# North/South/East/West \[city name\], but a different city than \[city name\] **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 29, 2024, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-south-east-west-city-name-but-a-different-city-than-city-name/1004958 "2024-07-29T16:35:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2024, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-south-east-west-city-name-but-a-different-city-than-city-name/1004958/41 "2024-07-29T19:42:24Z")
> [@snowthx](#): > > May be a topic for another thread - cities with N/S/E/W and have a larger population than the source city? I cannot think of any others than Covina/West Covina. The only one I know of off-hand is North Battleford SK being larger than Battleford SK (SK is Saskatchewan, for those unfamiliar with Canadian abbrevs). I’m sure there are others. I know I started a thread asking if there were any city that has a complete set of direction cities around it. That is, a N/E/S/W City surrounding City. No one could find one, although there are several with three, Chicago, as noted above, being one of them. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find the thread despite trying several searches that _should_ have turned it up. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2024, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-south-east-west-city-name-but-a-different-city-than-city-name/1004958/42 "2024-07-29T19:44:44Z")
> [@Spiderman](#): > > while we’re hardly Iowa pancake flat there isn’t material elevation differences between them; they aren’t on the eastern side of a mountain. On a river or creek? As I noted, it’s often related to being up or down river. I would guess the local waterways flow to the East. Water still flows downhill to the sea, even if the elevation change between neighboring towns along a waterway is often negligible. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2024, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-south-east-west-city-name-but-a-different-city-than-city-name/1004958/43 "2024-07-29T19:53:39Z")
> [@snowthx](#): > > Locally, we have Sacramento and West Sacramento across the river - different counties. And from what I understand North Sacramento, on the other side of the American River, used to be a different city but got annexed by Sacramento in the 1960s. > [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > I’m pretty sure that the airport and the land thereon are actually part of the city of San Francisco, although separated by 15 miles or so from the rest of the city. IIRC San Francisco annexed a thin strip of land along Highway 101 and connected it to the airport, to make the airport technically within the city limits. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2024, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-south-east-west-city-name-but-a-different-city-than-city-name/1004958/44 "2024-07-29T20:08:07Z")
> [@snowthx](#): > > May be a topic for another thread - cities with N/S/E/W and have a larger population than the source city? I cannot think of any others than Covina/West Covina. From a few years back: > [@Direction City \> City](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/direction-city-city/926049/1): > > What direction cities are significantly bigger than the adjacent or nearby non-direction city they’re named for? Direction city is one with a direction in its name. East St Louis IL and West New York NJ, for examples. They’re adjecent or at least near a city that has the same name except for the direction.[\*] They can be, as in those two examples, across state lines from the non-direction city, but they don’t have to be. Nor do they have to be exactly adjacent. Chicago has three direction citie… ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2024, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-south-east-west-city-name-but-a-different-city-than-city-name/1004958/45 "2024-07-29T20:11:44Z")
Ahh! Good one - and my Covina example was the first response! ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2024, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-south-east-west-city-name-but-a-different-city-than-city-name/1004958/46 "2024-07-29T20:32:25Z")
Washington has both a North Bend and a South Bend. North Bend is in the mountains east of Seattle, while South Bend is over 100 miles away on the coast. But it is indeed “south.” (They’re both named for river bends, and I suspect all the numerous Bends across the country of all directions are.) ---
**Author:** ![fachverwirrt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/94ad74/32.png) [@fachverwirrt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fachverwirrt)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2024, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-south-east-west-city-name-but-a-different-city-than-city-name/1004958/47 "2024-07-29T20:38:53Z")
> [@Mama\_Zappa](#): > > East Saint Louis is in Illinois, while Saint Louis is in Missouri. North St. Louis and South St. Louis, also called north city and south city, are, of course, in the city. As opposed to north county and south county. There’s also a west county, but no west city. There is, however, a Central West End. ---
