Your city isn't unique

Stuff that all North American cities have, but we think is special.
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HASHTAGS: #culture #usa #tourism

[@mrtapoutnow]

JJ with more high quality 'tent as usual

[@Evanspar]

The best con’

[@sickboi261]

🍕🍕

[@canadafree2087]

Hipsters who say 'tent are taints. ;)

[@zvismay3164]

@@canadafree2087 hipsters LMAO

[@hikazayanikushi9086]

Oh my gosh… the “Indoor Venice” buildings… thought it was only a Macau thing.. then I saw one in the Philippines then saw a post of someone who went on a vacation in the US and went to a similar one..

[@matthewjohnston8504]

Denny's has always been "America's Diner" but I visited Vancouver and saw the sign on a Denny's said "Canada's Diner". Still not over it.

[@torresmat10]

I can't believe Denny is cheating on us.

[@pg6244]

What??? They can't do this!!!

[@jimmym3352]

That's it, time to boycott Denny's.

[@joelsmith3473]

That reminds me of seeing Oreos in China with their packaging saying something like "China's favorite cookie". They always felt somehow uniquely American but the US slogan was only "milk's favorite cookie". Had this feeling almost like you discovered someone had a second family they were hiding.

[@raiisleep]

This is unacceptable

[@iammrbeat]

The vast majority of local culture is heavily influenced by national culture these days. Even a place like Portland or Austin, which market themselves as "weird," are dominated by strip malls and cul de sacs. Another example are zoos. A lot of people seem to think that their local zoo is exceptionally amazing for some reason, but most zoos, at least in the United States, are quite similar.

[@mohammedsarker5756]

Who considers auston weird? It’s literally the blandest of Texan cities let alone American.

[@masonhaggerty186]

The zoo in Omaha Nebraska is pretty superb though. I wouldn't call it average.

[@masonhaggerty186]

@@mohammedsarker5756 because of all the homeless idk.

[@CallTheOperator]

The fact that I feel an overwhelming desire to defend St Louis Zoo as the best FREE zoo in the US might be illustrating your point. It’s not the BEST zoo, but it’s the best FREE zoo. 😂

[@scaryhobbit211]

Zoos I agree are all pretty similar - with the exception of small city and local Mom & Pop zoos. Theme Parks, on the other hand, are a much different story. Even if they may have similar rides or coaster types - or may be part of a bigger chain, how it all fits together is different each and every time.

[@greatwhiteswag]

Thankfully my hometown still has a very unique little mom-and-pop restaurant called "Cracker Barrel." Tons of local and regional antiques covering the walls, VERY UNIQUE.

[@theweatherdude]

Funny enough, the closest Cracker Barrel to my hometown is the very original in Lebanon, TN (or its replacement…the true original location no longer exists). For at least a short period of time long before I was born, it truly was a unique restaurant before they expanded and became a chain lol.

[@grain9640]

​@@theweatherdude Los Compadres bought the location where it used to be. To honor it's history, they are building what I believe is their 4th restraunt(?) but also adding a gift shop to it called "Tequila Barrel" full handmade stuff, the kind of decorations they have in their store, and goods from Mexico I think that's pretty cool

[@theweatherdude]

@@grain9640 That’s what I read, too. I hope they follow through on the plans. It sounds awesome!

[@rob-merica]

Worth noting that Cracker Barrel does have a full time antique buyer who decorates new stores. So at least the antiques are legit.

[@grain9640]

@@rob-merica Yeah, not like Zaxby's, which instead seems to hire artist teams to create tons of replicas and props, and maybe has a handful of cheap antiques. I looked closely at some framed prints in a Zaxby's once, and they had easter egged the Zaxby's chicken mascot into the vintage looking poster they had framed. It's kind of cool... but not as cool, and not in the same way. looking at all the stuff on the ceiling is the coolest part of going into a Cracker Barrel

[@lukelogan8539]

Noticed almost every city in the USA has a “unique” immersive Van Gogh experience

[@michelleaguilar8361]

i think it’s essentially on tour and it’s only “unique” because it’s the first (maybe not even) time it’s being done

[@urmom-wd1mt]

this is how i find out that it’s not only in my city 😮

[@ajfathi2183]

No it's not unique to one city, its a traveling exhibit.

[@isixqueenxofxmadness]

anyone from out of the USA had this Van Gogh experience? Santiago here, and this year is like the third time they've come

[@jakesapir]

@@isixqueenxofxmadness Apparently, it started in Europe. My source is Wikipedia, though.

[@ericburton5163]

Every city in the South - "We are unique because we are a modern city with microbreweries, cuisines from around the world, an emerging tech hub but we celebrate our tradition like our southern charm, take things a little slower, have manners, the best fried chicken and bbq, but you don't know heat until you experience our heat".

[@jeffersonclippership2588]

There was a tiny bit of time in the late 90s/early 2000s when this was actually true just cause before then every southern city was the same: dead, boring downtown surrounded by church filled, boring suburbs.

[@mariowalker9048]

@@jeffersonclippership2588 People still view the south that way

[@dannyhightower911]

@@jeffersonclippership2588 Nah, not true of late 90s/ early 2000s New Orleans, Savannah, Charleston, Asheville, or Austin.

[@stevethepocket]

This reads like those horoscopes that are clearly trying to be as vague as possible so everyone thinks it describes them specifically but could describe almost anybody because astrology isn't real.

[@GenericUrbanism]

Charlotte, North Carolina in a nutshell

[@matthewbrotman2907]

The “Irish pub”. I am from NYC, which had a large number of immigrants from Ireland, and I grew up assuming that the (many) Irish pubs were an artifact of this immigrant community. Then I went to places that didn’t have a lot of Irish immigrants, and found pubs that were identical in every detail. It turns out that they are sold as prefab kits, so you can set up an “authentic Irish pub” anywhere in the world.

[@sammexp]

Me too, In Quebec city, I thought the same.

[@bradbell4022]

😳Kits!?🤣I went to an Irish Pub in Nairobi, Kenya. It had a hand painted sign with the name and motto in a circle around a portrait of a 'drunk Irishman.' [raised eyebrows] Met some Maasai warriors in the parking lot and we stood back to back and laughed at how ridiculously tiny we were. The Maasai are said to be 'the tallest people in the world'

[@heretolevitateme]

Have you never watched, "It's always Sunny"?!?

[@tjmartin8516]

There’s an Irish pub in every major city because there’s 45 million Irish descendants living in the U.S. and Canada

[@racingphotographer8251]

Up here in Canada there's a chain of "Irish" pubs called Fionn MacCool's. Owned by the same people as Swiss Chalet and Harveys, yuck.

[@JH-pe3ro]

"Keep weird", a phrase that apparently originated in Austin in 2000 and quickly transplanted all over the continent, is a surprisingly common sentiment, one which seems to equate to "we are a college town" in many cases, applying to cities such as Santa Cruz, Berkeley, and Ann Arbor. All three could also to some extent be described as "smaller Portland".

[@RichardFStripeRendezvous]

Yup... I see "Keep Denton Weird" and "Keep Portland Weird" a lot. They're not weird, they just suck.

[@ladead7582]

@@wk8570 uh if i remember the keep Austin weird came about because i guy wanted to remove his trash art and a bunch of middle class white kids throw a hissy fit till he decided to keep it and make money off of them, its if anything its a way to make gentrification for them and justify why their place is highly valuable

[@firmfire2385]

Lol iv seen videos from the late 80s with signs in Denver Colorado saying the same shit, sure it started in Austin? 😂😂

[@landor5138]

lol I remember hearing the same thing about Milwaukee, just after watching Portlandia, just immediately thought, "hol up, we can't just take that line and make it our own."

[@saintnicole3209]

Louisville KY has that too, and i always knew other cities used the slogan, but realizing the extent of how common it is was pretty disappointing 😂

[@Cherri_Stars]

You know who has the worst case of perceived individuality? Summer camps. Everyone thinks their summer camp was so unique, when there's SO MUCH overlap in songs, games, birthday traditions, jokes about the food, etc.

[@brettknoss486]

Camp games are unique enough that adults can't play nostalgicly.

[@diggledwarf]

Similar when you boil things down to some basic elements sure, but did they have the same people and the same schedule and the same slides, and the same bounce house, and the same field trips, etc. etc. etc. You are just looking at it too narrowly

[@SteveRamsey]

"Keep ____ weird" t-shirts and bumper stickers.

[@sreekar5691]

I always see "Keep Portland Weird" shirts at my local Target. I live in Phoenix.

[@yasmingarcia2301]

“Also keep ___a secret” shirts and stickers

[@WaluTime]

everyone saw Portland doing it and started hopping on it lmao

[@MrKalavak]

It originally was from Austin in the 80s because of the University and since Austin was a liberal place in Texas.

[@MrKalavak]

"high oil prices plus savings and loan deregulation created an anomalous construction boom/bust cycle in the 1980s that left Texas oversupplied with housing. But because Austin’s economic drivers are the university and state government, the local economy didn’t really collapse."

[@poompuifoodieinusa4661]

Another one for universities: "when [x] university was being constructed, the campus designers were so smart they didn't make the concrete paths, they just lets students walk over the grass, and then they just paved over where there was no grass!"

[@TheDude4077]

oh my god I definitely heard that one at my school

[@heretolevitateme]

Desire Paths are a common thing in Urban Planning and landscaping.

[@kaziiqbal7257]

But like that seems like a genuinely good way to design paths

[@littleghost6102]

das cool tho... even if it's a common thing, it's still a smart design choice, so they're not wrong

[@essay8634]

I definitely heard this about a college with the implication that said college had uniquely experimented with this method. I had no idea it was a ubiquitous method!

