What's cool about your town?

[HEyHEY]

Here's what's cool about mine....

The local left wing paper now shows full frontal nudity
There are some kick-ass live classic violin player working the Skytrain stations.
The West Coast Express commuter rail offers free Spanish lessons in the last car while you commute home.
Pot is uh....not really illegal (I don't touch it myself but I like the option)

We have rules about trees, such as if you cut down a tree in your yard - in Vancouver proper...you must plant a new one. So there is so much greenery here it is like a forrest
First North American safe injection site
Beautiful scenery
I don't worry about getting mugged at night while in my nieghbourhood, I worry about getting mauled by a bear.

All the hidden nooks and crannys all over town and BC
I can go snowboarding and windsurfing in the same day.
Nice local art scene
interesting archtitecture - quit unique to the area
Wacky Wacky local politics scene

On edit :This town goes so hockey crazy in the playoffs by the second round, the cops are apealing for a state of calm cause after everygame there is 10,000 people whooping it up on RObson street..and every corner in the burbs to t Bowen island has kids holding "Honk for the Canucks signs"

[dorktv]

1. My town has a liberal gay repuke mayor.

[HEyHEY]

2. you NEED to explain more

ABout the Liberal/repuke thing!!!!!! That sound s odd

[dorktv]

3. Well as I only know one of the council members and I really

do not pay attention to local polictics I have no idea why Mayor Neil is still a repuke. He has done a brilliant job with our town too. It is very strange.

[sexybomber]

50. Let me guess.

You're from Watertown, NY, right? I think that guy came to speak at my school last year.

[maxanne]

4. there are only 935 of us

according to the last census.

I live next door to an excellent restaurant.

The mountains are fabulous - and so is the Wildcat River.

We're about 15 minuted downroad from Mt. Washington

I drive over a covered bridge every day.

The only church in town is non-denominational and very cool.

We have a lot of historic buildings, including some grand wooden hotels from 100+ years ago.

In 2002 many of my fellow townies voted for me, even though I was a new kid in town.

[electricmonk]

5. Best small city punk scene

I've ever been around. We have a loyal and hardcore group of punks in this town and they throw some of the best shows around. It's basically like one big family. We've managed to get some big name acts to come here just on our reputation of being a fun town to play. Like tomorrow night The Adicts are playing here and it's there only show in the mid_Atlantic and southern part of the country. A couple DC bands would rather play here than DC and make the 4 hour drive to just come and hang out occasionally. Here's a newspaper article from a couple weeks ago about our scene. It's not entirely accurate they call the punk scene here dormant when it's anything but. Uglyfest

My site.
Starcitypunk.com

edit: I'll also add that's pretty kick-ass to have the Blue Ridge Parkway on one side of the valley and the Appalachian Trail on the other side.

[trof]

6. Our city council meets in the nude.

I think it has something to do with security issues.

[HEyHEY]

8. A council meeting in the area a while ago

featured one councillor stabbing another in the hand with a pen...now that's passion!

[SiobhanClancy]

7. My town is known as the People's Republic

Cambridge,Massachusetts...too many cool things to list.

[Padraig18]

9. My town has...

... the Amish, an excellent French restaurant in a bowling alley (no joke), the last real broom-corn broom factory in America (Liebman) and has hitching posts throughout the business ditrict, city hall and the police station. Additionally, almost 2/3 of our streets are the original brick paving. We have the highest percentage of 'green space' (parks) of any incoporated community in Illinois, and the creator of the Raggedy Ann doll was born here.

Small potatoes, I know, but it has its charm. :)

PS--- Almost forgot--- we grow and ship more popcorn than any county in the nation.

[scarlet_owl]

10. The University of Illinois is here in Champaign/Urbana

which isn't cool in itself, but it has brought lots of multiculturism here. Our parks are lovley and the nature center is great (of course). We have nice libraries and lots of big Victorian-style houses. Unfortunately, it is expensive to live here, especially if you rent.

