MetaChat - Tell me about your hometown.....

MetaChat is an informal place for MeFites to touch base and post, discuss and chatter about topics that may not belong on MetaFilter. Questions? Check the FAQ. Please note: This is important.

08 June 2005

Tell me about your hometown..... →[More:][I apologize in advance if anyone thinks this is too geeky for Metachat. I'm interested in who you all are and where you're from....]

I live in Portland, Maine.

Portland is the largest city in the State of Maine, with a city population of about 62,000. Tourism and Fishing are two of the most visible industries. We hold the distinction of being one of the few working fishing-related waterfronts on the East coast, and its not unusual to see working lobster boats tied up next to multi-million dollar pleasure yachts.

Portland has an active and vibrant arts scene. On any given weekend you can visit galleries, plays, concerts (everything from Elton John to acoustic local songwriters), attend the ballet, the symphony, go contra dancing, or enjoy arts in any other way possible.

The native peoples called this area Machigonne (Great Knee). The area was settled by the British in 1632 as fishing and trading settlement and was called Casco. In 1718 the area was incorporated as "Old Falmouth". During the colonial period the settlement survived 2 major raids by native peoples, and a bombardment by the Royal Navy in 1775. Following the war, the city grew into a shipping center. When Maine separated from Massachusetts in 1820, Portland was the new State's first capitol (until 1832). In 1866, a massive fire (which started during a July 4th celebration) left 10,000 homeless and completely destroyed the bulk of the buildings in the city. As a result of this fire, the vast majority of historically significant architecture in Portland is Victorian, including the amazing Victora Mansion. Portland is also the home of the poet Henry Wadworth Longfellow and his home is now a museum.

Portland is home to one of the largest populations (per capita) of resettled refugees in the United States. Portland's public schools now teach students whose "first" language was any of over 40 different languages. The largest groups of immigrants are from Cambodia, Vietnam, Eastern Europe, Africa and Islamic Nations. Probably the most visible of the new citizens are the Ethiopian women, who can often be seen in the supermarket wearing amazing Ethiopian textiles.

Portland Head Light

Portland Downtown

The Old Port

Portland Downtown (Museum of Art)

Portland Map

You can (almost) see my house from here!

post by: anastasiav at: 16:31 | 86 comments

Pacific, MO. Originally named Franklin, but renamed because the Union-Pacific railroad went bankrupt laying rails through town.

Pop. (2000 census): 5500

About 50 minutes drive to downtown St. Louis on I-44.

posted by Schyler523 08 June | 16:42

Hopefully mr.marx will step up and tell you all about the wonder that is Stockholm, Sweden. Personally, I'm full of apathy at the moment.

But I can give you an aerial shot of my house! Here you go.

posted by soundofsuburbia 08 June | 16:44

Why do you have letters on your roof, and what do they spell? I can make out "(m?)ater."

posted by Hugh Janus 08 June | 16:46

Hugh Janus: They are courtesy of Lantmäteriverket. They feel the need to plaster their name all over their maps.

Related and for all you stalkers out there, here's where I work.

posted by soundofsuburbia 08 June | 16:52

Hometown where you come from, or where you live now?

posted by matildaben 08 June | 16:53

Here's the street I live on in beautiful Astoria, Queens, New York.

posted by jonmc 08 June | 16:54

I live in Johnson, Vermont. A very small town located in Lamoille County, with a population of about 3,724 (year 2000). Johnson is at the junction of the Gihon and Lamoille Rivers with an elevation of 531 feet. The average precipitation is 40".

Johnson was granted February 27, 1782, and chartered to WilliamSamuel Johnson, Reverend Jonathan Edwards, Charles Chauncey, and others on January 2, 1792.

According to the Historical Records Survey: "The town is believed to have taken its name from William Samuel Johnson, who had represented Connecticut in London and who later became the first president of Columbia College. Reverend Jonathan Edwards was the second son of the distinguished divine of that name and became the second president of Union College. Charles Chancy (Chauncey) was for sixty years pastor of the First Church of Boston."

On February 8, 2004 the Johnson Fire Station burned. Pics (very poor format).

posted by C17H19NO3 08 June | 16:55

It's not too geeky for me, anastasiav:

I no longer live in my hometown, or my home state, but most people here still identify me as from the Northwest. In Washington state, I lived in Olympia, Tacoma, Puyallup, and Seattle (all google maps links), but T-town has the dubious honors of being my hometown.

Living there, I don't think I ever really knew the following:

The name Tacoma stems from the Indian name for Mt. Rainier, "Tacobet," meaning Mother of the Waters.
Incorporated in 1884, Tacoma is governed by a City Council comprised of nine members: a Mayor, five district representatives and three at-large representatives. The City Council appoints a City Manager to carry out Council policies and administer the day-to-day operations.
"City of Destiny" became Tacoma’s moniker when it was designated as the Northern Pacific Railroad’s western terminus for its transcontinental railroad in 1873.
Tacoma is the founding city for Safe Streets, a national model for neighborhood protection and enhancement.
The Port of Tacoma is the 6th largest container port in North America, covering over 2,400 acres, and ranks in the top 25 for worldwide container trade. The Port services over 15 steamship lines, two transcontinental railroads, over 200 inter-and intrastate trucking lines and over 20 air freight forwarders.