**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:** [July 29, 2024, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-south-east-west-city-name-but-a-different-city-than-city-name/1004958/48 "2024-07-29T20:44:21Z")
To the west of the town of Westminster VT is an unincorporated village. It’s called Westminster West. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2024, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-south-east-west-city-name-but-a-different-city-than-city-name/1004958/49 "2024-07-29T20:55:37Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > I’m pretty sure that the airport and the land thereon are actually part of the city of San Francisco, although separated by 15 miles or so from the rest of the city. At any rate, the city owns the property and the airport has a postal code that falls under San Francisco. FWIW, in Google Maps it does not put the airport in the pink borders of SF - [it does put a tiny tiny corner of Alameda in](https://www.kqed.org/news/11702058/why-is-part-of-alameda-island-in-san-francisco). And when you click on a random spot, it will tell you the city - but at the airport it just says “San Mateo County.” None of that means they can’t have a mailing address, and of course this isn’t surprising. With multiple CDPs in California/the West, some of which are treated as cities in common parlance (e.g. Castro Valley) and some of which are not and have a mailing address in the larger city nearby ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2024, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-south-east-west-city-name-but-a-different-city-than-city-name/1004958/50 "2024-07-29T21:00:48Z")
> [@Topologist](#): > > Hartford, CT, has suburbs of East Hartford and West Hartford, next to it and in the appropriate directions. New Haven, Connecticut has East, West and North Haven towns bordering it. No South Haven, though. ---
**Author:** ![Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/marvin_the_martian/32/2898_2.png) [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marvin_the_Martian)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2024, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-south-east-west-city-name-but-a-different-city-than-city-name/1004958/51 "2024-07-29T21:15:04Z")
In the Philly suburbs there are two Upper Providence Townships, one in Montgomery County and one in Delaware County. There is only one Lower Providence Township, adjacent to the Upper Providence in Montco. Nether Providence is adjacent to Upper Providence in Delco. Almost as confusing as the two Springfield Townships in the Philly suburbs, one each again in Montco and Delco. Plus the seven other Springfield Townships throughout the state. South Tucson is a separate one square mile incorporated city in Arizona completely inside the larger city of Tucson. Home to some of the best Mexican restaurants in Pima County. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2024, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-south-east-west-city-name-but-a-different-city-than-city-name/1004958/52 "2024-07-29T21:20:04Z")
> [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](#): > > In the Philly suburbs there are two Upper Providence Townships, one in Montgomery County and one in Delaware County. There is only one Lower Providence Township, adjacent to the Upper Providence in Montco. Nether Providence is adjacent to Upper Providence in Delco. There’s also Upper Merion and Lower Merion. There is an Upper Darby and Darby, but no Lower Darby. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2024, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-south-east-west-city-name-but-a-different-city-than-city-name/1004958/53 "2024-07-29T21:31:12Z")
There is a West Philly (where I grew up), a South Philly, a North Philly and a Northeast Philly, all part of the city since about 1850 when the city absorbed the entire county. Outside of Philly there are Chester and West Chester, but they are not adjacent. I think West Chester is mainly north of Chester. ---
**Author:** ![Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/marvin_the_martian/32/2898_2.png) [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marvin_the_Martian)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2024, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-south-east-west-city-name-but-a-different-city-than-city-name/1004958/54 "2024-07-29T21:37:32Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > There is an Upper Darby and Darby, but no Lower Darby. There is also a Darby Township, separate from Darby Borough. They are near each other but do not share a border. Darby Borough does border on a part of Upper Darby, but a small section of Upper Darby which is not contiguous with the bulk of Upper Darby. Pennsylvania can be a very confusing place if you weren’t raised there. I used to live in Lower Providence Township, but I would never use that as part of my mailing address. My mailing address would be Audubon (the CDP where I lived), but I also got mail addressed to Eagleville (the CDP where my post office was - there actually is an Audubon post office but is serves a different zip code) or Norristown (the nearest borough and where the postal sort facility is located). Mrs. Martian (who grew up in western Massachusetts) never could understand this perfectly illogical system. ---
