# 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:** 18\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2010, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-misconceptions-of-your-hometown/546086/141 "2010-07-13T14:27:05Z")
> [@Markxxx](#): > > I know all about Boulder since I watched every episode of “Mork & Mindy” 🙂 > > I live in Chicago and am always amazed that people elsewhere think it’s like the Roaring 20s, with Al Capone still running loose and mobsters shooting up people. …or corruption running rampant. Oh… wait a minute… ---
**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2010, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-misconceptions-of-your-hometown/546086/142 "2010-07-13T14:28:53Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > I can’t think of many about Boston, but my home away from home is Martha’s Vineyard. A popular misconception about that place is that it’s full of rich snobs who want to distance themselves as much as possible from the hoi polloi. That’s pretty much the polar opposite of the truth. I’m guilty of this misconception. I’ve never been there; and I knew there were a lot of rich people living there… ---
**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2010, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-misconceptions-of-your-hometown/546086/143 "2010-07-13T14:36:48Z")
> [@UncleRojelio](#): > > There is the misconception that Austin is a funky weird little high-tech college town. It is not. Not anymore. So many non-funky, non-weird malcontents moved here that it is now just like the crappy places they all came from. > > “Keep Austin Weird” is not so much a motto anymore. It’s more like a distant fantasy. Actually, when I think of Austin, I think “Great music to be found.” Isn’t it the “live music capital of the world?” ---
**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 13, 2010, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-misconceptions-of-your-hometown/546086/144 "2010-07-13T15:04:02Z")
> [@President\_Johnny\_Gentle](#): > > The biggest misconception I’ve seen about Minneapolis is that it’s cold and snowy year round. To be fair, out of the 50 largest cities in the U.S., Minneapolis \*is \*the coldest. (Milwaukee is #2. :() ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2010, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-misconceptions-of-your-hometown/546086/145 "2010-07-13T15:15:16Z")
> [@Enright3](#): > > I’m guilty of this misconception. I’ve never been there; and I knew there were a lot of rich people living there… Glad I could clear up the misconception. To be honest, there are a lot of rich people living there, but there are also a lot of people just scraping by, as well as tourists of just about every income level. And it’s nearly impossible to tell which is which. And the rich, and even famous, get absolutely no special treatment. Egalitarianism is pretty much the unspoken rule there. ---
**Author:** ![Hippy\_Hollow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hippy_hollow/32/4841_2.png) [@Hippy\_Hollow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hippy_Hollow)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2010, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-misconceptions-of-your-hometown/546086/146 "2010-07-13T16:00:14Z")
> [@Enright3](#): > > Actually, when I think of Austin, I think “Great music to be found.” Isn’t it the “live music capital of the world?” I think this is mostly true, and it trades on the presence of SXSW… but I lived in Boston and Atlanta, and I would put the music scene on the same level. The difference is probably with local bands. There are tons of places to catch bands. But I’ve been frustrated somewhat because being something of an Anglophile, I saw a lot of emerging bands in Boston - typical Boston-New York-Washington jaunt, then back to Blighty. We’re far from the coasts so we don’t see those cool shows unless it’s SXSW, or the band has enough money to go inland. Everybody who’s lived in Austin more than 10 years and can create noise with an instrument, though, probably was in a band, is in a band, or is between band. I’m always a little bummed that Austin’s national profile as a hometown for bands is pretty small. The Vaughan Brothers, Fabulous Thunderbirds, Fastball, Shawn Colvin, and Spoon are all Austin-based artists. We’ve got a neat regional scene, and if you’re into particular niches we have some legendary folks like Daniel Johnston and Rory Erickson from here… but I always thought that there should be more big bands emerging from here. ---
**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 13, 2010, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-misconceptions-of-your-hometown/546086/147 "2010-07-13T16:15:57Z")
Yeaaaah, Minneapolis is cold as fuck. Not very snowy, but when it warms up to 10 degrees in January and you declare _Hallelujah!_, I’d say it’s a cold town. Also not very dangerous, despite what the people in Chanhassen may imply by calling it Murderopolis. “Oh golly, 10 people were killed all year! That place is a veritable war zone!” ---
