I think everyone gets frustrated about unfair stereotypes but I think one stereotype that is overlooked are ones related to your home. I wanted to hear some stuff that’s annoying to hear about your home that’s a major city—are you from Lagos? Perhaps Singapore? Maybe Kyoto? New York? NOLA? Vancouver? Etc!
Let us know the more annoying stereotypes about your city you call home!
I’d really love to hear from natives to that city (as in you attended some form of school there and have been there for over 10yrs), but all are welcome to add if they live there now.
Comments
Personally as someone from New York (as in I had a student metro card—I’m with the shits lol), the safety shit blows me. Blowwwws me! New York is safe as hell and as someone who has heard the endless rambling of shellshocked “non-New York Citiers” it’s so weird what their fears are lol.
Additionally, New Yorkers are incredibly kind so that stereotype is confusing to me as well—though I will say, since gentrification that’s absolutely changed dramatically for the worse lol!
Calling Atlanta “Hotlanta” when it’s actually cool for half the year (Oct-March). In fact, our winters are sometimes colder than up north. Also, yes I compare temperatures on the weather app because I cannot believe how cold it gets here in December. It rarely snows though.
London – interchanging London with the rest of England and the UK. London is a little world of its own and operates on a different wavelength to much of the rest of the country.
It doesn’t represent the entire nation just because it’s the capital city. It’s its own thing. I find this sort of talk dismissive of both Londoners and other Brits.
I’m in Philly. The 2 that really irk me are people aren’t friendly/everyone is rude, and that it’s “dangerous.”
Philadelphians are no less friendly than anywhere else, although they can talk loud and cuss more but I’ve never lived anywhere else that was so community oriented.
There are some very dangerous parts of Philadelphia but overall the city is quite safe. But people act like walking or existing in the city is like living in an apocalyptic nightmare.
Not that I’m out every night but Londons night life is laughable. My friend was here from New York for the first time a month ago and I struggled to find a place that we would both like to have a bit of fun.
It’s also not a 24 hour city, your local shop or takeaway is closed by 10 or 11pm the latest. We ended up at Burger King in Leicester Sq which we definitely wouldn’t choose if there were more late night spots
Asking if I enjoying dodging bullets here in Chicago.
It’s so stupid. Violence is a real problem in some communities and we should focus on that.
I happen to live by the beach in a wonderful, walkable community. It’s amazing
Toronto. That we think we’re the centre of the universe, Toronto sucks, people here are rude. I feel like this is said by ignorant small town Canadians who’ve only been to like the Roger’s Centre. My neighbourhood feels like a small town and everything is accessible by walking or transit. I’m from the suburbs and hated it there. The only two places I could live in Canada are Toronto or Montreal. Nothing else compares to me.
Miami- “Everyone there speaks Spanish”/“You’ll never use English!”
I don’t speak Spanish and I’ve never had an issue. I hear more Yiddish, Italian, and Creole/French than Spanish on a daily basis.
San Francisco. Homophobic people asked me about the gays often. Or they ask if I’m gay.
Portland being weird. Portland is pretentious but not weird. I’ve never been to a place so bland in my life. I feel like there are weirder places in the world even within the US. Florida is fucking weird. It’s like a walking contradiction. But Portland? I feel like it tries too hard to be so different it just comes off as pretentious. Underneath it all the city is kind of dead. I rarely go into Portland because of it. Honestly I want to kind of move out of the general area but waiting for the economy to be better so I can.
I live in Seattle. People who have never been here think our rainy season is nothing but torrential downpour from October to May when it’s more of a light mist most of the time. I’ve seen worse rain, more frequently growing up in Oklahoma.
People think Minneapolis is “still on fire” from the George Floyd protests five years ago.
DC here, and the overwhelming narrative that it’s dangerous and it’s just full of political, Olivia Pope types. Do they exist? Sure, I guess. But that narrative is always driven by transplants and oped writers that never get to know the real city, touted from their apartments in Arlington VA, who still have no idea what go-go music is. I’ve never lived anywhere as community-oriented as DC is and despite the government in place right now, it has given me a lot of hope in these times.
Texas metro area –
That it’s cheap. It WAS cheap. STOP MOVING HERE. WE DON’T HAVE ENOUGH WATER OR HOUSES FOR YOU.
The whole concept of LA being about crystals, manifesting, fakeness, and erewhon smoothies.
It’s all perpetuated by people from the Midwest or East Coast that move here for that idea of LA. Local LA/California people are not into it… at all.
Why do you live in Murderapolis? Fox News keeps sating we’re some crime ridden hellscape. I have a vegetable garden in my backyard and we’re within walking distance of two parks.
SF Bay. Whatever stereotype there is, that’s apparently the entire Bay Area? Crime, homelessness, gayness, hippy-dippy crystals, tech bros, etc etc.
We have almost 8M people, more eco-regions than most states, and since CA is the 5th largest economy in the world we are the hub for a vast spread of opportunities, cultures, ethnicities, education paths, legislation innovation, and of course industry. You can do nearly anything here: we have glaciers and sexy baloon-popping parties; women CEOs and successful universal healthcare initiatives; dino nuggies and farm-to-table bayside oyster restaurants; unions and people picking their own in the strawberry fields.
There isn’t one stereotype that will fit.
Is Ottawa, Ontario considered a major city?
They call us “the city that fun forgot”, but I honestly love it here and have never been bored.
Sure the nightlife isn’t up to par with Montreal or Toronto, but we have beaches, hiking, shopping, museums, etc all within like 20mins of each other. It’s a beautiful city too, which I think also gets overlooked.