Petersburg. It is a beautiful city, but nothing outrageous for Europe. If I wasn't in Russia, it wouldn't be seen as exceptional. However, if you even suggest to Russians that it's not the most ridiculously beautiful, culturally advanced, amazing place you've ever been, you are in for a debate.
In the US, I found a lot of defensiveness while living in the deep south. I know it's a region, not a city, but it seems as though southerners were constantly trying to prove they're as "good" (however that is defined) has the north.
St Petersburg. It is a beautiful city, but nothing outrageous for Europe. If I wasn't in Russia, it wouldn't be seen as exceptional. However, if you even suggest to Russians that it's not the most ridiculously beautiful, culturally advanced, amazing place you've ever been, you are in for a debate.
In the US, I found a lot of defensiveness while living in the deep south. I know it's a region, not a city, but it seems as though southerners were constantly trying to prove they're as "good" (however that is defined) has the north.
To be fair there are still a lot of ignorant stereotypes about the South.
Not a well-known city, but Le Havre in France is kinda like this. The city center has been leveled during WWII and has been reconstructed on a grid plan, coordinated by a single architect, Pierre Perret. It's a UNESCO world heritage site, but also gets a lot of criticism from outsiders - me included. I find it cold and uninspiring.
Depends on who you talk to, but some people from Leeds get defensive when you start comparing it to Manchester. Manchester is bigger, with the bigger airport, better football clubs and more well-known, so some people have an inferiority complex. People from Liverpool are the same.
Likewise, people from Sheffield have an inferiority complex with Leeds, because Leeds is bigger and more prosperous, and Leeds is the self-proclaimed capital of Yorkshire (much to the dismay of Sheffield). I'm a frequent user of another forum called Skyscrapercity, and people from Sheffield can't stop talking about Leeds, or comparing Sheffield to Leeds.
It's kind of like a chain. Bigger cities are envied by their smaller peers, especially if they are perceived as 'the cat that gets the milk'.
In real life though, I think people are less bothered. If anything, people from the likes of Leeds, Manchester, Liverpool etc are more likely to tell you their city is a shythole, rather than defend it.
Last edited by dunno what to put here; 03-30-2014 at 07:51 AM..
Toronto, Canada in terms of being the cultural hub, also the fact it doesn't seem that interesting
I haven't heard much defensiveness about the city. Perhaps you don't think it's that interesting, but haven't heard any locals angrily defending it.
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