[Don_G]

11. Fourth Term Jewish Democratic Mayor

Served a 3 term limit for 12 years, city and county governments merged making him eligable again and re-elected to serve another 4 years (so far) while keeping Dems and Repubs alike working together.

13,500+ acres of parks including 18 designed by Frederick Law Olmstead (designer of NYC's Central Park) plus a 5,500 acre forest. George Rodger Clark's last 2 homes preserved within the city limits.

29 golf courses within the city limits and another two built for and hosting PGA Tournaments within a half-hour drive.

3 Universities including NCAA champ U of L, a teaching hospital with a Level One Trauma Center, corporation headquarters to several multi-national companies, UPS hub, manufacturing and distribution centers for Ford and GE.

Wide variety of people, fairly low cost of living, affordable housing and an extensive public transportation system.

Home of the Kentucky Derby and sole supplier of Freeper "Attitude Adjusters" (Louisville Slugger Baseball Bats).

On Edit: Only one Clear Channel station pushing "hate radio" (vs 6 for Indy 2 hours north.)

[Lydia Leftcoast]

12. Minneapolis

First and foremost, the Lakes! All the lakes in the city are connected by parkland with foot and bicycle paths.

The skyways: most of the main buildings downtown are connected by skyways, so that you don't have to go outside when it's twenty below zero.

The cultural scene, especially live theater.

We have two PBS stations, one VHF and one UHF, so if you miss a show on one station it will most likely turn up on the other.

We are within listening range of two classical radio stations, a jazz station, and an independent community station.

The University of Minnesota is huge and nationally recognized, especially for medicine and journalism. It sponsors lots of cultural events.

The State Fair, held every August, is actually in St. Paul, but I think almost everyone in Minneapolis goes.

The new ethnic diversity. Who could have predicted that Minneapolis would become a magnet for Hmongs and immigrants from various African countries?

Despite the new diversity, Minneapolis still seems to have a Lutheran church in every neighborhood, except the one near my grandmother's old house which is now a Zen meditation center.

The presence of an active and wonderful DU group! Also the fact that Minneapolis is a reliable Dem stronghold.

Returning from Oregon after many years, I have especially noticed the distinctive architecture: lots of stucco, half-timbering, and big screen porches.

So far, my major complaint is that the transit system here is totally inadequate. Three buses per hour on one of the busiest lines is NOT great service. I lived easily without a car in Portland, and it is frustrating to me that I can't do so here.

[WWW]

13. How cool is this.

We are a small town of about 4000. During election time, we mark our paper ballot and then it goes into a counting machine. The persons manning the machine, (one of each party) look over each ballot to make sure the line is clear (we draw a large black line showing our preference from the question (yes or no) or to the person's name we want elected. If is unclear, the error is pointed out and the person goes back into the booth with another ballot. During the count, one party mans the machine, the other party the paper ballots. In near 10 years, there has never been a discrepancy. Not even one vote.

[Don_G]

14. That Sounds Great!

I like it when a community realizes that they're a "community" and works together.

[Padraig18]

15. Ireland uses a similar system

They have ballots with boxes beside each candidate's name. The voter makes a mark in the appropriate box, and the scrutineers add the number of checkmarks beside each candidate's name, and the one with the most marks wins.

Would never work in America (at least not in Florida). :P

[WWW]

17. But if

It can work in a little old town in maine or in in a little old town in Ireland, why can't it work everywhere. byw I have two dark Irish children. We love the Irish here.

[Padraig18]

18. Hehe

Everyone loves the Irish, except the British (but they'll get over it, eventually :P ). :silly:

[WWW]

19. Holy ..

Should we start a thread on that? My former senator, who I have met many a time and who has held one of my Irish babes in his arms, would love to get into a thread on that. Maybe we Irish should ban together and overthrow the world?
On Edit, My senator wanted to start his "Seeds of Peace" program with the Irish and the English, but found it would be too difficult. (That is the rumor here.) So he wound up starting the camp with the Israeli and Palestinian teenagers. BTW, the head of Seeds of Peace's son is my son's football coach.

