# What are the misconceptions of your hometown? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 9, 2010, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-misconceptions-of-your-hometown/546086 "2010-07-09T12:37:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![flodnak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/838e76/32.png) [@flodnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flodnak)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2010, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-misconceptions-of-your-hometown/546086/41 "2010-07-09T18:18:04Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > The nearby cargo terminals and the Newark Airport don’t help. We flew through Newark last year, and when the plane had landed, my Norwegian BIL said to me: “If I thought all of the US looked like what we just flew over, I’d be on the next plane home.” I can understand that point of view. Me? I come from Lancaster, Pennsylvania. The stupid stereotypes write themselves :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2010, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-misconceptions-of-your-hometown/546086/42 "2010-07-09T18:21:46Z")
People still think that Pittsburgh is dirty, because back in the day all of the smoke and dust from the steel mills was so heavy the street lamps would come on at _noon_. (My great-aunt told me about when she would go shopping and her coat would be pitch black) Men would have to have a separate suit at the office, etc. It hasn’t been like that since the 1960s, and the steel mills closed down in the 80s, but people STILL come here and say, “wow, it’s so CLEAN and everyone’s so nice and friendly! I thought you guys were all a bunch of drunks!” :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2010, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-misconceptions-of-your-hometown/546086/43 "2010-07-09T18:24:20Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > I picture all of California as hot all the time, except Tahoe and San Diego (which I’m given to understand is 72 degrees every frikkin’ day). Coastal California actually has a very mild, even climate. It doesn’t get that hot, or that cold. (Most people I know don’t have AC, and make do with ceiling fans.) The farther north you go, the colder it gets in the winter, basically. But it doesn’t get that extreme. The Pacific Coast is temperate all the way to Vancouver. I’m not a meteorologist or anything, but as I understand it, the fact that San Francisco is on the tip of a peninsula is what brings in the cold summer fog. For actual hot weather, you need to go inland. The Central Valley is HOT. So are Sonoma and Napa Valleys. **Bijou Drains** , that quote is actually apocryphal. > [@tdn](#): > > Imagine my shock in discovering that we think of as normal weather patterns simply do not apply there. Who’s this “we”? You know what’s not normal? This bullshit humidity I’m suffering through here in Ann Arbor at the moment. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2010, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-misconceptions-of-your-hometown/546086/44 "2010-07-09T18:25:32Z")
> [@flodnak](#): > > Me? I come from Lancaster, Pennsylvania. The stupid stereotypes write themselves :smack: Well, they’d have to, what with you not being allowed to use typewriters or mechanical pencils. Wait - what are you doing on the internet?! ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2010, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-misconceptions-of-your-hometown/546086/45 "2010-07-09T18:32:44Z")
> [@Kyla](#): > > Who’s this “we”? You know what’s not normal? This bullshit humidity I’m suffering through here in Ann Arbor at the moment. Sounds pretty normal to me. Once again, I had to swim in to work today. ---
**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:** [July 9, 2010, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-misconceptions-of-your-hometown/546086/46 "2010-07-09T18:33:33Z")
> [@Kyla](#): > > Who’s this “we”? You know what’s not normal? This bullshit humidity I’m suffering through here in Ann Arbor at the moment. WeatherBug says it’s at 49%. I say quit your whining. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![The\_Real\_Regency\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@The\_Real\_Regency\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Real_Regency_Elf)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2010, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-misconceptions-of-your-hometown/546086/47 "2010-07-09T18:37:43Z")
My most recent hometown (Durham NC), has a reputation for being a crime-filled hellhole with horrible schools. While there certainly are bad areas (what city doesn’t have them?), the reality is very different. It’s got gorgeous historic neighborhoods, lots of fun hangout places, all the diversity you’d ever want, a fantastic farmer’s market, a growing downtown scene, lovely rolling hills and many excellent schools. I miss it so very much right now despite my efforts to fall in like, if not love, with my current hometown. As for my current residence (Manassas, VA), it too has a bad reputation of being filled with illegal immigrants and rednecks, but everything I’ve seen so far has demonstrated otherwise. But I also might have blinders on, because we live in a fairly new section of town that’s a real melting pot of people who are happy to quietly coexist together while doing their own thing. People do smile and wave to each other in passing and generally drivers are courteous although the congestion is hellish. ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2010, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-misconceptions-of-your-hometown/546086/48 "2010-07-09T18:37:55Z")
> [@Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](#): > > Or that they can make a day-trip up to San Francisco. I went to school in the SF Bay Area. First thing we needed to clear up was that we could not, in fact, “just go to LA.” Several people during orientation would say things like, “Oh, you’re from California? Cool, hey, how do I get to LA?” With either a plane ticket, or with six hours and two full tanks of gas. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2010, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-misconceptions-of-your-hometown/546086/49 "2010-07-09T18:38:53Z")
> [@MsWhatsit](#): > > Nobody has ever heard of my hometown. (Even though it has the “world-famous Y-bridge.” Hmph.) I’ve heard of it. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Excellent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f19dbf/32.png) [@Mr.Excellent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Excellent)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2010, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-misconceptions-of-your-hometown/546086/50 "2010-07-09T18:39:23Z")