[@SirCowduck]

I distinctly remember seeing a Facebook post about someone's home state that clearly had been taken from somewhere else and had the original state name scratched out and replaced. People still commented stuff like "Yep, that's [state] for you." I had already started realizing a lot of Midwest states had the same kitschy sayings, but that was definitely what hammered it home for me.

[@Thelittlethingsoflife]

I often see places claim as a joke that their “official bird” is the mosquito. As a kid I thought that was a joke unique to my province until I saw it in touristy places when I travelled as an adult.

[@halakon666]

Vegas “official flower” is the construction cone wonder if that’s everywhere else too since most cities are ever under construction.

[@ashevilletrainman6989]

@@halakon666 it is

[@drfrisker]

@@halakon666 seems like a bunch of these are dad jokes so old, they're stale grandad jokes

[@halakon666]

@@drfrisker could be, but I’ve heard it like 5 times in Vegas. Lived in Cali, North Dakota, nevada. About 6-8 different cities… only heard it in Vegas. Hell even Los Angeles never stops their construction, Yet Ive never heard it there.

[@lnejavi]

Im curious - is your province Nova Scotia? I've only heard that joke from someone who is from Nova Scotia

[@bradbell4022]

When I lived in Toronto, it was proudly described as "the most multicultural city in the world." When I moved to London, England, it was proudly described as "the most multicultural city in the world." I found this annoying, but I got an explanation from a British paper: the same London agency was hired by both cities and sold them the same concept, which works because it's impossible to measure

[@Liberperlo]

Yup, heard the same in my native Los Angeles and when I lived in NYC...

[@letsburn00]

What's wild is that I've read quite a few studies that give that prize to Brooklyn. At least before the hipsters took over. Apparently it held that prize for roughly a century

[@victording6698]

And "the most livable city in the world" 😅

[@sagard.yenchilwar1379]

My first response hahaHaHA

[@michaelbcohen]

@@Liberperlo though NYC in America has the more ethnicities and languages spoken than any other city in the US, and one of the most in the world (With the Borough of Queens, being the most ethnicities and languages of any county in the US, my local hospital has signs in over 40 languages, with staff on hand that speak 35, and a webcam service for additional languages. Translators was one of their biggest expenses. They have a nurse who was their only staff who spoke a language they needed, and is paid way more because of it)

[@hydrogen3266]

There is an entire Geoguessr map called “needles” or something of the sort, because now many cities around the world have their own observation tower like the Space Needle

[@taylorphillips7030]

The reason so many cities have a needle like this is because they are used for TV broadcasts. I can only imagine the reason a major city doesn't have a needle is because it is near to one that does. Also, some needles are "hidden" because they are on top of skyscrapers, like on Sears tower in Chicago.

[@dendendelen855]

@@taylorphillips7030 well they could also be the exact opposite and just be completely exposed transmitters in the outskirts, just scaffolding with no tower to hide them

[@hydrogen3266]

@@taylorphillips7030 I’m referring to the style of the tower, like the Space Needle, CN Tower, Tokyo Tower, etc.. I didn’t mean the antennas on top of them, just the long elevator ride up, wrap around window observation area, and the “futuristic” architecture.

[@taylorphillips7030]

@@hydrogen3266 I didn't mean to be argumentative, sorry if my reply came off that way. You are right that there are a ton of cities that have that style, even some smaller ones like Vilnius, Lithuania.

[@hydrogen3266]

@@taylorphillips7030 no it’s okay! I think we both just interpreted “needle” in a different way. What you said was accurate. Have a good day/night/weekend!

[@NausicaaRaine]

I thought everything in this video was obvious until he hit me with the squirrel truth bomb at the end and I was crushed. Damn it...I really thought my college's love/hate relationship with the squirrels and desire to make them the mascot was just us...

[@DetectiveTrupo203]

You got pwned

[@crazydragy4233]

To me that just sounds like city people not knowing how animals work lol 😅

[@fleasy4393]

I mean the squirrels around campuses do act weird, but it's because they're extremely used to dense foot traffic and handouts from people, even more so than your average park squirrel. Speaking of parks, if you want some really insane rodents, try any popular hiking destination at a national or state park. There is very frequently an enclave of aggressively friendly squirrels or chipmunks looking for trail mix handouts at the lookout point. I guess the constant reminders to not feed the wildlife are seen as mere suggestions by enough people that rodent breadlines are just a perennial feature at this point.

[@9andrej6]

The weather thing became a pet peeve of mine while I lived in Vancouver, but with a slight twist. There seemed to be this collective denial of Vancouver's winter climate. Vancouverites would boast about the mild winters and how it "almost never snows", but for five winters in a row during my time there, it would snow hard enough that public transit would crawl to a standstill, busses unable to climb the gentlest of slopes, skytrains stuck for an hour at a time, university exams canceled and delayed. And every single year, I would hear the excuse "well it never snows here, it's no wonder the city isn't prepared!" 🤦‍♂️ maybe I just got unlucky with my winters.

[@chocolatechipslime]

I guess it’s mild based on Canadian standards lol

[@mikehibbs13]

I mean, a few days a year where the snow is bad is nothing compared to other Canadian cities where it's 4-6 months of the year coated in the stuff.

[@TheGuerreroEFG]

Same in victoria

[@stay_puft]

I live in Manchester right now, and the gag here is that it doesn't snow that often and when it does the city goes into a panic and everything shuts down.

[@nwebster84]

I can say the same for Seattle and Portland. And for when it gets hot in all those places. "But you don't need air conditioning!" I think this was just a ploy by sketchy cheapskate landlords to avoid investing in their properties. (And climate change.)

[@jthornburg12]

This may be more prevalent in the rust belt, but everybody in my parent’s generation would talk about how they could get a great paying job out of high school at one the many factories, but their town was uniquely affected by X plant closing, and it hasn’t recovered since.

[@carolthedabbler2105]

Sadly not just a rust-belt thing. Folks in Rochester NY used to be able to keep the same job all their working life, at Kodak or French's Mustard or (later) Xerox. But French's moved away and the other two had major cut-backs in the 80s and 90s.

[@aronchai]

@@carolthedabbler2105 I think of Rochester, Buffalo etc. as part of the rust belt

[@carolthedabbler2105]

@@aronchai -- Yes and no, I guess. I've always thought the term referred to heavy industries such as steel mills (thus the "rust" part), but the Wikipedia article "Rust Belt" does include higher-tech Rochester in its third category (and heavy-industry Buffalo in the top one).

[@MudakTheMultiplier]

To be fair well paying factory jobs haven't disappeared, people just don't talk about them.

[@buckadillafilms]

Unfortunately the is the American experience.

[@Xidnaf]

i remember vividly a few years ago when i was furious and heartbroken to learn that "if you don't like the weather in x, wait five minutes" wasn't a uniquely colorado phrase

[@Anarcho_Ingsoc]

Oh hey, it's that guy who did that thing that one time

[@UpliftedCapybara]

Almost forgot your channel existed! I remember hearing that phrase about the weather in Colorado too. The frozen dead guy is a pretty unique thing for Nederland at least, right?

[@iginheo]

@@UpliftedCapybara No

[@canadacat9329]

Hi Xidnaf

[@neitan6891]

I’ve noticed everyone also says “it’s the only place you can have all four seasons in one day”

[@MikeIzzle_]

I remember reading about fun things to do in every city and every single city said they have “a great craft beer scene.” I’m not sure why cities think beer is so unique

[@dillonmiller956]

When I realized that University of North Texas wasn’t the only school with a legendary albino squirrel that if you saw it was supposed to give you good luck on whatever exam you were headed to, wasn’t unique to UNT, I was kind of let down. It’s nice to feel special, but when you find out it’s a lie, it’s worse than feeling ordinary.

[@TheEudaemonicPlague]

Never heard that one before, but there's a town in southern Illinois that will persecute you into the next world, if you run over one of their black squirrels. Squirrels are everywhere, including my bedroom walls...just can't find the hole they're getting in through.

[@kmackblack]

I’m a local dentonite who went to UNT and I’ve never heard of this albino squirrel! But I’ve read two anecdotal stories in these comments about him.

[@greatwolf5372]

The more interconnected the world, the less unique each city is. I would say New York, London and Singapore are all more similar to each other today than they are to their 1970s version for example. The further back you go, the more unique those cities would have been.

[@georgeiii2998]

Yeah, I'd say Paris is a good example. It used to, say, in the 1920s be a hub of French culture. Not that its stopped being that by any means, but its definitely been globalised by worldwide buildings like McDonald's and such.

[@thatmarchingarrow]

@@Gameprojordan I'm not sure about Singapore, but if you're claiming that cities like London and New York had homogenous populations at any point in recent history then you have absolutely no clue what you're on about. Even more so if you claim that those cities' cultures were derived from that supposed homogeneity.

[@gillypuente1794]

@@thatmarchingarrow Finally someone with some sense

[@rumrunner8019]

No, cities in most of Asia are very different from cities in the West. I've never seen a night market in a Western city, but in places like Taipei or Jakarta they are the norm. I've also never seen a big religious procession with Chinese gods and strippers dancing for BBQ pigs in London or New York.

[@guppy719]

I would say the less unique or diverse everything is in general. I think Universities are often the biggest driver considering the wide range of students they get and how interconnected they are.

[@3of11]

Every metro area in the USA also has: 1) “the weather man everyone trusts” 2) a seedy furniture or appliance place that constantly goes out of business or has a most annoying commercial 3) local personal injury “ambulance chaser” law firms so heavily advertised you cannot escape knowing their catch phrase.

[@racingphotographer8251]

4) places that will pay cash for your gold.... "I buy your jewellery" 5) payday loan places (and bail bonds places in the USA)

[@nslouka90]

And gobs of drug addicts

[@margaretworley1116]

Yup, we have "Better Call Bell" and "Hurt? Call Bert" billboards. I think the weather man is running for Governor, and we have a whole section of town that is seedy tire shops that are probably a front for the cartels...

