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Maps Reveal the Difference in How Cities Are Perceived by Tourists and Locals

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Re: Maps Reveal the Difference in How Cities Are Perceived by Tourists and Locals

#11

Post by mr_crankypants »

blaser-waffle wrote: post #4
throwwwawayyyy wrote: post #3

As someone who lived in Paris for many years now, it's fascinating how the city has sort of three identities: 1. What outsiders think it's like 2. What they see when they encounter the city as tourists 3. What the city is like for a local You'd say this is true for any city but Paris in particular has concentrated so many stereotypes together that it's almost comical to see people's attitudes yo-yo so dramatically in…

I'm reminded of Paris Syndrome, which is phenomenon common with the Japanese, where they assume Paris is something it is not, and get angry and frustrated upon visiting. https://grapee.jp/en/99643 I'd say similar things about Texas, DC, and NYC, for that matter.

Watching it happen can be quite a slice-of-life event. One guest who wanted to see my city's Chinese neighborhood was rather bitterly disappointed upon seeing it. "But it's just like any other neighborhood, only the convenience stores have Chinese signs in the windows!"

Pointing out that they also sell red envelopes wasn't much of a consolation.

Re: Maps Reveal the Difference in How Cities Are Perceived by Tourists and Locals

#12

Post by close04 »

iagovar wrote: post #10
wruza wrote: post #7

Living in semi-touristic district, it’s funny to see how locals views differ from tourists. We have a special term for it: local resident syndrome. It’s when someone asks you if there is something interesting to look at here, but you don’t know, despite living here since forever. Well, I can show you where that expensive nightclub is on the map, does it count? I also see people making selfies with decorative street e…

That happend to me too. They take photos of stuff that I didn't pay attention to. Maybe I should take a tour guide of my own city, since there's a lot to see apparently. Anyway, those maps could also be that way because locals try to avoid tourists. It's not a big deal where I currently live, but it is very annoying in Barcelona, Madrid, etc, that kind of places. Not only because touristy places become pricey or ther…

Maintaining the same level of curiosity about your city that a tourist has is a challenge. You "just" live and work there, it's hard to get excited about your own city.

Some years ago I tried to be a tourist in my own city and basically treated my weekends like going on a city break as a tourist (helped that it was a city of several million inhabitants and some centuries of history, so it had some potential). I discovered some really wonderful places, sometimes right next to the streets I drove on every day for work. That made a difference for me in how I looked at the city and made my life there just a bit more content.

Re: Maps Reveal the Difference in How Cities Are Perceived by Tourists and Locals

#13

Post by llamathrowaway »

jmkd wrote: post #9

For London it's fascinating to see the highest density of local photography mostly east, with a particular hotspot in Hackney. It seems to support the stereotype of it being a more creative area. I'm sure a dataset more recent than 2010 would amplify this further.

I would not call it creative these days, because I don’t find those hipster beards, soul-crushingly loud factory-feeling restaurants and bars, and new shinny unaffordable residential developments designed by anti-natalists (hence no space for families) creative at all.

It should be purple on the map if the data is more recent.

Re: Maps Reveal the Difference in How Cities Are Perceived by Tourists and Locals

#14

Post by sfkdjf9j3j »

wruza wrote: post #7

Living in semi-touristic district, it’s funny to see how locals views differ from tourists. We have a special term for it: local resident syndrome. It’s when someone asks you if there is something interesting to look at here, but you don’t know, despite living here since forever. Well, I can show you where that expensive nightclub is on the map, does it count? I also see people making selfies with decorative street e…

Ha, I have the exact same experience. I live in a very touristy neighborhood and often get asked for directions to local attractions and landmarks. I usually have to get out my phone and look up directions despite living here for more than three years.

I also see tourists photographing my apartment building all the time. It's not really anything special to me, just an early 20th century walkup with a brick facade on a street of similar buildings. But I guess I'm numb to the charm of it because tourists seem to love it.

The tour guides are pretty funny too. I'm pretty sure at least half of what they say is completely made up.

