10 things about your city (or town)

[YmirGF]

My former home is regarded by some as the Crown Jewel of North America.

1. Incorporated in 1860's as the connection to nearby Gold Rush towns to the north. In 2007 it was voted as the 10th cleanest city on the planet (that must have been before the 3 month long Sanitation workers strike, lol) and is consistently rated in the top 20 best places to live in the world, and usually in the top 5.
2. The population of the city of Vancouver is 611,869 and the population of the Metro Vancouver region hit approximately 2,250,000 in 2007.
3. Travel 15 minutes west to the Burrard Inlet for sailing, swimming and fishing (that's pushing it though) or drive 20 minutes north up to Grouse mountain and skiing (between Nov and May) or snowboarding is possible. Drive south for 15 minutes to visit the Fraser River, Sea Island and Vancouver International Airport. Go east for 25 minutes and reach the farm belt of the Lower Mainland area.
4. Vancouver has become the busiest seaport in Canada, and exports more cargo than any other port in North America.
5. There is a robust music scene here and has been since the 60's. Some local acts are Bryan Adams, Dianna Krawl, Heart (with sister city of Seattle), Chilliwak, Frontline Assembly and Econoline Crush.
6. Described as Hollywood North, Vancouverites are now quite used to spotless white vans and camera crews all over town. Some famous made in Vancouver shows were "The X-Files"& Stargate (?). Even shows that are not depicted in Vancouver are made here with plain vanilla backdrops that are inserted after filming is complete.
7. There is also the competent Vancouver Symphony orchestra for serious music fans.
8. There are two univerities, University of British Columbia and Simon Fraser University. There is also world-leading TRIUMF Research Facility, Canada's national laboratory for particle and nuclear physics (located at UBC).
9. Vancouver also sports very large and vibrant Sikh and Chinese comminities, in fact 52% of people in Metro Vancouver has English as a second language, so it can be fun.
10. Vancouver will play host to the 2010 Winter Olympics but be sure to bring a very thick wallet, you will need it.

 

[AshleyLove.]

A tiny town [Tellico] in Tennessee:

1. Tellico has about 1,000 people in it. Maybe... Probably not even that.
2. The town has one single highway [ Hwy 68] that runs through it.
3. There is a grand total of [drum role, please] three black people in Tellico.
4. There are no Mexicans here.
5. It's a tiny hick town full of annoying racist rednecks.
6. If you grew up in Tellico, you'll most likely be here for the rest of your life. :[ But, not me. I'm leaving this place.
7. The town is small enough that everyone knows everyone else's business and then some, yet big enough that your closest neighbor is about half a mile away.
8. We have a total of six restraunts in the town and two resorts.
9. The area is full of mountiains, rivers, creeks, and lakes.
10. It's gorgeous, but most people wouldn't want to live here until it's time for them to retire...

 

[stacey bo bacey]

I live just outside of Richmond, Virginia in an area known as Southside (it means southside of the James River, the other areas in the vicinity of Richmond are known as Northside, Westend and Eastend all having to do with their location in respect to the James). It's not the most lively town but here are some of the highlights (or lowlights)

1) Monument Avenue - aka Loser Lane, all but one of the statues on this street are dedicated to Confederate generals

2) The Confederate Whitehouse - come on it's the Confederate Whitehouse!

3) Bottoms Up Pizza - like much of Shockoe Bottom it is a restaurant made from a converted warehouse and they have the biggest friggin pizzas in the city! And the Restaurant is very cool too!

4) Ukrop's Supermarket - It sux to work there but it's like traveling back to the 50's as far as service goes, though recently since Joe Ukrop, the founder, passed it hasn't quite been the same.

5) we are 2 hours from the beach and the mountains so you can pick which vacation spot is your best.

6) Pony Pasture - where all the hip kids hang out when the weather is nice

7) Maymont Park - nifty petting zoo and a beautiful Japanese garden and old plantation style house

8) Dogwood Dell during the 4th of July - come early cause it gets packed real fast!

9) The Science Museum - always fun and cool IMAX theatre!

10) Y101 Chili Cookoff - ....mmmm Beer and Chili

I know this is from 2004 but I used to live in Richmond and I love your list! I lived off of Monument Ave (or Loser Lane ). The monument next to my street was Jefferson Davis, which is also the side street next to the Science Museum! :bounce

Bottoms Up is TO DIE FOR!!!!!! :bounce :bounce :bounce And the building itself is VERY neat...the train runs right above it.

