Seminole, Florida. One mile east of Madeira Beach, one mile west of St. Petersburgh.
Famous, of course, for –
[ul]**-Point Beer
-The World’s Largest Trivia Contest (once mentioned by Jay Leno :rolleyes: )
-University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point
-The Wisconsin River
-Gazoo and Sledman
**[/ul]
The closest town that you’ve now heard of is Almond, WI (see Lunatic13’s post). Otherwise, Wausau is about 35 miles north and Madison is about 110 miles to the south.
When they needed a state capital, they suggested using the area I live in. When prompted for a name for this city, they suggested Pig’s Eye, in honor of the one-eyed bootlegger who lived on an island in the middle of the river because nobody claimed it and therefore he was out of everybody’s jurisdiction.
Now they just call it Saint Paul. Feh.
I live on Sanibel Island, Florida. It’s a city of about 6,000 full time residents, but during tourist season (like right about now) the population jumps to about 35,000 tourists, either renting condos or daytripping. There is a 3-mile, 2 lane causeway to get here, all the roads on the island are 2 lanes, and there are no stoplights (although the cops often direct traffic at the major interesections, such as Causeway Blvd. and Periwinkle Way, the main street). I live on the East End, which is made up of houses, canals, and Old Town Sanibel, which is dotted with historical markers. Old Town also has the world-famous (supposedly) Lighthouse Cafe. Sanibel is known for its wonderful shelling beaches and amazing amounts of wild land, thanks to the J.N. “Ding” Darling National Wildlife Refuge, which makes up a major part of the island, as well as large tracts of land which have been purchased by the city and the Conservancy to remain wild. There are strict building codes in place to ensure we do not become the next Miami Beach.
The island just north of here is Captiva, known for multi-million dollar houses, The Mucky Duck pub, and The Bubble Room restaurant. We’re all in Lee County, with a population of 400,000, mostly in the major cities of Fort Myers (former cow-town) and Cape Coral (or as I call it, The Suburbia from Hell).
So much for short and sweet, but oh well.
A suburb about 30-45 minutes outside Atlanta
There’s plenty I could say about Atlanta, but since this is to be about my town I live in, I’m coming up short in that department…
There’s nothing here…its a whitebred suburbian hell.
Another Floridian checking in …
The St. Johns River flows north thru the heart of downtown before turning east to reach the Atlantic O. [BTW, the St. Johns is one of the few north-flowing rivers] To carry traffic over the river, seven bridges. To get to the beach (“shore” to you Yankees), three more bridges. So if you’re bridge-phobic, you pretty much stay home.
We have the NFL Jaguars and the 2005 Superbowl (think you heard small-town jokes and complaints about the Tampa Superbowl? just wait) We have a pretty good symphony, several theatre companies, most of the touring Broadway-type productions stop here, art museums ranging from traditional to modern.
Local political philosophy, ‘If some growth is good, more MUST be better.’ Last election we voted (3:1) to add one-half cent to the sales tax (now 7%) to fund road building, and several public buildings (court house, arena, libraries, etc.)
And for TruePisces (from 3d largest city in FL), we are not only the largest in land area in FL, but the 2nd in the US. [bonus points if anyone can ID the biggest] Metro population, about a million.
Lynyrd Skynrd and Limp Biskit are from here, and about half the original line up of the Allman Brothers Band.
Historical - site of Fort Caroline, first European colony in what is now the US. In 1562 a group of Huguenots from France settled at the mouth of the River Mai (now St. Johns). A few years later, the Spanish from St. Augustine wiped out the French, thus St. Augustine (about 60 miles south of Jax) gets to claim “Nation’s Oldest City”.
Buffalo, New York – born and raised
Las Cruces, New Mexico – where I was initiated into the “real world.”
Fort Collins, Colorado – would be one of the most liveable cities in the United States, if it weren’t for the complete lack of single people.
Denver, Colorado – natives are great, but creeping pretentiousness and disturbing affluence threatens to San Fransciscize the Rockies.
Orlando, Florida – as of last Saturday. Not bad so far – seems like there’s much more than the Mouse. I think of it as a greener, wetter Las Vegas with shorter signs and without the gambling and dysfunctionality.
To add to what PlanMan said, Jacksonville is the biggest city in Florida in terms of land area, and Cape Coral and North Port are 2nd and 3rd. Cape Coral has about 100,000 people right now, and is laid out over an area of about 120 sq. miles (guesstimate) with road grids, canals, etc, but the population is mostly in the south and east sides of the city - the rest is made up of endless lots with the occasional house and gas station. If you look at maps of inland Lee and Collier counties, you’ll see a pattern much the same of gridded but buildingless tracts of land that stretch for miles. Kinda creepy.
Mandi’s Mind mentioned Naples… we have a joke about that here:
A lot of older people live on Sanibel. And their parents live in Naples! 
