City Misconceptions
 

This may be covered in other thread but I thought I'd post it..reference my posts to what I thought Wisconsin was/wasn't.

What were your "impressions" of a city/state that you had never been to and was it changed when you actually went there?

I was really surprised with New Jersey. The Parks and Historical sites are great. Before I visited, most of my friends from the East Coast had painted a negative picture of the state, but I really enjoyed my visit. It is NOT just a toxic dump for NY as I had been told.

Yeah it is! (j/k - many parts of Jersey are nice, but by no means all)

I was pleasantly surprised by Hong Kong. I was picturing a kind of overgrown Chinatown before I first visited, but it's really beautiful, modern/Westernized (due in no small part to the British), and on my last trip there I discovered the outlying islands, which are gorgeous - wide-open spaces, forests, mountains, etc.

(Oh, stop it. This was before SARS. You don't have to disinfect your computers :p )

Many people think Denver is in the Mountains. It's actually at the far Western end of the great plains, and the foothills of the Rockys begin at the Western suburbs.

Most people also think Denver gets feet of snow. Also not true. We get two or three heavy storms in a normal year (6 to 10 inches) and the snow generally melts within a day or two because it's so dry here, and we get over 300 days of sunshine each year -- about the same as San Diego -- and our mile high altitude makes the sun more intense here. Of course we did have one huge blizzard in April, but that was the exception, not the rule. And, if we're lucky the mountains get the feet of snow.

Also, people think Colorado is all mountains. The Eastern Plains are semi-arid -- almost desert.

You can thank most of the weather misconceptions to the TV network newscasts which don't differentiate well between "Denver" and "Colorado."

I thought all of that, too, before the first time I visited in 1970.

Something that many think about Oklahoma City (and anywhere else in OK) is that we all ride horses and live in small trailers.

I'll assure you that this is definitely not the case...

Mine's a double wide.

(not really)

I remember when I went down to New Orleans for a National Youth Gathering we did a project in the city (to clean up a neighborhood). So we were with other kids from the gathering and this group from Kansas hung out with us. They were surprised to learn that we didn't pee in outhouses and didn't all live on farms. I'm like COME ON! You live in Kansas! They should know better! :rolleyes:

Ironically though, the land behind my high school is still owned by Boys Town so it's part of their farming land. So I go to school in a city but still have a cornfield behind our school :p

People think that all of Kentucky is a bunch of country bumpkins-
I live in a city with more than a million people, actually Louisville is the 16th largest city in the US!
we have paved roads and everything in Kentucky!


Something I found really interesting, a friend from chicago said that when she moved to Kentucky and saw our house she thought we were rich (like really well off, and my family is SOOO MIDDLE CLASS!) all because our house is all brick... she said in Chicago only the really rich can afford an ALL BRICK house.

Where are these parts of New Jersey that aren't a toxic waste dump? (j/k)

Growing up, I thought Pittsburgh, with a name like that, must be the left armpit of the nation. It's not. It's clean, the people are nice (when they're not driving), and there's a ton of art museums, a symphony, terrific public library system, and lots of history. Also, my favorite restaurant is there and when KappaStarboy comes to visit me (we meet at his parents' house...long story) he brings me one of their pizzas. It's not much fun to try to find your way around, but once you get the hang of it, it's a great city.

Ha Denver mountains! Denver is a dessert.

Nebraska, Corn, Corn, Corn. oh and I 80 to get west quick.

Kansas, I 70 West, NADA! Well till Denver.

Jersey, What is a Jersey

Tex-ass comes behind Kan-ass, K before T!

Oklahoma, Kev, all red clay and oil!

Kansas City, The Jewel between NY and San Francisco!:)

4 seasons, trees bloom, snow flys, BBQ Capitol of the world.


Oh ye of little faith no not what you miss! Been all over and come Home to K C !:)

Omaha really is not as bad as many people make it out to be. True, it can be somewhat boring. But it's a pretty town with enough stuff to do if you actually make an effort. I hope to raise my kids here someday. :)

As for Missouri, well KC and STL are massive and there are more hick towns in Missouri than even in Nebraska...well maybe not, but either way Missouri is a gorgeous gorgeous state that I love to live in! :D

And yes we have paved roads, electrictity, running water, etc. etc. :rolleyes: :)

alabama gets a bad deal, too....not everyone just got hit my a "'nador" (aka:tornado), lives in a trailor, is barefoot, and pregnant.

some of us really are southern belles.....or hell's belles...whichever! :D but the state is beautiful.....gorgeous beaches, nice weather.......pretty areas of just--nature. :)

huntsville has the space and rocket center, too, which is neato!