# What is the unofficial name of your metro area? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 24, 2005, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-unofficial-name-of-your-metro-area/291752 "2005-02-24T19:40:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2005, 8:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-unofficial-name-of-your-metro-area/291752/81 "2005-02-26T08:19:53Z")
Used to live in LA…is it true that “Frisco” is a word only used by tourists, and despised by those living in “the City”? ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2005, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-unofficial-name-of-your-metro-area/291752/82 "2005-02-26T18:09:11Z")
If you want to be real generous in how you define metro area(Fort Collins all the way down to Pueblo) “the front range” works for Denver as well. ---
**Author:** ![Zero\_Gravitas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7ab992/32.png) [@Zero\_Gravitas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zero_Gravitas)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2005, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-unofficial-name-of-your-metro-area/291752/83 "2005-02-26T20:10:30Z")
I live in Dallas. Since Dallas and Fort Worth are only about 30 miles apart, the two cities and their suburbs are often referred to collectively as ‘DFW’. They are also referred to as ‘The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex’, or just ‘The Metroplex’. ---
**Author:** ![zamboniracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e9a140/32.png) [@zamboniracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zamboniracer)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2005, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-unofficial-name-of-your-metro-area/291752/84 "2005-02-26T20:26:04Z")
We here in Cleveland refer to, and I quote, “Downtown”, “The East Side” and “The West Side”. Horribly unoriginal, I know. We also occassionally say, “The North East Ohio Area” and/or “Greater Cleveland.” Civic p.r. type booster groups sometimes call the area “The North Coast.” Some loutish national sports talk radio host refers to us as “C-Town” but how that distinguishes us from those further southeast down I-71 in Columbus or Cincinnati I’m not exactly sure. ---
**Author:** ![zamboniracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e9a140/32.png) [@zamboniracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zamboniracer)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2005, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-unofficial-name-of-your-metro-area/291752/85 "2005-02-26T20:27:31Z")
Actually, I-71 runs southwest from Cleveland to Columbus to Cincinnati. ---
**Author:** ![Morelin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Morelin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morelin)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2005, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-unofficial-name-of-your-metro-area/291752/86 "2005-02-26T22:58:16Z")
> [@Mr. Goob](#): > > Buffalo and Niagara Falls New York are collectively known as the Niagara Frontier. > > If you include all 8 counties it’s often called Western New York. Or as I put it, as far away from the city as I can possibily get and stay in the same state without falling into a lake. > > The whole middle swath of the state is commonly known as the fingerlakes region. Huh. I thought everything not Long Island or the City was simply Upstate. (Yes, I did grow up on Long Island.) ---
**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:** [February 26, 2005, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-unofficial-name-of-your-metro-area/291752/87 "2005-02-26T23:43:48Z")
> [@Little Nemo](#): > > My area is called the “Mid-Hudson” (the area between NYC and Albany) or sometimes the “Tri-State Region” (which throws in parts on New Jersey and Connecticutt). Or if you’re from NYC, you call it “upstate” and ignore the fact that it’s actually in the lower half of the state. You must be closer to, like, Poughkeepsie than I am here in Irvington, where we’re more likely to place ourselves in the Lower Hudson, or more succinctly, the Rivertowns. ---
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2005, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-unofficial-name-of-your-metro-area/291752/88 "2005-02-26T23:50:18Z")
> [@DMark](#): > > Used to live in LA…is it true that “Frisco” is a word only used by tourists, and despised by those living in “the City”? Yep, though some local rappers use the term as well, as well as in “Sittin’ in the Dock of the Bay.” ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2005, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-unofficial-name-of-your-metro-area/291752/89 "2005-02-27T00:25:25Z")