Pony Pasture, Belle Isle and Maymont! Perfect hangouts in the summer and fall.....so fun and pretty.

Y101 :jam:

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

3. Travel 15 minutes west to the Burrard Inlet for sailing, swimming and fishing (that's pushing it though) or drive 20 minutes north up to Grouse mountain and skiing (between Nov and May) or snowboarding is possible. Drive south for 15 minutes to visit the Fraser River, Sea Island and Vancouver International Airport. Go east for 25 minutes and reach the farm belt of the Lower Mainland area.

Fun fact: much of Vancouver is built on soft river delta material. In my one geotechnical engineering class, we did a case study on Vancouver International Airport; the soil under the site was so loose that it had to be pre-loaded (i.e. covered with a layer of dirt several stories high to compress the underlying soil) for about a decade before it would take the load of the airport's foundation.

 

[Quagmire]

1. Felton California claims the biggest wooden covered bridge in the country (whoop).

2. For the longest time the population of Felton was 5150, which is appropriate if you're familiar with what that designation number is code for in the mental health system.

3. wow, I'm stuck already.

 

[The Hammer]

I know that this is an old thread, but I thought I would post in it anyways. I am from N. Las Vegas, NV, but I will post for Las Vegas as a whole and some things about Nevada.

1)Las Vegas is Spanish for The Meadows.
2)Las Vegas is surrounded on all sides by mountains (hence the reason it is a valley, haha). The mountains provide for hiking year round, winter snowboarding (45mins west of town), camping and rock climbing.
3)There are about 500,000 current residents in Las Vegas give or take.
4)Only 13.8 Percent of the population has a BA degree or higher.
5) Most places in Las Vegas are open 24hrs a day 7 days a week. Gas stations, super markets, convenience stores, casinos, tattoo/piercing parlors. Movie theaters and Restaraunts seem to be exempt from this, with the exception of fast food.
6)In Nevada it is mandatory that video slot machines pay out a minimum of 75% of its total revenue back to the player, over the course of the machines lifetime.
7)Nevada is the largest gold producing state in teh U.S., and 2nd in the world behind South Africa.
8)17 of the top 20 hotels in the world are located in Las Vegas.
9)The average annual temperture in Las Vegas is 66 degrees.
10) Construction workers of the Hoover Dam, 1933, in Nevada were treated to a new invention... Hard hats. They were created specifically for the persons working on the Hoover Dam Project.

 

[Katzpur]

I know that this is an old thread, but I thought I would post in it anyways. I am from N. Las Vegas, NV, but I will post for Las Vegas as a whole and some things about Nevada.

1)Las Vegas is Spanish for The Meadows.
2)Las Vegas is surrounded on all sides by mountains (hence the reason it is a valley, haha). The mountains provide for hiking year round, winter snowboarding (45mins west of town), camping and rock climbing.
3)There are about 500,000 current residents in Las Vegas give or take.
4)Only 13.8 Percent of the population has a BA degree or higher.
5) Most places in Las Vegas are open 24hrs a day 7 days a week. Gas stations, super markets, convenience stores, casinos, tattoo/piercing parlors. Movie theaters and Restaraunts seem to be exempt from this, with the exception of fast food.
6)In Nevada it is mandatory that video slot machines pay out a minimum of 75% of its total revenue back to the player, over the course of the machines lifetime.
7)Nevada is the largest gold producing state in teh U.S., and 2nd in the world behind South Africa.
8)17 of the top 20 hotels in the world are located in Las Vegas.
9)The average annual temperture in Las Vegas is 66 degrees.
10) Construction workers of the Hoover Dam, 1933, in Nevada were treated to a new invention... Hard hats. They were created specifically for the persons working on the Hoover Dam Project.

You didn't mention that Las Vegas was founded by the Mormons. :yes:, it's true.

 

[The Hammer]

Katzpur, you are right it was founded by Mormons, per say. May 5, 1855 Brigham Young assigned 30 missionaries of The Curch of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to the area to convert the local Paiute Indian population. They abandoned shortly after establishing a fort, in 1857 though.
Las Vegas was then picked up again as a railroad town on May 15, 1905.

 

[Katzpur]

Hammer, I'm just curious... Did you like living in Las Vegas? And what in the world are you doing in Japan?