[@jeffmartin5419]

Note that those lawyers use the same commercials as each other - note how when the firm's name is said, they're not filming the person talking but the (scared) reaction of the evil insurance exec listening. Quite a few of them are hammers, too.

[@lexiwherman]

#2 is actually a car dealership for me, but yeah same thing

[@salviahunden]

Hey JJ! Long time fan, but excitedly this is maybe the first time I think I actually have a specific example I'd love to share about. I live in Texas, and when i was touring different universities in high school to see where I wanted to go, I first went to the University of Texas in Austin. Their tour guide made a huge deal not just about the campus squirrels, but that there was an albino squirrel that had been spotted around campus, and that he's a bit of a local mythical celebrity, talking about him in the way someone would about Bigfoot. They also said that students who see the albino squirrel will get an A on their next exam. That was all good and fun, until I toured my hometown Denton's University of North Texas, where lo and behold, the tour guide said the *exact* same thing. UNT even named their squirrel "Lucky", and after being a student here for 4 years, I can tell you the level of local stardom this albino squirrel has obtained is ridiculous, he's frequently seen in cartoon graphics standing right next to our school's mascot, and is commonly seen as our second mascot! It always cracks me up when people talk about it like it's unique to us. I've only toured schools in Texas so I'm not sure if specifically an albino squirrel is a uniquely Texan thing, but I thought it was really funny, and particularly felt called out when you brought up that part of the video. UNT's Lucky tradition goes so far that the poor little guy usually gets run over once a year and there's a huge vigil set out for him, and the university will "secretly" purchase a new albino squirrel to release on campus. There's even a bar/restaurant just off campus that uses Lucky as a mascot/theme! Really crazy stuff, great video!

[@40ounces]

we also have an albino squirrel (named albie) and I go to school in upstate ny hahaha

[@Commietaku]

The white squirrel thing has got to just be a natural offshoot of the squirrel thing. McGill has Cloudberry (but we also have enough squirrels that multiple Cloudberries have been photographed together).

[@kmackblack]

Wow! I found Denton in the comments. I have lived here all my life, went to UNT and I’ve never heard of the albino squirrels. I’ll have to check it out. Did you know that there’s a local weirdo who walks his squirrel on a leash on the square? His name is cedar. The squirrel. Not the guy. Lol

[@salviahunden]

@@kmackblack hey!! i did not know that, that’s hilarious! and yeah, it’s a newer thing for sure! i started college here in 2019 and didn’t start really seeing lucky until halfway through, he’s a de facto mascot by now! i literally have pins of him on my backpack that i got from the school library. it cracks me up how much the school itself finally embraced him after being more of a student legend for a while. hope you’re doing well!

[@twisted6968]

I found the thing about squirrels particularly interesting. In Florida at my school FAU our thing is mainly crazy raccoons and ducks that both have their own respective fan pages.

[@wynntaylor1]

I remember reading a reddit thread about how "eating things with ranch dressing" was a Midwestern thing. Ranch dressing was invented in California and is common pretty much everywhere in the US

[@Visplight]

Yeah, but midwesterners are uniquely weird about it. Everywhere else, it's just a mildly popular salad dressing and occasionally a veggie dip.

[@wynntaylor1]

@@Visplight it really is more common in california/other states than ya think, it's definitely not just a salad dressing)veggie dip in california. when I was living in Spain with a bunch of other Californians the thing that a lot of my friends missed the most about home was...ranch dressing. I've spent time in the Midwest, it's no more common there than it is in California. It would be just as ridiculous to say Californians eat the most Mexican food, when people in states like New Mexico or Texas eat just as much if not more, depsite what a lot of Californians think

[@Visplight]

@@wynntaylor1 I went to school in CA and dated a fellow student from the midwest. Trust me when I say that their Ranch Dressing Obsession is its own thing.

[@wynntaylor1]

@@Visplight "trust me" says random person on the internet hahaha. I'm actually from California and as i said, spent a lot of time on the Midwest before i moved to Europe. I remember people telling me how it was "so Midwestern" to put ranch on pizza, but we grew up doing that too. I can entertain the fact that more people from the midwest might put ranch on things like pizza and burgers, but to say it's a uniquely Midwestern obsession, i can't get behind that. I have plenty of califonrnian friends that would be very unhappy without ranch in their lives

[@Yahda]

@@wynntaylor1 as someone from the us south I can agree with you, ranch dressing on pizza or wings or anything has taken over the “sauce market “ it’s not a unique thing to one region at all.

[@thekoopaguymk]

One I remember seeing on Twitter a lot is people from NYC insisting that bodegas are unique to them in some way. Bodegas are just small family-owned convenience stores under a different name, and every major city in North America has these. And yet New Yorkers insist for some reason that actually their bodegas are different. As for personal experience, I think this idea that each city has its unique food culture is perpetuated a lot. I'm from Québec City, and while it is true that we have one of the highest rates of restaurants per capita, thanks to tourism, this idea that the food we serve is specific or particular to Québec City is a bit misleading. I'm sure you can find restaurants in Montreal, or whatever, serving the same "unique Québécois flavours, that a lot of the restaurants in Québec City claim to serve. The incessant battle for being the best place to eat poutine, I think, is a good example of this.

[@JJMcCullough]

The "highest rates of restaurants per capita" itself sounds like a cliche a lot of cities probably say about themselves.

[@Croz89]

To a British person like me, a bodega sounds like a fancy name for a corner shop.

[@devenscience8894]

@@Croz89 while I don't agree with the OP that bodegas are mostly just convenient stores (bodegas have fresh fruit and veg, and other grocery store adds), a European style corner shop is exactly what they are.

[@dharmani_youtube]

@@Croz89 everything in Romance languages sounds fancy which in itself is a fun topic @j.j.mccullogh :P

[@Croz89]

@@devenscience8894 Don't convenience stores in the US have fresh fruit and veg? Usually there's a small stand even in the smallest places. Perhaps not at a petrol station, but certainly something standalone.

[@DetroitBORG]

I would say road design and laws are the one thing that seems different from city to city. The “Michigan Left” is the one thing we find confuses the hell out of visitors.

[@fffrrraannkk]

I've lived in Michigan all my life and I just learned about the Michigan Left a couple years ago after having to drive to the Detroit area every day. At first I didn't like it, but it's grown on me. Now I prefer it in heavy traffic areas.

[@taylorphillips7030]

Sadly, those can be found in lots of places in the US. I have a couple pseudo-"Michigan Lefts" near me in Wisconsin, and true "Michigan Lefts" can be found elsewhere.

[@petemartin6270]

these have been cropping up in Minnesota and the first time i used one i was like "what is this; these traffic designers have lost their minds", but they're kinda just sketchy roundabouts.

[@stedman8778]

The funniest thing for me is when I first left the state I hated not having Michigan lefts. I didn't understand how to make the turns.

[@dedicatedspuddler7641]

At least we still have the unique claim in Metro Detroit of being north of Canada, even though JJ just destroyed all our illusions of uniqueness with this video.

[@ikkue]

As I'm born, raised, and still live in Thailand, this will be about Thailand! So I used to go to school in the Thung Khru district of Bangkok, which has a very famous road named "Pracha Uthit Road" running through it, which in turn made the neighborhood known as the "Pracha Uthit" neighborhood. "Pracha Uthit" in Thai literally translates to "People/Citizens Donated", as in the citizens of the area gave the land to the government / royal family for infrastructure purposes. Growing up, I thought that there was only one "Pracha Uthit" road and area in Bangkok, but I later found out that there exists 4-5 others spread throughout Bangkok, like Huai Khwang or Don Mueang. Because the name literally signifies that it was land given to the government by the citizens, it's no surprise that it's common elsewhere as well, but it didn't click in my head why it's called that until I was older. The Pracha Uthit I'm familiar with just so happens to be the one most people (who doesn't particularly live near any of them than the other) think of first when thinking about the name.

[@carterpalek5694]

I’m from Vancouver but am reading this from a hostel just off Pracha Utit rd where I’ve been living for a few months. 😂😂 Small world -mai

[@starbrite526]

It's funny you listed 96.7 KISS FM, in Austin. It actually use to be a locally ran Top 40 radio- KHFI in which the local personalities would travel around to school pep rallies and be really big in community. The personalities and station were so popular they had produced a calendar every year that was highly coveted. And this was in the 90s.

[@JoshValdez1996]

I understand that most radio stations wouldn’t be alive anymore if not for iHeartRadio but I still think they’re theworst thing to happen to radio. That didn’t happen only in Austin, and it wasn’t always KISS FM replacing a top-40 station. A lot of places had their local stations replaced by others and those that lasted became bland shells of their former self.

[@starbrite526]

@@JoshValdez1996 Oh for sure. As someone who listens to radio still and for the for the most part hears the sterilization of corporate radio (because it's easier to get task done with the same familiar music in the background to me), that's the part that really hurts, especially when talking to those still in Austin and we can visible see and hear the change of what type of music we use to hear, in terms of variety. Especially since now corporate radio only sticks to a few categorized genres with music that is popular enough to tune into but also depending on the station fit in with the sound, so that they can spend less on licensing for music. That's why those "we play anything" stations are also popular too for them to own- just a hodge podge of songs already played on the most part, on other stations.

[@NfidelNet]

Growing up in Lakeland Florida in the 70s, we had a Red Lobster (and it was great back then). I always assumed it was a big national chain because as I grew up and traveled, there always seemed to be a Red Lobster wherever I went. Later on I found out that the one we went to growing up was the first and only one back then. The Red Lobster and I spread our wings and crossed the country together. My town did have a special place but I never knew it.

[@gregorysteffensen3279]

This is how I feel about growing up in the early 2000s with Five Guys (funny enough, one of the first outside of the DC area was in Lakeland!)

