What's your hometown famous for?

[Bergermeister]

After spending three weeks soaking wet, my current hometown is obviously down for being famous for its rain. My original hometown was famous for, well, nothing, because it barely shows up on a map and when you see the sign saying "Welcome to Nowhere" you can look down the road and see the sign "You are now leaving Nowhere". We often joked that they should have just painted it on the back.

What about your hometowns?

[mydo]

sprawl

[e1618978]

Victoria, B.C - beauty, old people, college students, flowers, "Old English Stuff" like high tea and double decker buses. I think that this may be the nicest city in the world, maybe.

Ottawa, Ont. - beaurocrats, mix of French and English, good restaurants, heat/humidity in summer, coldest capital city in the winter

Chapel Hill, NC - college basketball, leftie politics, berkenstocks and volvo wagons.

Boulder, CO - college football, leftie politics, berkenstocks and volvo wagons, mountain climbing, skiing, exercise

[Omega]

A volcanic explosion forming a big arse lake

[Splinemodel]

It's more fun when we have to guess... Unfortunately, I can't guess from any of the clues.



Original hometown is famous for crack-addicted local politician and "on-crack" federal politicians.

Second place I lived, not including college town, is not quite as well known. It's noted for its proximity and industrial affiliation with the main, NASA launch site.

Current hometown is famous for high-tech VC and the presence of a large, research university.

[His Dudeness]

Victoria, B.C - beauty, old people, college students, flowers, "Old English Stuff" like high tea and double decker buses. I think that this may be the nicest city in the world, maybe.

Ottawa, Ont. - beaurocrats, mix of French and English, good restaurants, heat/humidity in summer, coldest capital city in the winter

Chapel Hill, NC - college basketball, leftie politics, berkenstocks and volvo wagons.

Boulder, CO - college football, leftie politics, berkenstocks and volvo wagons, mountain climbing, skiing, exercise

GO HEELS!!! :)

Well, I live just south of Yorktown, Virginia. Something happened here back in October 1781 involving the French Fleet, Cornwallis, and the colonials. Can't remember what it was, but it made history.

[Guybrush Threepwood]

Umm...trees?

We don't have shit here, other than Ah-nold.

[trailmaster308]

Floods

Murders

Mardi Gras

In that order!

[Galley]

Diet-Rite Cola was invented here.
One of the few, (if not only) cities in the U.S. with a large waterfall in the middle of downtown.
Used to be known as the Textile Capitol of the World.

[PhilH]

Rockford, IL - Cheap Trick!

BTW - Lead guitarist Rick Nielsen is a Mac user and belongs to the local user group.

PhilH

[franksargent]

Ben & Jerry's (http://www.benjerry.com/)

1978

With a $12,000 investment ($4,000 of it borrowed), Ben and Jerry open their Ben & Jerry’s Homemade ice cream scoop shop in a renovated gas station at the corner of St. Paul and College Streets in downtown Burlington, Vermont, on May 5.

I remember the old gas station, it was a block up from the main bus station, just finishing up at UVM at the time, had ice cream there dozens of times that spring and summer.

Who da thunk it?

[Kickaha]

GO HEELS!!! :)

WHOOOO! Sounds like they're getting the band back together for next season too.

Original hometown: apples. No kidding. Wenatchee, WA, Apple Capitol of the World... or at least it used to be. At one point a significant double-digit percentage of the entire commercial apple crop in the US was produced in that one little valley. Now a lot of it has moved south to Yakima, WA. Chances still are though, if you've had an apple with a Washington sticker on it, it came from within 25 miles of where I grew up. Apples, hydroelectric dams, the Columbia River, and, uh... that's pretty much it.

Since then I've lived in towns famous for aircraft, rain, Mormons, basketball, and hard time on the rockpile.

[franksargent]

You're from Burlington, VT?

I'm there at least twice a year for the last 10-15 years. It's our home base for any ski vacations. I watched the Pats win their final regular season game at the Church Street Tavern, usually have dinner at Leunig's (love the escargot), and usually make it up to Sweetwaters and Three Tomatoes Trattoria. Haven't ventured too far from Church Street though.

Born in Springfield, VT, but lived and grew up in Burlington. Great place.

But it's been 25 years since I left, it's probably changed a lot since 1983. I've been meaning to go back and relive/remember my childhood, but I have no family up there anymore, and I lost contact with my childhood friends once I left for grad school.

It's funny, but for the most part (absent grade school) I can only remember the good times.

