Ambiguous City Names

[Ben114]

Surprised Kingston hasn't been mentioned yet.

There's one in MA, RI, NH, NY, PA, and ON

[Scott5114]

That actually isn't uncommon, largely because of the similarity of "Rochester" to "Westchester", which people do know is near NYC. (And the distinction between a borough and an adjacent suburban county to NYC isn't universally understood.)

No, what I'm saying is that you could get away with this with any city in upstate New York. You could probably convince the average Oklahoman that Utica and Syracuse are boroughs too. Because they just vaguely associate all of that with New York. New York City or State? Aw hell, who cares? Sounds close enough.

Buffalo and Albany are the only ones that you might have a hard time with, because of the Bills and people knowing state capitals.

[GaryV]

Does the average Oklahoman even know what a borough is, let alone know their names?

[empirestate]

Does the average Oklahoman even know what a borough is, let alone know their names?

They probably know better what a borough is than what a Bronx is.

[CNGL-Leudimin]

In the line of the Georgias, I bring up the Congos . Republic of the Congo and Democratic Republic of the Congo. The former is usually referred to as just "Congo", even though the latter is way larger (even larger than Greenland, despite what may appear on a map). I refer to the DRC as "Belgian Congo", even though for a while it had a different name to its neighbor (Zaire).

[Scott5114]

Does the average Oklahoman even know what a borough is, let alone know their names?

I think there's a vague awareness that NYC has "boroughs", and Manhattan, Queens, and Brooklyn are boroughs. They don't know how many there are or what the other ones are. So you could slip in counterfeit boroughs pretty easily.

[1995hoo]

Surprised Kingston hasn't been mentioned yet.

There's one in MA, RI, NH, NY, PA, and ON

Plus the capital of Jamaica, which is likely better-known than all the above. (If I hear "Kingston" without clarification, I think of the one in Ontario.)

[SP Cook]

I mentioned the two Charlestons (West Virginia and South Carolina) in another thread a few days ago. Some people refer to "Charlie West" and "Charlie South" to distinguish.

The Charlie West/Charlie South thing is mostly an Air National Guard thing, picked up on by civilian air line employees as well, relative to the airports.  As I have to use the awful Charleston WV airport a lot, the best practice is to make sure your bags and tickets read CRW for the one in WV, or CHS for the one in SC, as mix ups happen all the time. 

Virginia uses "Charleston, W. Va." as a control city at at least two places, while the other one is not really that close, confusion could occur.

[1995hoo]

I mentioned the two Charlestons (West Virginia and South Carolina) in another thread a few days ago. Some people refer to "Charlie West" and "Charlie South" to distinguish.

The Charlie West/Charlie South thing is mostly an Air National Guard thing, picked up on by civilian air line employees as well, relative to the airports.  As I have to use the awful Charleston WV airport a lot, the best practice is to make sure your bags and tickets read CRW for the one in WV, or CHS for the one in SC, as mix ups happen all the time. 

Virginia uses "Charleston, W. Va." as a control city at at least two places, while the other one is not really that close, confusion could occur.

I seem to recall at least one or two signs on I-81 in Virginia that just say "Charleston." Or at least, I recall that used to be the case–I last went that way in October 2017 (heading to Charleston, actually, en route to St. Louis, via a route that allowed me to complete clinching I-64), so it could be different now.

[sprjus4]

Cleveland, TX - a suburb of Houston - vs. Cleveland, OH

[hotdogPi]

Some other ones in my area:
Dover, NH (much closer) vs. DE (state capital, although the population is not that much larger). MA is in third place.
Bedford, MA vs. NH (equidistant)
Milford, MA vs. NH (also equidistant)
Rochester, NH vs. NY (MN is in third place from where I live)
Likely Gardner MA vs. Gardiner ME, although I haven't heard anyone talk about either one.

[Roadgeekteen]

Some other ones in my area:
Dover, NH (much closer) vs. DE (state capital, although the population is not that much larger). MA is in third place.
Bedford, MA vs. NH (equidistant)
Milford, MA vs. NH (also equidistant)
Rochester, NH vs. NY (MN is in third place from where I live)
Likely Gardner MA vs. Gardiner ME, although I haven't heard anyone talk about either one.

For my area, Bedford MA is more well known. There is also a Rochester MA, but not that known.

[Flint1979]

How about within states?

NJ has 5 Washington Twps (down from 6), and rarely are they referenced in such a way where you can easily figure it out without context.

Seems like the perfect address to live at if you're in the Witness Protection Program.

Personally, I have no idea why you would want to do that to yourselves. Isn't some sort of Postmaster supposed to vet the names to prevent duplicates? Or does nobody care because there's no authority within a township?

Michigan has several instances of township names being duplicated in different counties.  In most cases they have nothing to do with the post office name, unless the township gets so big that it gets a post office to itself, or a community within the township has the same name as the township.