Some other "quick facts" and demographics for the truly interested.

Most notably, for me, the great sixties garage rock band The Sonics were from Tacoma. We also are responsible for the Lemons and Seaweed a little later on if anyone cares. Additionally, I think some auto company named a truck after us. And we all used to speak of the Aroma of Tacoma because it stunk from the different mills in the port. My father was a steelworker for 20 years and got laid off, woot! It's that kind of town.

The city of destiny, indeed.

posted by safetyfork 08 June | 17:03

From: Blair, NE. ~6000 people at the time, semirural little town with its own nuclear power plant. Comfortable but sort of stifling, and now pretty much an outer-ring suburb of Omaha.

Live in: Minneapolis, MN. Reasonably cosmopolitan and big-city-feeling, with a lot of good local bands, publications, museums, and breweries. Top-notch cycling oppotrunities for 8 1/2 months a year. The liquor laws are silly and restrictive, but, on the other hand, your Thai food options around here are shockingly wide.

posted by cobra! 08 June | 17:03

Born in The Bronx, part of a little obscure hick town called NYC (it's the only part of NYC that's actually physically part of the mainland US). now Manhattan. : >

posted by amberglow 08 June | 17:04

Currently residing in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. Though I used to live just off of Astoria, BLVD in (surprise) Astoria, Queens. I'm sure someone will tell you more about one or both of these.

posted by safetyfork 08 June | 17:10

Currently (for another week or so) in West LA, approximately 30 minutes from wherever it is you are going....

posted by Schyler523 08 June | 17:12

Born in Shrewsbury, UK. Moved to many places within Wales, midlands and northern UK, including Newtown and Preston. Moved to Montreal, Canada, when I was four. Moved to Fort Worth, Texas, when I was nine. Moved back to Montreal for another year, and went to Philadelphia after that. Lived in Philadelphia until I went to college in Baltimore. Moved back to Philadelphia after graduation, found a job, lived here ever since.

posted by AlexReynolds 08 June | 17:14

army brat?

posted by amberglow 08 June | 17:25

I might talk about my city, but first, a connection:
Reverend Jonathan Edwards was the second son of the distinguished divine of that name and became the second president of Union College.
Union College is in Schenectady, New York, which is where Mrs. Doohickie was born. Mrs. Doohickie's parents live on this farm nearby (house on right hand edge; barns above and to the left). Their driveway was a stage coach road in colonial times and may been traveled by the Reverend Edwards.

posted by Doohickie 08 June | 17:26

The town where I grew up.

I'm not sure what my hometown is.

posted by trharlan 08 June | 17:29

No Mansfield mention would be complete without a reference to the Ohio State Reformatory, where The Shawshank Redemption was filmed.

posted by trharlan 08 June | 17:31

Although I wasn't born there and lived there for only a year, I consider Seattle my home town. I first visited when I was 23 or so (15 years ago) and immediately fell in love with it. It was so pretty, green, hilly, water everywhere, hip (shut up, that's the best word I can think of), interesting and there was (is) so much to do.

I was born in Southern California (Orange County) and lived in SoCal until I was 27 (I lived in Ventura County at the time). SoCal is flat, ugly and overgrown. I never lived near enough to the ocean to make a difference. I then moved to Texas and lived there for six years (Houston and San Antonio). Texas is pretty and there is a lot to do and see. However, it's too fucking hot and the politics suck(ed). I was ecstatic when I left.

I was finally able to move to Seattle at the end of 1999. I still miss it, but BC is a nice place to live as well and I visit fairly often.

posted by deborah 08 June | 17:38

Safetyfork, Neko Case wrote and sang a song about Tacoma as well.

posted by matildaben 08 June | 17:43

Annapolis, MD - Home of the US Naval Academy (when did the midshipmen get so young?), some of the best seafood you'll ever eat (steamed blue crab is manna from heaven, I tell you - when Moses was lost in the desert it was jumbo lump that appeared each day), terrific boating waters (along with two of the biggest boat shows in the country), art galleries out the wazoo, lots of historical sites, insanely high housing costs, limited parking spaces and the annual summer influx of oblivious tourists who seem to lose the ability to cross the street quickly and efficently the moment they cross the Maryland state line.

I live about twenty minutes north now and I miss the city dock and the atmosphere (Main Street at Christmas is breathtaking). I don't miss the prices and the parking.

posted by LeeJay 08 June | 17:52

I grew up in Sault Saint Marie, ON CA. Home of steel and bush pilots. It is next to where the Edmund Fitzgerald sank and where the Group of Seven painted. I miss Lake Superior but left to make a living. I have lived in Toronto, Atlanta, Chicago and now the Detroit area. I now have a home in Walkerville ON and in Howell, MI.

posted by arse_hat 08 June | 17:58

I love metachat.

posted by iconomy 08 June | 18:07

I live in Portland, Maine.

