Is that really where the word Ozark comes from? I always thought it was an indigenous word!

for Idaho, it's probably Boise.

people always ask what Boise is like and try to compare it to other cities such as Portland, Salt Lake City, Denver, Seattle, Spokane, Bend, etc, but it's just not any of those. it's got its own vibe.

Sun Valley is unique with its history and connection to Hemmingway, but it's rapidly becoming another Aspen.

Coeur d'Alene is also a consideration, especially its resort and golf course with the offshore floating green. many people don't expect something like this in Idaho.

https://www.cdaresort.com/assets/ima..._fromsouth.jpg
source

but for Idaho's most unique city? hmmmm... how about a city of rocks?

https://www.americansouthwest.net/id...ite-ridges.jpg
source

Obviously Philly and Pittsburgh for PA. The coolest and best preserved small towns that I go to often are Gettysburg, Jim Thorpe and Warren. Although Gettysburg and Jim Thorpe are shit shows on the weekend.

It is most definitely of French origin, think it was the word the French used for the Arkansas Indians or the country where Arkansas now is.

Pittsburgh, especially the Southside slopes is one of the more interesting places in the country. Reminds me of some villages in Europe...just with Steelers crap everywhere.

There are a lot of places I would kill to see and experience in their heyday before urban renewal gutted them. Pittsburgh is definitely at or near the top of that list.

I'm sure it would've been a polluted, dirty mess circa 1940, but walking around completely intact Hill District or the areas immediately North of the Allegheny would be awesome.

^
Pittsburgh's Hill District if it survived the idiocy of the 40's-70's would have been one of the nations most awesome historic urban neighborhoods. The Hill District is probably 95% gone now.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...fa27832b_o.jpgHill District 1931
http://www.info-ren.org/projects/btu...hill_n246.html

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...363442ee_o.jpgChapter2_Image001
http://www.info-ren.org/projects/btu...hill_n246.html

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...1c6d6a42_o.jpg1960 Uptown Rennaissance Hill District http://www.info-ren.org/projects/btu...hill_n246.html
The beginning of the end.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...18b3f5ef_o.gifhille
http://www.info-ren.org/projects/btu...hill_n246.html

Nearly all of that behind the crap now gone Civic Arena which started the destruction of the Hill is gone.

Makes sense now that I think of it.

Probably from something like "montagnes aux arcs-en-ciel" which would mean Rainbow Mountains or Mountains of the Rainbows.

I'll never think of the Ozark Mountain Daredevils the same way again.

Wouldn't it just be for Aux-Arkansas?

i think it refers to the karst topography which creates limestone bridging.

Canadiens settled in the missouri ozarks in the swath of 18th century mining communities like Bonne Terre, Valles Mines, Desloge, De Soto, Old Mines just southwest of st. Louis...where they spoke a dialect related to Quebec French into the twentieth century. My understanding is that they came down from Quebec, instead of the misconception that they were from Louisiana.

Today the dialect is highly endangered, with only a few elderly native speakers. It is thought that any remaining speakers live in or around Old Mines, Missouri.

I've only heard an old timer speak a broken sort of emulated sounding french.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missouri_French

i don't believe so, most of the ozarks (proper) are in missouri, and 100% of the canadien-settled section is.

Right, but it's assumed they were using the word to describe the home of the Arkansas Tribe before anyone knew where the state lines of Arkansas or Missouri would be.

i edited my response above but i believe there is a connection to the karst landscape in missouri south of the missouri river which produces limestone bridging, or arches. a major road out of st. louis for instance is called Natural Bridge.

Those pics of Pittsburgh are interesting. If only it was kept, it would have been like going through an American version of those cities in the Alps. I would also say that it and Philadelphia are the most interesting cities in Pennsylvania in terms of history and significance, but I’m sure there are some small towns there that are connected to the Amish and other groups that are also unique.


In terms of other states I have lived in and been to.

Tennessee: Chattanooga. I honestly believe it should be much larger and significant than it is now. It would have been the South’s answer to Pittsburgh, in industrial power and natural beauty.

https://live.staticflickr.com/1565/2...09e6a145_b.jpgChattanooga_2601 by refmo, on Flickr

https://live.staticflickr.com/7438/1...4daf3fb4_b.jpgChattanooga, TN by MCHLC, on Flickr

https://live.staticflickr.com/4017/4...b77843f4_b.jpgChattanooga by w!L., on Flickr

https://live.staticflickr.com/1758/2...d5437254_b.jpgChattanooga: Birthday Weekend by Gina Stafford, on Flickr

Pennsylvania

-Philadelphia is probably the most interesting culturally distinct part of the state. It's the most cosmopolitan part of the state for sure. It's the city with the bigger name tourist and historical attractions, restaurants, museums, neighborhoods, so on and so forth.

-Pittsburgh is probably the most interesting geographically distinct part of the state in the sense that it's a dense urban city straddled between two rivers and urban hills on all sides.

-There are some incredibly cool small towns/cities throughout too though, including Jim Thorpe, Lancaster, Gettysburg, Ardmore, West Chester, Doylestown, New Hope, so on and so forth. (although, the last 4 could technically be considered Philly too since they're in the Philly MSA).

Boston has to be the winner for Massachusetts. The state really has a lot of looks, with almost 200 miles of coastline (including the Cape and Islands), many lakes/rivers, industrial cities, charming towns, cookie cutter suburbs, and the mountains region to the West. Every other city or town, while culturally distinct from MOST of the state, still has a counterpart (or many) that can be found scattered in Mass. There is only 1 completely dominant city (including inner subway-connected suburbs), and it has more going on urban-wise than the rest of New England combined.

The even more interesting thing about Boston is that the neighborhoods themselves are also culturally distinct from each other. The haphazard layout, Charles River, harbor, and hilly terrain all contribute to the different feels as well.

The North End alone (see below) might be the most fascinating (remaining) neighborhood in the whole country. Looking up this thread, it's unbelievably painful to think of all the damage caused by urban renewal here and across the country (looking at you Pittsburgh!!!). Otherwise the North End would basically flow into the West End and from there into Beacon Hill, with Scollay Square (now Government Center/City Hall) bridging the gap back to downtown. The elevated highway (now Big Dig tunnel) also demolished many blocks of beautiful urbanity. It really is tragic that people in power did not see the value of this unrecoverable architecture and thriving density.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...a276ca37_k.jpgNorth End Boston Real Estate Aerial by David Oppenheimer, on Flickr

For illinois it's gotta be Chicago, not because it's fundamentally all that different from anywhere else in the state, it's just orders of magnitude larger so it behaves a little bit different.

Illinois doesn't really do a whole lot of "cultural distinction".

I mean, Galena is very cutesy artsy-fartsy in that small little tourist town kinda way, but it's really tiny.

Agreed!..All those old Loyalist/Upper Canada towns have that similar unique vibe. Maybe it's the stone architecture combined with the influences of their loyalist past still lingering around..It's like some of their the pubs with the dark wood and armour hanging on their respective walls seem to fit and sum up the spirit of these towns. Kingston, Brockville, etc. all seem to share that same feel.It's like the Anglo version of the old Quebec settlements. Kingston is a great city.

Beautiful. Looks very European.

Can people really pick cities like Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Boston, and Chicago as the most unique in the state? These are places that everyone from outside sees of the entire state, and the influence of these cities spreads out over the respective states. Seems to me, these are almost the least unique in the state, based on that.