[Padraig18]

23. Heh

Your senator is correct. "...Ireland unfree, shall never be at peace." . It's quite simple, really. :)

[WWW]

24. why

What is your take on this whole thing. I think I know where you are coming from ....but I just want to hear your opinion before I express mine...

[Padraig18]

43. Set aside the whole 'religion' thing, for a second.

First and foremost, until the British invaded and conquered (emphasis added) Ireland, Ireland was an island composed of loosely-connected clans which nonetheless considered itself to be a single national entity. After our war for independence, the British withdrew EXCEPT for the northernmost counties (Ulster), where they had imported THEIR citizens as 'colonists', so to speak.

How would America have viewed the British withdrawing from colonial America after its war of Independence, had the British decided to retain, say (hypothetically), New England, merely because 'most' of the people there preferred to remain 'loyal to the Crown'?

It's not an EXACT analogy, since analogies seldom ever are, but it illustrates the basic, 'core' issue.

[Don_G]

20. Dark Irish Children?

Must be the Guinness Stout; the only potable I can hold to a summer sun and not see the first glint of light through.

[WWW]

21. Oh stop it

medium skinned, dark blonde hair, dark blue eyes, as compared to red headed, lite skin green eyed Irish.

[Don_G]

42. French & Indian Here

Copper hair, dark brown eyes, history traced to Jamestown and Pochohantas and "John Smith" by an energetic PhD retired Aunt and distantly related to Wayne Newton. :scared:

Don't ask me to sing...I've altered the migrating habits of several species in a shower.

[KG]

16. WMNF-FM 88.5 Tampa, FL - community radio

the best little radio station on planet earth.

great music, progressive politics!!!! www.wmnf.org

[Andy_Stephenson]

22. The Coolest thing about my town...

It's not in Texas.

[SmileyBoy]

25. Fargo: Two modern rock stations and independent college radio.

98.7 (Q98) KQWB, a station owned by a small company (almost as good as independent), plays KICK ASS ROCK.

104.7 (The Dam) KDAM, is a Clear Channel station that for some reason doesn't use the CC format of computerised DJ's. All the KDAM DJ's are REAL people at the station who work there. They're better promoters than Q98, but they're still Clear Channel tho.

91.9 KDSU (U92) is an independent college station that plays almost EVERYTHING, from jazz and reggae to alternative and metal to folk to techno. Freakin' awesome station. I have it on my dial whenever they play rock or reggae. Then I listen to Q98.

[TheReligiousLeft]

27. Fargo was Choice #2

I had been born in Fargo. Then when I was looking at colleges it came down to Fargo ND and Eugene OR.

[SmileyBoy]

28. The radio stations was the only thing I thought stood out among others.

The only other thing is that Fargo is the city that has the most chain restaurants per-capita in the world. Really, I'm serious.

[TheReligiousLeft]

26. Eugene is CRAZY

We have; Frog (the homeless jokebook salesman), real hippies (the smelly kind, not the Colorado kind), Saturday Market, Massive Protests, Trees from every country in the world, the University of Oregon, and we happen to be the Anarchist Capital of the United States.

[TheReligiousLeft]

31. Oh yeah, Bike Theft

The only city that has more bike theft than Eugene is New York City, which is a hell of a lot bigger than Eugene!

[JanMichael]

37. My sister knows Frog. I was appalled.

Visited her there last year and felt like a conservative...And I'm a self labelled Socialist...

[TheReligiousLeft]

45. Socialists... too conservative for Eugene

Well, maybe not quite. I believe there is some sort of Socialist Underground newspaper somewhere on campus. What did you think of Frog? I hear he got featured in Sports Illustrated last week! I don't read the thing so I don't know if it is true.
What does you sister do? A student? Teacher? Beat Poet? Gutter Punk?

