Inspired by CaityCaity: What is "the city" to you?

[danacara]

When someone around you alludes to "the city," what city do you assume that they mean? If someone asked you what "the biggest city in the world" was, would you be tempted to answer geographically, demographically (I think Mexico City or Bombay?) or culturally? I ask because I wonder how regional our differences really are on this point.

 

[Briar Rose 7457]

ah, New York, the greatest city in the world. around here when someone says "the city" that's what they mean...as if there were any other city to compare with it.

 

[PandyPaws]

ditto what Briar Rose said

 

[SuiteDisney]

If someone around here talks about going into the "city" they're talking about Philadelphia.

 

[jx3smom]

Probably Philadelphia. My DH would answer New York as he was born and raised there.

 

[preshi]

If someone were to say to me " Do you want to go to the city" I'd think they were talking about San Fran.

 

[poohbears5]

Around here one would think philadephia .

 

[dizneenut]

Around here if you talk about going to "the city" it is Cleveland.

 

[browneyes]

They never say city around here. They go to town. And the town they're talking about isn't by any means a city! When I think of city nearby I think of Chattanooga or Atlanta.

We do have Rock City close by though.

 

[snoopy]

We don't say the city here, we say downtown, which is where I live.

When I think of the city, any city, I think of any urban area that is not the suburbs.

 

[Meriweather]

Here "city" is Seattle.

 

[SPAGo 98]

NYC, manhattan specifically.

 

[AF Brenda]

Living here, if someone says "the city", I naturally think of DC.

When I lived in Alabama, and someone said "the city", I said "What city?".

When I lived in Florida and someone said "the city", I would think of Tampa.

Hard as it may be to believe those that believe the sun rises and sets on NYC, New York has never come to mind when someone says "the city".

 

[danacara]

Originally posted by AF Brenda
Hard as it may be to believe those that believe the sun rises and sets on NYC, New York has never come to mind when someone says "the city".

Even post-9/11? I wonder if a year of so much talk about NYC nationally (not belittling the Pentagon here, just making the point that WTC gets more of the press) changed the national definition of "the city" in any way. It's a semantic thing, but I know it changed my own.

 

[caitycaity]

if someone asked me what the biggest city was, i'd probably look up both population and sq. foot, but my first instict would be population.

i am confused by what you mean by "the biggest city culturally" though. if someone asked me what i thought the "biggest city" was i'd never think in terms of culture.

here -- when someone says the city, they're refering to d.c.

 

[caitycaity]

"Even post-9/11? " yeah, i think so, even after 9/11. i have never heard anyone here refer to nyc just as the city, unless we were alreday talking about nyc. if someone just came up to me and said, "hey i'm going to the city tonight" i'd think they meant dc.

if you just refered to 'the city' anywhere around the country, i don't think most people would automatically assume nyc unless they lived close to nyc.

 

[AF Brenda]

Even post-9/11?

Even post-9/11. When someone uses the term "the city", I associate it with the nearest city, which isn't NYC in my case. I've never heard anyone in this area refer to NYC as "the city". When people here talk about NYC, they tend to say "New York" or "New York City".

 

[Robinrs]

I grew up in Brooklyn so the city will always be NYC.

When I was growing up the line was "when you live NY you're going nowhere...." The way most people who grew up there feel about their city is one of pride and dignity, not to spite anyone. It's just the way we survive in a city that the true epitome of survival!

 

[Jeafl]

Around here, it would be Chicago. Although, I agree with Snoopy, most of the people I know refer to Chicago as "downtown" or even "the loop".

 

[danacara]

Originally posted by caitycaity
someone asked me what i thought the "biggest city" was i'd never think in terms of culture.

When I hear "big" I think "dominant." If someone asks me who the biggest politician in America is, I don't think height or weight -I think Bush. Same, to me, with cities, but not to you. The definition of "big" is a semantic point, but it affects our automatic response. An editorial on SFGate.com yesterday morning addressed the Olympic bids, it had an off-the-record quote from an IOC member who said that "San Francisco is not a big city." What does he mean? Population? Geography? International influence, which is what the columnist thought? (If the IOC member meant influence, the comment is an insult - otherwise, it's just a statement). I was thinking about his comment in the airport renaming discussion on the DB. It interests me.