# What is the city of...? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 14, 2012, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-city-of/643979 "2012-12-14T00:59:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Toucanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3bc359/32.png) [@Toucanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toucanna)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2012, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-city-of/643979/41 "2012-12-14T21:52:50Z")
[QUOTE=JohnT] San Antonio is the City of Mañana {snip} [/QUOTE] I’ve lived here nigh on these 25 years and cain’t rightly say how’s Ah’ve ever done a-heerd of SA being called that. 😕 However, [QUOTE=pancakes3] Grew up in Richmond, Va - the River City {snip} [/QUOTE] I’ve heard San Antonio also called “The River City”. And, according to our good friend [Wikipedia](http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/River_city#section_4), the following cities in the USA are also nicknamed “The River City”: Austin, Texas Cape Girardeau, Missouri Cincinnati, Ohio Columbus, Ohio Decatur, Alabama Evansville, Indiana Grand Rapids, Michigan Jacksonville, Florida Kansas City Metropolitan Area, MO/KS Little Rock, Arkansas Louisville, Kentucky Mason City, Iowa Memphis, Tennessee Oconto Falls, Wisconsin Omaha, Nebraska Peoria, Illinois Portland, Oregon Sacramento, California Sioux City, Iowa Spokane, Washington St. Louis, Missouri Toms River, New Jersey Tulsa, Oklahoma Vicksburg, Mississippi White River Junction, Vermont ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2012, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-city-of/643979/42 "2012-12-14T22:09:51Z")
> [@laina\_f](#): > > I expected Rome to be the City of Fountains, but it seems that title has been given to Kansas City. Rome is “the Eternal City”. My old hometown Burlington, VT used to bill itself as “The Queen City”. Which always seemed a little uppidy for a town of 40k people. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2012, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-city-of/643979/43 "2012-12-15T00:10:57Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > Um, Paris: City of **Lights**. Rome: City of Love. [Here’s](http://got.net/~landauer/lists/CityOf.html) a list. Nitpick: Again, that’s City of Light. I’m surprised though by all the cities that have [City of Light or Lights as its nickname](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_of_Light). ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2012, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-city-of/643979/44 "2012-12-15T04:04:24Z")
> [@laina\_f](#): > > I expected Rome to be the City of Fountains, but it seems that title has been given to Kansas City. > > Back in the late '60s when I lived in Joplin MO, the city billed itself as the City of Fountains. I think they had maybe three half-assed fountains. That’s utterly bizarre. I can think of maybe two half-assed fountains in Joplin, and I don’t think I’ve ever heard that nickname. ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2012, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-city-of/643979/45 "2012-12-15T04:07:41Z")
I’ve heard that Las Vegas was the City of Lights. Supposedly the Japanese name of Washington, DC means “Flower Capital”, possibly because of the cherry trees. Stupid ones: San Francisco - City of Gay (or City Fabulous) Washington, DC - City of Crack (well, in the 1990’s anyway) Camden, NJ - City of Let’s Get The Hell Out of Here San Diego - City of Jacking It ---
**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:** [December 15, 2012, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-city-of/643979/46 "2012-12-15T18:57:54Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Portland is the City of Slackers. The dream of the 90s is alive in Portland. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2012, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-city-of/643979/47 "2012-12-16T01:37:03Z")
Findlay, Ohio, was officially designated by Congress as “Flag City USA.” Apparently they take Flag Day VERY seriously there. I have a few customers in western Ohio and so drive past Findlay a few times a year, and the Flag City moniker is everywhere, at least from what you can tell from I-75. They are really not screwing around with the Flag City nickname. ---
**Author:** ![Nunzio\_Tavulari](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Nunzio\_Tavulari](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nunzio_Tavulari)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2012, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-city-of/643979/48 "2012-12-16T03:03:18Z")
> [@Simplicio](#): > > Rome is “the Eternal City”. > > My old hometown Burlington, VT used to bill itself as “The Queen City”. Which always seemed a little uppidy for a town of 40k people. Charlotte, North Carolina is also the Queen City. I’m surprised that no municipality has laid claim to the Intense City. Can’t forget the Motor City, Detroit. If I type “city of porn” into my search engine I get ten cities. All in California. ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2012, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-city-of/643979/49 "2012-12-16T03:15:51Z")
> [@MeanOldLady](#): > > The dream of the 90s is alive in Portland. I LOVE Portlandia! ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2012, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-city-of/643979/50 "2012-12-16T04:55:49Z")
Minneapolis, City of Lakes. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2012, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-city-of/643979/51 "2012-12-16T17:07:09Z")
Earl Warren once described Emeryville, CA, as “the rottenest city on the Pacific Coast.” So, Emeryville is the City of Rot. ---
**Author:** ![Mona\_Lott](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ee7513/32.png) [@Mona\_Lott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mona_Lott)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2012, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-city-of/643979/52 "2012-12-17T00:25:27Z")
Spokane, Washington’s nickname is the Lilac City. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2012, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-city-of/643979/53 "2012-12-17T01:27:40Z")
I’ve lived in Albuquerque, which is the Duke City. The city was named for the Spanish Viceroy Francisco Fernandez de la Cueva, the Duke of Alburquerque. The first R in the spelling was dropped for some reason, but it’s named after a duke. And I’ve lived in Honolulu, which is the Big Pineapple. (Bangkok is often called the Big Mango.) [List of city nicknames in the US](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_city_nicknames_in_the_United_States) ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2012, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-city-of/643979/54 "2012-12-17T03:10:13Z")
There’s a small city here in central CT known only for having the densest concentration of malls and chain stores whose sign reads, “City of Village Charm.” ---
**Author:** ![Noone\_Special](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/noone_special/32/2863_2.png) [@Noone\_Special](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Noone_Special)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2012, 7:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-city-of/643979/55 "2012-12-17T07:31:34Z")
Tel Aviv **likes to think** it’s a “real” city (0.5 M? 2 M Metro? SRSLY? :dubious::p) – so TPTB have variously tried to get us to use either “_The Big Orange_” (back when growing citrus here was still a thing…) or “_The non-stop city_”\* The latter even seems to have gained some purchase. “_Silicon Wadi_” is also used sometimes, for the high-tech areas surrounding the city. - Which is \*\*also \*\*an obvious NY ripoff – “the city that never sleeps.” Unoriginal PR hacks… :rolleyes: [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-city-of/643979.md?page=2)