 

[The Hammer]

Hammer, I'm just curious... Did you like living in Las Vegas? And what in the world are you doing in Japan?

That is, surprisingly enough, a question I get quite often. I love Vegas, I am a desert rat at heart. And will probably move back there as soon as possible. I love the diversity you get there with the tourism, and all the miles of neon. And the variety of activities that one can do; not including gambling, clubbing, and drinking. The Mt. Charleston Lodge and Lee Canyon Ski Resort, along with Red Rock Canyon State Park all to the West of town; there's the Valley of Fire State Park to the North, and the Hoover Dam and Colorado River to the South. Lake Mead (for boating, fishing and camping) to the East.
I wouldn't trade Vegas for the world, it's a bias opinion though because my entire family lives there and it is where I was raised for 18 out of 22 years of my life.

As for why I am in Japan... It is where I am stationed currently with the Navy. I am serving on the USS John S. McCain (DDG56), for a three year tour.

 

[methylatedghosts]

Dunedin, NZ.

- Largest city in NZ, in sq. km. per person. (slightly larger than Rhode Island apparantly - but with only 125,000 people )
- The worlds steepest street - Baldwin Street - (blame the Scots for that one), with a gradient of 1 in 2.9.
- Homesick Scots mapped much of the city exactly like Edinborough, even giving streets the same names. They apparantly didn't seem to notice and/or care about the face the hills were different, and just built right over the top of them (therefore, Baldwin street).
- The harbour/surrounding hills are formed by an extinct volcano (yep - sure have alot of those in NZ xD)
- We sit right on the beach, and I hear the surfings pretty darn good - though, with the average temperature not reaching much more than 18 degrees celcius, you're pretty hard-case if you go out there in winter (10 degrees if you're lucky)
- The name Dunedin comes from Dùn Èideann, - the Gaelic Scottish name for Edinborough (Surprised?)
- Settled in 1830, founded in 1848.
- Only a few hours from Queenstown, where most tourists go to access skiing/snowboarding.
- NZ's oldest university (fantastic architecture, btw), founded in 1869 - and apparantly Otago Girls High School is the southern hemisphere's oldest secondary state school.
- Out on the peninsula we have NZ's only castle, and the worlds only mainland breeding habitat for the royal albatross.
- You'll also see penguins, seals and shags.
- oh yeah... It's really cold

- One more thing. According to a survey, detailing on trust in strangers in the city, community vibe, pride in the city, criminal activity etc etc etc, Dunedin came up top as the best city to live in, in NZ. (Last on the places that were surveyed was West Auckland - but I think all us kiwis expected that)

Pictures (Found it difficult to put in only 2 >_<): (follow the link... the first tooo big to swamp this post with it)
Only 2mins from my house to take that picture

and the University's Registry Building to show ya's the architecture:

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

Neat!

- oh yeah... It's really cold

How cold is "really cold"?

 

[methylatedghosts]

Neat!



How cold is "really cold"?

Lets say that if there's global warming - I ain't noticing it!

 

[SCDee]

Going to write about the town I grew up in rather than where I live now. I grew up in Skiatook,OK which is app 20 miles north of Tulsa. Lived there from early 60s to 1970. I feel very fortunate to have grown up there, very nice small town.

1. Skiatook is supposedly a Cherokee Indian name which translates to either big place or big Indian.

2. Will Rogers grew up in a town close by, Skiatook's main street is called Will Rogers Blvd.

3. The population when I lived there was app 3,500 but it has mushroomed to app 6,500

4. Good school system, at least I feel I received a good education there.

5. There is a beautiful man-made lake outside of town which unfortunately wasn't built until after I no longer lived there.

6. The downtown area is not as busy as it used to be after Wally World moved in to town, but it's by no means a ghost town, either.

7. There was and still are powwows during the summer. Really enjoyed going to those.

8. The Tastee Freeze hamburger joint has the best hamburgers in the universe, lol!

9. Fairly low crime rate then and now.

10. Winters were of course cold and summers were hot but spring and fall is glorious there!

I drove out there last spring to see some family and old friends, it was a long drive by myself but had a fantastic time! The town has a town museum, I purchased a history book there that I treasure. Loads of pics and stories about the town and some of the families.

