# "Beirut is the Paris of the Middle East" and its ilk **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 16, 2015, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beirut-is-the-paris-of-the-middle-east-and-its-ilk/709951 "2015-01-16T01:54:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2015, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beirut-is-the-paris-of-the-middle-east-and-its-ilk/709951/21 "2015-01-16T11:51:26Z")
> [@Ranger\_Jeff](#): > > I think I read once that Haifa is the San Francisco of Israel. They were referring to it as a modern metropolitan seafront city. Speaking as a former Haifan… we wish. Don’t get me wrong - it’s a great town, and it was a wonderful place to grow up. It’s just that there’s a reason I live in Tel Aviv now, and it’s not because I found life in Haifa too stimulating. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2015, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beirut-is-the-paris-of-the-middle-east-and-its-ilk/709951/22 "2015-01-16T12:10:16Z")
Souzhou, with its beautiful canals, has been called China’s Venice, at least in tourist literature. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2015, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beirut-is-the-paris-of-the-middle-east-and-its-ilk/709951/23 "2015-01-16T14:29:20Z")
Iowa City has been called “the Athens of the Midwest.” Bucharest the “Paris of the East” or “Little Paris of the East.” ---
**Author:** ![Grotonian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c2a13f/32.png) [@Grotonian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grotonian)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2015, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beirut-is-the-paris-of-the-middle-east-and-its-ilk/709951/24 "2015-01-16T15:10:41Z")
I have a t-shirt, in maize and blue, that reads, “Harvard–The Michigan of the East”. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2015, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beirut-is-the-paris-of-the-middle-east-and-its-ilk/709951/25 "2015-01-16T15:18:29Z")
> [@UDS](#): > > Stockholm is the Venice of the North. So is Brugge. So is St. Petersburgh. So, less plausibly, are Manchester and Hamburg. > > These things only work one way. “Paris is the Beirut of Western Europe”? “Athens is the Edinburgh of the South”? Hasn’t got the same ring. > [@Telemark](#): > > [Venice of the North - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venice_of_the_North) Notably absent from that list is [Birmingham](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birmingham), which has more miles of canal than Venice and has more canals (by volume of water) than any city in the world. Of course, it’s a Sharia-dominated hellhole these days, so they might have filled them in by now. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2015, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beirut-is-the-paris-of-the-middle-east-and-its-ilk/709951/26 "2015-01-16T15:20:41Z")
Estacada is the Wasilla of Oregon. I made that up. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2015, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beirut-is-the-paris-of-the-middle-east-and-its-ilk/709951/27 "2015-01-16T15:26:05Z")
Burlington is the New York of northern Vermont. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2015, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beirut-is-the-paris-of-the-middle-east-and-its-ilk/709951/28 "2015-01-16T15:56:18Z")
> [@blondebear](#): > > Ouray is the Switzerland of America. I don’t know what this means. What or where is Ouray? > [@SanVito](#): > > I realise this is quite an obscure one… In GQ this is a badge of honor. Someone called New York Crazytown-on-Hudson, which fits OP, sort of. EBWhite? ETA: “maize” is a color? ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2015, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beirut-is-the-paris-of-the-middle-east-and-its-ilk/709951/29 "2015-01-16T16:06:57Z")
I guess all the Chinatowns around the world count too. (If not, they do now.) Little Italy, NYC. Little Odessa (Brighton Beach, Brooklyn). Little Tokyo (where’s that)? Doesn’t SF have a Koreatown? A fun thread here was on "[Americatowns" around the world.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=697466) ---
**Author:** ![Grotonian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c2a13f/32.png) [@Grotonian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grotonian)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2015, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beirut-is-the-paris-of-the-middle-east-and-its-ilk/709951/30 "2015-01-16T16:30:19Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > ETA: “maize” is a color? The greatest golden hue around, “yellow” having unflattering connotations of cowardice. But yeah, it’s yellow. ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Mouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mighty_mouse/32/7776_2.png) [@Mighty\_Mouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Mouse)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2015, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beirut-is-the-paris-of-the-middle-east-and-its-ilk/709951/31 "2015-01-16T16:31:35Z")
> [@even\_sven](#): > > Souzhou, with its beautiful canals, has been called China’s Venice, at least in tourist literature. The Chinese I know don’t seem to like this characterization. “You mean Venice is the Suzhou of the West” is the response I got. Similarly if you call Tsinghua the MIT of China an alumnus is liable to retort, “MIT is the Tsinghua of the USA.” ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lichtman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeff_lichtman/32/1531_2.png) [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2015, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beirut-is-the-paris-of-the-middle-east-and-its-ilk/709951/32 "2015-01-16T16:54:54Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > Doesn’t SF have a Koreatown? Not really, but there is a Japantown. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2015, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beirut-is-the-paris-of-the-middle-east-and-its-ilk/709951/33 "2015-01-16T16:58:49Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > I don’t know what this means. What or where is Ouray? Ouray Colorado, lovely mountain town surrounded by high, snowy peaks. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2015, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beirut-is-the-paris-of-the-middle-east-and-its-ilk/709951/34 "2015-01-16T18:04:11Z")
Don’t forget higher education. Duke is the Harvard of the South (ditto Vanderbilt, Tulane and Ole Miss) Stanford is the Harvard of the West (don’t tell Claremont) Washington University (aka University of Michigan, Northwestern, Notre Dame or the University of Chicago) is the Harvard of the Midwest McGill was the Harvard of the North, but now it’s apparently the [University of Toronto](http://globalnews.ca/news/403400/mcgill-university-loses-title-of-harvard-of-the-north-to-u-of-t-rankings/). And, according to Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson, [the University of Phoenix is the Harvard of the Internet](http://theithacan.org/accent/review-vince-vaughn-and-owen-wilson-deliver-big-laughs-in-the-internship/). ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2015, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beirut-is-the-paris-of-the-middle-east-and-its-ilk/709951/35 "2015-01-16T18:29:02Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > Don’t forget higher education. > > Duke is the Harvard of the South (ditto Vanderbilt, Tulane and Ole Miss) > Stanford is the Harvard of the West (don’t tell Claremont) > Washington University (aka University of Michigan, Northwestern, Notre Dame or the University of Chicago) is the Harvard of the Midwest > McGill was the Harvard of the North, but now it’s apparently the [University of Toronto](http://globalnews.ca/news/403400/mcgill-university-loses-title-of-harvard-of-the-north-to-u-of-t-rankings/). > And, according to Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson, [the University of Phoenix is the Harvard of the Internet](http://theithacan.org/accent/review-vince-vaughn-and-owen-wilson-deliver-big-laughs-in-the-internship/). I thought of these, and similar, but even I thought that would trend out of control… [ps City College, CUNY, used to be called the poor man’s Harvard (it was free) or the Harvard of the Jews (City’s quality and the anti-Semitic _numerus clausus_ of Harvard.] ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2015, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beirut-is-the-paris-of-the-middle-east-and-its-ilk/709951/36 "2015-01-16T18:34:32Z")
Little Havana, Miami. But these kinds are not so much trying to gain luster by reflection as they are handy ethnic ids. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2015, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beirut-is-the-paris-of-the-middle-east-and-its-ilk/709951/37 "2015-01-16T20:10:48Z")
> [@Mighty\_Mouse](#): > > The Chinese I know don’t seem to like this characterization. “You mean Venice is the Suzhou of the West” is the response I got. > > Similarly if you call Tsinghua the MIT of China an alumnus is liable to retort, “MIT is the Tsinghua of the USA.” On Suzhou, they are right on the money. Much older, more extensive canals, much bigger canals. ---
**Author:** ![Flywheel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Flywheel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flywheel)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2015, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beirut-is-the-paris-of-the-middle-east-and-its-ilk/709951/38 "2015-01-16T20:54:51Z")
Nashville is the Athens of the South. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2015, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beirut-is-the-paris-of-the-middle-east-and-its-ilk/709951/39 "2015-01-16T21:19:34Z")
A recent [book](http://www.amazon.com/The-Paris-Appalachia-Pittsburgh-Twenty-First/dp/088748509X) referred to Pittsburgh as “The Paris of Appalachia,” and that title has been picked up by a travel-related ad campaign. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2015, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beirut-is-the-paris-of-the-middle-east-and-its-ilk/709951/40 "2015-01-16T21:59:44Z")
I have a feeling that whoever names some cities the “Paris” of wherever has never been to Paris. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beirut-is-the-paris-of-the-middle-east-and-its-ilk/709951.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beirut-is-the-paris-of-the-middle-east-and-its-ilk/709951.md?page=3)