# City nicknames **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 13, 2006, 8:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/city-nicknames/372516 "2006-09-13T08:12:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Speaker_for_the_Dead)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2006, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/city-nicknames/372516/81 "2006-09-14T04:17:56Z")
My town, Saskatoon, has a few nicknames: Toon Town, Bridge City/the City of Bridges, and Hub City. ---
**Author:** ![Fern\_Forest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/71c47a/32.png) [@Fern\_Forest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fern_Forest)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2006, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/city-nicknames/372516/82 "2006-09-14T05:17:54Z")
Manhattan, KS is known as The Little Apple. Interesting founding storys too. Pioneers were traveling up the river, got stuck on a sand bar and figured here was as good as anywhere and stayed. ---
**Author:** ![Roonwit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/54ee81/32.png) [@Roonwit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roonwit)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2006, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/city-nicknames/372516/83 "2006-09-14T06:27:03Z")
[QUOTE=Beltane] Atlanta, Georgia is often refered to as “the ATL” or HOTlanta. [/QUOTE] Anybody who calls it ‘Hotlanta’ ain’t from around here. I cringe every time I hear it. Could we _please_ have a nickname that doesn’t sound like it was made up by some redneck whooping it up in a Stewart Avenue stripclub? ---
**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:** [September 14, 2006, 9:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/city-nicknames/372516/84 "2006-09-14T09:07:57Z")
Tel Aviv is known as the “City Without a Pause”. My hometown of Haifa is called Red Haifa"(due to its socialist past); also, the Pause Without a City, for sadly obvious reasons. Beersheba is the Capital of the Negev. Petach Tikva is The Mother of Colonies. And of course, there’s the Holy City. I’ll let you figure out which one it is ---
**Author:** ![Baffle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/dec6dc/32.png) [@Baffle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baffle)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2006, 9:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/city-nicknames/372516/85 "2006-09-14T09:19:55Z")
Rockwood, Ontario - The Turnip Capital of the World ---
**Author:** ![GingerOfTheNorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cdc98d/32.png) [@GingerOfTheNorth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GingerOfTheNorth)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2006, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/city-nicknames/372516/86 "2006-09-14T11:56:50Z")
[QUOTE=BiblioCat] Baltimore is Charm City. A public relations campaign years ago tried “The City That Reads” but that got morphed into “The City That Breeds” because of the insanely high teen birth rates. Natty Boh beer often called Baltimore The Land of Pleasant Living in their ads. [/QUOTE] Don’t forget ‘The City that Bleeds’, which is what I’ve heard most often. Calgary, Alberta is called Cowtown Regina, Saskatchewan is also called Queen City Yellowknife, NWT: YK or YZF ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2006, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/city-nicknames/372516/87 "2006-09-14T12:13:21Z")
[QUOTE=BiblioCat] Baltimore is Charm City. A public relations campaign years ago tried “The City That Reads” but that got morphed into “The City That Breeds” because of the insanely high teen birth rates. [/QUOTE] We use to call Baltimore “The City that Reads (very slowly)” ---
**Author:** ![Uvula\_Donor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e19adc/32.png) [@Uvula\_Donor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uvula_Donor)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2006, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/city-nicknames/372516/88 "2006-09-14T12:39:43Z")
Punxatawney PA - “Home of the Groundhog.” Or just shortened to Punxy. Mill towns in New England often took nicknames from their principal industries in the first half of the 20th century: Meriden, CT - Silver City (silverware manufacturers) Manchester, CT - Silk City (textile mills) Westfield, MA - Whip City (buggy whips) ---
**Author:** ![Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt.Ridley_s_Shooting_Party)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2006, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/city-nicknames/372516/89 "2006-09-14T12:45:29Z")
Edinburgh - Auld Reekie, Athens of the North Aberdeen - The Granite City ---
**Author:** ![RedWood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f08c70/32.png) [@RedWood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedWood)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2006, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/city-nicknames/372516/90 "2006-09-14T12:57:00Z")
a wee pome: **San Francisco** , my favorite city Where the women are strong and the men are pretty… ---
**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:** [September 14, 2006, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/city-nicknames/372516/91 "2006-09-14T13:02:01Z")
Orlando: the City of Magic (don’t ask) or O-Town (don’t say it) ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2006, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/city-nicknames/372516/92 "2006-09-14T13:42:20Z")