Other places I've lived for a while were Randolph, VT (VTC), Hanover, NH (CRREL), Ithaca, NY (CU), Kill Devil Hills, NC (FRF), and my current location Vicksburg, MS (ERDC). Sometime in the next year or so I'll have lived longer in Vicksburg than anywhere else.

[soulcrusher]

Snobby, dumb undergrads.

[@_@ Artman]

Plymouth Meeting, Pa was where the first IKEA store was built in the United States. I worked there at the build-up and opening of the store.

Actually, Plymouth Meeting and Whitemarsh Township are a very old towns (http://www.whitemarshtwp.org/information/township-history.aspx). Plymouth Meeting had settlements as early as 1686.

The Cold Point District (http://www.livingplaces.com/PA/Montgomery_County/Whitemarsh_Township/Cold_Point.html) is one historical area. Lots of old restored homes.

It was a very quiet town when my parents moved there in 1959. They recall deer prancing through the back yard. Eventually, there was a mall built (Plymouth Meeting Mall was one of the first malls in America). But when I was young, there were still pockets of nature; creeks, ponds, wooded areas, but today it's a traffic congested suburban sprawl. :\

[tonton]

The Mission Inn (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mission_Inn)Pat and Richard Nixon were married at one of the two wedding chapels here; the Reagans honeymooned here. The hotel has had nearly ten presidents stay at the Inn, including President William Howard Taft whom Frank Miller had a custom large chair made for Taft to sit in, although it is known he took offense to the size of the chair. The Inn continues to be a getaway for presidents to this day with George W. Bush as the most recent. Arnold Schwarzenegger has also stayed there during his tenure as governor.

The Parent Navel Orange Tree (http://www.planetware.com/riverside/parent-navel-orange-tree-us-ca-pnot.htm)

From Wikipedia: (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orange_(fruit))A single mutation in 1820 in an orchard of sweet oranges planted at a monastery in Brazil yielded the navel orange, also known as the Washington, Riverside, or Bahie navel. The mutation causes navel oranges to develop a second orange at the base of the original fruit, opposite the stem. The second orange develops as a conjoined twin in a set of smaller segments embedded within the peel of the larger orange. From the outside, the smaller, and undeveloped twin leaves a formation at the bottom of the fruit that looks similar to the human navel.

Because the mutation left the fruit seedless and, therefore, sterile, the only means available to cultivate more of this new variety is to graft cuttings onto other varieties of citrus tree. Two such cuttings of the original tree were transplanted[2] to Riverside, California in 1870, which eventually led to worldwide popularity.

More about Riverside (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riverside,_California)

[bclapper]

Riots (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brixton_riot_%281981%29), mostly for the 1st of 3

Thankfully, I don't live there anymore

[Denton]

Chapel Hill, NC - college basketball, leftie politics, berkenstocks and volvo wagons.

Do you think there are more Volvo wagons than Priuses? I find the opposite is true -- but maybe that's just confirmation bias.

----------

Vancouver, BC - Rain (and more rain) in the winter. Mountains, ocean, Stanley Park, sushi (and Asian food in-general), pot, Wreck Beach, home of the 2010 Winter Olympics, and probably too many more to list. If you visit, come in the summer: the temperature rarely exceeds 25C (~80F) and it's sunny most days from July to the end of September.

[Outsider]

Train related deaths (http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0CE7D7143DF933A0575BC0A9649582 60&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all) and a famous boarding school named Choate (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Choate_Rosemary_Hall). Some famous alumni who went to Choate:

Edward Albee
Jamie Lee Curtis
Michael Douglas
Paul Giamatti
James Dickey
Robert Chambers
Glenn Close
Ivanka Trump
Peter Jennings
John F Kennedy
Joe Kennedy

[@_@ Artman]

Riots (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brixton_riot_%281981%29), mostly for the 1st of 3

Thankfully, I don't live there anymore

One band summed it up pretty well (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hiQoq-wqZxg). :\

When they kick out your front door
How you gonna come?
With your hands on your head
Or on the trigger of your gun

[Bergermeister]

Finally saw the sun rise and set after more than three weeks of swimming to work. The sun brought the heat, though, so we are still swimming, just now in sweat.

Made it to 35C today (95F) and the humidity was over 70% for most of the day, making for a real pleasant time.

---

Keep those posts coming!

[bclapper]

One band summed it up pretty well (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hiQoq-wqZxg). :\

Definitely :lol:

[Tulkas]

Waterloo, ON:

UWaterloo having one of the first and certainly the most successful co-op education programs, especially for Math and Comp-Sci
UWaterloo's Comp Sci program in general
RIM
Mennonites
Largest Oktoberfest outside of Germany

[Fellowship]

Grapevine TX.