But that ain'tcha hometown! You're from Sagadahoc, sistah!

I don't know if I've mentioned this enough- anastasiav and I went to rival high schools. Mt. Arafat sucks! GO DRAGONS!

earnest response to follow so as to contribute positively to this really cool thread.

posted by Mayor Curley 08 June | 18:11

in order - long beach houston buena park dallas
two in california two in texas

posted by thomcatspike 08 June | 18:29

I was raised in Durham, Maine. Durham is an unusual town in that it is bordered by towns that are all significantly more developed than Durham is. It is an agricultural town surrounded by former industrial town (Lisbon), an industrial city (Auburn), a college town (Brunswick) and a shopping town (Freeport). It has about 2000 people in it and is now more of a bedroom community than farm center.

It has a k-8 school, no high school (students go to high school in the neighboring town of their choice), one gas station/convenience store, an amvets hall, a campground, an old town hall from the 1810's, and a new town hall from the early 90's. It has a methodist church and a Quaker meeting house. It was thought of by its neighbors as a quaker community until about 1900 because there are relatively few concentrations of quakers in northern New England.

It was the center of a religious movement called "Shiloh" that was headed by a Frank W. Sanford and was quite successful until it fell apart in the 20's. The church is still standing, but there are few parishoners and the rest of the town still looks upon the adherents with suspicion.

Durham is the hometown of Stephen King, but he hasn't really been back since he finished college. I used to take books out of the school library and occasionally would find his name on the cards if the book was seldom taken out. The town is that small.

The town is pretty and old in many sections, but the population is divided between newcomers who wanted to build on lots of land and the families that have lived there for generations. My parents have lived there for 30 years and are still considered newcomers. Politics are conservative, and I refrain from romanticizing the town because I think the prevailing attitudes are ugly. Brunswick is delightful, though, and I often tell people that is my hometown because I like it better, I went to high school there, and I get tired of explaining where Durham is because it is not nearly as well-known.

posted by Mayor Curley 08 June | 18:31

I was born and, to some extent, raised in Midlothain, TX. (I've got to qualify this because the town only contributed to who I am by instilling in me a drastic desire to get away from it.)

Midlothian is about 35 miles outside of DFW and is the cement capital of Texas -- and by the way, that's cee-ment. Its industry consists of three cement plants, a steel mill, a new and huge power substation, and the manufacture of young republicans. When I was coming up, population was about 4,000. We had a Dairy Queen. The first stoplight was installed when I was a freshman in high school. When I was a junior, we got a Sonic.

Population is now up to a whopping 7,500 and they have pretty much every major fast food outlet. Mind you, this may not mean much, but it's the yardstick by which growth in small Texas towns is measured.

The only really interesting thing about the town -- which I guess is probably true for a lot of places -- is its scandals. It comes up regularly in in-depth discussions of JFK assassination theories. (The long-time police chief was guarding the door that Jack Ruby slipped through, and the long-time chief detective was JD Tippit's beat partner.) The bank was robbed by Bonnie and Clyde. And when I was 15, the police sent an undercover cop into the high school to stop the town's "drug problem" (pot), and a couple of kids took him into a field and shot him.

My parents still live there, in the house where I grew up. I hate it.

posted by mudpuppie 08 June | 18:35

Home town news

posted by rumple 08 June | 18:48

Halifax, West Yorkshire, UK. Is a small town roughly half way between Manchester and Leeds. Or roughly halfway between Liverpool and Hull. I've lived here for about two years, but I've worked here for longer.

Halifax is one of those towns where you either hate it and you'll never leave or you love it and you'll never leave. I'm in the latter camp. There's a huge amount I could say, but I'm gonna bullet point a variety of facts and snippets to make it more palatable.

- The town is part of the Calder Valley. For this reason, visitors can find it oppressive. The valley walls press down on you and the streets are narrow.

- The town used to be a mill town. Cloth and carpets made Halifax in the 18th century. Huge blackened 19th century stone buildings can be found everywhere. Think Dark Satanic Mills. I work in at what used to be the largest carpet factory in Europe. It has to be seen to be believed.

- The town is a big drinking town. A whistle stop tour of the town would go something like pub, pub, supermarket, pub, pub, childrens science museum, pub, pub, car boot sale.

- Halifax has 4 theatres and no cinema.

- The road I live on Industrial Terrace is still cobbled. I live in a back to back terraced house.

- Wainhouse Tower is a huge Folly. which can be seen from most open places in Halifax.

- The song "Green and Grey" by New Model Army was supposedly written on the bus which travels the Calder Valley. It's reflects the town well.

- That Calder Valley bus is also known as "the bus to Hebden Bridge" which is also a slang term meaning "In the process of becoming a Lesbian"

- Halifax is a racist town, and there are noticible divisions between muslim areas and non-muslim areas. Sadly, things are going to get worse before they get better.

- We have one of the oldest (if not the oldest) Guillotine in Halifax.

- Ted Hughes (The poet) grew up in Mytholmroyd (don't try to pronounce it, you'll get it wrong). Sylvia Plath is buried up the road.

Arial shot of my house.
More Info
The Folly

posted by seanyboy 08 June | 19:25

grand prairie, tx. Located in right on the west edge of Dallas county, and sprawling into tarrant county in spots.

It used to be a pretty quite town with not too much development, but that's all changed within the past 10 years or so. Invaded by super stores, chain resturants, strip malls and yuppies, it's hardly grand nor a prairie.

posted by puke & cry 08 June | 19:28

Should have said. Population is about 90,000. Which, if it were in the US would put it into a large town category.

posted by seanyboy 08 June | 19:30

Hometown : Springfield, Vermont. One of the 38 Springfields in the US. (Dear Europeans : No. I do not live in the same town as Homer Simpson. Stop asking.)

Used to be a huge factory town in the 40's (really benefited from that whole "WWII" thing), but that fizzled out and only one of the five factories is still in operation.

Incidentally, population has gone down since I was a kid as a) there aren't as many jobs to be had (see above) and b) they just built a prison. It's not so slowly turning into a ghost town as many local businesses have closed in the past five years due to the encroachment of neighboring Wal-Marts and the like.

We still get plenty of broken skiiers (we have the nearest hospital to Okemo - one of the more popular mountains in the state) and tourists who come to see things like the first schoolhouse in Vermont and then ask idiotic questions like "Is the bathroom indoors?"

posted by grapefruitmoon 08 June | 19:31

Carthage, Missouri. I wrote an extended description but get a page error when I hit post. Will this shorter message go through?

posted by LarryC 08 June | 19:35

Try again, then.

I live in Carthage, Missouri, a lovely little midwestern town straight out of a Norman Rockwell painting, but sadly dominated by fundamentalist wing nuts. I have a big 120 year old house that we bought for $48,000 (we have almost the lowest cost of living in the U.S.) and live in a walkable community with tree lined streets and stately houses, dominated by fundamentalist wing nuts. Carthage is on the edge of the Ozarks, the most under-appreciated wild region of North America, with clear rivers, cool caves, glorious canoeing, mountain biking and hiking, and a unique local history and culture, dominated at present by fundamentalist wing nuts. Summers here are too hot, but the springs and falls are endless and gorgeous, and the winters mild, except for the bleatings of the fundamentalist wing nuts around Christmas. The local culture has been enlivened in recent years by a huge Mexican, Guatemalan, and Salvadoran immigration. They have opened tons of little bodegas and cafes, and quite a few have become fundamentalist wing nuts. Carthage is also the home to Marian Days, the largest annual gathering of Vietnamese Americans in the country, when every August about 60,0000 of them drop by for the weekend in our little town of 15,000. They camp on the lawn of the Vietnamese Catholic monastery (it is a long story), set up restaurants in tents, and sing Catholic hymns in Vietnamese by candlelight. It is so fucking cool. They are not fundamentalist wing nuts, but sadly they all leave after a week.

posted by LarryC 08 June | 19:36

It is a latent ambition of mine to launch some sort of internet campaign to get cool people to move here and take the place over. We have so much historic architecture going so cheap, and such natural beauty, our town would make a great artist colony and tourist destination. I'll send a real estate book to anyone who asks!

posted by LarryC 08 June | 19:36

I was born in Auckland, NZ and grew up at Karekare. That's where I intend to live once I've finished with all this academic nonsense.

Auckland is NZ's biggest city (about 1m people) and has the largest Polynesian population of any city. If you're really interested you can read all about it here.

I'm currently living in Melbourne, Australia.

posted by nomis 08 June | 19:46

Born & raised in a suburb north of NYC.

puke & cry: You live mere miles from the Temple of Restored Land Cruisers. I envy that.

C17H19NO3: Did you guys get a new station & apparatus after that?

posted by mlis 08 June | 19:51

LeeJay: I guess you have a "Pray for Labor Day" bumper sticker?

posted by mlis 08 June | 19:54

knaresborough. which means i may well be posher than ol' seanyboy (yeah, class is implicit in any piece of information associated with an englishman).

sigh. i need to get back there some time this year.

(i have had the most amazing day - a job interview that rocked, but which turned out to be unsuitable, a misunderstanding with my current boss which left me thinking i had been fired, a complete revision of what i'm doing at work which looks like it is now going to be discarded, and some poor guy here to interview who didn't speak as much english as i believed, and died terribly, painfully, publicly on a videconference with the north (so my fault). i have been in hopeful, laughing, frustrated, in tears, and am now exhausted).

posted by andrew cooke 08 June | 20:22

I keep getting an "error on page" when I try to post. I'll try again.

posted by yhbc 08 June | 20:34

Still not working. All my links work in comment preview, so I can't see what could be wrong.

posted by yhbc 08 June | 20:37

LeeJay: I guess you have a "Pray for Labor Day" bumper sticker?

Hah. I should have one, shouldn't I? Actually my friends and I used to joke about putting on a seminar for tourists entitled How to Approach an Annapolis Crosswalk or: You Have Fifteen Seconds to Get Your Bloated Sunburned Asses Across the Street Before I Floor It

(I'm actually not that impatient. Really. It's just that they would cross in these huge throngs that never seemed to end and they never crossed straight across the street. They would sort of amble sideways aimlessly while the traffic backed up behind them. And really, I love the tourists. It's kind of neat to think that out of all the places to visit so many people pick our little town.)

posted by LeeJay 08 June | 20:44

Weird. I've stripped the html from my draft and put the links as text-only at the bottom of the text, and it still comes up okay in preview and "error on page" when I try to post. Administrator please hope me!

posted by yhbc 08 June | 20:52

Like nomis, I was born in Auckland, but I grew up in Beach Haven, on the North Shore.

I currently live on Australia's Gold Coast, where my family moved in 1977. The Gold Coast apparently has the second-largest population of Kiwis in the world (second only to Auckland).

posted by dg 08 June | 20:52

Well, shit. There's the text without any links. Okay, it had to have been one of the links. I'll keep trying, adding one link at a time, in the hope that my good pal dg halfway across the fucking globe will clean up the duplicates after I'm done, m'kay?

posted by yhbc 08 June | 21:09

mlis: about 40 miles to be more precise. never heard of the place though.

posted by puke & cry 08 June | 21:13

I live in Franklin, Massachusetts, where I have served on the Town Council for the past five and a half years. Before that, I served on the Design Review Board and helped draft and edited the Town's Design Review Guidelines.

Franklin was the first community in the United States named after Benjamin Franklin. The story goes that the town fathers, when they wrote to Ben and told him of this great honor, lightly suggested that he could show his appreciation by giving the town a bell to hang in the church steeple they planned to build. The famous philanthropist told them to abandon the steeple and build a library instead, sending them "books instead of a bell, sense being preferable to sound." They did, however, make the best of things and used the books Ben sent over as part of the first public library in the United States. The Franklin books may still be seen in the library's collection.

Today, Franklin is mostly a yuppified, and overwhelmingly white (despite the residency over the years of several of the New England Patriots, including Ty Law and Ben Coates), "outer rim" suburb of Boston, 30,000 strong and still growing. It does still manage to maintain some old New England small-town charm, particularly on holidays (the Fourth of July is always nice). I like to think that I have had something to do with preserving the Town's identity and character, and am glad to have done the opportunity to do so.

posted by yhbc 08 June | 21:13

There, I got rid of the duplicates and added the extra links you put in later. Is that how it was meant to be, yhbc?

posted by dg 08 June | 21:15

I guess I didn't give much info about where I am now:

I live in the Greater Vancouver area (about an hour outside of Vancouver), between the ocean (White Rock) and Fort Langley. Fort Langley boasts of having the oldest building in BC (a house within the fort). The fort used to belong to the Hudson's Bay Company, which also happens to be the oldest company in Canada (1670). Yes, there is a white rock in White Rock. There's some sort of Indian legend attached to it but I can't find it at the moment.

Is that better?

posted by deborah 08 June | 21:52

I'll add another Portland. Indiana that is. Born and grew up there. Home of not much, just people. And the manufacturing place of the model T steering wheel. Home of Jack Imel the dancing xylophone player on the Lawarance Welk show. That's how small towns are. Latch on to anything to claim fame. Best place I lived; Eastport/Manorvile NY just off the Sunrise.

posted by mss 08 June | 22:31

I live in New York, in a hamlet of Orangetown called Sparkill. It is right near the Hudson River, roughly 25 minutes from the George Washington Bridge linking Manhattan to the mainland, and has a lot of historic buildings within its borders. Sparkill, like the towns bordering it, is intensely boring, and has somewhat of a history of supporting intolerance: it (Orangetown, actually) was home to a Bund camp in the 1930s, as well as a rather large chapter of the KKK, which is somewhat odd for the Northeast, even in the Klan's second reincarnation.

British Major John André was hung in nearby Tappan during the revolutionary war, after having been captured by American forces.

Well, I guess that's it.

posted by invitapriore 08 June | 22:54

Oh and, if anyone wants to know more, I live here and, yes, I like it.

posted by dg 08 June | 22:55

OK, I drew up a giant post with lots of linky goodness, but I can't fucking post it 'cause I get a page error like yhbc was getting. Preview, sure, all day long, but no post.

So you'll just have to imagine it.

Edit - added post received via e-mail

My home town is Ogden, Utah. I wasn't born there, and I don't live there any more, but I was raised there and so home it will always be. It's not much to look at, the main drag is dying and the mayor is trying to evict residents so he can bring in a Wal-Mart Supercenter, but it is home to one of the prettiest minor-league baseball parks in the country, and the Hispanic community is vibrant and thriving, which means there are dozens of little family-run taquerias all over the city so authentic tasty Mexican food is never more than a block or so away.