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2010, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-misconceptions-of-your-hometown/546086/148 "2010-07-13T16:47:40Z")
> [@Jamaika\_a\_jamaikaiake](#): > > Please read post #127 > > Also, are you implying that Indianapolis is between St. Louis and Chicago? Because it’s not. I know it’s not but if you look at a map to spot “old” cities of some size, Indianapolis seems to be located in a great spot for many of the old wagon trains (and choo-choo trains) to stop and load up on supplies for their trips west. If the wagon train started further south, St. Louis is the obvious stopping place. If north, the city for re-supply at the time would be Chicago. I just wondered if that placement had anything to do with Indianapolis becoming as large as it did as early as it did (before all paved highways happened). Wikipedia implies that the early size might have to do with choosing that location to become the state capitol in 1820, but again, why there? There’s no major waterway to support shipping and such. It’s unusual for a city without a major port to have become the size Indianapolis did before the era of automobiles. Indianapolis accomplished that. I just find it interesting. ---
**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 13, 2010, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-misconceptions-of-your-hometown/546086/149 "2010-07-13T16:55:14Z")
> [@Hippy\_Hollow](#): > > I’m always a little bummed that Austin’s national profile as a hometown for bands is pretty small. The Vaughan Brothers, Fabulous Thunderbirds, Fastball, Shawn Colvin, and Spoon are all Austin-based artists. We’ve got a neat regional scene, and if you’re into particular niches we have some legendary folks like Daniel Johnston and Rory Erickson from here… but I always thought that there should be more big bands emerging from here. Actually, I didn’t even think of Austin as the musical hub of _Texas_, let alone any larger region. The only Austin band I knew of before I read your post were Bowling for Soup. Compare that with Houston, from which I know of ZZ Top and King’s X. ---
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2010, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-misconceptions-of-your-hometown/546086/150 "2010-07-13T17:06:46Z")
Austin is an awesome musical hub. Someday, I’m going to make it to the ACL music festival but until then, I can rely on my handy public radio station to cover it for me. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2010, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-misconceptions-of-your-hometown/546086/151 "2010-07-13T17:26:22Z")
> [@samclem](#): > > Was it really an Akron ticket, or Cuyahoga Falls–at our North End. They’re legendary. Pretty sure it was Falls. I had been to a late meeting in an unfamiliar area of Akron and got lost trying to find my way back to a main street, and by the time I did I was so aggravated I was trying to make up for lost time, hence the speeding. I probably was going about 45 in a 35 – not qualifying for the Daytona or anything. He got me right in front of St. Thomas Hospital. That has to be 25 years ago and I’m still kicking myself. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2010, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-misconceptions-of-your-hometown/546086/152 "2010-07-13T19:37:59Z")
> [@carnut](#): > > One of MN’s northern cities used to have an edge of town sign that said “Welcome to \_\_\_, 40 below keeps the riff raff out.”\ It’s working for my whole country. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Sassy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47c2d/32.png) [@Sassy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sassy)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2010, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-misconceptions-of-your-hometown/546086/153 "2010-07-13T20:39:31Z")
> [@Kyla](#): > > Hey, I’m right here in this thread! > > Of course, I live in Michigan. Backing up Kyla - about the weather and about native born San Franciscans. I live 3 blocks from where I was born, in the heart of the city - and I love helping tourists 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2010, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-misconceptions-of-your-hometown/546086/154 "2010-07-13T21:25:45Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > You also have to know how to do defensive and offensive blocking with your own car to get through traffic. I still don’t know my way around the city after all this time and never will. You have to be born here, know the history of the city back to the 1800’s block by block, and think like they do with decades of road education. Then, there is parking. I decided to do a driving tour of Manhattan once by myself on a whim with no map and it was a breeze compared to Boston. My office mate, who worked in Boston for quite some time, had a book called “Wild in the Streets” about driving there. It appears that reporters from the Globe get lost all the time. So, you’re in good company. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2010, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-misconceptions-of-your-hometown/546086/155 "2010-07-13T21:30:29Z")