I have one sister, half-sister actually, who lives on the opposite end of the state. I drove down there and spent some time with her and my brother-in-law. We went to the Chisholm Trail museum and attended a cookout there. Very interesting place!

 

[Erebus]

I live in Manchester in England. Here's what I consider to be 10 of the most important facts about Manchester:

1 Manchester's Bus/taxi drivers are subhuman. Don't expect any sort of politeness from them whatsoever.

2 The nightlife is incredible, but don't expect to remember any of it.

3 This one is for Americans contemplating visiting Manchester. Don't expect anybody to be remotely like Pierce Brosnan. This is the North of England, we drink pints, complain about southerners and consider buying somebody a Foster's a bit suave.

4 Anywhere outside of Manchester is considered inferior... especially Liverpool or anywhere in Yorkshire.

5 The city is currently inundated with scaffolding and roadworks. There has never been a time when this wasn't the case.

6 Manchester is home to an impressive research centre studying violence and aggression in non-human animals. Locals call it Moss side.

7 The "Curry Mile" in Manchester has everything from simple takeaways to fine restaurants, meaning that no matter what you are looking for, you will find it... as long as you were looking for curry anyway.

8 Is the average number of children in each Manchester family.

9 Is the average age to have children in Manchester.

10 What you lookin at?

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

I just realized that I never posted a list for my home town!

I grew up in Toronto (Scarborough, actually, but it was consumed by Toronto in 1998). Now I live out in the suburbs, but I'll give my list for all of Toronto and area.

1) The origins of the name are a bit odd. The name of the city comes from the Iroquois and means "place where trees stand in the water", but this originally applied to the channel between Lake Simcoe and Lake Couchiching, almost 100 miles north. Apparently, the British settlers used this word to apply to the whole region, and then used it to describe Fort Toronto (the old French fort that was taken over by the British, before the construction of Fort York), and then the city itself. However, town was re-named York (which you can still see references to all over the city, in the former municipalities of York, North York and East York, as well as many streets) and stayed that way until being changed back to Toronto in 1834.

2) There are many large river valleys that slice through the city, predominantly parkland. This is mainly a legacy of Hurricane Hazel, which hit the city in 1954 and caused major flooding. By order of the government, the homes and other buildings that were destroyed in the river valleys were never re-built. Hurricane Hazel is still the "design storm" that drainage engineers here use for their calculations of "worst-case" flood conditions.

3) You can get through most of downtown without ever going outside. The PATH system is a network of underground tunnels that connects most buildings in the downtown core and is filled with shops and restaurants. Its total length is 16 miles and it's home to more than 1000 stores.

4) The Toronto Island. Actually several islands connected by bridges, it's like a giant jewel of parkland within sight of downtown. It's an under-15-minute ferry ride from the mainland and it's home to many parks and gardens, as well as an amusement park, the Toronto Island Airport (at one end of the island), Toronto's semi-official "clothing optional" beach, and is home to a few hundred residents who live there under a very odd legal arrangement.

okay... I've gotta run right now. I'll have to come back to do #5-10.

 

[Energy]

I live in a small town in The Netherlands, near Amsterdam

1. It has around 26.000 citizens
2. It has 6 churches
3. The landscape can be characterized as flat and green
4. There are a lot of beautiful lakes, where you can spot foxes and deer that run around on islands around the lakes
5. The crime rate is pretty low. This year, there was a group of burglars who were 'terrorizing' my hometown. The police couldn't arrest the burglars, so some citizens decided to catch the burglars themselves. Some young people eventually caught the burglars.
6. I have a beautiful view from my bedroom window: I can see the cows and sheep grazing.
7. My hometown is pretty boring. That's why a lot of people go shopping in Amsterdam or other cities nearby.
8. There is only 1 highschool in my town, but that's only for lower education levels. I cycle to a school in another village nearby every day, which is 7.5 miles away.
9. Most of the people that live here ony live here because they can't afford a house in Amsterdam, or because they have small kids.
10. I don't know what else I can say about my hometown.

 

[Alceste]

1. We get bears in the back yard
2. We get deer in the back yard
3. If we wanted to, we could probably live off of wild food (oysters, clams, fish, mushrooms, berries, nettles, etc), but the grocery store is pretty awesome.
4. There are no big box stores, fast food joints or malls in my town, and only a handful of franchises, all of which are very small ones you would never have heard of.
5. The development plan for this town proposes that efforts be made to maintain a population of 20,000 (rather than grow).
6. Because this town sits east of a mountain on the west coast of Vancouver Island, it creates a little climate pocket and the crappy weather they get a few km to the north and south usually passes us by.
7. We grow vegetables.
8. Both pubs are a tremendous disappointment.
9. You can cut a Christmas tree yourself from public land under the power lines.
10. Most people in this town are retired.