Love this town! It has a historic "main street" with charm and authentic history. The older homes in the area tempt me to move back to Grapevine every time I see them. Grapevine is like a hub in the middle of a HUGE metro Dallas / Fort Worth gigaplex and Grapevine is at the heart of this busy metropolis. The thing about Grapevine is that it has charm as well as larger than life larger than Texas attractions as well. Grapevine is trying to grab as much convention business away from Dallas and Fort Worth as they can.

The following video is a hoot brought to you by the the very famous....

"British Emporium" and it gives you a nice look at Grapevine.

I hope you can grin past the hilarious depictions of folks... LOL :lol:

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

Fellows

[cygnusrk727]

Body Farm. (the original one that is)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_Farm

[trick fall]

My original and once again home town is where Billy Joel is from. The only other place I've lived was known as the city that never sleeps. The specific area I lived in was called Hells Kitchen and was known for the Westies who were a brutal Irish-American organized crime outfit.

[ROFF]

A company in Saskatoon, Cameco, just bought 500+ tons of Iraqi yellowcake.

[nvidia2008]

http://www.mapsofworld.com/travel-destinations/images/petronas-twin-towers.jpg

[nvidia2008]

There is a downside though. Despite all the "mega-projects" there are many concerns over rural education and healthcare, and in urban areas there is a massive gap in education, language ability and wealth between the elite class (of which most are overseas frequently) and the local lower/ lower-middle class.

[nvidia2008]

Scranton, PA, home of "The Office!"

Lazy Scranton (http://noolmusic.com/myspace_videos/the_office_-_lazy_scranton.php)

NO WAY. You're actually from "Scranton" and it is a real town??? :wow::wow::D

[Bergermeister]

http://www.mapsofworld.com/travel-destinations/images/petronas-twin-towers.jpg

Have you been to the top, yet?

(No, that is not a loaded question.)

[midwinter]

My hometown (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tupelo%2C_Mississippi) is famous for two things:

http://images.usatoday.com/weather/_photos/2006/04/05/apcelebflashbackselvis.jpg

and

http://bucket.littlemeanfish.com/TVA.jpg

Oh. And Oliver the monkey, who keeps escaping from the zoo (http://news.google.com/archivesearch?client=safari&rls=en-us&oe=UTF-8&um=1&tab=wn&hl=en&q=oliver+monkey+tupelo&ie=UTF-8) and going across the field and onto the country club. Click the link to see just how many national and international news services covered this story.

Also. Comcast started there.

[jeffyboy]

We make Winnebagos! (http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2008/06/23/big-company-small-town-winnebago-industries-forest-city-iowa/) No one's buying them, lately. :(

[nvidia2008]

Have you been to the top, yet?
(No, that is not a loaded question.)

Lol. Physically and metaphorically no. :( ... I did though as part of a team deliver an iMac 24" to the official residence (in the official capital "Putrajaya", not Kuala Lumpur) of the deputy prime minister. 8-)

For the twin towers, visitors can only go as high as the skybridge portion linking the two towers. If you want to go all to the top, this tower has the better accessible height and view. :) -- The KL tower on the left. The site of which is actually right next to my old primary school. In this picture it is a very clear day, somewhat rare, and you can see the hills/ mini-mountains around the city.

http://members.tripod.com/adesh_sonia/Malaysia%20Files/KL%20Downtown%20with%20KL%20and%20Twin%20Tower.jpg

[nvidia2008]

We make Winnebagos! (http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2008/06/23/big-company-small-town-winnebago-industries-forest-city-iowa/) No one's buying them, lately. :(

Wow. I know that from the movies... Like 80's and 90's movies... :wow: Cool. What happened? Why is no one into them nowadays? :???:

I want to get a frickin' http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airstream someday. That would be so retro-cool. It's like something that could be the Iron Man secret mobile research thingy, with a few modifications. Like hovering a few feet above the ground LoL.

[nvidia2008]

...Also. Comcast started there.

Do many people still consider it somekind of "evil" telco or is it fairly alright nowadays...

[MsNly]

Mine...

A zoo, like the last dry town in the world, and one of the BIG Walmarts.

Yes, I know its sad.

[jeffyboy]

Wow. I know that from the movies... Like 80's and 90's movies... :wow: Cool. What happened? Why is no one into them nowadays? :???:

I want to get a frickin' http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airstream someday. That would be so retro-cool. It's like something that could be the Iron Man secret mobile research thingy, with a few modifications. Like hovering a few feet above the ground LoL.