> [@Kyla](#): > > My hometown is San Francisco, CA. Ummm…let’s see, the stereotype that it’s super left-wing and really, really gay is actually true. > > Based on the way tourists dress, there is apparently a misconception that it is _warm_. This is…not accurate. I always wonder what the hell is wrong with the people wandering around in shorts and t-shirts, freezing their asses off. Don’t you check the weather of the place you’re visiting to make sure you bring appropriate clothing? Amen. Mark Twain supposedly once said that the coldest winter he’d ever spent was a summer in San Francisco - and that’s not far off. When I did my summer internship there, I loved the bar next to my apartment. Specifically, I loved it because it had a fireplace. It is also telling that many SF bars seem to consider Irish Coffee the canonical SF beverage. 🙂 In fairness, it does get warm. Eventually. Mid-late July, say. For perhaps a month. To add to the pile - people tend to think of Washington, DC as boring. It’s not their fault - they get dragged here on family vacations or school field trips, spent all their time on Capitol Hill or the Mall, and are bored out of their minds. Of course they would be. But we’ve got all the art, food, theater, music, and so on of any large city - plus a park system that (imho) kicks Central Park to hell and gone, and opportunities for nerdiness that other cities can only envy. (Want to meet a mid-level Russian Embassy staffer, and ask him/her about Chechnya? Keep an eye on the foreign-affairs grad school webpages, and the think-tanks, and you’ll see a public lecture coming up sooner than you’d think.) ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2010, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-misconceptions-of-your-hometown/546086/51 "2010-07-09T18:40:07Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > WeatherBug says it’s at 49%. I say quit your whining. 😃 It was 72% when I reached the cafe where I’ve been hiding for the last couple hours. I’m afraid to go back outside. This weather is sucking my will to live, I swear. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2010, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-misconceptions-of-your-hometown/546086/52 "2010-07-09T18:40:13Z")
I live in Fort Worth, Texas. Texas, as a whole, has a reputation. Well, several reputations. We are not all cattle ranchers or in the ranching business in some way. We don’t all like football, and we don’t all like country music. And there’s actually quite a few liberals/Democrats here. I lived in Las Vegas for almost a decade. Prostitution was NOT legal there, although the laws against it certainly weren’t vigorously enforced, especially in certain areas. And most of Nevada is extremely rural, there are only a very few big cities with bright lights. But if you travel into Las Vegas, try to come in after dark. It’s a spectacular sight. ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2010, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-misconceptions-of-your-hometown/546086/53 "2010-07-09T18:43:18Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > Mark Twain said the coldest winter he ever saw was the summer in San Francisco. [Not Twain.](http://www.snopes.com/quotes/twain.asp) ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2010, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-misconceptions-of-your-hometown/546086/54 "2010-07-09T18:47:38Z")
The most famous my hometown (Rockville, MD) got is from **R.E.M.**'s _(Don’t Go Back To) Rockville_, in which the city is portrayed: “Going where nobody says hello, they don’t talk to anybody they don’t know You’ll wind up in some factory that’s full time filth and nowhere left to go Walk home to an empty house, sit around all by yourself” Everyone there is friendly; there were never any factories (it’s been quite urban since the early 1900’s); it’s a lovely place to live. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2010, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-misconceptions-of-your-hometown/546086/55 "2010-07-09T19:04:23Z")
People from out of town think the canal is a nice historical feature. It’s a muddy cesspool with almost no water. It was closed down only a few years after it was first dug and has been the neighboring property’s trash dump for over a hundred years. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2010, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-misconceptions-of-your-hometown/546086/56 "2010-07-09T19:31:37Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > People still think that Pittsburgh is dirty If it’s any consolation, I was just in Pittsburgh for a wedding, and I thought it was lovely (I was there once before, but that was over 10 years ago). So much great architecture! ---
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2010, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-misconceptions-of-your-hometown/546086/57 "2010-07-09T19:33:07Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > I can’t think of many about Boston… Seriously? Maybe it’s because you still live there. I’ve got a few: 1. Most Bostonians don’t have a Boston accent, or at least not a thick one. Only certain areas pahck the cah in the yahd. Errr, OK I’ve got one. ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2010, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-misconceptions-of-your-hometown/546086/58 "2010-07-09T19:55:15Z")
Is it true that Bostonians are the worst drivers in America? That’s the first thing that pops into my head when I think about Boston stereotypes. But I’ve never been myself, and have no idea. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2010, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-misconceptions-of-your-hometown/546086/59 "2010-07-09T19:58:42Z")
> [@Kyla](#): > > Is it true that Bostonians are the worst drivers in America? I originally read this as “Bosnians.” Around here, Illinois drivers are known as the terrible ones. I hear tell they say the same thing about Wisconsinites down there. ---
**Author:** ![kapri](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4491bb/32.png) [@kapri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kapri)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2010, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-misconceptions-of-your-hometown/546086/60 "2010-07-09T19:59:51Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Nobody in America has ever heard of my birthplace, unless they’re big on [helicopters](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westland_Aircraft) or follow the [lower divisions](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yeovil_Town_F.C.) of English football. > > Everyone in the world has heard of my adopted home town, mostly because of [this guy](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walt_Disney). Right, but what are the misconceptions of said town? I think most of the tourists who come here are under the misconception that International Drive is “downtown Orlando.” No, it is not. I-Drive is tacky and touristy and most Orlando residents, or at least the ones I know, avoid it like the plague. Orlando actually has a REAL downtown, and it’s not I-Drive. People here also can’t drive, but that’s not a misconception. That’s the truth. And I’m not just talking about the tourists, either. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-misconceptions-of-your-hometown/546086.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-misconceptions-of-your-hometown/546086.md?page=4)