Oh, and I heard this area has the highest proportion of entrepreneurs and small business people in the country.

 

[Kathryn]

I am originally from New Orleans, Louisiana, and I've lived in every southern state except for Mississippi and Kentucky, as well as California, Ohio, Maryland, Japan, and Germany - but I've lived in Texas for the past 18 years and Kilgore, Texas since I married my husband five years ago, so I guess I'll talk about Kilgore. New Orleans would be hard to limit to ten talking points, anyway!

I never thought I would live in Texas, let alone Kilgore, since I am a Southern belle (and very proud of it!) and - REGARDLESS OF WHAT THEY TELL THEMSELVES - Texans are not really southerners. But close enough to suit me. One thing I really, really like about Texans is that they are independent cusses. They're friendly like most southerners, but they expect you to carry your own weight - nothing soft and fluffy about a true Texan, that's for sure.

I live in what is called the "Piney Woods of East Texas" in the northeast corner of the state. It's hilly and green - not flat and dusty like so many people think all of Texas is. Kilgore is about two hours east of Dallas and one hour west of Shreveport, Louisiana.

Kilgore has a population of only about 12,000 but it's really considered a bedroom community of both Longview (about 65,000) and Tyler (about 90,000) and sits squarely between the two within a half hour drive. I like this because we enjoy the feel of a small town, but have good shopping and entertainment within easy driving distance.

Kilgore was put on the map by the discovery of oil in the early 20th century. Near the heart of the East Texas oilfield, the largest in the lower 48 states. Kilgore at one time boasted a single downtown city block with the densest concentration of oil derricks in the world. This earned it the nickname of "The World's Richest Acre."

One word defines this area. OIL.

It's a unique subculture that brings with it a lot of testosterone and toughness. Steel toed boots, hardhats, pickup trucks, faces chiseled by the elements, calloused hands, worn jeans, and lots of cameraderie.

Football is HUGE here. So is beer, and BBQ. The best ribs in the world are served here at the Country Tavern, which is a dive that is world famous. You can eat a big plate of ribs and drink a few cold ones, and then push the chairs back and do some boot scootin' on the hardwood floor. Good times!

People work hard, and play hard around here. The oil industry is booming, so the economy is strong. The cost of living is low, housing is plentiful, no state income tax, and low property taxes.

Demographics are - about 60 percent white, 25 percent Hispanic, and 15 percent black. Crime is fairly low. People often leave their doors unlocked. One reason for a low incidence of burglaries and break ins is the high percentage of gun ownership. A burglar stands a very high chance of getting shot.

We are home of the famous Kilgore College Rangerettes!

We have four seasons here - Almost Summer, Summer, Still Summer and Christmas. Winters are rather mild, though we usually get at least one snowfall, and also we nearly always get an ice storm each year which invariably wreaks havoc. Spring is delightful, and this area is famous for it's Texas wildflowers which run rampant along the highways and fill the rolling pastures. Summer is HOT HOT HOT and it's common for there to be weeks at a time when the temps reach over 100 degrees. It's often still warm well into November.

Here are some pictures which I think evoke the mood and feel of my town and area:


Oilfield workers on location.


Oil derricks lit up for Christmas in downtown Kilgore

Kilgore Rangerettes

Kilgore High School football - HUGE here!

Country Tavern - ribs, beer, pool, and boot scootin'!
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=8164729&id=792524376

 

[Klaufi_Wodensson]

Littleton, New Hampshire


1. Originally called Chiswick, which was Saxon for Cheese Farm.
2. Around 6,500 people live in the town.
3. GG Allin is buried in the local cemetary.
4. We have the Longest Candy Counter in the World, Chutters, which was declared so by the Guiness Book of World Records.
5. A lot of French-Canadians come here to shop. A LOT.
6. We have a Main Street, it's pretty cool.
7. Quite a few wealthy people live here.
8. If you don't see a moose up here, you're blind.
9. My school only has 260 kids.
10. It snows in October