People who have never set foot in your city that act like they know more then you do?

[mr1138]

I can say that there is one member of this forum who rarely ever visits Denver, yet uses the main Denver Development thread as a platform for astroturfing about the merits of wide roads, rideshare as an answer to all our transit problems, and to insist that well-established tenets of urbanism like transit-oriented development are invalid because "people prefer the suburbs."

I would say this person's handle, except he isn't that hard to find. 2 out of every 3 posts on the Denver forum are his, and he has driven about 95% of the people who used to participate on this forum away from the discussion.

[pj3000]

Originally Posted by Wigs

edit: And my point was many students from Long Island in Buffalo (or Rochester) have this superiority complex about themselves like people in Buffalo (or Rochester) are some slack jawed yokels or something. It's bizarre. Get over yourselves, Long guylanders.

Originally Posted by 3rd&Brown

The problem with Long Island is that it's filled with, well...people from Long Island. Probably the most insufferable people in the country, aside from Staten Island, if we're being honest. Worth avoiding for the vocal fry alone.

The nicest people I've met in my adult life are from the Buffalo area. And not in a hokey nice to your face stab you in the back kind of way. Like, authentically nice.

The thing that repels me from the stereotypical Long Islander is that there is often a high probability that they are from a generic town of post-war soulless suburban sprawl, 30+ miles away from outer Brooklyn even, yet they fully try to act like and definitely will let you know that they're from "The City".

[jmecklenborg]

Originally Posted by ColDayMan

Child, try the state.

Kansas has operated under the shadow of The Wizard of Oz for the majority of its existence. It does not help that "Kansas" is depicted in the movie in bleak black & white while the land that they escape to is depicted in color. In the last 10 years, Kansas's profile was increased exponentially in the bicycling world thanks to the Dirty Kanza endurance race, which now draws European professionals and amateurs from around the world. But that remains a niche sport and it's not enough to turn things around, generally.

In 2000, I went to a screening of "American Movie" [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Movie] in New York City, and the proto-hipsters in the theater spent half the time loudly making fun of Wisconsin. I recall thinking that the film was pseudo-exploitative because it gave the coastal hipsters the exact sort of depiction of the hinterlands that they want.

For some reason many people seem to confuse Iowa and Ohio (as if they are North/South Dakota/Carolina), when they are quite far from each other.

But while living in the "Rustbelt," you grow a pair early dealing with inaccuracies, stereotypes, and downright "What?" conversations. Sometimes, when you feel like it, you'd like to inform X of Y but then Y bother because you know X already has their opinion already set. So you keep Movin' On like Dayton's own CeCe Peniston.

"Rustbelt" is without a doubt a devastating pejorative, more so I think than "Bible Belt".

[Steely Dan]

Originally Posted by jmecklenborg

In 2000, I went to a screening of "American Movie" [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Movie] in New York City, and the proto-hipsters in the theater spent half the time loudly making fun of Wisconsin. I recall thinking that the film was pseudo-exploitative because it gave the coastal hipsters the exact sort of depiction of the hinterlands that they want.

Not just coastal people.

Making fun of Sconie and its silly Cheeseheads is the official state religion of Chicago.

That was a fucking brilliant film!!

[JManc]

Originally Posted by Wigs

It's St. Catharines. I lived there for 4 years but am now in the South end of Niagara region close to Lake Erie. I've lived all over Niagara region.

Either way most in Niagara region are no more than 30-45 minutes from downtown Buffalo, excluding the wait times at the border that can be anywhere from 2 to 30+ minutes (peak summer is usually the longest wait times). As my best friend-a Buffalonian says: Canada customs usually has many booths open but returning home to USA the CBP never seem to have enough open

Look here Canadien, no spelling nazis allowed! However you spell it, the late great Neil Peart was from there. Last time I was in Buffalo, I was half tempted to cross over to Canada but the lines into Canada seemed too long.

[AviationGuy]

Originally Posted by mhays

I try to be friendly with people like that, but make it clear that their ideas don't match what I see actually living in my city.

It's an odd thing though. When I hear where someone is from, I generally say something nice about it. But some people will instantly say something horrible.

When I went to Laguna Beach to spend Christmas with some friends quite a while back, I really fell for this handsome, charming dude. We talked for about an hour, after which he criticized every place I'd ever lived, but he had never been to any of the places. At that point, I moved on and ignored him for the rest of the evening.

Of course the same thing happens in this forum, and members make fools of themselves all the time. But in most cases we'll never meet each other.