The economy in general and of course the price of gas in particular has them if not on the ropes then staggering and blurry-eyed. Our town of about 5,000 would be pretty much toast if they went under. My best friend's dad took over as CEO this Spring and has been the face on tv announcing layoffs and shutdowns. He doesn't sleep much.

That Airstream is pretty sweet! I'd love to go camping and watch Plan 9 From Outer Space in it! :lol:

[midwinter]

I was just reminded of this. It's not my hometown, but where I live now was the set for Everwood, some of Footloose, and a couple of scenes in The Stand.

[Celemourn]

Fake Boobs. (Midland, MI, world headquarters of Dow Chemical and Dow Corning companies, the latter being the manufacturer of silicone implants).

C

[Celemourn]

http://www.mapsofworld.com/travel-destinations/images/petronas-twin-towers.jpg

for some reason, that looks like a cross between Big Ben and an asparagus...

C

[icfireball]

Jimmy Johns
Roger Ebert
Alison Krauss
Bonnie Blair
Bob Richards
Ludacris
Wolfram Research
Jerry Sanders (not to be confused with Colonel Sanders)
George Will (perhaps this is more infamous, just kidding)
Various nobel prize winners

[midwinter]

How could you not mention REO Speedwagon??

[Northgate]

My home town is famous for making "Safe and Sane Fireworks".

[progmac]

Napoleon, OH: One of a handful of Campbell's soup plants. Famous corvette collection/dealer.

Athens, OH: Ohio University and its infamous Halloween party.

Cincinnati, OH: Big town, tons of history and "famous fors." Too much to list.

Silverton, CO: Famous Durango & Silverton narrow gauge railroad. Largest fireworks show on the CO's western slope. Possibly the first town in America to have AC power.

[MacAloy]

Mardi Gras
:wow::D:D:D

[midwinter]

Mardi Gras
:wow::D:D:D

You're from Mobile, AL? ;)

[MacAloy]

You're from Mobile, AL? ;)

There is no need to insult me like that! :smokey:

[midwinter]

There is no need to insult me like that! :smokey:

OK, ok. Pascagoula? :devil:

[PBG4 Dude]

Mark Twain
Insurance capital of the world
First public art museum in US (Wadsworth Atheneum)
Harriet Beecher Stowe
Colt Firearms
Katharine Hepburn
Charles Nelson Reilly
Marcus Camby

[tmp]

Current hometown: Plastic Surgery
Original Hometown: Lesbians

[Akumulator]

Springfield, MO

Wild Bill Hickock shot his first man in the downtown square. There's still a small plaqard in the street where he stood when he shot. It's a funny historical spot, you have to actually step into traffic and crouch down to the street to read the small thing.

People of notable importance (other than myself) Brad Pitt, Bob Barker, Kathleen Turner and John Ashcroft (:() are from there.

[bikerdude]

Trains that dont run on time
Big Harbour
Big Bridge
Funny looking, pointy white building that looks like waves or something
Traffic

[runnerman]

Denver's famous for my presence there

[Flounder]

My hometown?

Beulah MI is famous for.........
hmmmm......

Crystal Lake (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crystal_Lake_%28Benzie_County%2C_Michigan%29)


Maybe the Cherry Hut, which has been I think in USA Today or something similar for it's cherry pie.

Bruce Catton (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruce_Catton) although technically that would be Benzonia.

Oh, Benzie County was the last county in Michigan to get a stop light (in 1989 or 90 when I was in 5th or 6th grade).

[nvidia2008]

Trains that dont run on time
Big Harbour
Big Bridge
Funny looking, pointy white building that looks like waves or something
Traffic

LOL Sydney FTW! 8-) You should mention: Serious, HARDCORE PARTYING. So much so it drove me frickin' broke dude... That city should come with a Surgeon-General's (National Health Minister's) warning.

Ludacris
Wolfram Research


Wow. Ludacris AND Wolfram. Maybe next your hometown will invent "Learning Maths Through Gangsta Rap". Badass.


for some reason, that looks like a cross between Big Ben and an asparagus...


LOL I never thought of an asparagus before.... What can I say... it's designed by Japanese architects, I think.

Colt Firearms

People ProGunLobby much in your town? :lol::err:

[bikerdude]

[QUOTE=nvidia2008;1287707]LOL Sydney FTW! 8-) You should mention: Serious, HARDCORE PARTYING. So much so it drove me frickin' broke dude... That city should come with a Surgeon-General's (National Health Minister's) warning.


I thought it was on all the tourist pamphlets
:lol: