131–140 of 225 posts
Nitpick: Allen Iverson is from Hampton, Va. Hampton Roads is a name for the region that includes 5+ cities. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hampton_Roads
Expected Lansing would be Magic Johnson but instead its Larry Page. Magic comes back often and is active in local charities, even leading efforts to raise money for college scholarships. On the other hand Larry Page has to my knowledge never returned or given a dime to local charities. So perhaps that makes people ever more curious about him.
As a resident of East Lansing I’ve often wondered what was the deal with Larry Page never having anything to do with the town. I figured it’s a tradition if you “make it big” to throw money around in your hometown even if it’s purely for egocentric reasons. Is there bad blood somehow?
Who wants to be associated with that?
This is interesting in large part as a demonstration of how bizarre/indefinite the idea of being "from" a place is. For instance, Cambridge, MA isn't headlined by a famous MIT/Harvard academic, or local political figure, or even Neil Gaiman- but instead by Bhumibol Adulyadej, the previous king of Thailand, who was born there while his father was studying at Harvard, and left at the age of 2. Meanwhile, Boston gets Jo…
Another point is that in some parts of the country the concept of “city” breaks down. There is basically no meaningful difference between being from suburban neighborhoods of Glendale, AZ and nearby suburban neighborhoods of Phoenix. (People who are too young to be dealing with water bills, garbage collection, etc. often don’t even know which one they live in). Even the US Postal Service doesn’t necessarily respect l…
Oh what the heck! How does that even work? So the official city you live in is not the city that USPS considers you to live in? If a federal form asks you what city you live in, what do you put down (without committing perjury if there is such a risk)? Do you write something different for state and local governments? And how does one figure out what city they officially live in then? Sorry I have so many questions but this one is just twisting my brain in so many ways!
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OP here. This idea was from looking at this map. https://www.wearedorothy.com/collections/music/products/u-s-...
It’s beautiful, and reminds me of an idea that I had ... hint ... hint. I live in Melbourne, Australia. Idle Googling led me to the discovery that someone had rated – as in on Maps, with stars – a tram stop. A municipal function, a concrete slab, a place you must necessarily and unavoidably go if you want a tram. Rated. People! Crazy. So I want a map that, at the level of ‘Melbourne’, aggregates the Google review for…
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The person for my hometown on that website seems to only have been born there but moved away before elementary school, so I'm not sure how that's really all that interesting.
I grew up in Visalia, CA which lists Kevin Costner, the actor. He was in my high school class in my sophomore and part of my junior year when his family moved away. Although his later fame is what puts him there, we had a Nobel Prize-winning physicist actually grow up there but he never won an Oscar. Seems unfair.
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As a resident of East Lansing I’ve often wondered what was the deal with Larry Page never having anything to do with the town. I figured it’s a tradition if you “make it big” to throw money around in your hometown even if it’s purely for egocentric reasons. Is there bad blood somehow?
East Lansing is best known as the home of Michigan State University which is best known as the school that harbored Larry Nassar while he molested hundreds of american gymnasts. Who wants to be associated with that?
https://msutoday.msu.edu/feature/2018/discovering-the-gold-s...
How do I zoom?
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Another point is that in some parts of the country the concept of “city” breaks down. There is basically no meaningful difference between being from suburban neighborhoods of Glendale, AZ and nearby suburban neighborhoods of Phoenix. (People who are too young to be dealing with water bills, garbage collection, etc. often don’t even know which one they live in). Even the US Postal Service doesn’t necessarily respect l…
> Even the US Postal Service doesn’t necessarily respect local political boundaries. I grew up in Phoenix, close to the Glendale border, and my address said “Glendale, AZ”. Oh what the heck! How does that even work? So the official city you live in is not the city that USPS considers you to live in? If a federal form asks you what city you live in, what do you put down (without committing perjury if there is such a r…