[JanMichael]

29. Cool? Not much. Infamous? Sure. Pee Wee Herman got busted here.

You remember, the entrapment in the porno theatre.

For f*cks sake, it was a PORN THEATRE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What the hell did the local cop/thugs THINK went on there in the days before the internet???

[SOteric]

30. Christmas Ships

Every year, for several weeks before Christmas, boats and ships decked in holiday lights follow a tour boat with a choir. The Seattle Girl Choir, the Seattle Men's Choir, various high school choirs, - it's different each night.

The collection of boats glide silently over dark waters until they reach one of several scheduled parks and beaches. On the shore, people gather round a bonfire, and the choir-ships serenade them with Christmas carols. (And several Chanukah traditionals -some of the boats are decked in blue and white lights with stars of David).

It's lovely.

[HEyHEY]

54. we call em carol ships here

There are always huge Carol ship parties around that time of year

[ScreamingMeemie]

32. Well....um....er....hey,

I live here, that's it. That and my children live here too.

:P

[carpetbagger]

33. Ozzy peed on our landmark.

...in drag.

And, for a Texas city, we raised some damn proud liberals: Maury Maverick Sr. and Jr., Henry B. Gonzalez.

[Wickerman]

57. Your city rocks!

One of the few in TX that voted dem in 2000, if I recall correctly. Henry Cisneros was a good man, too bad his dick got him in trouble. I really miss Maury Maverick, Jr. His column was fun to read, if not nearly insane at times. Even though I don't live there anymore, I used to go back to the paper just to read his column.

[gyopsy]

34. Golf Capital of the World

Palm Beach Gardens, Florida is the golf capital of the world. The PGA headquarters is about a 5 minute drive from my parents' house. Funny thing is, I hate golf.

[Sufi Marmot]

35. You forgot the coolest thing about Vancouver...

Marauding Urban Coyotes which keep the stray pet population under control...

Oh yeah, the other coolest thing about Vancouver is that it has the best Ultimate frisbee league in North America...

interesting archtitecture - quit unique to the area That would be the WORST thing about Vancouver, the city is all of 15 years old and there are very few attractive or interesting buildings. There's a reason some of us call this place "Legoland"... ;-)

[Wolfman 11]

36. only cool thing about my original hometown

is that there is an independent radiostation (104.1 KMFR) that is privately owned and does not have to play commercials (classic rock, deep cuts). And also the football team won the state championship last year.

[5thGenDemocrat]

38. Saginaw has an OHL team and the world's largest pink neon jack rabbit

Tilt-steering was invented here. Stevie Wonder was born here. We have a river that flows north.
John
And the world's largest bean elevator is five miles north of my house.
ON EDIT: The president of our aforementioned OHL team (Saginaw Spirit), Wren Blair, is the guy who discovered Bobby Orr (as seen in the opening post).

[PittPoliSci]

39. PITTSBURGH!

Perhaps the best city, EVER.

We've got inclines, subways, rivers out the ass.

Oh yeah, and we have the best damn football team ever.

and the Pittsburgh Penguins, even though they aren't so great...

BUT WE'VE GOT MARIO LEMIEUX! damn right.

[BiggJawn]

40. It's quiet here. Very quiet.

We have a Pizza King. The Amtrak comes through twice a day (but doesn't stop.You have to pick it up 12 miles south)
Sometimes the snow closes the highway. It's pretty awesome to go to the north edge of town and see the white-out to the north across the fields. I have a rabbit that lives in my flowerbed. Goldfinches rob my sunflowers.

Twinrocker Paper is made here.I don't know paper, but I've heard that some Artists sprout wood at the mention of Twinrocker.

I hear sirens so seldom that it's a cause to stop and go look when you do hear one.

We have some asskicking thunderstorms. I sometimes forget to lock my door and nobody stabs me in my bed. Nobody steals bicycles.

And there's less than 3,000 people living here.

[ButterflyBlood]

41. it's a college town

lots of parties and cops don't give a shit about underage drinking.

