OT: City Nicknames

[Marvin]

St. Louis: Gateway to the West

[Andrew Amerk]

20 hours ago, MattPie said:

In another thread, city nicknames came up. Ft. Worth is apparently Panther City, Buffalo is the Nickel City, Binghamton is Parlor City, Rochester is Smugtown. Post you favorite city nicknames here!

(it's the off-season)

I have lived in Rochester my entire life, and have never once heard of it being called Smugtown. 

The original nickname was Flour City, which is now Flower City. 

The other most common is Roc City. 

An adorable common one is Murder Capital of NY. 

Have also heard Rachacha, Crotchfester, and Rottenchester. 

[Eleven]

1 hour ago, Andrew Amerk said:

I have lived in Rochester my entire life

We can send you a cake with a file in it or something. Just tell us where, but with clues so your captors don't know we're helping you.

[MattPie]

Smugtown was a light-hearted joke, but it's really a thing. A Rochestarian I knew mentioned it; it's from a book. https://rocwiki.org/Smugtown

Related: How many Rochestarians does it take to change a lightbulb?

50. 1 to change it, and 49 to comment on how much brighter it is than the one in Buffalo.

[JoeSchmoe]

7 hours ago, PerreaultForever said:

That's the old one. Similar to Pittsburgh. Changed in the 80s/90s when much of the industrial section closed up but the hard nosed gritty working class element stayed. It's pretty much The Hammer now (although in the 80s the punk rock scene did dub it the "armpit of Canada")

Steeltown is still pretty popular. The city's two AAA minor hockey franchises (the Jr Bulldogs and Huskies) just merged and called themselves the Hamilton Steel. 

Also, Stelco may have left town, but steel is still huge. Dofasco is making major investments to electrify their steel production and are here to stay. There are also a ton of processors along the East Hamilton and Stoney Creek corridor. 

[PerreaultForever]

56 minutes ago, JoeSchmoe said:

Steeltown is still pretty popular. The city's two AAA minor hockey franchises (the Jr Bulldogs and Huskies) just merged and called themselves the Hamilton Steel. 

Also, Stelco may have left town, but steel is still huge. Dofasco is making major investments to electrify their steel production and are here to stay. There are also a ton of processors along the East Hamilton and Stoney Creek corridor. 

Oh ya I know. I worked in those steel mills. It's still part of the identity for sure. 

[Taro T]

On 5/13/2023 at 10:06 AM, Pimlach said:

I went to cawledge in Rochester.  Never heard smug town.  The Lilac City was its name, or something like that.  

Flower City (which is an off-shoot of Flour City).  Can't be Flour City with no mills though.  So, on to "Flower City."

[Taro T]

@Pimlach mentioned Filly as the "City of Brotherly Love."  Pretty sure that was before they started throwing batteries at Santa.  City of Brotherly Hate is a more apt moniker.

[ExWNYer]

For Richmond, most locals here just say 'RVA' (R-V-A). It's also lesser known as 'River City' since it's located on the James River.

[OverPowerYou]

Why do they call New Orleans the big easy?

[Pimlach]

2 hours ago, Taro T said:

@Pimlach mentioned Filly as the "City of Brotherly Love."  Pretty sure that was before they started throwing batteries at Santa.  City of Brotherly Hate is a more apt moniker.

[MattPie]

Ithaca, "Ten Square Miles surrounded by reality"

[Stoner]

Is Roch still the Lilac City?

I've heard Buffalo called the City of No Illusions.

[MattPie]

20 minutes ago, PASabreFan said:

Is Roch still the Lilac City?

I've heard Buffalo called the City of No Illusions.

I saw the latter on a list, but have never heard that one before. Buffalo is living under the illusion that anyone outside WNY who wasn't born there cares about Buffalo, so there is that. 🙂

[Pimlach]

2 hours ago, PASabreFan said:

Is Roch still the Lilac City?

I've heard Buffalo called the City of No Illusions.

From my RIT days I know they have a Lilac Festival, or they did 4 decades ago.  

[Taro T]

7 minutes ago, Pimlach said:

From my RIT days I know they have a Lilac Festival, or they did 4 decades ago.  

