Boast about your hometown

[53anddone]

My hometown is near Utica, NY. Was a nice place to grow up in the 1970s and 1980s but glad I don't live there now. It has not progressed much.

Now live in a bucolic mountain valley in Vermont and love it. Much stronger sense of community.

[ponyboy]

My hometown and surrounding towns were at one point booming coal regions. Now, they're depressed areas where most people are poor and meth/heroin are thriving. Oh...and approx 25 miles from me, an entire city was evacuated because of an underground fire that started in the early 60's and still burns to this day. If you drive through there on a cool day you can see steam coming up from the earth. Centralia, PA...look it up.

[MRG]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ponyboy My hometown and surrounding towns were at one point booming coal regions. Now, they're depressed areas where most people are poor and meth/heroin are thriving. Oh...and approx 25 miles from me, an entire city was evacuated because of an underground fire that started in the early 60's and still burns to this day. If you drive through there on a cool day you can see steam coming up from the earth. Centralia, PA...look it up.

Been through there, pitiful. My parents are from Carbondale, another PA mine fire disaster. When I was a little kid I remember going up there to visit family, every now and then a new section of the town was cordoned off as the fire took over new parts.

I remember being about 6 and thinking about the preacher's sermons about hell, fire, and brimstone. Wondering why mom and dad were taking me to hell.

[aja8888]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MRG Been through there, pitiful. My parents are from Carbondale, another PA mine fire disaster. When I was a little kid I remember going up there to visit family, every now and then a new section of the town was cordoned off as the fire took over new parts. I remember being about 6 and thinking about the preacher's sermons about hell, fire, and brimstone. Wondering why mom and dad were taking me to hell.

ah yes, Carbondale...my parents and other family were coal miners in Pittston.

[MRG]

Quote:

Originally Posted by aja8888 ah yes, Carbondale...my parents and other family were coal miners in Pittston.

I remember you mentioned that area. My parents generation were forbidden to work in the mines. I remember a favorite uncle saying how his father promised to break both his legs if he took a job in the mines.

[davebarnes]

My birth city, Hartford, the former insurance capital of the USA is now a decaying dump. The population has declined continuously ever since I was born there.

My current city, The Socialist Paradise of the City & County of Denver, is growing and full of life. The population has increased 40% since I moved here 39 years ago.
The dry climate means NO BUGS.
Taxes are moderate with real estate taxes at only 0.6% of market value.
Government is relatively honest and works well.

[aja8888]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MRG I remember you mentioned that area. My parents generation were forbidden to work in the mines. I remember a favorite uncle saying how his father promised to break both his legs if he took a job in the mines.

The way my father got out of the mines was by joining the Navy in 1943 and spending two years on a minesweeper in the South Pacific. My few uncles and grandfathers were all miners and all died early.

[Rummy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ponyboy My hometown and surrounding towns were at one point booming coal regions. Now, they're depressed areas where most people are poor and meth/heroin are thriving. Oh...and approx 25 miles from me, an entire city was evacuated because of an underground fire that started in the early 60's and still burns to this day. If you drive through there on a cool day you can see steam coming up from the earth. Centralia, PA...look it up.

Hello neighbor... but I live in a very pretty Valley which hasn't changed much in 60 years, except for the tremendous drop in the amount of small businesses. Like all small towns I imagine...

[neihn]

I came to the US in early 80s and settled in Portland OR. I guess it makes Portland OR is my hometown, where, people would insist you go first at 4 ways stop sign, people wave at each other on the road (walking or driving :-) - If you don't believe me watch Portlandia :-)

The weather is very mild, never get too cold or too hot - close to the coast, close to sky resort Mt Hood, close to the Columbia gorge (famous for wind surfing) - If you like outdoor activities, I think Portland has lots to offer.

[Gumby]

Quote:

Originally Posted by aja8888 The way my father got out of the mines was by joining the Navy in 1943 and spending two years on a minesweeper in the South Pacific. My few uncles and grandfathers were all miners and all died early.

Exactly how my dad escaped. He grew up in the small town of Cadiz, Ohio, which is hard by Wheeling, West Virginia. My grandfather and all of my great uncles were coal miners, as were virtually all the other men in town. My dad did not want to be a miner, so he quit high school at 17 and joined the Navy. He stayed in for 20 years.

[haha]

Quote:

Originally Posted by neihn I came to the US in early 80s and settled in Portland OR. I guess it makes Portland OR is my hometown, where, people would insist you go first at 4 ways stop sign, people wave at each other on the road (walking or driving :-) - If you don't believe me watch Portlandia :-)

Is this politeness still true? Seattle was always like this too but is much less an outlier today.

Ha

[HI Bill]

My home town used to be known as the "Home of the World's Largest Cash Prize Two-Day Rodeo". Also known for the infamous lady in the box. And one clock tower that burned to the ground. Back then, population was less than 10K.