[jenm]

44. sunshine

300 days of sunshine a year. An hour or less to the Rocky Mtns. Miles and miles of bike paths. Occasional stay-home-from-work magnitude snowstorms. If I liked pro sports this would be a good town for it, Rockies, Broncos, Avalanche.

[woofless]

46. We are the penultimate town on Mt. Baker Hwy.

After that is the wilderness of the North Cascade Mts.

[radfringe]

47. small town... how small is it???

According to the last census - there are 427 people living in Lehman, PA

In the center of town there is a nice sign that says "Welcome to Lehman"... on both sides, and the sign is only 3" thick

We have had deer, bear, turkeys, quail, pheasants and other forest critters wandering about.

It's quiet, lots of trees and open spaces

although I think we may be headed for some "big time" news coverage..

Last week, a quarterback for the highschool was "hazed" by other members of the team. It was caught on survailance camera. The quarterback did not do as well as other team members thought, so they duct taped him to a chair, put "ben-gay" in his eyes, shoved him out in a hallway. The chair caught on a threshold, toppled over and the quarterback broke his jaw when he hit the ground

[blondeatlast]

48. The "Ice House," literally and figuratively.

Mind you, I saw this thread when first posted, and I've thought about it ever since.

The Ice House is an art space that is in a reconstructed ice house in downtown industrial Phoenix. Because it was made to chill ice, there is almost no need for air conditioning.

Check it out if you're ever here.

[LWolf]

49. Nothing.

It was 102 degrees yesterday.

Before we were overrun with housing tracts, shopping malls, and traffic jams, and trash blowing in the wind, my town had joshua trees year-round and wonderful wildflowers every spring.

These days, we've got development, more development, and republican love on every street corner. And continuous wind and heat.

[sexybomber]

51. Top 10 cool things about Ithaca, NY

(in no particular order)

1. Ithaca College.
2. Ithaca College.
3. Cornell University frats.
4. Collegetown Bagels.
5. The fact that Greens regularly run for public office and win.
6. DP Dough, home of the best calzones on the face of the earth.
7. The Ithaca Commons (more used bookstores than I can count :D)
8. Great local music.
9. No Wal-Mart for almost fifty miles in every direction.
10. Ithaca Beer (brewed up the road from IC, yummy)

[arwalden]

52. Not One Single Gad Damm Thing... Fort Washington, MD Sucks

Except for my neighborhood... it's relatively quiet and crime-free.

And we're about 5 miles from DC... that's a good thing.

But if you want to find selection and SERVICE from any businesses... you won't find it here. If you're looking for intelligent sales help, then you'll need to drive to Clinton, MD or Waldorf, MD... or Laurel or Columbia... or cross the river over into Virginia and go to Alexandria.

I think all the dumb people of Maryland are shipped off to Fort Washington.

Hey! Wait a minute... I LIVE HERE... that means... uh, I forgot.

-- Allen

[ikojo]

53. Cool things about my town

KDHX 88.1 FM; they play every type of music imagineable and it's community radio. This year they started broadcasting Democracy Now!

University City: a very eclectic suburb where you will see many a diverse group of people including blacks and whites playing chess..(this area is notorious for it's unsolved and unaddressed racial problems).
At one end of Delmar you have punks and hippies and at the other end is the orthodox Jewish community.

The Schwag: One of the best Grateful Dead coverbands hales from St Louis.

Grand Avenue: Home to Bsonians and Vietnamese immigrants among others. Great restaurants too! The city's Gay & Lesbian Pride parade goes down South Grand every year.

Baton Bob: He walks down the streets of St Louis wearing a tutu and twirling a baton....http://www.thevitalvoice.com/2003/2003_0425%20Issue/batonp1.htm

Left Bank Books: The ONLY full service independent bookstore in Missouri: They also sponsored Al Franken's talk a couple of weeks ago.