[@hotlocalbabes]

I hope you have moved far away from Polk County by now, seeing as it's just a cesspool of idiocy.

[@ALuimes]

@@gregorysteffensen3279 I thought Five Guys was a small Toronto chain...

[@ledubois6]

My grandma lives in Lakeland! 😊 I never knew Red Lobster began there 🦞

[@JJs_playground]

@@ALuimes hahaha.. funny you say that, I thought Five Guys was a small Ottawa chain. Lol

[@shireenisanokapi1142]

I'm Indian, and I've seen autorickshaws often appear on city merchandise and memorabilia targeted at tourists, for several Indian cities. The funny thing is that autorickshaws are a common form of transport all over asia and several other parts of the world too, but cities seem to like to use them as if they're unique icons for their particular place.

[@xdizzle0460]

Those started to pop up in Mexico more the past decade and I guess the rest of Latin America but we call them Mototaxis

[@kll8550]

@@xdizzle0460cool name

[@NaownHibink]

In Malaysia, those auto-rickshaws often appear as a cultural icon of India, at least in movies.

[@cadenmonk8172]

In guatemala we call those tuc tucs :)

[@marcello7781]

I read once that rickshaws were "invented" in colonial times by the colonial élite or something like that.

[@ourtube4266]

Cleveland has the opposite with one of its traditions. We have a “clam bake” which is a Fall tradition, sort of like a Louisiana crawfish boil. I was surprised to find out that not only are we the only place outside of the east coast to have a “clam bake” but that our version is distinctly different from the New England tradition. I found out when I joined the army and nobody but my Boston friend knew what I was talking about, we completely disagreed on what a clam bake looked like.

[@-jank-willson]

Are they freshwater clams from the Great Lakes, versus saltwater clams from the Atlantic that Boston uses?

[@DondarfSnowbonk]

What I learned from this video was less that my city isn't special (it isn't, I knew that when I moved here) and more that JJ had a very sheltered idea of what was unique to Vancouver.

[@cly_]

Was? It all went away?

[@LynetteTheMadScientist]

See, having grown up in the woods, I assumed the opposite. I assumed that all big cities basically have the same stores and services and when I started living in cities I found it somewhat inconvenient that there were so many differences

[@sid2112]

I got my ass back to the woods. Those people are useless.

[@AslanKyoya1776]

The first time I heard the saying "Don't like the weather, wait 5 minutes", I was in Colorado and from my experience it actually has meaning there, but then again I grew up near LA, which is one of the few places where you do not ever hear this saying as it is one of the most meteorologically uneventful places on the planet.

[@quintessenceSL]

I've actually seen it snow in Colorado in the middle of summer (granted, high elevation).

[@CiabanItReal]

I grew up in the bay area, we have a kind of rainy season in "the winter" and a short spring, but it's mostly summer conditions.

[@Kinloo_Kills]

As a native Coloradan, I can say this is 100% true... but maybe it is like this other places? This video made me question everything! Haha There are many days you will wake up to it snowing and below freezing, by lunch time it is completely sunny and blue skies... and then can switch between the two later on in the day. Colorado can be cold and snowy but it is also one of the states with the most sunny days. Now with global warming it was literally snowing at the end of May this year-- so that's cool. (EDIT-This is out in the city, not up in the mountains)

[@AslanKyoya1776]

@@CiabanItReal My dad grew up in Alameda and told me you could get away with having no heat or AC since the temperature was usually 50-80F

[@CiabanItReal]

One thing that is unique about LA is how bad the traffic is, I've been to lots of cities, and lots of them complain about traffic, and I just shrug at it. No LA is uniquely bad.

[@OutOfYourVulcanMind]

Driving around California years ago I realized that every city had the same street names recycled in every location. I would be interested in comparing the aesthetic of streets by the same name, noting any similarities. Locally, just in my city, the exact same clusters of businesses are cut and pasted repeatedly in every direction. And menus for “ethnic” restaurants all feature the same dishes, which tastes the same because it is all mass produced by the same food distribution company, no matter how mom-and-pop you thought it would be.

[@ASMRGRATITUDE]

Yes. Ever noticed that most cities group the same stores together? Like for example Kohls and ULTA and Ross and bed bath and beyond all in the same strip... And if you go into a mall anywhere in the US 90% of the stores are the same.... 90% of restaurants all purchase from a distributor named SYSCO so that's why so much of the food tastes the same. And lastly yes I totally agree and have always wondered why are the streets name the same darn thing in every city. Why can't people be creative? Elm street, Michigan Ave, Boston, Oak, and Maple, High street, Water, Front, MLK, Lincoln....boring... apparently it was a war effort to confuse invading troops?????

[@Lawrence330]

@@ASMRGRATITUDE *Sysco, but 100% on everything else.

[@ASMRGRATITUDE]

@@Lawrence330 I just corrected my typo. Thank you. I was sleepy when I typed that all out. I think it auto corrected.

[@gusterposey]

I think the entire western US applies it's roll-through stop sign logic to Californians. Every state I've been to I've heard people complain about California drivers. My anecdotal evidence backs it up too. In California stuff that you'd totally get pulled over for in Nevada is just normal driving.

[@kmacdizzle]

I’ve heard the rolling “stop” referred to as a California roll here in Michigan lol

[@alise6813]

They can't pull you over if it's just the driving culture and everyone's doing it lol. Californians sometimes complain about out of state drivers going too slow or not being aware of what's going on around them (not having defensive or aggressive driving skills) though it wouldn't surprise me if that isn't unique to California

[@colin2608]

When I was learning to drive I did one of those rolling stops and my driving instructor said it’s illegal and called it a California stop this was in Arizona

[@mikachu317]

Alabamaian here, always heard it referred to as a "California Roll" or as my one friend called it "No Cop, No Stop"

[@shrimpflea]

As a California resident since 1981 I can say that this is true for the most part. Except me. I never do that.

[@ascottbrooks]

As a young adult who grew up in the suburbs of a red (conservative) state, friends and I would often fantasize about moving to a blue state where everyone would agree with our views. After living in multiple cities in multiple states, both red and blue, it's become very obvious that ALL suburbs/rural areas lean conservative and ALL urban areas lean more liberal. This should have been obvious from looking at an election results map by county, but for whatever reason I think a lot of people still believe "everyone from California is a democrat" or "everyone from Texas is a republican."

[@danielmorton1606]

This has been an interesting interplay though. It makes sense that people come together based on economic similarities, but it's had an impact on culture as well. While parties were always more south/north in the US, the rural vs city dynamic has come to dominate. As a result, we see the confederate flag pop up all over the US.

[@Croz89]

I think there would be small exceptions. A high flying urban financial district would lean right, and a rural eco-commune would lean left.

[@travissmith2848]

And the challenges and opportunities each setting has makes it such that the solutions for one may well cause more problems for the other. Two things make up that "everyone from California is a democrat" or "everyone from Texas is a republican.": population weight (does the city have more people in total than the country) and who is the loudest.

[@daerdevvyl4314]

Ralphie Actually the wealthy are turning more left wing, especially in the tech industries, and the lower middle class and working poor are becoming more conservative. As for the “eco commune” thing, it’s generally the people farthest removed from the environment in large cities that talk about the environment the most.

[@Gammera2000]

@@daerdevvyl4314 I don't think that's particularly true. Tech elites like to espouse progressive views, but they aren't left wing. Hell, half the time they don't even practice what they claim to preach. It's all just capitalist bullshit.

[@fishtigress3134]

Once saw a drawing for a generic European city where just about every major city is split by a river, has local landmark church(es), some cobblestone path near the city center, big chain stores like Lidl, possibly a public tram system of sorts, a boulevard & parks, small bars close to each other, cafés of varying fanciness from casual to high-class historical place, Functionalist/Soviet-style Brutalist concrete blocks for affordable housing, old town left over from a big fire, possibly a very distinct railway station, ethnic restaurants, possibly an American-inspired business district (glass high rises) and so forth. There may be some narrow roads from the past and in recent years there's been ever more need and want for more accessible cycling & walking paths. Distances between cities & towns are generally less longer than in NA but there are some exceptions within Europe. Local river may or may not be some shade of brown due to muddiness. Parking can be a nightmare. City has either a fancy old-style main city library or a more (post-)modern take on a library building. Local flea market, a funny plastic junk store with possibly overpriced snacks to amuse the tourists and young people etc. The map I'm thinking of was made by Malachi Ray Rempen in 2018, "Map of every European city" from Itchy Feet comic. He also has an "every American city" version of the same concept.

[@Duck-wc9de]

That's why I find Lisbon its own kind of european capital. The river doesn't cut it because its too big, the Downton is the pombaline grid, no business district, and soviet style districts/poor areas are the rest of the city because portuguese are poor damn it!

[@elsaluvsnutella]

just searched these up- its hilarious

[@himesilva]

Y’all have soviet style blocks in Western Europe?

[@hellethomsen8786]

@@himesilva Oh yes. Cheap concrete housing looks more or less the same all over the world

[@Random_UserName4269]

You just described an East Coast American city. Congratulations.

[@justlookatmybutt]

My college also mythologized the squirrel problem, even claiming some long-gone founder from the 19th century imported squirrels to campus to make it more unique (which implies they were foreign to central illinois at some point??)

[@saintnicole3209]

my university has an obsession with our white squirrels. they used to be a common image used in university press and club logos and were on a lot of our university merch. i was extremely disappointed to find out that white squirrels sightings are a common occurrence on most college campuses due to the lack of natural predators making the white fur mutation more common.

[@salviahunden]

the funniest part of this is if this was any other part of the internet i would be 100% sure this was taking about UNT, but now i'm realizing just how prevalent the college albino squirrel legend is

[@John_F_Ketamine]

Inversely I was shocked to discover that peanut butter was uniquely American, while living in Prague I found it in the “ethnic section” and the label was a personified peanut with a bandana flag and cowboy boots/hat, the backspace was reminiscent of the Mojave, often biscuit spread was the replacement

[@carloscarlin114]

Peanuts are native to South America, the Aztecs and Incas ate something similar to peanut butter before the arrival of Europeans but the modern food was popularized in the US for sure.