The big event of the year is the Ogden Pioneer Days, a week and a half of rodeos, parades, fireworks, car shows, cowboy poetry, and beer-drinking in the streets. OK, no beer-drinking in the streets, this is Utah, after all.

Ogden was first and foremost a railroad town, and the Union Station houses several museums dedicated to the time when Ogden was a hub for transcontinental rail travel, as well as exhibits of art, classic cars, and firearms. After all, it wouldn't be the Wild West without firearms, would it?

Of course, no Utah town is complete without a Mormon temple, and Ogden has perhaps the funkiest-looking one of them all, designed and built in the late Sixties when ... well, when building a temple this ugly looked like it might be a good idea. It's really quite a freaky-looking building - even the hi-res picture doesn't really convey the weirdness.

There's lots of other history in Ogden, but if I told you all of it, you wouldn't bother to check it out on your own, now would you?

posted by mr_crash_davis 08 June | 22:57

I grew up in New Orleans which means I have little to offer in terms of telling anyone anything they don't already know about the city. My extended families are from two little know places. My father's family is from Bogalusa, LA the home of the scariest white people on the face of the earth and my mother's is from Hazlehurst, MS the birthplace of guitar legend Robert Johnson and the setting for the book/movie "Crimes of the Heart". I spent a lot of time in both places which put me into a constant state of culture shock.

posted by Carbolic 08 June | 22:58

dg, you got my links inserted correctly, thanks.

Now please deal with crash, because I'm just dying to read all about Utah. I bet there's Mormons involved!!!

posted by yhbc 08 June | 23:03

*hmm, thinks about upstate ny some more*

posted by ethylene 08 June | 23:14

I was born in Dunedin, a college town in the South Island of New Zealand. It's known as the "Edinburgh of the South" (settled by Scots) and indeed, all of the street names downtown are the same as in Edinburgh. It's known for its university and its rugby team (and rugby stadium, Carisbrook, "the House of Pain"). It's the only city in the world that has Royal Albatrosses nesting close by.

I lived there for 24 of my first 26 years (brief times in Australia and England) until I moved to Baltimore, MD and then up to New York City at the start of this year.

I can't think of a better place in the world.

posted by gaspode 09 June | 00:08

Bi-Continental hometowns here: New Orleans, which I probably don't need to tell you much about, and Thessaloniki, Greece, my husband's hometown, and where I've been living, lo, these many years. Thessaloniki (also called "Saloniki" or "Salonica") was established in 316 b.c., named after the half sister of Alexander the Great, and means "Victory in Thessaly". It is the second largest city in Greece, located on Thermaikos Bay (just a few blocks from me) on the Aegean Sea in northern Greece.

I live on Aristotle Square (images 1-3, and 5 are all directly in front of my building) just a block from one of the most (perhaps the most) famous outdoor markets in Europe (two, actually). In this photo you can actually see the roof of my house: See the second big building from the left? See that horizontal dark thing at the very top center of the building? That's my roof (terracotta tile). I live in this amazing little house tucked (almost invisibly) on top of a seven-story building. It's set back from the front because we have a great big balcony. (Here's an image-explanation I sent my parents. In the first photo you can just make out our balcony, in the little red square.)

Because I live downtown, just about every place linked from this page is very close to me, with the exception of the airport. Here's a weather webcam (scroll down) at the Arch of Galerius, just a few blocks from my house, and here's another cam from the square I live on (updated less frequently). Too much to mention everything, but I love the history, the weather, the sea and sun, the fact that I walk almost everywhere, and all the outdoor cafes. Here's a bad pencam photo of mr. taz and me having a beer at an outdoor version of a fast food joint. Behind us, just out of view, are ancient hamam Turkish baths.)

Here's Flickr's Thessaloniki.

posted by taz 09 June | 02:12

ooh! i found one of us on the balcony. I can see by our clothes that it was the same day, and you can see by the quality that it was the same cam.

posted by taz 09 June | 02:22

I have no hometown.

posted by Dagobert 09 June | 02:58

gaspode: Oh, Dunedin! That town that spawned Bruce Russell and Alastair Galbraith (among others)! I've always figured Dunedin would be an extremely interesting place to live in.

taz: I visited Thessaloniki a couple of years ago, and I must say that one of my most vivid memories of your hometown is the ride from the airport. Long stretches of expensive looking car dealerships next to run down houses.

posted by soundofsuburbia 09 June | 05:53

Like Deborah, I'm in BC. I live on one of the little islands between Vancouver Island and the mainland.

It's hard to describe in just a few words, but think: mixture between old settler families and hippie artists. Think: silence, no bandwidth; no cable no satellite, an hour (including ferry ride) to the nearest grocery, best damn free store in BC, old growth trees, a channel where the ocean is tame enough for me to sail my canoe (dropdown centerboard keel and a stepped mast), bountiful gardens, anonymous rock stars sitting in with our local jam sessions, A third of the residents here are part-timers; many are anonymous-ish to avoid the problems that their fame may bring. There's no work other than the servicing of the rich. I travel away and work for 3 months out of the year, so i can come home and be frugal and happy for the other 9.

