Am I the only one who felt like they were in the photo round of trivia night looking at the unlabeled heat maps?
Maps Reveal the Difference in How Cities Are Perceived by Tourists and Locals
21–30 of 105 posts
Re: Maps Reveal the Difference in How Cities Are Perceived by Tourists and Locals
#22Living 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…
> Accidentally hearing what tour guides tell to groups about locals and their traditions is another story.
I have a bit of an extreme-anecdote about this from the late 90s. I had a friend who was working part-time as a tourist guide while studying international relations. He normally gave people an accurate description of things, but one day, IIRC on account of being frustrated with the tourism company that hired him, the described a nice downtown square as "This is Plaza , in honor of an important 19th century artist".
On the flipside, I live in a semi-touristic district myself, and I often find people taking pictures of some architectural detail, which in turns makes me look at it, and realized I had been walking by the place without really looking at it until then.
Re: Maps Reveal the Difference in How Cities Are Perceived by Tourists and Locals
#23It’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.
Probably because tourists are generally awful to be around.
Re: Maps Reveal the Difference in How Cities Are Perceived by Tourists and Locals
#24Earlier quoted context omitted.
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…
Your story reminded me of my experience with my stepdad.
I grew up hearing his descriptions on every conceivable historical event, and I was amazed of how much he seemed to know about everything. At the time I felt that he was truly knowledgeable, and I couldn't even conceive of knowing even a fraction of what he knew.
Then, when I grew older, I finally asked how he managed to know so much. His response? Laughingly, he told me that he made a lot of educated guesses on how things seemed to him!
That was a decisive formative experience for me: so that's how he pulled it off? Now I'm much more relaxed with the degree of detail I can know about things, and I also take what anyone is saying at any one moment with a saltier dose of skepticism. We're all humans after all, and telling tales is deeply rooted in our natures.
Re: Maps Reveal the Difference in How Cities Are Perceived by Tourists and Locals
#25[deleted]
Re: Maps Reveal the Difference in How Cities Are Perceived by Tourists and Locals
#26For 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.
"Anti-natalists"? That's a real weird flex. Surely it isn't that areas that aim to bring in the young and the creative are taking into account that kids cost money nobody's got.
Re: Maps Reveal the Difference in How Cities Are Perceived by Tourists and Locals
#27Regurgitated content from more than half a decade ago. Here is the direct link with all you need to know: https://www.flickr.com/photos/walkingsf/sets/721576242091586...
(Click "show more" for the description with is more verbose and honest than the aggregator spam submission).
Re: Maps Reveal the Difference in How Cities Are Perceived by Tourists and Locals
#28Earlier quoted context omitted.
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…
Your story reminded me of my experience with my stepdad. I grew up hearing his descriptions on every conceivable historical event, and I was amazed of how much he seemed to know about everything. At the time I felt that he was truly knowledgeable, and I couldn't even conceive of knowing even a fraction of what he knew. Then, when I grew older, I finally asked how he managed to know so much. His response? Laughingly,…
Are you my stepson?
Re: Maps Reveal the Difference in How Cities Are Perceived by Tourists and Locals
#29Living 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…
I grew up in an area that had a lot of tourism (Stratford, ON). I always thought it was strange that people would travel so far to visit.
Now when I go home I see the city through new eyes and it really is a charming place. It feels like it would be a really nice place to live. When I did live there, I couldn't wait to leave.
Re: Maps Reveal the Difference in How Cities Are Perceived by Tourists and Locals
#30I feel like this is applicable on a smaller scale than tourist/locals as well. I have lived in the same place in the same city for 7 years now and I have almost never been to any of the good bars/restaurants close to me. I'm always surprised when friends who live other places in the city recommend me places that I've walked past a hundred times in my neighborhood but never went into, and vice versa. I wonder why it is like that. I don't have a good answer myself.