[@gravitymonkey9300]

as someone allergic to peanuts this is a big reason i love visiting europe. north americans put peanut oil on so much its almost stupid.

[@cvrator]

Mcennedy brand perhaps? thumbs.dreamstime.com/z/kiev-ukraine-september-peanut-butter-pieces-crushed-peanuts-glass-jar-brand-mcennedy-close-up-kiev-ukraine-158423927.jpg

[@jvjjjweitzel153]

Lemonade is also weirdly not international

[@Seth9809]

@@jvjjjweitzel153 Lemons are from Asia and are a mixture of like two or three fruits.

[@joeleblanc]

Another thought: every city since at least as far back as the 2000s has a heavily gentrified neighborhood that will have some sampling of these: a third wave coffee shop, a used record store, a brunch place, a microbrewery, a niche bookstore, a boutique store, a dive bar, a small music venue, a sushi place, or “a local institution.” Bonus points if the neighborhood name includes “district”, or starts with “The”. These all may be locally owned businesses and even one-offs at that, but it’s roughly the same stuff you can get in every other gentrified neighborhood.

[@AgainsaidBen]

Or ends with "-town". I'm thinking Corktown in Detroit or Easttown in Grand Rapids.

[@joeleblanc]

@@AgainsaidBen I may have thought through the businesses in one of those two “-town”s when writing this comment 😂

[@gavinmccormick3658]

Kensington and Inglewood in Calgary both check every single box lol

[@TarenNauxen]

Extra bonus points if the neighborhood has some obnoxious faux British spelling with unnecessary silent E's

[@joeleblanc]

@@TarenNauxen “pointe” 😂

[@2lostbikes]

My college here in the US had a tradition of taking lunch trays from the cafeteria and using them to sled down a nearby hill when it snowed. Thinking back now, this is probably common to most colleges and universities that are in areas that see regular snowfall.

[@TheOnyomiMaster]

Did you go to Cornell? 😮🤪

[@JoeBergy122]

Amherst College?

[@mundanestuff]

UofR?

[@pdfbanana]

lmao everyone commenting different colleges proving their point

[@technojunkie123]

As someone who has researched different US cities pretty extensively I kind of already knew most of these points, yet I still disagree that cities are all homogeneous. Or at least the really famous North American ones (like LA, SF, NYC, Boston, etc.) still do have a lot of unique characteristics. However I think a lot of the smaller, less historic cities do tend to feel the same, especially due to how car orientated they are

[@-jank-willson]

**cough** _charlotte, Cincinatti, Reading, Hartford_ **cough** ...

[@libertatemadvocatus1797]

Every city is unique in a way, but that uniqueness is usually the unique mixture of things you'll find elsewhere. For example, a lot of cities were built in a way that reflects how developed they were at a particular time. Like there's a reason why Boston, Newark, New York, Hartford, and Baltimore have a lot of similarities. Most of their growth occurred at a certain period of time so the urban planning and architecture of those cities have a lot of similarities. Likewise, a lot of the Sunbelt cities look very similar. So instead of thinking "Oh, this city is completely unique" the best why to think of it is the geography, climate, layout, architecture, and demographics might not be completely unique, but how the come together makes it unique.

[@janmelantu7490]

A lot of these “just our city things” are neither one city nor every city, but far more regional than most people expect. I never heard the “winter and construction” joke until I moved north from Texas to the Midwest. Because it never freezes in Houston, construction can happen all year round because the water in concrete won’t freeze. Also, we never really had potholes to fix because no road salt. And people do legitimately drive differently in different places, but only regionally. The biggest cities usually have more unique things about them, while smaller cities are almost always incredibly similar within their regions. Youngstown Ohio and South Bend Indiana are very similar. But also iHeart Radio is a shockingly large, relatively new monopoly. They bought up a bunch of radio stations in the late 90s and early 00s.

[@moabfrican2]

Concrete work can be done year round, additives are used so that dosent happen in below/around freezing temps. Used to do foundations. Maybe its the cost, idk.

[@brenolelis1883]

I'm Brazilian and I thought very much like your comment. Especially because São Paulo and Rio are very much like New York and Boston in distance, relationship between the two and population. But they're so much different from each other lol. Climate, drivers, expressions, breakfast, the smaller cities that surround them, etc.

[@landoflogic107]

One difference I’ve noticed from region to region is that the architecture often is somewhat different in different areas of the US. It’s most noticeable if you’re from the midwest like me and you go out to California or Arizona. Buildings look a lot different, mostly because of climate.

[@essay8634]

I think your point about the radio is really important.

[@timothytorigian7932]

Salt doesn't cause potholes.. it's water seeping into the road and then freezing and expanding.

[@willg9106]

I love it when the opposite of this happens. There's this soft drink that's stocked everywhere, even as a mixer in bars. I thought for the longest time it was a multinational brand, turns out its tiny and the factory is 8 miles from my house...

[@bcat010]

I also fell for the trap of thinking The Old Spaghetti Factory was a one of a kind place. I grew up in St. Louis and the OSF in St. Louis is located in a historic part of the city, so credit for OSF for playing into that. I sure got fooled.

[@Lawrence330]

Same. St. Louis is well-known for its Italians (like Chicago and New York/Jersey, I suppose), so it made sense to me that Old Spaghetti Factory was foundational to the city or something. I just looked it up, they were founded in Portland. Strangely, that's one city that I *didn't* associate with Italians. 🤦‍♂

[@TheSameYellowToy]

I'm also from the STL area, (usually went to the Chesterfield location instead of the Laclede's Landing location though) and I never thought it was local, because the paper menus always listed each of the locations on them.

[@bcat010]

@@TheSameYellowToy it wasnt until i learned about the chesterfield location that i found out its a chain

[@sdot5389]

LOL. Hilarious.

[@shrimpflea]

Same here. From Newport Beach, CA. I was fooled too.

[@hebneh]

I am positive that every location in the world that constructs some major piece of infrastructure or transportation system has a loudmouth group of citizens complaining that it’s behind schedule and preposterously over budget which is making this location the laughingstock of the country, while also claiming that when [blank] built a similar thing, they did it in half the time at half the cost, and we can’t do it because of our bloated and inefficient local government which is full of crooks taking bribes.

[@ChadKirk]

Are you from New Orleans

[@hebneh]

@@ChadKirk Nope, but that's the point - everyone thinks their own city has the biggest problems with bribery and stuff like that.

[@amberbydreamsart5467]

A hilarious international example; I was shocked and extremely annoyed when I moved to Manchester, England, to see Canada Geese among the parks. I thought Canada Geese would, obviously, be a North American phenomenon and I could be free from them.. turns out they're an invasive species in Europe. Sorry y'all!

[@dirtrider88]

yea but where were they either first found or originated from. im sure theres a reason for the naming linking them to canada. just because you dont know everything and you only know one thing doesnt make the one thing you know the only truth.

[@boogsavvy]

I have a creek in my city where some geese live, chased my mom one day lol

[@bromleyareshite6555]

Why manchester, youve got so many better cities in the uk

[@unknownPLfan]

Canada Geese are actually indeed not native to Europe and yet you'll find them both in the UK and continental Europe because aristocrats 300 years ago thought they'd be fun to hunt. When they're not in North America they tend to not migrate like they do in Canada and the US.

[@changedpace9169]

@@bromleyareshite6555 there isn't a single good city in the UK

[@onebackzach]

I've found in several cities I've visited there's a "Mid City" that's extremely similar. Basically it's a working class area that was built up prewar and has been disinvested/neglected, and now it's becoming gentrified with the old brick storefronts turning into microbreweries, moderately expensive restaurants, boutiques, etc.

[@collicou]

Is it a thing that this area of the city is often 'east-cityname'? It is for Vancouver and London UK but I'm sure about other places

[@melody3741]

@@collicou its just the entirety of durham in NC

[@rmay7]

@@collicou So, apparently prevailing winds in North America and Europe typically blow from west to east, which did actually make it that the eastern side of cities were either more industrialized (to keep industrial age pollution away), or just the poorer side of the city.

[@collicou]

@@rmay7 huh! interesting

[@Lux2]

Every city has certain ones. In San Diego... East Village.

[@bryerTuck]

My favorite is the "If you don't like the weather in (city), just wait 5 minutes." In the book The Sportswriter, one character says this to another and he responds with "They say that everywhere." After reading that I noticed that, yeah, everyone says that about their area.

[@matthewsinger]

There's homogeneity of variation among cities as well. Take, for instance, local restaurants, bars, breweries, etc. This seems to be a trend that is cities across the US (and Canada) are embracing. But the menus seem to be the same with subtle variation. Lots of steak and burger places. Breweries all tend to offer a similar experience. Differences in flavors seem to be regional, which might make your city somewhat distinct from a city in another region, but not distinct from other cities within your region. There are still some cities, mostly smaller cities and towns, that lack a foodie culture. But for those that are developing one, it's hardly unique.

[@itsROMPERS...]

It's not a mystery, it's what makes money.

[@ziad8947]

I attended the University of Waterloo, and it was a part of the culture to complain about our unique problem of Canada geese overpopulation. The one time I was talking to my brother who attended Western University, and he kept going on about how his school has a unique Canada geese problem and how they should become the school's mascot, a phrase I had heard at Waterloo countless times 🤦‍♂️

[@Egilhelmson]

We have the same problem of Goose Grease on the front yard of our yacht club. We must be on the migration path to you.

[@spnsuperheck]

Remember to thank Mr. Goose today

[@NerdSpartanPerson]

I attended Queen's and have friends who have attended U of T and U Ottawa, it's the same thing at every Ontario university to claim Canadian geese as our own lol

[@composedreamgames1919]

Confirmed, same thing at UofT Scarborough. (Not at Ryerson that I noticed however, too urban with "normal" car traffic through it.)

[@88marome]

I'm in Sweden, Europe and people always complain about geese, even "Canadian geese".

[@luxembros6791]

My friend’s mom went to NYC and when she told people she was from Wisconsin, they asked if knew what a crosswalk was and how it worked.

[@JJMcCullough]

Lolll

[@jake2011rt]

Ah, good old coastal elitism. Imagine thinking that people everywhere else are dumb and backwards just because they don’t want 11 million neighbors.

[@Alex_Plante]

My parents lived for a year in New Jersey in the 1960s. Someone asked them if there were any universities in Canada.

[@jeffersonclippership2588]

@@jake2011rt people in the country are dumb and backwards tbf

[@henriquemelchiorgomes8750]

@@jake2011rt they can't have 11 million people as neighbours because no one wants to live there

[@namuzed]

That radio thing was my first experience realizing some of my cities culture was outsourced, especially the celebrity interviews where it sounds like our local DJ is interviewing the celebrity, when in reality they're dubbed-in. That said, I live in Montreal so there are some cultural oddities I don't see in other Canadian cities

[@kleko]

Had to double check if my towns local truism is actually true, and yes I live in the European city with the largest amounts of rainy days (between 156-248 rainy days based on cut off point)

[@fluffyfluffykatz]

I have a veeeery specific Mexican example. I'm from Monterrey and growing up I would hear this van that sold sweet pastries (pan dulce) on the street, and they play music on a loudspeaker so neighbors would come out and buy bread, kind of like an ice cream truck. But the music they played was a kind of campy and silly song from a classic Mexican movie: "el panadero con el pan". Anyway, I grew up thinking that this was a quirky thing from my neighborhood, and then was disappointed to realize that in fact bread is sold with this music in many parts of Mexico.

[@ericktellez7632]

It’s pretty much common all over Mexico

[@Saintacy]

I wouldn't be surprised if in the US the icecream truck borrowed this from Mexico. Tbh mostly when I experienced and icecream truck as a kid was in a US area, bigger city that had a larger Mexican population.

[@thecolorcake]

They also have this in my city. I’m from LA

[@michealdrake3421]

I have a video clip of an ice cream truck slowly driving down a suburban street, blasting a recording of one of Hitler's speeches instead of music. I'm guessing that hit was planning on quitting.

[@FizzyCape]

im in san diego and we have quite a few of those guys in every suburb

[@elzbthlncstr]

speaking of the squirrel thing though, when I went on college tours about 5-6 years ago, I visited 12 schools and over half of them had a tour guide that mentioned "we have a squirrel watching club, and a squirrel watching club watching club" as a way to prove how quirky they were

[@devonbuckingham4795]

I always heard about the number of a cappella groups, a happiness club, and a building that looks like Hogwarts.

[@aaronhilliker7566]

@@devonbuckingham4795 yup, especially the dining halls that "look like Hogwarts"!

[@gregorysteffensen3279]

Strangely, my campus never had the squirrel thing going on (we did have a pair of twin cats and a family of skunks)

[@smoov22_sonic]

I do tours at my university and I’m now worried to wade into this comment section and learn how similar our script is to other school’s scripts lol

[@gabriell.4440]

@@aaronhilliker7566 or the library

[@UnspokenOldOne]

Every city I'm familiar with has its "second city". These are cities that are usually nearby, slightly smaller, but otherwise near identical to their more famous counterpart. This is usually the city that locals go to to do local things and have fun as the famous city always ends up covered in tourists. I live near Seattle and our second city is Tacoma. It's just a smaller and more compact version of the Seattle experience.

[@brusacoram1990]

When bands or artist say on stage your cities crowd is the best and they are so glad to be back.

[@bugnut4432]

Or when they say "oh come on you guys sound like Nearest City"

[@WanukeX]

The “Blaming Bad drivers on the community next door, particularly over ethnic stereotypes” is absolutely true in Toronto, with the standard joke being to blame bad drivers as being from Brampton (A Suburb that is Majority of Indian Decent).

[@bonemar66]

If you're in Ottawa, all the bad drivers come from Gatineau, or maybe Nepean depending on the license plate.

[@amelialonelyfart8848]

Yeah, we had that issue in my hometown (Trinity NC) except with Mexicans instead. Luckily it's died down somewhat but still remans

[@alexanderboldt5937]

Working in Europe too. Living in Hamburg, blaming bad drivers from Pinneberg.

[@kulanshkhurana7432]

I live in Brampton and my mom blames all the bad drivers on students

[@M4niacks2]

Weird, in Montreal we know (or at least think) we drive like madmen, but we blame outsider for driving "too slow".

[@rattrap1009]

Coming from Ohio, something that a lot of Ohioans like to be very ironically proud of is our conservative Christian billboards (the most famous of which is probably one that just says “HELL IS REAL” on the interstate between Columbus and Cincinnati which I regularly see on t-shirts and postcards) when in actuality, weird conservative Christian billboards are fairly common in every single Midwest or middle American state. This isn’t really something people feel is unique to their city, since these mostly appear in rural areas, but I think it’s still an interesting example of people feeling something is unique to their location when it’s actually extremely common.

[@BradPrichard]

Ah, but do the non-Ohioans have the huge Jesus hands that got struck by lightning and lit ablaze? Eh? EH!?

[@popemon7608]

Yeah, those are all over Texas. Same slogan too.

[@murplesauce]

Ohioans? Is that what you typically call yourselves? Not Buckeyes?

[@BradPrichard]

@@murplesauce I have never referred to myself as a Buckeye. Doesn't mean no one does, but seems like maybe a bit of an old person thing?

[@buckadillafilms]

Same for south Gerogia. There's a clear line of demarcation around the GA/FL line.

[@annieno6848]

A horrible dating scene is something that every city thinks it uniquely has, but I suspect dating just sucks. I live in atlanta and can’t tell you how many memes about the dating scene here I’ve seen.

[@keard558]

Assuming you're female from your name, Atlanta supposedly (news article I'm not from there) has more single females than males than other major cities. So your city may actually have a uniquely competitive dating scene for women. Congratulations unfortunately 😘🎉

[@bentucker5438]

Not sure if this totally counts but when I moved out of Minneapolis I was surprised to see the sheer amount of Thai restaurants in other places. I just thought Minneapolis had a bunch of them.

[@keard558]

Minneapolis has a big Hmong and somali population not Thai and most of them are like calling taco bell authentic. The most popular Amazing Thailand is overly sweet Americanized food but if you like it no big deal but that ain't Thai

[@toomanyopinions8353]

Fun fact for you, the abundance of Thai restaurants across North America was genuinely a marketing ploy by the Thai government. This is not a conspiracy theory, you can look it up. It's wild.

[@justsamoo3480]

Well that’s because the Thai government wanted to increase tourism so they trained a bunch of chefs to make similar dishes and sent them to many Western countries. That’s why there’s a ton of thai restaurants in about every city you go to and also why their food taste’s the same.

[@Ianmccor]

I've noticed many cities seem to think being on a river is a defining feature of the city's geography when the vast majority of cities are located near some kind of river.

[@zachdavisson6110]

Yeah it's almost like water is a vital natural resource we use for agriculture, transportation, and manufacturing. Not to mention needed to survive.

[@weebleman6]

That doesn't mean the river isn't a defining feature of the city's geography

[@njkauto2394]

@@zachdavisson6110 Ew what modern city uses that water for anything else than drainage.

[@buckadillafilms]

Jacksonville, FL 😂

[@78489789676658754335]

Charlotte was actually not built on a river

[@f_youtubecensorshipf_nazis]

"Don't like the weather, wait 5 minutes" I have traveled this country for years, lived in 11 different states and visted countless towns and cities. Everyone says that and everyone thinks it's unique to their town.

[@DavidOliveriMcGovern]

That's how I know if a person isn't well traveled. I travel full time for work and meet new people every week, every week someone will tell me this.

[@MK-jq8ow]

If someone says that in San Diego they deserve to get slapped

[@RepubsWannaMarryKids]

@pyropulse Las Vegas and much of SoCal are just essentially desert, it is either 100 degrees and sunny out or maybe a tolerable temp and cloudy, and even rarer rain... definitely doesn't change every few days. Also I grew up near Chicago, there are four distinct and obvious seasons there.... To pretend that that doesn't exist is also foolish

[@thelight3112]

@pyropulse I mean it kinda does that in England.

[@Winterascent]

Agreed, and it is never true, either. It is a dimwit's expression.

[@Kreschnav]

I actually had the exact opposite revelation a few years ago. There's a small restauraunt chain around the Savannah, GA area named Carey Hilliard's, which I always thought was a big national chain, but they actually only have about seven locations. I only found out once I moved out of the area.

[@Lawrence330]

About 12 years ago I moved to Virginia and couldn't find my favorite chips. They didn't have White Castle or Jack in the Box, and IHOP was more prevalent than Denny's. After 12 years, I made new favorites, then stupidly moved back to the midwest. Now, the midwest doesn't have my beer, my chips, my favorite sushi chain, my favorite grocers...but don't worry, Old Spaghetti Factory is a national chain (despite me growing up thinking it was a one-off local place). 🤦‍♂

[@theanatvig7829]

I'm from West Des Moines, Iowa, and growing up, I always thought my city was so uninteresting and boring because it fell prey to strip malls and cookie cutter houses like any suburb. The skyline you see in the endcard is Des Moines, the closest "major" city to me as It's a five minute drive to downtown from where I live and the city border is about five blocks down the street. I couldn't apply most of these trends to DSM, aside from the weather meme, i continue to find new and unique things to like about it.

