“The” in the above is superfluous. Hoi polloi means “the (common) people” in Attic Greek and should be used without an article, thus:
Urban sophisticates live in NYC; Murfreesboro, however, is swarming with hoi polloi.
Ya know what this is beginning to remind me of? A chapter in P.J. O’Rourke’s book, All the Trouble in the World. P.J. makes an extensive statistical comparison between Fremont, CA and Bangladesh. And determines they’re nearly equivalent.
I’m with Manny on this one, having barely survived the Great Los Angeles Comprises Only South Central With Its Laundry List of Violence, Drug Addiction, Gang Activity And Despair Scare of 1992.
I have no patience with those who refuse to see more than the very worst a city has to offer.
And even South Central L.A. has the best museum of natural history west of Chicago, but people tend to overlook that.
Are those the ones wearing the Colors? And carrying the mac-10s?
Now, just what are those refined social cliques & poetry societies called again? AH! The Crips and the Bloods! 
And the (admittedly self-proclaimed) Southern Aristocrisy would disagree with you on that other point. Though, I don’t like them very much myself.
Hey, Orange kicks ass, especially Georgetown’s.
Much as it pains me to say so, Barney Fife, along with Sheriff Taylor, Aunt Bee, and the rest, are in Mayberry, NC, modeled on Andy Griffith’s home town of Mount Airy, NC (which has changed immensely since he was a kid, by the way).
Why, just the other day I saw Ron Howard walking down the road with a fishing pole…
Polycarp, yep, like I said here:
Put down the banjo Cleetus, MAC-10’s are soooo early nineties. Today’s urban retail specialists prefer large caliber semi automatic pistols. Oh, and to add to the baseless slander- there is a reason they call it “Tenn-nasty”. What is the old joke- the state motto ought to be “Thank God for Mississippi”.
Of course, I love both Chicago and Charlottesville, Virginia equally so what to heck do I know about anything. In fact, this post should be qualified in whole by this:
-me
If you guys want to make fun of a city without pissing anyone off, I suggest Houston. I don’t think any of us would disagree.
Except, if I’m not mistaken, Kerry Wood, my lover, is from Houston…which makes that city gold, to me.
j
Quoth Bosda
Sir, I will have you know I am a resident of Occupied Virginia.
Here’s how small Murfreesboro is–I was born and raised there (well, Smyrna, to be perfectly honest) and I am thrilled to see it mentioned here, even if some wrong-headed people are criticizing it.
Where’s Manhattan?
I was called out to the Pit.
By him.
Now, he left.
Did I win?!? :eek: 
<sparklee eyes>I’d like to thank the Academy for this award… </sparklee eyes> :D:
Well, I lived in Chicago for seven years and returned to my bucolic south where I remain to this day.
I love the big city, in fact, I moved there because I didn’t want to be one of those stupid hicks who talked about “the big city” like they actually knew what the hell they were talking about.
Having given both lifestyles a valid shot and made my choices, I have to side with Manhattan on this one.
MURFREESBORO? Gimme a fuckin’ break! do you really think that your town is so nice that you could’ve EVER have convinced anyone on this board to take up the fight with you?
The stats prove that your towns are neck and neck in the enlightened/debauched race. time for you to start pickin’ yer fights. (and while your at it lose the "Bosa of trichloroethylene…crap. makes you look like a geek.)
You remind me of all those rednecks around here that have a bumper sticker on their truck “we don’t care how you did it up north”…What’s your point? Do you also care that noone gives a shit what you care about?
Stay in Tennesee, I’m sure next time Manny is heading south on vacation, he’ll drive through your neck of the woods and hell give Mufreesboro a wide berth, lest he bring the wrong element into your perfect world.
Y’know, I live in the Appalachians, a few miles from, “Honey, if we get divorced, will you still be my sister?” country. I’ve been to New York three times, and generally hated it. Big cities make me claustrophobic: when I can go two blocks without seeing a plant, I get stressed.
But that’s no reason to go off on NYC. And this statistics comparison is getting downright silly.
Daniel
Hey! We got plants! What part of town were YOU in?
No, you conceded. My city is about as safe as yours, and my neighborhood is many times safer than that dangerous frat-town of yours (we have <i>several</i> colleges in the precinct, and nowhere near the assaults).
Ergo, your the facts underlying your stupid assertion are false.
I’m not going to play the city-mouse/country-mouse game. Each has its advantages. I took exeception to your characterization and I proved it wrong. QED.
Oh, and one correction. I said I live in the tenth precinct. In fact, I live in the sixth (which is what I linked to).
I always mistakenly call it the tenth on account of their precincthouse is on 10th St.
and what about oranges? Did we agree that they suck?