Myths & truths: your city/town/village

[shootingstar]

Here's a short videoclip about Vancouver, B.C. Featured on a Canadian comedy show.

Now the real estate prices they quote are probably pre-late 2008, but Vancouver, BC does have the highest real estate $ in Canada. I'm always shocked when I compare it against Toronto...where I lived previously for 20 years.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XH3IIzpwEhk

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And no, I don't think Vancouver is as diverse as Toronto. It makes me cringe a tad whenever I hear Vancouver as "international". The "visible" diversity in Vancouver is due to more Asian roots (Far East, as well as South Asian/East Indian) and aboriginal/native Indian. An Afro-Canadian person in Vancouver is highly conspicuous...because the % is so tiny compared to huge dynamic communities in Toronto. Hence, Toronto has WAY more roti shops. (I'm thinking both Caribbean as well as East Indian style.)

But hey, I wait to be challenged on my impressions. I could learn more about where you live..and where I live (due to mistaken impressions?? )

[Trek420]

Everybody got your earthquake supplies?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hcbK0qGuOsY

[shootingstar]

Earthquake warning for our area feels like a myth-truth ....like telling someone to pay attention to the fire alarm.

But I think it's real. It wouldn't be surprising alot of structural engineers in our area would agree that we're not prepared for this big one.

Any more myth-truths about your corner of the world?

[Trek420]

the Hayward fault has a MAJOR eruption every 140 years. The last one was ... uhm, er, uh 141 years ago. If you live in the Bay Area make sure you are prepared to be on your own at least 72 hours

http://www.kqed.org/quest/blog/2008/...dictable-peril

http://72hours.org/

[Pax]

The perception of Central IL is that it's a backwater "fly-over" area with nothing to offer culturally. This is a huge misconception, our town is home to a major university, wonderful ethnic restaurants, museums, local coffee shops, a vibrant live music scene, a facility dedicated to the performing arts, and an art museum that is currently showing Warhol and Audubon exhibits.

[TsPoet]

Where I live has over 85% of the worlds high-level radioactive waste. You'd think with that truth, I could find some great myths, but I haven't been so lucky.
Wikipedia isn't allowed at work because it is considered to be wrong about the science that it describes. But, what I've read of it's write-up about here is pretty good.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanford_Site

Note - the US Gov't named the reactors with random letters (vs. A, B, C,...) to fool potential spies. Yeah, that'll do it.

and here's the gov's site on the local.
http://www.hanford.gov/doe/history/?history=archaeology

[Tuckervill]

People in Arkansas do wear shoes, and don't marry their cousins.

Karen

[PamNY]

This is a fun thread. I'm always delighted by the love people have for Texas. Though I have one friend who hated living there and I learned years ago to NEVER mention this to her.

And Vancouver? Never been there, but it sounds like heaven on earth.

Pam

[Grog]

And Vancouver? Never been there, but it sounds like heaven on earth.

As long as you magically inherit a place to live in.

Real estate here is really expensive.

[Possegal]

I never cease to meet people who have never been to my hometown and yet are certain it is a dirty, ugly steel town. MYTH

TRUTH - Pittsburgh PA is a gorgeous city and a wonderful place to live!! I miss it and wish I could move back there. Also wish I had the legs I had then - legs that could run and bike up all those Pittsburgh hills.

[shootingstar]

Must admit, Possegal I still have that stereotypical image of Pittsburgh.

There are other places that draw an absolute blank of any imagery for me -- ie. Oklahoma, Missouri..

[Trek420]

When I moved here a friend said "Hayward? There's nothing there but used car lots "

This place builds amazing custom motorcycles. They have a showroom/museum in front with their bikes, classic and historical motorbikes and .... antique bikes

[Eden]

I never cease to meet people who have never been to my hometown and yet are certain it is a dirty, ugly steel town. MYTH

TRUTH - Pittsburgh PA is a gorgeous city and a wonderful place to live!! I miss it and wish I could move back there. Also wish I had the legs I had then - legs that could run and bike up all those Pittsburgh hills.

Seriously the mills were all either shut down or had scrubbers installed around the time when my parents were kids. I lived there until I went to college and by the time I left everything was getting to be very nice - we even had problems in the summer with algae bloom in the drinking water because the rivers were finally clean enough for algae to bloom....... (it wasn't harmful, it just tasted a bit nasty until they figured out how to filter it out) As far as I can ever remember the air was always clean in my lifetime. By the time I moved away there was only one working mill left - I think it was a wireworks, if I'm remembering properly. I've heard that most of the sites have been built over with high tech?

It was a great place to grow up. I can't speak for now, but then pretty much no crime beyond the petty stuff (stealing the radio out of your car kind of thing). I even remember laughing my head off watching "COPS" Pittsburgh and the big events of the night were some teenagers trespassing at an abandoned funeral home, some guys shooting craps on a corner and a female cop talking a drunk guy she knew down from a bridge (she had a beautiful south side accent too).

I love Seattle - and in many respects it is actually similar to Pittsburgh, but there are some things that I do miss. Even though Seattle is rather neighborhoody, the areas don't quite have the feeling of little towns the way they do back there. People aren't as openly friendly out here either, which I think is a big contributor to that feeling. I also miss the age of things..... sounds strange, but everything is so new here and not much store is put on preserving the older things we have (buildings especially). I miss the uniqueness a lot - things here are a bit too uniform and modern architecture is so bland. I'll take a a bit shabby and interesting over blah any day.

[shootingstar]

thx, Eden.

The nickname for our federal Liberal party has been "True Grit", for the federal Conservative party, "Tories". I guess that's a fact or Canadian modern legend.

Conservatives do tend to be associated with colour of blue, but that is not necessarily official. So it's more reversed for us..politically. However political marketing campagins can change.

[Crankin]

To add to the myth I explained, the owner of the LBS, who is Lebanese, was stopped by the police as he was pulling into his driveway. He was asked,"Whose car is this? Where do you live? Who do you live with?", etc. etc., as if he couldn't possibly be the homeowner of a nice house, driving a newer car. This is a guy in his forties, who has lived in town for many years.

The best way to find out what a place is really like, is to look it up in the Urban Dictionary on line. I found out Concord is described "as opposed to" the things in the towns I used to live in (neighbors and school rivals). It's hysterically funny and mostly true.
Here is an excerpt I just cut and pasted:
concord
A small town in MA 20 minutes from boston. There are a lot of punks running around and most kids do drugs because they can afford them. Concord is about average to upper class. Acton cares way too much about sports because that is all they can possibly have against Concord, but the truth is Concord doesn't care all that much about sports, and they are still good at them anyways, just in some cases is not nearly as good as Acton. Most Concordians are rich and can act stand-offish to people they don't like or are not from around here, and it's often confused with being snobby.
Tourists: "Let's take pictures of this historical town!"
Concordians: "Ew stupid tourists."
pronounced: concerd "Acton's jealous; pretty rich on drugs"

ultra slick; high class; quality; speedy and fast
You look so concord in those sneakers

That outfit is so concord

You are such a concord kinda guy, no wonder you can pick up chicks so easily, especially with that concord hairdo.

Check him out bro, he looks so concord

Any faster and you'd be concord