[@koenigvonbayern]

Here in Germany, especially in the southern parts, a lot of towns tend to have their own beer brand. Unfortunately in most cases the local brewery was at some point bought by a much bigger brewery that just sticks a different label on their own beer to mask it as local.

[@Jack-fw4mw]

The same is happening in the US. Lots of local beers are being bought out by Anheuser Busch (Bud Light) and then production gets moved to their facilities for national distribution. I am talking Goose Island (Chicago), Karbach (Houston) and Elysian (Seattle).

[@deanchur]

I can remember a claim being made about the state I live in in that it's the only city in the world where Coca-Cola is outsold at lunchtime (by a local drink). The company that makes that drink is owned by a larger out-of-state dairy company, which bought the smaller company that labels the drink from Kirin (aka the Mitsubishi conglomeration).

[@LordSluggo]

@@Jack-fw4mw I was so sad when Goose Island was bought out. I could taste (or lack thereof) the difference immediately

[@PenitusVox]

I also like the opposite of the 'old spaghetti factory' situation. There's a chain of fast food restaurants around here that I assumed were a national chain... Turns out that they pretty much only exist in my county.

[@juliesrail6886]

Pancheros in central Iowa :)

[@solisglacies3183]

Pal's Sudden Service, northeastern TN (and a couple locations in southwest VA). As a kid thought they were national like mcdonalds and bk

[@jonspectre1103]

I have a pizza restaurant in town that I assumed was a national chain because their business model is so clever. They don't have an actual location and instead operate out of another restaurant's kitchen.

[@wiiztec]

papa ginos

[@bigchad9255]

Apparently they don’t have culvers outside the Midwest?

[@celebalert5616]

People in cities are like: oh yeah our city is built over *the tunnels* , I guess that is just a specific coincidence that happened in our particular city ( every city is like this )

[@JJMcCullough]

Oh god, yes.

[@videopsybeam7220]

Do the Catacombs of Paris count as an example of this?

[@jerrywood4508]

I once heard a city council member going on and on about a waterfront redevelopment project that was unique and an example for the nation of reclaiming our neglected parts of the center of the city. All I could think was, "you need to do a little traveling, my friend."

[@JAXONcreed]

For me, it's food halls in historic buildings. I used to think that Atlanta's Ponce City Market (a food hall located in an old Sears distribution wearhouse built in 1925) was a unique gem of the city, but then I started to visit places like Reading Market in Philadelphia or Chelsea Market in New York City. It made me realize that historic food halls are less of an oddity unique to a city and more of the natural result of market forces. It's much easier to monetize a massive historic industrial building inside a major populated area by stuffing it full of vendors than keeping its original purpose.

[@heretolevitateme]

A lot of that is remnants of a city that grew up industrialized but before the adoption of the automobile--you're looking back into a very different world. Also, there has to be some survivorship bias for the largest of these facilities in any given city.

[@haysdixon6227]

I had a similar experience as you with visiting Ponce City Market and then traveling to other similar buildings in the US (and a couple reasonably similar things in Korea this summer)

[@johndavenport2847]

I thought of Reading Market as soon as I started reading your comment lmao. They may not be unique but they are often quite nice. also Pike's Place Market is kinda similar but has a couple of unique little things

[@drsmit]

Not sure about Reading Market, but both Ponce City and Chelsea Market were both redeveloped by the same management company, Jamestown Properties

[@racingphotographer8251]

like St. Lawrence Market in Toronto.... although in fairness, at least these places mostly have local food purveyors and not national chains. Give it time... eventually the billionaire Weston family here in Canada will own all the food businesses.... gotta have them PC Optimum points EVERYWHERE

[@boogsavvy]

One thing I'm still unsure about, is something called Christmas Tree Lane. It's just a normal street of houses, but during December it's kind of renamed "Christmas Tree Lane" and everyone on the street decorates their houses more than the usual person. I saw someone on twitter explain the exact same concept, also named Christmas Tree Lane. Either he is from my city or it's a common thing edit: after a simple google search, I think it's not very common but a few other California cities do this, and we stole it.

[@EriniusT]

There are multiple Christmas Tree Lanes in my city

[@Ishtars_Star]

also from california and this did exist in my neighborhood. people would drive down it slowly to view peoples decorations.

[@Josh-lq9ii]

I think a lot more cities have at least one. I've seen one in Cincinnati and Cleveland. Every Christmas, I've seen others on my news feed from other cities. It may have a different name but it is always a street or cul-de-sac where most of the houses are overly decorated. Except that one house that does not decorate. They just put up the word "ditto" in Christmas lights.

[@estahbear]

I thought it originated in SD as many people say it originated there, but never thought it was a unique concept as many neighborhoods have a Christmas Card Lane of their own, or have tried it one year. Never heard it been referred to as Christmas Tree Lane, but I'm not shocked.

[@GeneticallyModifiedSkeptic]

Great one as usual, Wacky Timothy. Growing up in the Dallas/Fort Worth area of Texas, I frequented barbecue joints that the area was “famous” for. When I went to Tennessee for the first time, I found that Memphis and Nashville were “famous” for their barbecue as well. On trips to Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, the Carolinas, Alabama and even New York, I found that they all had cities which were “famous” for their barbecue. Turns out that barbecue is just a broadly American thing. And before anyone asks - Yes, this betrayal is the reason I’m vegan now.

[@michaelbcohen]

The regions with famous BBQ seem to be all below the Mason-Dixon line. You mention NY, NY doesn't have any unique BBQ style, but rather copy other regions, nor are we famous anywhere in the state for our BBQ, we may have a few BBQ joints across the state that are individually famous, and well regarded, but slow smoke is not as big up North. New York State is the home of the Buffalo Wing, NY Style Pizza, and a hot dog culture (with different regional variants across the state, or even different boroughs in NYC), which is what we are famous for.

[@lelandunruh7896]

Ok, but brisket is the king of barbecue, and only Texans and Jews know how to prepare it properly.

[@chuck1804]

How can you tell if someone is vegan? Don't worry, they'll tell you. 😉

[@janmelantu7490]

Yeah but barbecue in different places in different from each other. Carolina bbq sauce is very different from Texas sauceless bbq

[@NadaEspamo]

@@lelandunruh7896 If it doesn't oink, it isn't barbecue.

[@addemac5353]

I usually take the opposite stance, that the city I Iive in is "normal," and I am sometimes pleasantly surprised, or disturbed, by the things I discover are unique about it.

[@triggerfinger2611]

honestly i thought this was the most common stance to take, this video was a crazy perspective switch for me

[@leorkoubi4626]

@@triggerfinger2611 ditto

[@qepdqepd5612]

The every city saying “we have 2 seasons” thing is funny to me bc in Boston the joke is “we’re one of the only cities with 4 seasons” lol but we also make the same “our weather is so crazy jokes” bc we’ll go back and forth from like foot of snow to 70 degree weather back to a foot of snow week to week sometimes

[@DanielSzilagyi]

Hey J.J it’s been many a year since I’ve seen you! I remember way back when we were doing some design work together I believe. Good points in your video, lots of things in most cities isn’t unique, hell half of all the Vancouver bars are owned by the same people just under different names!

[@heartheartheartheartheartheart]

I love how in every small city there's a small beer factory that produced "the best beer ever" as locals says but every time it's just a normal lager.

[@DJVexillum]

Local breweries are a good thing though, unless you like the swill produced by MillerCoors, Budweiser, Labatt's, Molson's, etc...it's not an option soda drinkers have, aha

[@heartheartheartheartheartheart]

​@@DJVexillum Idk, beer is beer, whatever who produced it, how much it costs or smthg. It's taste like beer and it's or good or not. But about soda it's diiferent. Not sure if local sodas even a thing in northern america, but I miss many of cheap but tasty drinks from childhood since I moved to another region of my country.

[@jayteegamble]

C'mon now. It's always IPAs or sours. Very few microbreweries take the time to make lagers.

[@Kastor774]

@@DJVexillum someone never had Jarritos

[@DJVexillum]

@@Kastor774 I've had Jarritos. But it's not a local product, it's another mass produced soda.

[@ericBorja520]

I imagine the squirrel thing is because college campuses are big wide giant grass fields with trees and safe from cars as opposed to the directly surrounding areas which may be more concrete and developed. They also have a unique food source in the form of human's trash and I would imagine additionally humans have a hand in deterring many predators, especially during the day.

[@WILD__THINGS]

Absolutely. And a bunch of people who haven't been around squirrels enough to know they're always acting squirrely.

[@binkbonkbones3402]

I love squirrels. They're adorable bundles of chaotic neutral energy, and I want to be the squirrel lord

[@Saintacy]

I'm pretty sure that ithere is a uni in Louisiana that has alligators so squirrels are more likely to go missing, aren't seen as often as the alligators. Houston has a uní downtown, mostly concrete area, but along the Bayou so alligators is the mascot but rarely any alligators.

[@finnrummygaming]

The squirrels and deer on college campuses are always surrounded by people walking and therefore they are not afraid of people. I’ve gotten much closer to deer and squirrels in college than I ever would on my suburban-ass car-dependent street.

[@raziphaz2219]

i saw a squirrel fucking up some iced coffee it found in the trash at my college

[@AmyFerguson]

You should do this for places around the world. Those are the ones that really get me.

[@heavenshaffer]

I like how you ended the video with a shot of my hometown Des Moines.

[@downtownblue]

In addition to squirrels, I am impressed how many universities feature a sinking library because architects didn't account for the weight of books! Never mind that the weight of the concrete or structure vastly outweighs the weight of the people and books, and if anything, weight problems would first lead to the floors' cracking rather than the whole building's sinking. (It is worth noting that I heard a riff at Tulane in New Orleans where the library, being on piles, is static, but the whole city is sinking, instead.)

