Random things about your city/town...

notkateanymore

Ok, I'm in the Hav wagon...I want to know random things about where you live. I wish we could all get go-pro cameras and do tours. Name 3-5 cool/weird/odd things that make your city special.

notkateanymore

1.The countries first office park was built here in the 50s or 60s...it's called Office Park. We are not original here. 2. We have a huge iron statue of Vulcan who used to have a light/torch in his hand that was green if nobody died in a traffic accident and red if so. 3. 93% of the city is under tree cover. The city is 12sq miles. That's a lot of trees.

ASullivan1231

1)  GQ named my town America's fashion capital a few years ago because the first t-shirt ever was made at the old Army Labs in our town.

2) Peterman from Seinfeld grew up in the neighborhood we now live in.

3) We have the largest mall in the state, but also 2 or 3 of the most beautiful farms.  It's a really nice blend of country, suburb and small city.

4) American Hustle filmed scenes in our town.

Disneygeek77

1.  Well we have this huge silver archy thing downtown

2.  The baseball fans in my city appreciate good baseball so much, that we will even applaud if the other team makes a good play.

3. When one of our sports teams does win / lose  a championship, no one riots.

4.  Has one of the best zoos in the country and it's free.

5. There is an old joke that when you first meet a stranger and they find out you are also  from St. Louis, they will ask you where you went to high school.  

ASullivan1231

Disneygeek77 said:

1.  Well we have this huge silver archy thing downtown

2.  The baseball fans in my city appreciate good baseball so much, that we will even applaud if the other team makes a good play.

3. When one of our sports teams does win / lose  a championship, no one riots.

4.  Has one of the best zoos in the country and it's free.

5. There is an old joke that when you first meet a stranger and they find out you are also  from St. Louis, they will ask you where you went to high school.  

Oh I have to agree - St.Louis fans are the NICEST!!  When the Red Sox beat them in the 2004 World Series they were SO, SO gracious!  It was the first time the Sox had one since 1918 and St. Louis was so kind and was cheering for them.  I love Boston so, so much ... but I can't imagine that happening if the Red Sox lost to anyone.

notkateanymore

Ha! I figured you lived in NJ...don't they do that there too?

joyfullyfound

- We have the second oldest Chinatown in North America, after San Francisco. 

- Nelly Furtado, Steve Nash, David Foster and Adam Egoyan are all from here

- We have the second highest number of restaurants per capita in North America, second, again, to San Francisco. 

- We are the official "Cycling Capital of Canada", haha. There are tons of bike paths everywhere, it's a great place to be a biker. 46% of people here walk, bike, or take the bus to work.  

- We're disgusting and dump all of our raw sewage straight into the ocean. It's supposedly 129 million liters every day... it's a HUGE topic of debate around election time, etc. 

mrsrobinsontobe

1. Birthplace of the American Navy

2. Beverly Hills, CA was named after our little city in 1907 after President Taft vacationed here on our "gold coast"

3. home of American Idol finalist Angie Miller

4. roast beef on a hamburger bun with bbq sauce is considered the greatest late night snack

thechickencoop

How fitting I saw this on Facebook today https://www.movoto.com/baltimore-md/baltimore-stereotypes/

Closest big town anyway...

Hollylb3

1. The big red house from A League of Their Own is here (@arnegard, I figured you could appreciate that). It sat on the market for the past few years and finally someone bought it. An elementary school friend lived there and I went in it then.

2. We have the cheapest utilities in the nation (or at least did a couple years ago according to a survey).

3. We have the largest high school in the state. We only have one in our town and there are about 2,000 kids that go there. My graduating class was about 500.

4. I read once that Mother's Day was founded here. Haven't been able to confirm it yet.

Chapter79

• Thomas Edison lived here for a brief time- brought his "Edison Machine Works" here, which later became GE (General Electric)... the headquarters is about 5 minutes from my house.

• We have one of the first commercial radio stations in the USA (WGY-AM)

• We have Central Park- named after the one in NYC, and designed by the same man.  But a trillion times smaller.