[QUOTE=Ellen Cherry] Loaded Dog – why [/QUOTE] [QUOTE=me] Canberra: Yuk! (by everyone) [/QUOTE] Canberra’s actually not a bad town, to be honest. I could almost see myself living there. It is the butt of jokes and insults for several reasons: - It’s the capital, so is the home of politicians and government employees (it get’s called _Can’t_berra quite a bit). - It’s a planned city, a bit like Brasilia, and there are frequent claims it is soulless (this is true to a large extent - try finding a traditional pub in the place!). - It was founded in it’s eventual location due to intercity rivalry between Sydney and Melbourne. The upshot of this is that it’s in the middle of nowhere. There were sheep farms there before. Driving to Canberra is weird because you’re driving through miles of nothing, and next thing there’s a nation’s capital city sitting there plonked in the dirt. ---
**Author:** ![Lobelia\_Overhill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/54ee81/32.png) [@Lobelia\_Overhill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobelia_Overhill)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2006, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/city-nicknames/372516/93 "2006-09-14T15:31:00Z")
Cork City - The Real Capital Limerick City - Stab Town ---
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2006, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/city-nicknames/372516/94 "2006-09-14T15:57:25Z")
Baltimore also goes by **Mobtown** and **The Cathedral City**. Chillicothe calls itself **Ohio’s First Capital**. Woo hoo. ---
**Author:** ![capybara](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/capybara/32/202_2.png) [@capybara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capybara)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2006, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/city-nicknames/372516/95 "2006-09-14T17:16:55Z")
Portland, OR: Stumptown (who says “city of roses” other then the chamber of commerce?). I haven’t heard Porntown but it’s good. Pornland? Oakland- Oaktown. Berkeley: Berzerkeley. Vancouver BC: Hongcouver, Van. I think there’s a difference between nicknames than humans use and motto-nicknames that chambers of commerce concoct. I don’t think King County came up with “The aroma of Tacoma,” for example. ---
**Author:** ![Beltane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aca169/32.png) [@Beltane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beltane)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2006, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/city-nicknames/372516/96 "2006-09-14T17:37:11Z")
[QUOTE=Roonwit] Anybody who calls it ‘Hotlanta’ ain’t from around here. I cringe every time I hear it. Could we _please_ have a nickname that doesn’t sound like it was made up by some redneck whooping it up in a Stewart Avenue stripclub? [/QUOTE] Hotlanta isn’t exactly a new term: the Hotlanta River Expo, considered by many to be the grandfather of all circuit parties was started in 78 (although it might have origianally been called something else: I know it was using the term “Hotlanta” as part of it’s name by the late eighties at least) I never went to the River expo (and it is now defunct) but I always associated it with my Gay community (I’m not saying g/l/b/t because it was mostly gay men) Now, though I heare it used all over the place. Anyone know the actual origin? My google-fu is apparently not up to the task. ---
**Author:** ![LucyInDisguise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucyindisguise/32/18064_2.png) [@LucyInDisguise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LucyInDisguise)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2006, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/city-nicknames/372516/97 "2006-09-16T19:39:17Z")
Battle Mountain, NV - [Armpit of America](http://www.southpolestation.com/cis/nevada/bm.html). They even have an annual Armpit Festival. (I drive through Battle Mt. regularly. The name certainly fits.) FWIW: It’s AKA ‘Basecamp to America’s Outback’, but hardly anyone uses that nickname. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2006, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/city-nicknames/372516/98 "2006-09-16T19:58:18Z")
A lot of residents call Wasington DC “the District”. Madison is known as “Mad Town” or “Mad City” ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2006, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/city-nicknames/372516/99 "2006-09-17T02:45:21Z")
[QUOTE=capybara] Vancouver BC: Hongcouver, Van. [/QUOTE] Douglas Coupland makes the point that although there is North Van and West Van, _there is no Van._ “It’s like calling Portland Port,” he says. Also **Terminal City, Rain City,** and **The Big Smoke** (which dates from the 1880s, not the 1960s). Lately the name **Vansterdam** has been catching on. ---
**Author:** ![Theodore\_Striker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@Theodore\_Striker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Theodore_Striker)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2006, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/city-nicknames/372516/100 "2006-09-17T03:11:54Z")
Cincinnati has also more recently taken on the nick of “the 'Nati”, and Detroit is Motown of course. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/city-nicknames/372516.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/city-nicknames/372516.md?page=6)