Except for the larger townships that are suburbs of cities, no one knows where they are.  Yet newspaper stories use the township name in the byline.  Ugh.  Where did this thing take place?  Maybe later in the text it will say something like "27 miles northeast of Grand Rapids", if you're lucky.

Grand Marais, MN and Grand Marais, MI. Both are located on Lake Superior at the foot of popular tourist destinations.

Eh, those early French explorers.  They didn't know one big swamp (marsh) from another.

Another name is Presque Isle.  "Hey this peninsula looks almost like an island!  That's what I'll call it."

Saginaw County has Saginaw the city and Saginaw Township. Genesee has Flint and Flint Township. When people see Flint, MI even though it could be in the township I'm sure they think oh it's Flint I'm not going there.

[Flint1979]

How about Pennsylvania, that has cities named after other states like California and Wyoming

... and Indiana, which is actually a decent sized county seat.

New York has an Alabama and a Florida, possibly among others.

We have a Wyoming, MI. It's a larger inner ring suburb of Grand Rapids but I always think of the state when I hear Wyoming.

[TheHighwayMan3561]

There's also a Wyoming, MN which is notable in the roadgeek community for being the northern terminus of US 61. I always have to be mindful of that when posting about that location.

[KEVIN_224]

Every state except OK and a couple others has a Springfield. Most of the time it refers to MO, IL, or MA.

I think CT is one of the few which doesn't have a Springfield. I think 26 states have one. It's part of the reason the city has that name on "The Simpsons". The VT version (along I-91 between Brattleboro and White River Junction) hosted "The Simpsons Movie" when it premiered.

Portland, OR was named for Portland, ME. Portland, CT is on the other side of the Connecticut River from Middletown.

[CtrlAltDel]

Every state except OK and a couple others has a Springfield. Most of the time it refers to MO, IL, or MA.

I think CT is one of the few which doesn't have a Springfield. I think 26 states have one.

As I mention in another post, here's a map of all the Springfields:

[webny99]

Portland ME and Portland OR (there are others, but they are the best-known).

Those two may enjoy the distinction of having the largest size disparity compared to their relative prominence (and eligibility for this thread). Even as large as it is, Portland OR is not universally considered the default choice against Portland ME.

And yet schoolchildren and adults alike, the nation over, have trouble remembering which state's capital is Portland:  is it Oregon or Maine?   

It's neither one... I'm guessing that was the point?

[US 89]

I always have to specify between Green River, Wyoming or Green River, Utah. They're actually surprisingly similar - both are major gas/food stops located where an x0 interstate crosses the Green River. Turns out the one in Wyoming is more than 10 times bigger, but they're more or less equal in the eyes of most people in the Wasatch Front.

[1995hoo]

Portland ME and Portland OR (there are others, but they are the best-known).

Those two may enjoy the distinction of having the largest size disparity compared to their relative prominence (and eligibility for this thread). Even as large as it is, Portland OR is not universally considered the default choice against Portland ME.

And yet schoolchildren and adults alike, the nation over, have trouble remembering which state's capital is Portland:  is it Oregon or Maine?   

It's neither one... I'm guessing that was the point?

That's why he used that smiley.

[formulanone]

Does the average Oklahoman even know what a borough is, let alone know their names?

I think there's a vague awareness that NYC has "boroughs", and Manhattan, Queens, and Brooklyn are boroughs. They don't know how many there are or what the other ones are. So you could slip in counterfeit boroughs pretty easily.

Probably also depends on how much East Coast hip-hop one has consumed.

[Roadgeekteen]

Does the average Oklahoman even know what a borough is, let alone know their names?

I think there's a vague awareness that NYC has "boroughs", and Manhattan, Queens, and Brooklyn are boroughs. They don't know how many there are or what the other ones are. So you could slip in counterfeit boroughs pretty easily.

What about Bronx?

[Flint1979]

Does the average Oklahoman even know what a borough is, let alone know their names?

I think there's a vague awareness that NYC has "boroughs", and Manhattan, Queens, and Brooklyn are boroughs. They don't know how many there are or what the other ones are. So you could slip in counterfeit boroughs pretty easily.

I'm pretty sure they'd know The Bronx as well as Staten Island despite Staten Island being the forgotten borough.

[webny99]

Portland ME and Portland OR (there are others, but they are the best-known).

Those two may enjoy the distinction of having the largest size disparity compared to their relative prominence (and eligibility for this thread). Even as large as it is, Portland OR is not universally considered the default choice against Portland ME.

And yet schoolchildren and adults alike, the nation over, have trouble remembering which state's capital is Portland:  is it Oregon or Maine?   

It's neither one... I'm guessing that was the point?

That's why he used that smiley.

Well, I guess it worked. Because I had to think about it for a minute or two, and even then, I double checked Google to make sure I wasn't crazy.

[kphoger]

Yes, it's like asking people how to pronounce the capital of Kentucky:  is it Lou-ee-ville or is it Lou-iss-ville?  Nope, it's pronounced Frank-furrt.