[WestUniversity]

Houston, home of the Astrodome, the first indoor domed stadium, which was also responsible for the development of AstroTurf and Astrolite, the first animated scoreboard. Also the Texas Medical Center, the largest medical complex in the world. Also the Johnson Space Center and it’s mission control center, one of NASAs largest research and development facilities. Houston is the most ethnically diverse metropolitan area in the U.S. There are over 145 languages spoken by the residents of Houston. The city itself is about 669 square miles but the greater Houston-Woodlands-Sugar Land MSA covers about 10,000 square miles and is slightly smaller than the state of Massachusetts but larger than the state of New Jersey...

[aja8888]

Quote:

Originally Posted by WestUniversity Houston, home of the Astrodome, the first indoor domed stadium, which was also responsible for the development of AstroTurf and Astrolite, the first animated scoreboard. Also the Texas Medical Center, the largest medical complex in the world. Also the Johnson Space Center and it’s mission control center, one of NASAs largest research and development facilities. Houston is the most ethnically diverse metropolitan area in the U.S. There are over 145 languages spoken by the residents of Houston. The city itself is about 669 square miles but the greater Houston-Woodlands-Sugar Land MSA covers about 10,000 square miles and is slightly smaller than the state of Massachusetts but larger than the state of New Jersey...

You forgot to add the largest concentration of petrochemical facilities in the world on the Houston Ship Channel. Also, the center for oil, gas and chemical companies and the development of the $4+ Billion dollar Exxon Complex in The Woodlands employing almost 10,000 people.

[neihn]

Quote:

Originally Posted by haha Is this politeness still true? Seattle was always like this too but is much less an outlier today. Ha

I notice a lot of aggressive drivers in the area now. But people still are very friendly.

[beowulf]

Looks like only one other New Yawker has responded to the OP. I'm from the Bronx, home of the Yankees, one of the 5 boroughs of New York City. As kids, we played sewer stickball and football. Went to public schools, to include the City College of NY. Left when I graduated to go into the Army and never moved back. Didn't know how to drive, or even what was under the hood of a car, so the Army placed me in the Transportation Corps. My old street, which was rows of apartment buildings, was torn down in the '80s and is now a long row of townhouses with garages. I'll always be a New Yawker no matter where I live - I drive my wife crazy with comments like "Why are we waiting for a green light to cross the street? New Yawkers look both ways and just go." Or as she says, "You can take the boy out of the Bronx, but you can't take the Bronx out of the boy."

[ABQ2015]

My family moved around when I was a child so I consider the small southwestern mining town where I attended high school to be my hometown. It has a great climate and is surrounded by mountains and a national forest. The town is rather isolated - 3 hours from a large city and airport. But it was a nice place to grow up - we attended the high school and the small local college sporting events, went to country western dances, dragged Main Street, and the national forest was our playground. Geronimo was born nearby, Billy the Kid lived there during his teen years and was first arrested there for stealing food, and in the last 50 years the town produced two Senators and an astronaut who walked on the moon.

As mining has declined, the town population has become stagnant at 10K (and is the largest town in that region of the state) and there are fewer good jobs or medical facilities. But it has become sort of a retirement community and the historic downtown attracts artists and now has several galleries and is described as a "quirky cultural town." I've thought about retiring there but it is too small and isolated for me after living in a much larger city for so many years.

[FlaGator]

Have to claim Phoenix AZ as my hometown. Went by my birth hospital on my last trip. Current home of the Beautiful Princess, my fiancé.

Left in 1997 after 30 non-consecutive years. Still a very strong emotional pull, but would only go back after the youngest leaves home.

It now seems like a good place for working parents to raise kids, but with working behind me, I can’t see living in compartmentalized suburbs miles from beaches or mountains. Plus, the state is not as well-run as it once was.

Still has much to offer, just not for me any more

[indiajust]

Hmmm... Pine Hill AL, humidity and dew so heavy you could hydroplane on the road at dawn. Beverly MA with its tiny beach covered with "beach whistles" and italian bomb sandwiches. Birmingham AL with the red bud trees and perfect spring bike rides... and the legacy of Bull Connor. Atlanta GA with what used to be an automotive paradise. Houston and its cockroaches, snakes, and bayous. Raleigh, Durham, Winston-Salem NC... if you can smoke it they can grow it and sell it to you. Of course marijuana NC is unincorporated. Barre VT, it's not often you get to sit in on a heroin distribution pitch meeting with local dealers and Thai growers. Claremont NH, a pleasantly failed community with a race track you can hear all over town and 90 years of quiet stagnation.

Something to love everywhere you go. There you are.

[texasdiver]

Our hometown is Camas, WA which is on the Columbia River across the river from Portland. At one time Camas was a separate small mill town but as the Portland area has grown it has eventually become a Portland suburb and home to a lot of traveling business types because we are very close to the Portland airport. Nice thing about Camas is that it has retained its own historic downtown with lots of walkable shops and restaurants and no reason to go into Portland unless you want to. Although central Portland is only 20 min away during off peak traffic times. It has a nice mix of retirees and younger families with kids. The town is very hilly so lots of views of the mountains and city and the Columbia River. Here’s a little chamber of commerce promo video

https://vimeo.com/152084435