> [@kiz](#): > > I took a road trip from Boston to KY a couple of summers ago. On the way we visited a friend living in central NJ. She’s surrounded by actual farmland – silos, horses, mooing cows in the distance. I nearly fell on the ground, gobsmacked. > > My BIL and his family live in north central NJ in a rural township. No farms, but lots of conservation land. > > I’m pretty sure the disconnect is the part of NJ bordering NY. Everybody seems to forget that there’s a whole central, western, and southern portion of the state. I used to live in a small town outside of Princeton, and my drive to work went past lots of fields and a working dairy farm (and too many damn deer.) We have friends who never locked their door (the lock was broken) and never had a problem. The purpose of Newark and the Northern Turnpike is to keep New Yorkers out. ---
**Author:** ![Jamaika\_a\_jamaikaiake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7993a0/32.png) [@Jamaika\_a\_jamaikaiake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jamaika_a_jamaikaiake)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2010, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-misconceptions-of-your-hometown/546086/156 "2010-07-13T23:38:42Z")
> [@carnut](#): > > I know it’s not but if you look at a map to spot “old” cities of some size, Indianapolis seems to be located in a great spot for many of the old wagon trains (and choo-choo trains) to stop and load up on supplies for their trips west. If the wagon train started further south, St. Louis is the obvious stopping place. If north, the city for re-supply at the time would be Chicago. I just wondered if that placement had anything to do with Indianapolis becoming as large as it did as early as it did (before all paved highways happened). > > Wikipedia implies that the early size might have to do with choosing that location to become the state capitol in 1820, but again, why there? There’s no major waterway to support shipping and such. It’s unusual for a city without a major port to have become the size Indianapolis did before the era of automobiles. Indianapolis accomplished that. I just find it interesting. I had always heard that they moved the capitol there because it was more central. The early settlement of Indiana was around the Ohio and Wabash Rivers. So the first two capitols were Vincennes and Corydon. Once the North grew in population, they decided to pull an Austin/Brasilia/Washington (these were also constructed in the middle of nowhere in a “central” location). I’m not sure I understand why you even think Indy is “between” St. Louis and Chicago, even on the North/South axis. If you are on a wagon train heading west from Indianapolis to California then your next major stop would probably have been St. Louis. [See where this road is pointing to?](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_National_Road) ---
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2010, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-misconceptions-of-your-hometown/546086/157 "2010-07-14T03:30:20Z")
> [@Jamaika\_a\_jamaikaiake](#): > > I had always heard that they moved the capitol there because it was more central. The early settlement of Indiana was around the Ohio and Wabash Rivers. So the first two capitols were Vincennes and Corydon. Once the North grew in population, they decided to pull an Austin/Brasilia/Washington (these were also constructed in the middle of nowhere in a “central” location). > > I’m not sure I understand why you even think Indy is “between” St. Louis and Chicago, even on the North/South axis. If you are on a wagon train heading west from Indianapolis to California then your next major stop would probably have been St. Louis. [See where this road is pointing to?](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_National_Road) There’s the answer I am looking for in your link. The “improved road” project began in 1811. So it was a settlement on an engineered road that had the attractions of small but good rivers and good soil. And so people settled there. I never said Indy was in a direct line between Chicago and St. Louis, just that it seemed like a good point for a major city as otherwise one would have to swing their path up or down to find a town big enough to restock their wagon train. And though it is closer to St. Louis, I doubt everyone who passed through Indy went on to St. Louis. No biggie. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2010, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-misconceptions-of-your-hometown/546086/158 "2010-07-14T17:43:54Z")
The biggest misconception about Kansas City is one possessed by touring musicians - that anyone wants to hear you do that fucking song as an encore. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-misconceptions-of-your-hometown/546086.md?page=7)