**Author:** ![Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/marvin_the_martian/32/2898_2.png) [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marvin_the_Martian)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2024, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-south-east-west-city-name-but-a-different-city-than-city-name/1004958/55 "2024-07-29T21:42:41Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > Outside of Philly there are Chester and West Chester, but they are not adjacent. I think West Chester is mainly north of Chester. West Chester is a borough (and the county seat of) Chester County. It is 15 miles northwest of the city of Chester, which of course is in Delaware County. Pennsylvania (at least Southeast PA) is confusing as hell. ---
**Author:** ![XOldiesJock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/ec9cab/32.png) [@XOldiesJock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XOldiesJock)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2024, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-south-east-west-city-name-but-a-different-city-than-city-name/1004958/56 "2024-07-29T21:46:14Z")
In the county in which I reside, there is a city. Let’s call it Big City. There is a North Big City and a West Big City, but they are both boroughs and are not in the city itself. The communities to the east and south are often called East Big City and South Big City, but neither are named that officially and are located in separate townships, one of which is called Big City Township. It’s not part of Big City either. I’ve never lived anywhere else in which the city name has carried over to so many small adjacent municipalities. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2024, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-south-east-west-city-name-but-a-different-city-than-city-name/1004958/57 "2024-07-29T21:46:17Z")
> [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](#): > > Pennsylvania can be a very confusing place if you weren’t raised there. I happen to live in West Manheim, PA, which is about 50 miles away from Manheim, PA. ---
**Author:** ![XOldiesJock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/ec9cab/32.png) [@XOldiesJock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XOldiesJock)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2024, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-south-east-west-city-name-but-a-different-city-than-city-name/1004958/58 "2024-07-29T21:51:21Z")
> [@engineer\_comp\_geek](#): > > _I happen to live in West Manheim, PA, which is about 50 miles away from Manheim, PA._ And there are two Manheim Townships in two separate counties. ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2024, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-south-east-west-city-name-but-a-different-city-than-city-name/1004958/59 "2024-07-29T22:22:59Z")
> [@Topologist](#): > > Hartford, CT, has suburbs of East Hartford and West Hartford, next to it and in the appropriate directions. I was going to mention these, but you beat me to it. To be clear, both East Hartford and West Hartford are towns that are completely separate municipalities from the City of Hartford. (Not that you didn’t say that, but the term “suburb” does not have a precise definition.) We also have the Town of Windsor and the Town of South Windsor in Connecticut (two different municipalities). > [@TriPolar](#): > > We have Providence, East Providence, and North Providence. The first two are designated as cities. North Providence is a town but that has the same standing in our state. That’s also true in Connecticut. The main difference between a town and a city is the form of government. Towns typically have a “board of selectmen” led by a “first selectman” while cities have a mayor and a city council. As an aside, there is actually no unincorporated land in Connecticut. Every square inch of the state is in a town or city. Usually if a municipality gets large enough (in terms of population) to incorporate as a city, it will take on the governance of the parent town, but there is one oddball exception in the case of Groton, CT. The City of Groton is a municipality that is distinct from the surrounding Town of Groton. Both entities have their own governmental structure. (Technically speaking, the city is a political subdivision of the town.) When I first moved to the area, I found it strange that the Town of Groton was considerably larger (in terms of land area) than the City of Groton. > [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > New Haven, Connecticut has East, West and North Haven towns bordering it. No South Haven, though. Right, no South Haven because that area is taken up by Long Island Sound. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2024, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-south-east-west-city-name-but-a-different-city-than-city-name/1004958/60 "2024-07-29T22:26:32Z")
Forgot to mention: North Las Vegas is a separate city. And then a significant number of tourists haven’t even been to Las Vegas at all, they spend their time in the CDP of Paradise. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-south-east-west-city-name-but-a-different-city-than-city-name/1004958.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-south-east-west-city-name-but-a-different-city-than-city-name/1004958.md?page=4)