• Union college is located about 8 minutes from me... is the "oldest planned college campus" in the US.

* and Alice from the Brady Bunch was born here :P

rosesandpetals

 The public schools are the best around since a nearby town's funding collapsed. We have a bike trail through the woods, actually several.trails that connect, they're paved with asphalt. We have  a ton of really great playgrounds and splash pads. We have an outstanding festival.of lights every Christmas season, walk through the woods all lit.up, Santa, giant slide, ice sculptures, etc. The rec has a pool but it's not.free. that's about it, my town is pretty boring lol.

Spin313

1. We have an interactive historical museum chronicling the different stages of the city's progression from its first settlers to the city it has become today.
2. The school district has a 99% graduation rate.
3. You can't go more than a mile without seeing a church or a drugstore.

bumpuser8448316

Disneygeek77 said:

1.  Well we have this huge silver archy thing downtown

2.  The baseball fans in my city appreciate good baseball so much, that we will even applaud if the other team makes a good play.

3. When one of our sports teams does win / lose  a championship, no one riots.

4.  Has one of the best zoos in the country and it's free.

5. There is an old joke that when you first meet a stranger and they find out you are also  from St. Louis, they will ask you where you went to high school.  

#5... I spent a summer living there working for my cousins business and they hired a lot of college students and they all asked me where I went to HS and I thought it was so bizarre. Then one of them told me that no on I'm St. Louis proper goes to public school.

Disneygeek77

The City of St. Louis Public schools are not that good and weren't even accredited a while ago.  So yes, many people that live in the city  and can afford it send their children to private schools.  

bumpuser8448316

Disneygeek77 said:

The City of St. Louis Public schools are not that good and weren't even accredited a while ago.  So yes, many people that live in the city  and can afford it send their children to private schools.  

And apparently there is a hierarchy to the private schools. Most of the kids that worked there went to Clayton and a few went to private

thechickencoop

Ok I posted the Baltimore stuff earlier because it's our closest city, then had to deal with a screaming LO. So for our small specific town-

The Confederate and Union troops missed each other by a couple hours here on their way to the Battle of Gettysburg. We have a lot of history!

Part of 'for richer or for poorer' was filmed here (woop wool the tool man!)

Ermm...I tried looking up more but apparently our town is boring....

Disneygeek77

QueSyrah said:

Disneygeek77 said:

The City of St. Louis Public schools are not that good and weren't even accredited a while ago.  So yes, many people that live in the city  and can afford it send their children to private schools.  

And apparently there is a hierarchy to the private schools. Most of the kids that worked there went to Clayton and a few went to private

I have been told the same thing.  They also say it is a way to judge others by finding out where they went to high school.   I don't think it is the same any more, but my parents said it was when they were growing up.

One other thing about St. Louis, we are a cynical bunch.  I found out in my marketing class that many retailers don't like to open new stores here because we are not as open to popular chains like they are in other parts of the country.  We like our local stores and don't go out of our way for something new.  

Mogi519

Mine is more based on the county I grew up in vs where I live now, just because I could think if more interesting/random things for my hometown

1. There are 3 (maybe 4, it's late I can't remember lol) astronauts that are from the county I grew up in. Being that the population of the entire county was 50k or less for quite some time I think that's pretty rare.

2. One of the cities known as the limestone county of the world. Several monuments in Washington DC are made from limestone from there.

3. There were only two high schools in my county. My high school only had a handful of rooms that had windows. It was completely normal to go in to school in the morning and not see the outside until school was over. I only had one class in my entire four years that had windows.

ordinary1

1. Near me are ice caves
2. The city next to me use to be one of the richest places in the world
3. There is a cool tower that is 700 years old
4. There a lot of water falls here.

blondegirl22

We also cannot pump our own gas. It's great. (Although, the first time I got gas, I freaked out at first when the guy came up to my car. Lol)

We are known as one of the top beer cities in the country.

We have just about every outdoor sport you can dream of in the area. Summer,winter, extreme.