I’m from the Bay Area. The real one, in California. Because it’s pretty large, it’s got several subregions. 1. The City. The Examiner used to (dunno if it still does since it was sold) even refer to it just like this, with capital letters. San Jose is larger than The City, but even people there will talk about going up to The City. San Francisco City and County are coterminous. Where I’m from. 2. The North Bay. Everything north of the Bay - Marin, Sonoma, Napa, and Solano Counties are the North Bay. 2a. The Wine Country. Sonoma and Napa Counties. Used primarily by tourists and the people who love them. I grew up largely in Sonoma County. No, my parents aren’t vintners. (I had a coworker ask me that awhile ago. Heh!) 3. The East Bay. Contra Costa and Alameda Counties. Where Oakland and Berkeley are. 4. The South Bay. Santa Clara County. Where San Jose is. 4a. Silicon Valley. Originally a nickname for the Santa Clara Valley, it doesn’t really have any real borders and certainly doesn’t fit into a specific valley. Some towns in southern Alameda and San Mateo Counties are considered part of the Silicon Valley. Silicon Valley is more of an idea than a real physical place. 5. The Peninsula. San Mateo County. The, um, peninsula that has San Francisco at the tip. Stanford University is in the Peninsula. * * * Now I live in Chicago. Since it’s only got one big city at the heart, everything is organized based on how far away it is from downtown. Like, there are “far west suburbs”, “near south suburbs”, that sort of thing. Southeast Wisconsin and Northwest Indiana are part of the greater Chicago metropolitan area. ---
**Author:** ![Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laughing_Lagomorph)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2005, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-unofficial-name-of-your-metro-area/291752/90 "2005-02-27T02:09:22Z")
Buffalo NY is also called the Queen City of New York State (because it is the second largest, by a considerable margin). A discussion in another thread reminded me that Poughkeepsie NY is called the Queen City of the Hudson Valley. ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2005, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-unofficial-name-of-your-metro-area/291752/91 "2005-02-27T03:40:13Z")
Milwaukee is called ‘Brew City’ by some. ---
**Author:** ![Nawth\_Chucka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c57346/32.png) [@Nawth\_Chucka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nawth_Chucka)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2005, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-unofficial-name-of-your-metro-area/291752/92 "2005-02-27T04:11:48Z")
I live in a far north suburb of Detroit that is in what’s commonly called the Lakes Area. If you looked at us on an aerial map, you’d see there’s lakes on one or both sides of most roads in this area. The PR powers that be are trying to get people to call this area Automation Alley. My brother lives up in The Thumb. My folks live down in the Piedmont, but if you ask my mom she’ll say they live in the foothills. She’s so cute. ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2005, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-unofficial-name-of-your-metro-area/291752/93 "2005-02-27T23:27:09Z")
> [@Inigo Montoya](#): > > Mile High City. That’s the nickname for the City of Denver alone. When I lived there, the media tended to refer to the region as the _Front Range_. Depending on the context, it could mean anythng from Denver and its immediate suburbs to the urbanized area from Fort Collins south to Colorado Springs. Fort Collins, Colorado and the surrounding area is the _Poudre Valley_. The Buffalo-Niagara Falls area is the _Niagara Frontier_, but in the past couple of years the media has taken to calling it _Buffalo Niagara_. Canadians call the cluster of cities across the border – Fort Erie, Niagara Falls, St. Catharines, Welland, and Port Colborne – just plain _Niagara_. The urbanized area from the Niagara River to Toronto is the _Golden Horseshoe_. When Americans use the term, it includes the Buffalo area; when Canadians say it, it excludes Buffalo and everything on the US side of the border. The Las Cruces, New Mexico metro is the _Mesilla Valley_. El Paso, Texas was the _Borderland_. ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2005, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-unofficial-name-of-your-metro-area/291752/94 "2005-02-27T23:34:56Z")
> [@zamboniracer](#): > > We here in Cleveland refer to, and I quote, “Downtown”, “The East Side” and “The West Side”. Horribly unoriginal, I know. Let’s not forget those endless debates about what makes up the East Side and West Side. Some claim that Garfield Heights, a suburb located east of the Cuyahoga River, is actually part of the West Side, because it’s more of a working class suburb than other East Side 'burbs, and thus culturally more West Side-ish. I’ve heard some say that the Tremont neighborhood in Cleveland is part of the East Side, even though it’s west of the Cuyahoga. ---