It's a wondrous place to raise children who move away as soon as they're old enough.

posted by reflecked 09 June | 05:57

Oh, no, soundofsuburbia! That is absolutely the worst introduction to the city, and the one that, sadly, almost everyone gets. When I first rode that gauntlet I felt like turning back and running away forever! I was really sure I had made a horrible decision... and that was at night, when it doesn't appear quite so bad.

It's so much better approaching by ship.

posted by taz 09 June | 06:06

Or teletransporter.

posted by taz 09 June | 06:09

It's so much better approaching by ship.

Oh, I can well imagine! Still, I had a wonderful time and I hope to return for a longer stay sometime in the future.

posted by soundofsuburbia 09 June | 06:18

i'm just glad i didn't go to the mansfield mushroom festival. hmmf, if it didn't even make the wiki...

very interesting menagerie we got here

posted by ethylene 09 June | 06:31

Suva, Fiji.

posted by Hugh Janus 09 June | 09:14

Welcome to one of the most beautiful cities of the world
Welcome to Stockholm, the Royal Capital of Sweden. Discover a city like no other - a city built on 14 islands, where you are never far from the water. Well-preserved medieval buildings stand alongside modern architecture. Stockholm is also home of the Nobel Prize. And just outside the city, the archipelago of 24 000 islands is waiting to be explored.

Stockholm is a city of contrasts - water and islands, history and innovation, small town and big city, short winter days and long, light summer nights - with a dazzling array of impressions. Thanks to the city's compact size, you can see and do most things in a short space of time - which makes it a perfect destination for city breaks or longer stays, all the year round.

Experience Stockholm's many contrasts
Discover a city of contrasts. Go back 750 years in time and feel the medieval atmosphere of the Old Town "Gamla Stan" as you wander through the narrow streets. Stockholm has got history - but also the latest in fashion and IT. The trendy Stockholmers are often used as a test market by international companies, as they are quick to pick up on the latest trends. This is most obvious on the island of Södermalm, a hotbed of fashion, young culture and entertainment.

Stockholm is one third water, one third green belt and one third city. The island of Djurgården, the world's first National City Park, is only a short walk from the pulse of the inner city. Stockholmers and visitors alike come here to relax in the leafy shade and rest their eyes on green.

In Sweden, the seasons are another contrast. Light summer nights when the sun barely dips below the horizon and short, snowy winter days. Because the city changes with every season and there is always something special to do, Stockholm is worth visiting at any time of year.

Some pictures (self links): Here and here.

posted by mr.marx 09 June | 09:50

Now that we've covered Location, can we also ask everyone to share their Age and Sex?

posted by Doohickie 09 June | 10:07

Doohickie: I am a 19 year old female (ha, ha, ha - that sounds weird saying it like that). Some people me tell that I'm pretty, but I'm not so sure :( . Anyway I've put some photo's of me online so you can have a look. I like Brad Pitt and clubbing. On weekdays I work as a trainer at a fitness club where I get to meet lots of hot men.

What do you look like? Could you be a Brad to my Jennifer. (ha, ha, ha. I hope you don't have an affair with Angelina Jolie). ha, ha, ha.

posted by seanyboy 09 June | 10:18

Asheville, NC. Which Rolling Stone called the hippie capital of the US and they may have a point. Beautiful here, incredible scenery, great place to raise kids, tons of things going on all the time, unbelievable live music scene, art, artists, craft, mountain biking, hiking, camping, paddling, 4 microbrewerys - all right around a walkable, livable downtown. I live 5 minutes from downtown, have a 200 year old oak tree in my front yard and a big vegetable garden in the back. Great schools, low crime, great weather year round.

Downside? Highest cost of living and lowest wages in North Carolina. Retirees flocking here in droves, driving up housing costs & deforesting mountainsides. Tourists everywhere & the concomitant tourist economy. Pollution beginning to denude the forests & making the air thick & miserable. And growth, growth, growth - this area is growing much too fast & it's all service economy stuff.

Chamber/tourist site
local Onion clone
local free newspaper
brew pub where I currently work.
web cam that inexplicably is focused on the highway - enjoy!

posted by mygothlaundry 09 June | 10:19

Swing to both.

posted by Hugh Janus 09 June | 10:19

soundofsurburbia, how dumb of me to fail to mention the Dunedin music scene. The Clean, The Chills, Straitjacket Fits...a few of many amazing bands signed to Flying Nun Records. I grew up on that stuff, and it's a small enough town that you end up knowing half the bands personally if you're involved in the scene long enough.

posted by gaspode 09 June | 10:27

reflecked: which island? I went tripping around them in 96 or so. Had a great time.

posted by gaspode 09 June | 10:29

Colour me jealous of reflecked. I've long been fascinated with islands and would love to move to Vancouver Island.