It was this weekend.

[Sabres73]

Calgary - Cow Town

Edmonton - Edmonchuk (lots of Ukranians)

Saskatoon - Toon town, or the Paris of the Prairies

Vancouver - Lotusland

Regina - the "city that rhymes with fun" (Mick Jagger quote)

Winnipeg - Winterpeg

 

Edited May 15, 2023 by Sabres73

[Doohicksie]

8 hours ago, ExWNYer said:

For Richmond, most locals here just say 'RVA' (R-V-A). It's also lesser known as 'River City' since it's located on the James River.

Kind of like New Orleans, Louisiana is commonly referred to as NOLA.

[Pimlach]

14 hours ago, MattPie said:

I saw the latter on a list, but have never heard that one before. Buffalo is living under the illusion that anyone outside WNY who wasn't born there cares about Buffalo, so there is that. 🙂

I love Buffalo but so many people from there, typically the ones that have never been away, think that good things are exclusive to Buffalo.  That may be normal and apply to other places too.  

11 hours ago, Sabres73 said:

Calgary - Cow Town

Edmonton - Edmonchuk (lots of Ukranians)

Saskatoon - Toon town, or the Paris of the Prairies

Vancouver - Lotusland

Regina - the "city that rhymes with fun" (Mick Jagger quote)

Winnipeg - Winterpeg

 

Gord says so in Wheat Kings.  

[Doohicksie]

1 hour ago, Pimlach said:

I love Buffalo but so many people from there, typically the ones that have never been away, think that good things are exclusive to Buffalo.  That may be normal and apply to other places too.  

As a long time expat, I find the opposite to also be true:  Things I don't like about other cities are frequently not the cities themselves, but just changes over time and when I get back to Buffalo I find Buffalo has moved on as well.  Nothing stays the same forever.

[ExWNYer]

11 hours ago, Doohickie said:

Kind of like New Orleans, Louisiana is commonly referred to as NOLA.

Also similar to how the Northern Virginia area up and around DC/Maryland is referred to as 'NoVA'.

[That Aud Smell]

On 5/13/2023 at 10:02 AM, Pimlach said:

The really like when you call it Frisco.  That’s also very popular there. 

I'd thought that the Beastie Boys redeemed "Frisco" when they dropped it in "Get on the Mic": 

Got busy in Frisco / Fooled around in Fresno / Got over on your girlie / Cuz you know she never says "no".

On 5/13/2023 at 2:18 PM, pastajoe said:

Syracuse - The Salt City

For over a century, Central New York was the hub for the production of salt in the United States. The rapid rise of the salt industry in Syracuse led to the nickname “The Salt City.” By 1900, salt production had declined due to competition and the exhaustion of concentrated salt brine in and around Onondaga Lake.

This is a fun one.

On 5/13/2023 at 3:02 PM, Claude Balls said:

Scranton, PA - The Electric City. 

17 hours ago, PASabreFan said:

I've heard Buffalo called the City of No Illusions.

Buffalo also lays claim to being the City of Light. There's a terrific book by that name - written by a Buffalo gal and set in Buffalo. The name traces to the Pan Am Exposition, I believe - when the city was lit up with this new fangled thing called electricity. Evidence of this name being a thing is found in the City's crest/flag.

[French Collection]

On 5/12/2023 at 11:21 PM, MattPie said:

In another thread, city nicknames came up. Ft. Worth is apparently Panther City, Buffalo is the Nickel City, Binghamton is Parlor City, Rochester is Smugtown. Post you favorite city nicknames here!

(it's the off-season)

Why Nickel City?

Up here Sudbury is called the Nickel City as it is one of the world’s biggest nickel producers.

[That Aud Smell]

Rome (Italy (not New York): The Eternal City.

Tacoma, Washington: The City of Destiny.

[MattPie]

43 minutes ago, French Collection said:

Why Nickel City?

Up here Sudbury is called the Nickel City as it is one of the world’s biggest nickel producers.

For awhile in the early 20th centrury, the US nickel had a buffalo on it.

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