[@JJMcCullough]

Yes! And the campus tour guides always say it as this great laugh line.

[@LiveFreeOrDieDH]

My university just moved most of it's books underground - problem solved!

[@MegaKoutsou]

This is the case in my University, one ocean over from North America hah

[@MK-dr7dx]

My old campus didn't have a sinking library so much as a patchwork library. The original early 1920s library proved to be too small as the university attracted more students and needed more reference materials, so additional areas were tacked on over the decades, made in completely different architectural styles. The original exterior wall of the library is now an interior wall on one side of the building, and the areas added in the 60s and 80s have floors that line up vertically with each other but not with the original building, requiring a very confusing and specialized elevator system. The end result is a hard-to-navigate, surreal space full of design elements that are completely at odds with each other, and while I eventually got used to it, for the longest time I felt a sense of unease being there, as though the library had not been built by or for human beings, but was rather the result of procedural generation gone horribly wrong. Is it common for college buildings to be a mishmash of new additions to old structures, or is this just a my college thing?

[@stevethepocket]

@@MK-dr7dx Not the library (which was built in the '80s, I think, and still had plenty of room to grow into the space it was using for offices and study rooms when I was there in the 2000s), but one of the oldest buildings on my college's campus was added onto in every possible direction except up or down whenever they needed more room and is now an absolute maze of mostly-identical mid-century malaise. It contains a random assortment of offices, classrooms, and a way-too-small theater that _used_ to be the multistory library.

[@jamesonhampton9805]

When I was in college, I thought Buffalo had a "unique food truck culture" After I visited some other cities, I determined we had a pretty normal food truck culture, haha

[@jstarASMR3103]

Omg I go to Temple University and we have the blue light system, and I totally believed that this “commitment to safety” was unique to us lol💀😂 loved this video! Would love to see more content like this from you.

[@Zeoxis6]

The squirrels one got me, that actually is something I thought was unique to my campus... Guess I should've figured if they can be humanized in one place, they can probably do it elsewhere.

[@finneganmanthe8984]

Sometimes it works the other way; in Oregon there’s a service stop chain called Plaid Pantry, basically like 7-11. It’s such a generic place that I always assumed it was national. Absolutely nothing in the store would give you any indication that it was a regional thing.

[@murplesauce]

Yes! I was here for this comment. Local grocery store chains is what shocked me about visiting other cities. What do you mean they don't have a Kroger? Sure the big chains are prevalent but that had me thinking they were all prevalent.

[@panspermiapancakes]

Yeah, here in Michigan we have Meijer which is a supercenter (and gas stations) and I was surprised it was unique to my state because they seem to be everywhere in our state but they have expanded and became a mid-west supercenter. While they may be unique in name, owners and locations, there isn't really anything unique about them. They are basically Walmart's. lol

[@ChaiKirbs]

Oregonian here, just learned something new today! thanks haha

[@murplesauce]

@@panspermiapancakes Meijer is wayyyy better than Walmart

[@Xyrofen]

Like others responding to you, I never realized I never saw Plaid Pantry whenever outside of Oregon.

[@RobertJamison]

I went from college to a consulting job where I travelled a lot internationally and was seriously disappointed to discover that most big cities are essentially assembled out of the same corporate brand kit. I used to have a collection of Outback Steakhouse photos from around the world, which I would weirdly encounter everywhere I went. My favorite was in Sydney…

[@Liberperlo]

I check out McDonalds to check for any local variations. Australia has the Aussie burger with a fried egg, and Jerusalem has the world's only Kosher McDonalds- no cheeseburgers.

[@victording6698]

But there are "hungry jacks" in Australia, and PFK in Canada (well, that part of Canada where people call it Québec)

[@Tolyuhh]

there's an Outback Steakhouse in Sydney? I lived there for 18 years and had no idea... Seen the Gold Coast one, though

[@victording6698]

@@Tolyuhh I’ve been to the one in Penrith, though not everyone agrees that it is part of Sydney 😅

[@matthewegan103]

Pretty much every University Ad is exactly the same. Diverse students, someone doing lab experiments, ballet or dance, people sitting on grass talking, voiceover about exploring your future, sports, wearing a Tshirt that says grow.

[@havenludwig9569]

There’s that small-town “historic Main Street” thing that you see just about everywhere! While there might be some local history actually present like a museum, the aesthetic is roughly the same. Also, I thought kissfm was just a Milwaukee area thing in middle school. I’m curious to know if any other university has Canadian geese instead of squirrels- the geese have their own Facebook page and everything.

[@thegrassguy2871]

Aren't those most common on the east coast?

[@KaijinD]

Having lived all over the United States as a kid, I caught on to this pretty early. Every place thinks it has uniquely "soul crushing" traffic or the belief that big rain storms "split apart over the city and merge afterwards. That's why we never get good storms." The radio one is big for me. You listen to the cringeworthy sketches like "second date update" and you notice only the local DJs reference local landmarks and restaurants while the "callers" use generic replies when referencing local stuff.

[@KaijinD]

Add on to my own comment. There are some chain places that are really concentrated local/regional. In Nebraska, we had Runza - a store selling Volga German-immigrant inspired pocket sandwiches filled with beef and cabbage. in West Virginia, we had Tudor's Biscuit World. They make breakfast biscuits, and they do it very, very well. No matter how closely I am watching my eating habits, I can't resist a Tudor's breakfast sandwich when I am visiting.

[@6-4crusader55]

In my town basically everything bad about traffic, prices, hunting and fishing yields, and pollution can be blamed on the mystical ‘Californians’. For example, people always say they did a California stop when they roll through a stop sign

[@Seth9809]

Let me guess, you're a rural town and you live in Arizona. People in Arizona blame everything on either Texas or California.

[@6-4crusader55]

@@Seth9809 nope! Try very north of that

[@soupwitch8453]

@@6-4crusader55 Montana? I swear Montanans don't do anything other than complain about Californians

[@6-4crusader55]

@@soupwitch8453 very slightly west of that

[@rabiosas6473]

WA state?

[@juliecarnevali5534]

This is so crazy but so true. I always thought Dairy Queen was a Boston thing growing up and then traveled and live in Texas now and they just change their slogans depending on the city basically. I know that’s like a small naïve thing to recognize but you highlighting these other things it all makes sense now lol

[@Travoid]

I've gone to two different colleges that had white (albino? Leucistic?) squirrels running around, and both communities were particularly proud of them. Both had at least a little merch based on them, and there was even a pub named after them.

[@FloridatedH2O]

The funny thing is that even in places with very stable weather like Seattle, the "wait 10 minutes" joke still doesn't die. The goalposts just shift and "slightly less rain" starts to count as a significant change in the weather.

[@danrobrish3664]

One difference I noticed is that in Los Angeles, the joke was that we had no weather at all. Months and months of sunny and mild.

[@stephancox9105]

Idk anywhere else other than Seattle where the rain is so constant that the locals call it "Liquid Sunshine".

[@canadian7530]

@@stephancox9105 Vancouver, BC

[@stephancox9105]

@@canadian7530 Practically down the street. lol

[@OkieOtaku]

If I remember right, that line was popularized by Will Rodgers to describe Oklahoma

[@catsrmylyf]

I'd be curious to see a video about "suburban/small town monoculture" too. I guess people are more likely to assume suburbs are monocultural than cities, but I grew up in a suburban town that prided itself on being a uniquely "picturesque small town." Off the top of my head, one example is the "historic old town area w/ railroad history & an antique mall." Although I know not *every* suburb/small town has this, and specific details differ, overall that origin story is incredibly common (especially in the west; I grew up in Oregon, US). "It was all farms/lumberjacks/pioneers out here until The Big Railroad Station arrived & brought Opportunities & Growth." I have to admit that I have no clue how common it is East of the Mississippi, because I haven't traveled much out there, lol. I suppose it's probably more of a "regional/west" thing. But I've seen it everywhere from South Dakota, to California, to Alaska, to British Columbia, with surprisingly small deviations in the "railroad/pioneers/gold rush" themes. And always at least 1 antique mall nearby.

[@Malvikins]

It's the same in southern Ontario, so I imagine it's a pretty common NA thing. (Don't forget the Old Water Mill! 😃)

[@ViviSectia]

It's almost the same in the small Long Island town I grew up in except for the antique mall. The closest one is in Brooklyn though there's plenty of antique stores that are much closer.

[@AdorableAdorer]

I took my friend to the airport in Detroit last week and not even 5 minutes away there was a Falun Gong billboard next to the highway and it reminded me of your video

[@0n3MindSpinning]

Thanks for this, I knew I wasn’t crazy when I discovered this in my travels lol

[@64imma]

2:10 actually i had a similar experience. My family is from Wisconsin primarily. Whenever I would visit, I'd notice a ton of piggly wiggly grocery stores in nearly every city. For many years, I assumed that piggly wiggly was a wisconsin specific grocery store. Only like 2 years ago did I in fact learn that not only is it NOT an exclusively wisconsin chain, its actually arguably a bigger deal in the south, where it was actually founded as the very first self service grocery chain

[@takotaw8453]

huh, also from wisconsin and i thought that as well lol.

[@distantsalutations9120]

Piggly Wiggly is the best grocery store experience imo. It feels so much more cozy and far less clinical and alienating than Walmart

[@inwalters]

@@takotaw8453 That's weird. I'm from the South and if you had asked me I probably would have identified Piggly Wiggly as the quintessential Southern grocery chain, even more so than Winn-Dixie. Some people in the South are embarrassed by Piggly Wiggly because to them even the very name seems to promote an image of Southern bumpkin-ness.

[@robertlarson7224]

I'm just now finding this out. Definitely thought it was Wisconsin only, or at least Midwestern only.

[@aaronstanley6914]

Lol thought piggly wiggly grocery stores went bust in the 1950s. Only know the name because of its history of being the first self serve grocery stores.