Pagan Picnic: Every year the St Louis pagan community hosts a two day Pagan Picnic which includes informational booths and seminars on various aspects of Paganism. It is held in Tower Grove Park which is very beautiful.

A small but vibrant left-wing community. Though this area is conservative (Jim no Talent and Kit Bond are Missouri's Senators) the left-wing community in St Louis is active. There is an indymedia center (stlimc.org) as well as a Catholic Worker House.

Last but not least St Louis has ONE OF THE COOLEST and MOST inclusive Jewish congregations in the country...Central Reform Congregation. It is the only Jewish congregation located within the City of St Louis and is led by Rabbi Susan Talve. They welcome EVERYONE and I do mean EVERYONE. There was once an active gay and lesbian group within CRC but because gays and lesbians are so accepted within CRC the group kind of withered away. Look up Rabbi Susan Talve on google and read some of her writings..you will see that she is AMAZING!!!

The St Louis Jewish community is fortunate to have a lot of welcoming congregations, Reform, Conservative and Orthodox.

:toast:

:bounce: :bounce: :bounce:

[SuffragetteSal]

55. Open space preservation with greenways, trails, wildlife refuge

My small town has made open space preservation a top priority by acquiring properties to create a City Greenway System and leading the effort to establish a National Wildlife Refuge. As a result it is noted as being very successful in protecting its environmental resources and having one of the highest rates of open space, per capita, in our state.

[BritishHuman]

56. This store...

[SOteric]

62. ...And Cadbury's -

You left out Cadbury's. :hi:

[Wickerman]

58. Small town USA

I've only been there for a few years, but its a good town. Progressive, lots of parks, a nice pool, safe streets, take care of each other attitudes. Most people in town wear a variety of hats, coaching, writing for the paper, city council, volunteer ambulance, service orgs, etc.

Of course, like any small town, it has its dark underbelly - rumours of contractor overruns ramrodded thru council, suggestions that the mayor "dates" 17 year olds (he's in his 50's), the usual affiars, etc.

Hey, that's 500 posts!!!

[hunter]

59. "Spanglish..."

I love going to a restaurant with a big group of people and listing as the language drifts from Spanish to English and back again. My wife keeps up just fine, me not so well, and I can only speak in English.

But I hate school board meetings and assemblies, they are twice as boring, because everything gets said first in one language and then the other, which isn't how it happens in less formal situations.

[eauclaireliberal]

60. Eau Claire, WI

It got a really cool French name. "Eau Claire" (from what I'm told) means "Clear water."

A lot of folks in the Chippewa Valley have names like Tollefson, Otterholt, Olmstead...and Thompson. Don't ask, I don't know what the deal is with that.

Heckles! If you are in the mood for breakfast lunch and dinner cooked with enough butter and lard to clog your arteries, go to this infamous Wisco restaurant. Awesome Beer-cheese soup. Two locations-Eau Claire and Chippewa Falls (or as the locals say: "Chippewa")

Luther hospital (or as the locals say: "Loo-terr"). Part of the Mayo Health System. My Mrs. is a RRT there and when I become an RN, I will go straight there.

The two rivers (or as the locals say: "Trivers") known as the Chippewa and Eau Claire. Even though it pisses-off the UWEC students who play tennis, it is kind of amazing to watch these two in springtime flood Owen park.

Hwy. 53 will take you to Lake Superior.

Ya see? I am capable of seeing the positive in things!

[LanternWaste]

61. Regentrified downtown area...

In the last ten years, our downtown area has completely reinvented itself and there is actually a thriving nightlife there. Although the jazz hall was closed down recently (which, ironically, was the venue which began the downtown turnaround when it was built), an already world reknown symphony hall went withing the past five years.

So that's it pretty much. Oh, yeah. One more thing- I'm convinced we have the best zoo in the country.

[Jeff in Cincinnati]

63. Cincinnati...

has a bock beer festival every late winter/early spring. They have a parade and everything. If you like bock beer, that's pretty cool.