We are not too far from wine country.. So yes, we are beer and wine snobs....

meglew

mamaalysson said:

1. We have the smallest city park inside the city limits of any city in this country: Mill End Park. It is 2.5 feet in diameter. 2. We cannot legally pump our own gas here. 3. We have an extinct volcano within our city limits (the top of which is where DH first kissed me). 4. We are the largest city with an openly gay mayor (though he's a douche, in my opinion). I live in Portland - home to naked bike rides, strip clubs, breweries and coffee houses galore, and Portlandia...the weird stuff goes on for days.

@mamaalysson : Did you see the segment on KATU about the male cleaning service that will clean your house nude, if you like?  My DH made the comment - how very Portland.  :-)

meglew

mamaalysson said:

meglew said:

mamaalysson said:

1. We have the smallest city park inside the city limits of any city in this country: Mill End Park. It is 2.5 feet in diameter. 2. We cannot legally pump our own gas here. 3. We have an extinct volcano within our city limits (the top of which is where DH first kissed me). 4. We are the largest city with an openly gay mayor (though he's a douche, in my opinion). I live in Portland - home to naked bike rides, strip clubs, breweries and coffee houses galore, and Portlandia...the weird stuff goes on for days.

@mamaalysson : Did you see the segment on KATU about the male cleaning service that will clean your house nude, if you like?  My DH made the comment - how very Portland.  :-)

@meglew - I did.  VERY Portland.  :-)  Did you see the cuddler lady?  I seriously love this city.

@mamaalysson - I love it too!  I am a native though, so I guess I jut don't know any better.  :-)

meglew

mamaalysson said:

meglew said:

mamaalysson said:

meglew said:

mamaalysson said:

1. We have the smallest city park inside the city limits of any city in this country: Mill End Park. It is 2.5 feet in diameter. 2. We cannot legally pump our own gas here. 3. We have an extinct volcano within our city limits (the top of which is where DH first kissed me). 4. We are the largest city with an openly gay mayor (though he's a douche, in my opinion). I live in Portland - home to naked bike rides, strip clubs, breweries and coffee houses galore, and Portlandia...the weird stuff goes on for days.

@mamaalysson : Did you see the segment on KATU about the male cleaning service that will clean your house nude, if you like?  My DH made the comment - how very Portland.  :-)

@meglew - I did.  VERY Portland.  :-)  Did you see the cuddler lady?  I seriously love this city.

@mamaalysson - I love it too!  I am a native though, so I guess I jut don't know any better.  :-)

Me too!  Well, close, anyway - we moved from Seattle when I was 2.  The weirdness is hardwired in at this point.  :-)

Seattle is basically Portland, so I think it all counts!

raraavis28

1. Madonna grew up here, and Eminem lives here now.
2. The average commute time is 28 minutes.
3. Our airport was ranked #7 in "Best Airports to Make a Connection." At first I was confused, b/c our airport is horrible (it's gotten better, but still pretty notorious), but when I clicked on the link, they meant to make a romantic connection, like b/c of delays, etc. LMAO!

bumpuser924057

My city:

is the birthplace of the AYSO

is home to one of the five largest malls in the country

houses the US headquarters of both Honda and Toyota

...and Chuck Norris lived here .

ariel06

1.  We're the 3rd largest theater market (only behind New York and Chicago).

2.  Tied with Seattle for the most literate city.  

3.  The skyways downtown connect 52 blocks (almost five miles)  without going outside.

notkateanymore

ariel06 said:

1.  We're the 3rd largest theater market (only behind New York and Chicago).

2.  Tied with Seattle for the most literate city.  

3.  The skyways downtown connect 52 blocks (almost five miles)  without going outside.

You forgot that's it's colder than shit.

ariel06

KateMW said:

ariel06 said:

1.  We're the 3rd largest theater market (only behind New York and Chicago).

2.  Tied with Seattle for the most literate city.  

3.  The skyways downtown connect 52 blocks (almost five miles)  without going outside.

You forgot that's it's colder than shit.

That too.   

Andrewsgal

@CnAmom‌ you also have a missile testing facility named after him somewhere around there. DH used to travel there to test at his old job.