[AviationGuy]

Originally Posted by JManc

I grew up in New York and Texas where it's an Olympic sport to hate on California but I absolutely loved living out there and would have never left if I had the chance to stay.

Me too. I worked out there for a while in the 80s, mostly in Santa Barbara, and had a chance to move there or Sacramento for a job. There were things I really liked about both, but I couldn't afford to live there at the time, so returned home. I've been on many trips to CA, and would never do a blanket "hate on California". I sure do hear it a lot from these MAGAs I live around in this 55+ apartment complex.

[Tom In Chicago]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

Making fun of Sconie and its silly Cheeseheads is the official state religion of Chicago.

Because punching down still can be funny when you're both driving the same rusty old shit box at the end of the day. . .

. . .

[Tom In Chicago]

Originally Posted by AviationGuy

When I went to Laguna Beach to spend Christmas with some friends quite a while back, I really fell for this handsome, charming dude. We talked for about an hour, after which he criticized every place I'd ever lived, but he had never been to any of the places. At that point, I moved on and ignored him for the rest of the evening.

Laguna Beach is the postcard version of every quaint Southern California coastal beach community one imagines when thinking about Southern California. . . I know people that spent their whole lives there who have never been east of Riverside. . .

. . .

[Steely Dan]

Originally Posted by Tom In Chicago

Because punching down still can be funny when you're both driving the same rusty old shit box at the end of the day. . .

. . .

Precisely!

[Wigs]

Originally Posted by JManc

Look here Canadien, no spelling nazis allowed! However you spell it, the late great Neil Peart was from there. Last time I was in Buffalo, I was half tempted to cross over to Canada but the lines into Canada seemed too long.

You've been in Huston too long.
Upstate NY is calling. Utika too

[3rd&Brown]

Originally Posted by pj3000

The thing that repels me from the stereotypical Long Islander is that there is often a high probability that they are from a generic town of post-war soulless suburban sprawl, 30+ miles away from outer Brooklyn even, yet they fully try to act like and definitely will let you know that they're from "The City".

They're the best Long Islanders. For whatever reason, though the NY metro area is obviously chock full of demonstrable wealth, the people from the North Shore take on ostentatious displays of wealth like it's a bloodsport. Far more than anyone I've met from the wealthiest areas of Westchester, Connecticut, and North Jersey.

If I were raising kids (and to be clear, I'm not, so at some level who cares about my opinion) and felt the urge to move to a NY suburb, Long Island would be stack ranked dead last on my list. The chances of them turning out as generally unlikable people to anyone other than other Long Islanders is better than half.

[Docere]

Well Trump did especially well on Long Island in spite of its high income and education levels. Demographically it's a lot less D-voting than it "should" be.

[MonkeyRonin]

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

Good for you.

I have had similar, though perhaps not as much from a family perspective, encounters, after moving to Western Canada (BC interior, then Vancouver) from Quebec.

Usually something along the lines of "those goddamned frenchies trying to break up our country/equalization payments/taking my tax dollars..." followed by awkward realization that yes, I am a native son of Quebec, followed by an even more awkward attempt at backpedalling in the face of my rigorous defence of my home province.

To be fair, anti-Quebec sentiment was undoubtedly at its peak in the 90s given the referendum. I haven't heard of any derogatory Quebec stuff in BC (or Ontario) in years however. The target of most people's ire these days is Alberta. And of course, the US.

I do still get the "Onterrible" stuff out here sometimes, though that's usually just from resentful ex-Ontarians and Boomers. It's of course perfectly fair to not like a place, but all the same a super weird way to lead a conversation by insulting the other person's home.

[niwell]

Originally Posted by MonkeyRonin

I do still get the "Onterrible" stuff out here sometimes, though that's usually just from resentful ex-Ontarians and Boomers. It's of course perfectly fair to not like a place, but all the same a super weird way to lead a conversation by insulting the other person's home.

Good to hear it's rare now. I've had a number of friends who move to Toronto from Van for work over the years and it was almost like they were conditioned to hate it here. Granted after a couple months they came to have a great time, though maybe that wouldn't have been the case if they moved to the burbs.

When I used to go back to my parents in Calgary for Christmas I got a surprising amount of hate for living in Toronto. Not so much on the city itself but more like "oh glad you're enjoying it but when are you moving back to start your life? You know you guys would freeze in the dark if it wasn't for our oil!". This occurred well after I had an established career in Toronto. And of course the "how do you survive downtown (sic - I just lived central) - it's soooo dangerous".