Big city closest to-- Portland, OR. (Vancouver would probably actually be the same city if it wasn’t in a different state. (The Columbia River is the state line) or at least a suburb.)
Popular Because—
Fort Vancouver was basically the ending point of the Oregon Trail. (They went to Astoria, but when traders and such went out to oregon territory, they ended at Fort Vancouver.)
They claim to have the largest 4th of July show West of the Mississippi. I have no idea if that’s true, but I will say it’s bigger than any show I saw when I was in California (Including San Diego and LA) and people come from all over the state to Vancouver to see it.
And of course Tonya Harding still lives here (I’ve seen her, but was afraid to talk to here).
Other than that I can’t think of anything.
elmwood, You moved!? Actually a friend of mine moved to Florida two years ago. He says there are too many old people in St Petersberg, and misses the weather in Denver. But he’s got a fabulous job.
Denver. Like many places, growing too fast too soon. I like the old neighborhoods (live in one); lots of diversity, lots of trees, more sunny days per year than San Diego. Very dry; makes hair & skin age too fast. We have the highest skin cancer rate in the US. Denver has more degrees per capita than any other city except for DC, more dive shops than Los Angeles (this is really starnge). Also one of the most competitive & active radio markets in the country.
Places I always take visitors to in the city:
~Tattered Cover book store. Largest independent bookseller in the US. They still refuse to verify checks or run them through those little machines. You need a map to find your way around (provided), and the staff are immensely helpful.
~Lakeside Steam Baths on West Colfax. Old Eastern European style bath house. Saunas, whirlpools, steam & dry sauna, snack bar, salt rubs, massages. $10.00 for as long as you want. Clothing not allowed. Ladies’ days Monday & Thursdays.
~Wheatridge Greenbelt. If you know how to follow the trail along Clear Creek through the neighborhoods, you can go for miles. Urban wetlands, lots of foxes & migrating exotic ducks, pretty trails, not many people.
~Butterfly Pavilion. In addition to general bug exhibits (handle Rosie the Tarantula! feels like 8 little Q~tips trotting up your arm. She’s huge.) …There is a giant greenhouse pavilion with thousands & thousands of moths & butterflies. If you wear something bright, they land on you.
Unfortunately, I’ll be moving soon. But I’ll keep my house here so I can visit!
Located about 90 miles NE of Sioux Falls SD, tiny place…less than 2500 people. All the little towns around here have summer festivals celebrating their ethnic origins. Tyler’s happens to be Danish, so we have aebelskiver days (named after the fried doughnut). The wind here is freaking incredible; wind powered generators started popping up around here about five years ago and are now growing like weeds. There are three times more churches than bars, bowling and golfing seem to be the main forms of recreation, agriculture is the economic mainstay.
Most people try to get the heck out of here during the winter, few succeed.
- 3,400 folks.
- O percent unemployment.
- Hi Opal!
- 1 post office, 1 TV Studio, 6 “Restaurants” and 3 gyms.
- The airport had 142 flights today.
- 100 percent nuclear powered.
- 230 miles due east of Georgia… an moving south at 15 knots.
- USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69)
ChiefScott’s ship is hull number 69…strange coincidence, eh? 
Current town: Seattle, WA.
Major exports: coffee bars and enormous monopolies. Yes, we are the home of Starbucks, Amazon.com, Microsoft, and Boeing. (The latter is the source of one of the city’s nicknames, the “Jet City”.) The scenery is spectacular, the traffic is a nightmare, and people in general are laid-back, except when they are stuck in traffic behind one of the area’s many SUVs. It rains a lot but snows only once every couple of years.
Hometown: Zanesville, OH
Zanesville is closest to…nothing! It’s about 60 miles southeast of Columbus. It’s home of the “World Famous Y-Bridge.” This is a bridge in the shape of, you guessed it, a Y. It connects three parts of the city divided by two rivers. Zanesville was also the capital of Ohio for a couple of years in the 1800s, and for awhile laid claim to the title “Pottery Capital of the World.” Pottery is still a big industry there. I was at the Smithsonian once and saw a piece of Zanesville glassware on display at one of the museums.
Zanesville is also the birthplace of the Western writer Zane Grey. (He was named after the town, not vice versa.) It was prominently featured in an SNL skit during the Bill Murray years. It is now the hometown of the guy who played Tacklebury in the Police Academy movies.
Zanesville also features the largest basket in the world. (OK, the basket is actually in Dresden, OH, which is a neighboring town, but I am going to tell you about it anyway.) There’s a basket-manufacturing company located there called Longaberger Baskets which apparently are really popular on eBay these days. They’re sold via home sales, much like Tupperware and Home Interior. Several years back, the Longaberger company decided to build the world’s largest basket. It is as big as a house. There is a gift shop inside it.
