Aren’t you supposed to say “That’s the smell of money, son!”?
I see nobody has mentioned El Dorado KS (pronounced El Do-RAY-do) yet. Another refinery town. You can smell it ten miles before you get to it.
I found your Doper name amusing given the title of this thread. 
And don’t forget to say it with slight indignation like you’re addressing some commie hippie!
Pretty much any town with a pulp mill is going to reek. Lewiston, Idaho, which already has been mentioned, would probably have much more population growth were it not for the pulp mill upriver. Also, depending on the way the wind blows, the Tri-Cities (Pasco, Kennewick, and Richland, Washington) can at times have a quite unpleasant odor hanging over it due to the pulp mill in Wallula.
Golden Colorado. I am sure it was just the smell of the Coors factory to a then 13 year old who did not yet appreciate beer. All I remember about that particular visit was that it smelled like ass.
Salvador in Brazil - Smells like urine.
Belem, also in Brazil - smells like death (well, cow death, but still death).
Mombasa, Kenya smells like Lagos, Nigeria: Body odor, sewage and feet.
In Hagerstown, MD. the stink is on Frederick St. near the ice cream plant.
Your town smells of ice cream?
I spent several summers in Greeley, and I honestly never noticed it. I was in the minority, though.
Now Decatur, IL, whoo baby. They processed corn and soy there. You could smell it for at least ten miles.
I have childhood memories of the smell of Green Bay, Wisconsin, although I understand they’ve cleaned it up now.
Norway’s stinky town is legendary: Moss. It’s so smelly it’s even named after something that’s smelly in English! Another paper mill town. The classic joke is that in the old days, when train toilets emptied onto the tracks, the signs would read: Do Not Flush Toilets While Train Is In Station (Except In Moss).
The Flats in Cleveland in May… The wonderful smell of tons of decomposed fish passing down the river after the thaw.
The rest of the place was alright though…
Clinnton, Iowa
Downtown along the Mississippi river you have Clinton Corn (now ADM) making corn syrup; next door is(was) the Swift mixed meat packaging plant; next door is National Byproducts for the cuts that didn’t quite make it and the “rendering” plant. Nothing like following a dump truck with unknown liquids seeping out on to the road in front of you that was about to turn into the rendering plant. Further up the hill west of town were Dupont Chemical, a liquified amonia fertilizer plant, and another chemical complex that took effluent gas from the amonia plant and turned it into another form of noxious solid waste. The Piazza Hut was centrally located. Had to hold breath from car to resturant door.
Waterloo, NY - cabbage fields then the saurkraut making process. Tears to you eyes.
I’m going to India next week (WTF!?!?!?!) and I have a layover in Mumbai. This thread has made me giddy with anticipation for this experience.
Well before the smell hits you, you will notice something else.
As soon as you step out of the plane, you will feel like you’re walking into a solid wall of heat. It’s a startling sensation.
If the source is old paper, old rags… nothing. It doesn’t smell.
But if it’s wood, the pulp is being produced by acid (HCl) digestion of the substances that make wood be stiff, which have a high content of sulphur. So,
(organic substance with S) + HCl → H[sub]2[/sub]S + (organic substances)
Sulphydric acid (H[sub]2[/sub]S) is what gives rotten eggs their charming smell.
There used to be a cologne factory (Myrurgia) about 3 blocks from the Sagrada Familia. The factory stopped working over 10 years ago, but it still smelled for years. They’re finishing some luxury apartments on that site now and, finally, it doesn’t stink. But sometimes I think my hatred of perfumes may stem from being in the vicinity of that factory too often during my childhood (my grandparents live in the next block).
What was the cologne factory smell like? Just really strong perfume smell, or a ‘bad’ smell? I know both are ‘bad’, but strong perfume is different from, say, rotten eggs.
I grew up near a factory that made baking soda, and every morning a smoggy haze hung in the air and it stunk like, well, a chemical plant was nearby. Most of the people in the town have died from cancer and I swear its no coincidence.
Hijack here, but it must have been amazing (stink or no stink) to have had your grandparents live a few blocks from the Sagrada Familia, which is certainly one of the most impressive things I have ever seen with my own two eyes!!!
Next time I visit Barcelona, I will have to ask you for some tips on some of your favorite haunts that I can try out…