Re: Maps Reveal the Difference in How Cities Are Perceived by Tourists and Locals

#15

Post by maaaats »

sfkdjf9j3j wrote: post #14
wruza wrote: post #7

Living in semi-touristic district, it’s funny to see how locals views differ from tourists. We have a special term for it: local resident syndrome. It’s when someone asks you if there is something interesting to look at here, but you don’t know, despite living here since forever. Well, I can show you where that expensive nightclub is on the map, does it count? I also see people making selfies with decorative street e…

Ha, I have the exact same experience. I live in a very touristy neighborhood and often get asked for directions to local attractions and landmarks. I usually have to get out my phone and look up directions despite living here for more than three years. I also see tourists photographing my apartment building all the time. It's not really anything special to me, just an early 20th century walkup with a brick facade on…

My dad in his youths was a tour guide for bus trips from Sweden down into Europe. He has admitted he made up lots of trivia about the castles and stuff they passed.

He is a history buff, though, knowing "everything" about every king and fight the last centuries in Europe. So I think what he told would be plausible and rooted in truth. But makes me wonder about the stories he told me as a kid, before smart phones that could rebuff his tales.

Re: Maps Reveal the Difference in How Cities Are Perceived by Tourists and Locals

#17

Post by Angostura »

iagovar wrote: post #10
wruza wrote: post #7

Living in semi-touristic district, it’s funny to see how locals views differ from tourists. We have a special term for it: local resident syndrome. It’s when someone asks you if there is something interesting to look at here, but you don’t know, despite living here since forever. Well, I can show you where that expensive nightclub is on the map, does it count? I also see people making selfies with decorative street e…

That happend to me too. They take photos of stuff that I didn't pay attention to. Maybe I should take a tour guide of my own city, since there's a lot to see apparently. Anyway, those maps could also be that way because locals try to avoid tourists. It's not a big deal where I currently live, but it is very annoying in Barcelona, Madrid, etc, that kind of places. Not only because touristy places become pricey or ther…

> Maybe I should take a tour guide of my own city, since there's a lot to see apparently.

I've done that accompanying friends around London. It's interesting, fun and I highly recommend it.

Re: Maps Reveal the Difference in How Cities Are Perceived by Tourists and Locals

#18

Post by Angostura »

hprotagonist wrote: post #5

It’s always fun to quantify this. I can say that for certain I avoid the tourist things in my home city and my current adopted home city. I cannot remember the last time i was near them, actually.

But why? Tourist sights are tourist sites for a reason. The Tower of London is swarming with tourist, but its still genuinely fascinating. If only for Henry VIII's armoured codpiece.

Re: Maps Reveal the Difference in How Cities Are Perceived by Tourists and Locals

#19

Post by ghaff »

This was particularly cool when Eric Fischer first put these up on Flickr because smartphones were fairly new and it was such a great example of teasing interesting data/visualization from data that people were recording essentially incidentally.

Google Flu Trends was also a hot topic around the same time although that turned out to be a lot less effective than it initially appeared.

Re: Maps Reveal the Difference in How Cities Are Perceived by Tourists and Locals

#20

Post by darrenf »

close04 wrote: post #12
iagovar wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That happend to me too. They take photos of stuff that I didn't pay attention to. Maybe I should take a tour guide of my own city, since there's a lot to see apparently. Anyway, those maps could also be that way because locals try to avoid tourists. It's not a big deal where I currently live, but it is very annoying in Barcelona, Madrid, etc, that kind of places. Not only because touristy places become pricey or ther…

Maintaining the same level of curiosity about your city that a tourist has is a challenge. You "just" live and work there, it's hard to get excited about your own city. Some years ago I tried to be a tourist in my own city and basically treated my weekends like going on a city break as a tourist (helped that it was a city of several million inhabitants and some centuries of history, so it had some potential). I disco…

My gf and I started a project to spend a day in each borough of London, a couple of years ago. Originally we were aiming to complete it in one or two years, but life got in the way; it's paused at 16 out of 33 right now. I'm a born and bred Londoner in my mid-40s, and in the course of this (despite only being halfway through) have been to so many places I'd never visited - we research interesting cultural, historical, and alcohol-vending places to visit beforehand and it's ludicrous amounts of fun.
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