How Other People Stereotype Your City

I always find it really fascinating to find out how people from different places can perceive the same things so differently. And especially how people from other countries, regions, and cities perceive my city, region, and country – what they focus on, and what things stand out in their mind. In other words – people’s country, region, and city stereotypes.

For years – it has always been an interesting conversation to have – but finding out stereotypes has always been anecdotal. But last year – Renee DiResta had the brilliant idea to apply something that we all use everyday – Google AutoSuggest – to find out US State Stereotypes (you can see that post here).

Here’s the same methodology used on the top 50 US cities (by metro area population) to get the top 4 to 5 city stereotypes of each.

Just FYI – Google Auto Suggest works by using the most common and trending searches to auto-suggest the rest of your search. So when you go to Google and start typing in a search, Google uses other previously searched for terms to try to guess what you are looking for.

So, for this experiment, the search “why is CITYNAME so” will auto suggest the terms that people most commonly (or most recently) are using to complete that search. That search is like a window into what people are actually thinking and trying to find out about your city. Here they are in descending order of population (#50 to NYC).

Just to be clear – the images are from Google. They are not my perceptions. They are made up of what people actually search for.

50. Salt Lake City

Yes – I confirmed that Salt Lake City is the most smog-choked cities in the US. And yes, they do have absurdly wide streets.

49. Buffalo

Alas, I didn’t have any other pre-conceptions about Buffalo. This is going to be a theme among all the rust belt cities.

48. Birmingham

Apparently Birmingham is important (ie, people who slept through the Civil Rights part of history class?) – and I can totally confirm that it is quite ugly. There are definitely beautiful parts – but I-20 and I-59 really mess things up.

EDIT: That link refers to Birmingham, England. Here’s a picture of Birmingham, Alabama. 

47. Raleigh

Yes – Raleigh is growing that fast. Not sure about the boring part.

46. Hartford

I had no idea about this one.

45. New Orleans

Yes, New Orleans is all of those – but is coming back from what I hear.

44. Richmond

Expensive?

43. Louisville

That fits from what my sources say – it’s a great city, but no one knows quite why.

42. Oklahoma City

Oklahoma City is riding on the coattails of the Oklahoma City Thunder and Kevin Durant here.

41. Memphis

This seems to be a theme among America’s third-tier cities.

40. Jacksonville

Why smoky? The Okefenokee Swamp.

39. Milwaukee

Apparently the last 2 actually fit. It’s cold – it’s nearly in Canada, and it is highly segregated.

38. Providence

Sorry Providence, not enough people cared enough to Google anything about you.

EDIT: Some Rhode Islanders have helpfully pointed out that their state is so small that Providence and Rhode Island are basically synonymous.

37. Virginia Beach

I had no idea Virginia Beach was the #37 metro area in America. Seriously. I would say they need to work on their branding, but it’s the headquarters of America’s Navy, so I don’t think they want the publicity.

EDIT: I have learned that this is a metro agglomeration similar to the Inland Empire that encompasses Virginia Beach, Hampton Roads, Norfolk, and Newport News.

36. Nashville

Looks like the same theme as Louisville – but hotter.

35. Austin

Ok, I think Austin wants to fit in with its stereotypes.

34. San Jose

Spot on from what I hear.

33. Indianapolis

Apparently the one thing people think of when they think of Indianapolis is the fabulous SoBro Cafe.

EDIT: Some helpful Indianapolisians pointed out that SoBro is also refers to the South of Broad neighborhood.

32. Columbus

Poor Columbus, OH – they could go for some brand disambiguation.

31. Las Vegas

Like Austin – I think Las Vegas embraces their stereotypes.

30. Kansas City

The last suggestion says it all about Kansas City.

29. Cleveland

Cloudy? Hmm – maybe Cleveland is still trying to shake this image.

28. Cincinnati

Conservative and racist?

27. Sacramento

Hot?

26. Orlando

Orlando-ites: this is spot on FWIW.

25. San Antonio

Windy?

24. Portland

Ok, I think Portland has some sort of brand management going on here. They want to fit their stereotypes (err, maybe not the white part – but the others definitely).

23. Charlotte

Charlotte: so boring that book characters overtake them in Google AutoSuggest.

22. Pittsburgh

Bravo Pittsburgh! You have overcome the Cleveland/Buffalo/Middle America perception.

21. Denver

Denver is sending mixed signals here.

20. Baltimore

The Wire was set in Baltimore. I’m not sure that helped things.

19. St. Louis

St. Louis: you and Memphis need to get together and hash out a plan here.

18. Tampa Bay

Total surprise – my stereotype was one of retirement homes.

17. San Diego

I’d loved to be proved wrong by San Diego. It looks interesting, and is definitely California’s under the radar city.

16. Minneapolis

How is it that so many people are wondering why Minneapolis would be cold?

15. Seattle

Warm?

14. Detroit

Hmmm. The urban conundrum that is Detroit.

13. Phoenix

Yes – Phoenix is extremely polluted – being out in the desert doesn’t help things.

12. Inland Empire

I didn’t even know this was that big of a metro area.

11. San Francisco

I’ve heard that those fit for the most part.

10. Boston

Double-expensive – that’s my impression as well.

9. Atlanta

My city! Yes – Atlanta has a large gay community. Yes, it is a big city. I’m not sure what the sentiment of “ghetto” is – but there are some very under-developed and high-crime areas in the Southwest and West of the city (both on the way to the Airport and Downtown). And Atlanta can have a couple cold days in the Winter…but it’s pretty hot overall.

8. Miami

I’ve never really had a pre-conception of Miami – I’d be interested to hear from someone who lives there.

EDIT: Great to see some perspectives of Miamians in the comments. Be sure to check them out.

7. Washington DC

Very revealing. Expensive and poor. There’s a dissertation for you.

6. Philadelphia

From my sources – Philadelphia really is a love it or hate it kind of city.

5. Houston

Houstonians: These are very true.

4. Dallas

Windy? Otherwise, dead-on.

EDIT: Texans have informed me that their state is so windy that they get paid a lot of money to put up wind farms. Today I learned.

3. Chicago

Yep, dead on.

EDIT: To reiterate the introduction, when I say “dead on” or “spot on” – I am saying that the stereotypes of the Googling public at large conforms to my personal stereotypes. Like all stereotypes, they are wrong and do not describe reality.

2. Los Angeles

I think LA has more appeal than these – but I totally see where they come from.

1. New York City

I’d say New Yorkers would agree (and would have fun comparing these to LA’s).

That’s all for America, but you can do this with anything – cities, people, things, companies, etc. Here’s a few more international cities I looked at.

Toronto

I always think of Toronto as the Dallas of Canada for some reason.

EDIT: I have learned that Toronto has some very passionate residents who have persuaded me that actually Calgary is the Dallas of Canada, and that Toronto is a world-class city that I must visit (which I certainly will). Kudos to Toronto for the civic pride! (And to Dallas – I’m not saying that you are the Calgary of the US at all. And to Calgarians – talk to the Torontans).

Sao Paulo

Spot on from what I hear.

Shanghai

Cold? Yeah – I think of Shanghai as hot, but if I looked at the actual weather, it would throw me off.

EDIT: Yes, I checked and Shanghai does get quite cold during the winter.

Hong Kong

Spot on in my opinion.

Paris

Spot on from what I hear.

London

Spot on from what I hear.

Tokyo

And I think Tokyo wins the city stereotype contest.