Do people express fears of visiting your city, state/province, or country that strike you as overblown or disproportionate? Debunk them here!
I’ll kick it off: Folks tend to have some very odd and out-dated views of crime in DC. The city is divided into four quadrants - Northwest, Northeast, Southwest, Southeast - and a lot of folks are told that it’s exceedingly dangerous to leave Northwest (unless it’s to visit Capitol Hill/Eastern Market).
Utter hogwash. While it’s true that incomes are generally lower outside Northwest (with some important exceptions), there are fantastic places to visit all over the city, and it’s perfectly safe to do so. The H Street corridor in Northeast has outstanding food and drink, and the National Arboretum is in Northeast. Some of the best green spaces in the city are east of the Anacostia River, with outstanding bicycling opportunities, and downtown Anacostia (also known as “OMG I’M SCARED OF ANACOSTIA”) has some fascinating architecture.
If you’re just visiting DC for the standard tourist things - and there’s nothing wrong with that - the truth is that you probably won’t find yourself leaving Northwest or Capitol Hill. But if you let people convince you that it isn’t safe to leave the areas, or even to visit formerly dodgy bits of NW (Shaw, for example), you’re missing out on a lot.
No, the Indians are not attacking carloads of tourists from horses and don’t live in teepees. And we do not all drive around in wagons and on horseback. We also don’t have thundering herds of buffalo wandering around willy-nilly.
The rain in the Seattle area isn’t so bad (unless you’re moving from Southern California and expect sunny and warm all year long). We have our share of overcast and rainy days, but it’s hardly “oppressive.” And, the perfect (and I do mean “perfect”) weather from May through October more than makes up for it.
No, the stingrays at Cayman’s Stingray City are not going to kill you. They are not even the same species that Steve Irwin has his fatal encounter with.
You will see banks. Lots of banks. Many of them private banks. But you won’t find shady lawyers hauling suitcases full of cash either. The Firm was filmed partly in Cayman but was not a documentary.
As I’ve noted on these boards earlier: Americans tend to know nothing about Euope, and are often absurdly proud of their ignorance. Europeans THINK they know a lot about America, are usually wrong, and are absurdly proud of what they think they know.
Euros who find out I live in Texas invariably assume that I own a gun and that I see gunplay on a regular basis. After all, everybody knows that Texans are trigger happy maniacs who shoot first and ask questions later.
In reality, I’ve never owned a gun, don’t personally know anybody who does, and have never known anybody who’s been involved in a shooting in ANY capacity.
NJ has a few bad parts – Camden is not especially pleasant, for example, and the part you see from Newark Liberty airport is also not exactly scenic. But we do have lots and lots of wonderful places, including miles of beaches and lovely country scenery. Some extraordinarily wealthy people like Doris Duke, Malcolm Forbes, and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis chose this state for good reason.
Well, this may be true, but it’s also YMMV. I have now known 2 couples that have moved up to that neck of the woods, and after a few years are now working on becoming “snow birds”.
FTR, I have been to Seattle in summer and have really enjoyed it.
I’ve lived in the Midwest (US) my whole life, 33 years now, and my house has never been destroyed by a tornado. No one I know has had their house destroyed by a tornado. My great-uncle’s calf barn did have its roof picked up, rotated 90 degrees, and dropped back into place. That’s all.
I also don’t know anyone who’s been shot, in spite of supposedly epic gun violence in the US. Then again, my college study buddy did shoot her husband. But I didn’t know him.
Hmm. Maybe I need to think harder.
There is more than corn in Indiana. There are also soybeans.
If you visit southern California (or all of California, for that matter), there is a WAY better than average chance that you will NOT experience an earthquake. And an even greater chance that you will NOT experience an earthquake that causes catastrophic destruction.
(Ironically this fear seems to be held by many from midwest areas where tornados cause massive destruction on a much more regular basis)
Detroit isn’t that bad and is actually a fun, vibrant place. Sure, you might get shot once or twice, but it’s usually not fatal and there’s excellent healthcare 50 miles away in Ann Arbor!
Australia. 22 million people live there, and almost never SEE, let alone interact with, venomous creatures. I know a man, a scientist, even, who is seriously too afraid to ever visit Australia.
Like anywhere, act responsibly around wildlife and you’ll be fine.
I don’t live in Belfast but it is a safer city than any I’ve ever been in.
So if you visit Ireland, particularly Northern Ireland, your chances of dying in a terrorist attack are possibly lower than they are in much of the world and all of NI is as safe as you are going to get in Western Europe for the most part.
Not sure if people internationally have any worry about Dublin, I know Irish people from outside Dublin used to think it was full of drug addicts. It is but they are for the most part harmless.
So bombs, guns, terrorists, not really on the menu if you visit Ireland.
Hawaii is one of the 50 states. We have Wal-Mart, Target, Whole Foods, Best Buy, McDonalds, etc. There are skyscrapers, freeways, and suburban subdivisions (not grass shacks).
We don’t wear grass skirts. That said, ties are very very rare, and aloha shirts are the most common work attire.
The schools do not have a “kill haole day”. There is lots of ethnic diversity (we’re about 25% caucasian), but everyone is very friendly. You generally won’t need to worry about being caught the Japanese, Vietnamese, Filipino, Samoan, etc part of town.
The Hawaiian Sovereignty movement is very tiny. It’s very divided and I doubt there are more than a few dozen in each group. You won’t be harangued by protesters.
This isn’t as much a fear as a misconception: Richmond is not northern Virginia. Northern Virginia is a small percentage of the state. It’s what everyone seems to remember when they’re driving down 1-95. But you are (sadly) mistaken if you think the entire state is like Alexandria and Fairfax County.