More info: where I am now is very quiet*, surrounded by trees and the occasional open meadow, there are several stables in the area, there's a dairy or two fairly close by. Our yard is usually inundated by many squirrels (black and grey) and lots 'n' lots of birds. A river runs through the back of the property (more "creek" size if you ask me). The roads are really narrow and you're apt to come upon people riding horses or someone moving farm equipment from one place to another.

I've kinda buggered this up, eh? Shouldn't have taken three posts. Ah well.

*Except for the meowing cat (Oliver), I'm quite good at squirting him with the water bottle, but he ignores me. He's literally dripping wet. Argh.

posted by deborah 09 June | 10:44

ah - and hometown? We moved every year or so my whole life. I went to 9 different schools. So I have lived in mostly multiple locations within the following:
NYC
Connecticut
Vermont
Massachusetts
South Carolina *
Mallorca, Spain
Maryland
North Carolina (been living here 5 years, spent summers here as a kid)

Pretty much consider Charleston, SC my "hometown" as we lived there the longest, kept going back, & it's where my father's family is from unto the many generations.

posted by mygothlaundry 09 June | 10:48

gaspode: Then Dunedin is exactly like I imagined it. *thinking of moving*

posted by soundofsuburbia 09 June | 11:09

I lived the first 19ish years of my life in West Allis, WI, a city of 60,000 on the edge of Milwaukee. West Allis, if known for anything, used to be where allis-chalmers engines/tractors were built. Unfortunately, the plant closed down in the 80s taking the cities economy with it. Though the city is starting to recover.

West Allis was the home of olympic speedskater Dan Jansen. Jansen had went to my high school, and when a friend of mine was interviewed about how he felt about that fact my friend said,"I don't see how anyone can care that they went to the same high school as someone famous."

West Allis is the city Milwaukee Hipsters use to denigrate people who aren't hip.

Now I live in Milwaukee, WI, the city with supposedly the largest number of bars per capita. According to the "Pocket Ref" Milwaukee's avg winter temp is lower than Anchorage, AK, and is only matched by some place in NH. This of course means Milwaukeans spend the three warm months partying like the world is about to end.

posted by drezdn 09 June | 11:12

Born and raised.
Last two years
Contract over; going home next week.

posted by vasco 09 June | 11:47

seanyboy: I guess I asked for that. touche'.

mygothlaundry: My nephew is starting at Mars Hill College in the fall, which apparently is pretty close to Asheville. Have you heard of it? Is it close enough to Asheville to convert him from his heathen Republican ways? I'm hopeful.

posted by Doohickie 09 June | 12:46

It's fascinating reading these descriptions.

LarryC: You have immediate access off the freeway to three other states, no? From a map it looks like it is so being sort of in the corner of MO. Other than the wing nuts and no coastline it sounds like a great location. (I expect to move in about 5 years and don't know where to just yet...ok, probably back to the west coast, but I like to think I'm considering anywhere). Any mountains within driving distance? I would presume not in the direction of Kansas, but elsewhere? Admittedly, my geography lives up to its public school reputation.

posted by safetyfork 09 June | 13:01

Currently living in NYC, Hell's Kitchen, 47th & 9th.

Also currently ready to bolt out of this dirty, crowded, loud pour of concrete. Ready to move back to Seattle. Any day now. Just don't push it, New York!

But that's just today. Tomorrow I'll be in love and apologizing to the City for ever doubting her. (Well, maybe not tomorrow. After this heat breaks, probably.)

posted by papercake 09 June | 13:48

Doohickie - sadly, Mars Hill College is by FAR the most conservative college in the area. They just made the news by rejecting a gay/lesbian student club. Yuck. Although quite a few students were angry about it, but not enough, apparently, to pass it.

But don't lose hope! It's only about 15 - 20 minutes from downtown - and half an hour from Hot Springs, so your nephew may be reformed yet. Or he could transfer to Warren Wilson - there are no republicans at Warren Wilson.

posted by mygothlaundry 09 June | 13:54

Our whole family was Democrat. When my brother did well as a financial advisor, he went Repub. The only thing that may save my nephew is that he is Catholic and maybe exposure to another form of Christianity- a very closed-minded, conservative version (Mars Hill is a Baptist school)- will open his eyes.

posted by Doohickie 09 June | 14:00

gaspode.. Denman. :)

posted by reflecked 10 June | 06:11

*plans a trip to Thessaloniki, Palma, Stockholm...* : >

posted by amberglow 10 June | 15:01

I live in Karlskrona, southeastern Sweden. I grew up in Rhymney (pronounced 'RUM-knee'), in the South Wales valleys, which, unlike Karlskrona, doesn't have its own website. I was there earlier this week for the first time in four years: here are a few pictures: don't be fooled by the anomalously good weather: rain is more typical. It achieved a small measure of mispronounced fame in the song The Bells of Rhymney, as recorded by Pete Seeger, The Byrds and others.

posted by misteraitch 10 June | 16:29

← MetaChat Music Swap || what do names mean to you? →

HOME || REGISTER || LOGIN