**Author:** ![LemonFoil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c6cbf5/32.png) [@LemonFoil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LemonFoil)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2005, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-unofficial-name-of-your-metro-area/291752/95 "2005-02-27T23:53:26Z")
- DC is of course also “The Nation’s Capital”\* No one that lives in or around DC calls it “the nation’s Capitol.” Locals prefer “Washington” and sometimes “the District.” We have to change that. Any ideas, guys? ---
**Author:** ![ioioio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ioioio/32/316_2.png) [@ioioio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ioioio)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2005, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-unofficial-name-of-your-metro-area/291752/96 "2005-02-28T00:07:55Z")
The phone book says “Greater Memphis”. Local newscasters often refer to the viewing area (centered in Memphis) as “the Mid South”. ---
**Author:** ![Only\_Mostly\_Dead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/f19dbf/32.png) [@Only\_Mostly\_Dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Only_Mostly_Dead)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2005, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-unofficial-name-of-your-metro-area/291752/97 "2005-02-28T02:10:42Z")
> [@LemonFoil](#): > > - > > DC is of course also “The Nation’s Capital”\* > > No one that lives in or around DC calls it “the nation’s Capitol.” Way to neuter my sad attempt at setting up the joke, bud 😉 And while true that I (nor anybody else around here) will actually call it “the nation’s capital,” I do still hear it with relative frequency on the local news. Even more if you count mentions of “the capital beltway” or “the capital region.” And “capital region” comes in pretty useful for my own explaining my job, working all around PG, MoCo, NoVa, and DC. ---
**Author:** ![Landshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/77aa72/32.png) [@Landshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Landshark)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2005, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-unofficial-name-of-your-metro-area/291752/98 "2005-02-28T02:34:18Z")
San Diego county, is known as, um, San Diego county. (Not recalling any other names it’s known as.) The county is generally considered to be made up of four regions: - San Diego city - North County. Basically everything north of San Diego city; includes Escondido, Oceanside, Carlsbad. - South Bay. The area south of San Diego Harbor; includes National City and Chula Vista. - East County. Basically the areas east of the other three regions; includes La Mesa, El Cajon, Ramona, and the county’s mountain and desert areas. ---
**Author:** ![GrizzRich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7ba0ec/32.png) [@GrizzRich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrizzRich)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2005, 9:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-unofficial-name-of-your-metro-area/291752/99 "2005-02-28T09:10:10Z")
> [@zamboniracer](#): > > We here in Cleveland refer to, and I quote, “Downtown”, “The East Side” and “The West Side”. Horribly unoriginal, I know. We also occassionally say, “The North East Ohio Area” and/or “Greater Cleveland.” Civic p.r. type booster groups sometimes call the area “The North Coast.” > > Some loutish national sports talk radio host refers to us as “C-Town” but how that distinguishes us from those further southeast down I-71 in Columbus or Cincinnati I’m not exactly sure. I’ve always thought that the term “The North Coast” was being mis-used here. Cleveland isn’t a coastal city, it’s on the southern shore of Lake Erie. As such, I’ve suggested to locals (I’m not from the Cleveland area, but I currently live there) that the proper term should be _The South Shore_. Often, I get a look that says “If you hate it so much here, why don’t you move back to where you came from.” ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2005, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-unofficial-name-of-your-metro-area/291752/100 "2005-02-28T19:57:03Z")
> [@Kyla](#): > > I’m from the Bay Area. The real one, in California. Because it’s pretty large, it’s got several subregions. > > 1. The City. The Examiner used to (dunno if it still does since it was sold) even refer to it just like this, with capital letters. San Jose is larger than The City, but even people there will talk about going up to The City. FWIW, the Warriors NBA team, circa 1970, played in The Cow Palace (which is actually in Daly City, not in SF) and wore jerseys that said simply, “The City”. Now they play in Oakland, and call themselves “Golden State”. And totally off-topic: I read once that when Greeks say “The City” (or the Greek equivalent thereof, presumably something like _polis_), they’re referring to Byzantium/Constantinople/Istanbul, from old habit. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-unofficial-name-of-your-metro-area/291752.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-unofficial-name-of-your-metro-area/291752.md?page=6)