Bizarrely, the Longaberger company also recently built a new office building in the shape of a gigantic basket. You’re driving along state rt. 16, minding your own business, when suddenly rising up on the horizon is an enormous, backlit basket, complete with giant handles. People actually have to work in that thing. I feel for them.
And uh… I think that’s it.
raises hand I’ve been to Zanesville! Home of some world famous pottery isn’t it? I lived in Martins Ferry OH (across the river from wheeling) for half a year or so… not really that close but… its something. lowers hand
Explorer Hendrick Hudson stopped his ship, the Half Moon, here in my hometown on his historic exploration of the river that now bears his name.
The Washington Irving tale The Legend of Sleepy Hollow was written, not about Tarrytown (although that is the name of the town in the book, and an actual city), but about this town, and the characters were based in part upon real citizens. As a matter of fact, the Luykas Van Allen house (Luykas’ daughter is believed to be the basis of Katrina Van Tassel), built in 1721 or something, still stands, as does the Ichabod Crane Schoolhouse (which has been moved to be on the same property).
U.S. President Martin Van Buren was born here.
We’re approximately 40 miles south of Albany, New York.
Wouldn’t that be Juneau, Alaska?
As for my town: San Francisco, California. Rice-a-Roni isn’t made here. Ghirardelli Chocolate isn’t made here. Twinkies are made here. So is Anchor Steam Beer.
It’s a beautiful place to visit. It’s a beautiful place to live if you can afford it. For a brief period not too long ago we had the most expensive real estate this side of London. Even Manhattan was cheaper. It’s come down a little bit now, but still only really affordable if you’re a programmer or a lawyer or something, or you’ve been here a while and have rent control.
SF has been looked upon with fear as the “city of the future”: as more and more people with money are fleeing the suburbs for the cities, rents go up and the artists, nonprofit groups, and eccentrics that have so long given the cities their personalities are driven out. Already happened here, could easily happen in a lot of other places. Depressing…
Carina, I’ll admit to missing the following things about Denver …
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The weather, which is really underrated. Winters are quite mild, and when snow falls, most streets are left unplowed – the sun melts the snow and ice in a day or two. A complete change in climate is a mete hour’s drive away.
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Tattered Cover, which served as my second living room.
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Northwest Denver, my old neighborhood and one of the most socioeconolically diverse places in the entire metropolitan area. Lower middle class Anglo families, Mexican immigrants living ten to a house, the butchest and toughest lesbians west of the Mississippi, starving artists, aging hippies, young professionals and young, filthy rich professionals. I can take my dog into just about every store on 32nd and Tennyson, where they all know her by name.
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The beer. I cried when I saw the beer selection in Winn-Dixie. I really, really miss the beer.
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KBCO. I whined about Denver radio too, but the offerings from the commercial stations was really quite diverse. Public radio left a lot to be desired, though.
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Dogs. My dog always had plenty of playmates around, albiet most were huge Labs and Goldens that left her outsizeed. In Florida, she’s considered a giant among the Bichons, Toy Poodles and Miniature Pinschers.
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Tattered Cover, just to emphasize the point.
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The suburbs. They sprawl like those in other cities, but at least do so in a kinder, gentler fashion, with lots of landscaping, very restrained corporate architecture, and no billboards. Well, except in Wheat Ridge.
What I don’t miss, though …
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SUVs. My G*d, you’ll never see as many huge sport utility vehicles in one place as you will in Denver. I know SUV rants are getting old, but when a good 40% of the vehicles on the road are hulking urban assault vehicles, many of which are navigated as if their smaller two-wheel drive automotive cousins don’t exist, they deserve my contempt.
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Creeping pretentiousness. Seems like every other restaurant is called something Bistro or whatever Trattoria, where you’ll hear smooth jazz in the background, see vintage French advertising posters, and consume foie gras (sp?) in some form in every restaurant menu. There’s a lot of the San Francsico-New York-Seattle crowd in Denver, and the elitism that goes with them. Denver natives and those who moved to the city from the Midwest, though, are more down to earth, although they’re increasingly scared off by …
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The high cost of living. My tiny Northwest Denver bungalow sold for enough to buy a house that’s three times the size in Orlando, with a pool to boot, and plenty to spare for a new car, new firnutire, and a big chunk into the savings. I’ve got friends that are making $40K or $50K that are having a hard time. The feeling among my friends there is “I moved there five years too late.”
ding … ding … ding … we have a winnah
Yes, zyzzyva, it is Juneau, Alaska!! Award yourself 10,000 “Who’s Line Is It, Anyway?” points
uh, racinchikki, what is the name of your city?
YOUR TELLING ME! My Mom owns a hair salon there, talk about blue heads!!!
Hello. . .You have a kick ass Aquarium! I was there once when they had an exotic frog exhibit. It inspired me to get a tattoo of a Posion Dart Frog on my shoulder
Not as cool as the one in Chatanooga, TN. But kick ass!