Your Hometown

[KukriKhan]

We have patrons registered from all continents except Antarctica. International travel being quite expensive, maybe we can do a travelog here instead.

Rules: keep it on the short side. 1 picture per town description, OK? I'll start:

NAME: Escondido (Es-con-DEE-doh)
POPULATION: 130,000+ (50-50 male:female; 50-50 White:non-white (Hispanic, Native Am, Asian))
GEOGRAPHY: sea-level, bowl-shaped valley, surrounded by low hills
WEATHER: mild, temperate. Temperatures ranging from 60 (winter) to 90 (summer) F.
SHORT HISTORY: agriculture-based indiginous population conquered by Spain, then Mexico, then US. Way-station for travellers between San Diego (south) and Los Angeles (north). Thriving vineyard and orchard industry all but wiped out by bugs in the 1930's. Retirement haven through the 1970's. Light tech industry since. Mostly serves now as a bedroom-suburb for middle- and lower-income workers in San Diego.
THE GOOD, THE BAD, THE UGLY: Good weather. Generally friendly multi-lingual/cultural population. Most residents born elsewhere. Crime going down. Youth gangs slowly converting to social org's. Housing is 'built-out', with little vacant land available for new construction. City gov't has removed the welcome Mat for retirees, trying to attract rich 30-somethings instead . So far: not working. Overcrowded slum in the city center. Excellent Fire Department. Average Police Department. Adequate Health Care. More churches, mosques, synagogs & temples than taverns. LOTS of guns available (judging by the noise at New Year's). Some kind of festival every other weekend.

https://jimcee.homestead.com/files/Esco2.jpg

Looking east from a westside hill. Big white square at 10 o'clock is the hospital. Brown square to it's right is 400-unit apt. bldg.

[ShadesPanther]

NAME:Ballymena (Bally-Mee-na)
POPULATION: About 10,000
GEOGRAPHY:sea-level, gently sloping valley
WEATHER: Very wet, Mild 1 (winter) to about 20 (summer) centigrade
SHORT HISTORY Industrialish town just north of lough Neah. 30 miles from Belfast and about 25 miles from the Northern Coast (where Giant's Causeway is) or about same distance to the lough. Therefore It is named Ballymena, Irish for Middle town. Ballymena produced lots of Linen in the early 20th Century. Ballymena's Nickname is the Seven Towers after the Castle, Town hall, 4churches and something else http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/joker.gif
THE GOOD, THE BAD, THE UGLY: well mild temperatures, near to coast and capital city, Friendly agricultural area, Most residents born in Ballymena. Crime is about average, Big drug problem with Heroin. Housing in a average area but slowly expanding.
Good fire department, No hospital in town, nearest Antrim aout 20 miles as old one got torn down but never replaced, Good Police force. Lots of Churches and a very Peaceful society
Pictures:http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/images/maps/map_NI_towns.gif
http://www.slemishcollege.org.uk/photogallery/photo12263/MVC-284F.JPG
http://www.slemishcollege.org.uk/photogallery/photo12263/MVC-294F.JPG

[Alrowan]

NAME: Menai (subburb of Sydney)
POPULATION: 30,000
GEOGRAPHY: Platau, with lots of valleys running into tidal rivers. Lots of bushland
WEATHER: Nice all year round.. ranging from 15 C in winter to 40 C in summer... extremes
SHORT HISTORY: Founded close to 100 years ago, was settled by the Jones and Owens families, from there the community grew. Until the last 2 decades the population was fairly small and agrarian, though urbanisation has seen the gorwth of the area. In 1994 menai was hit by severe bushfires, and again in 1997 and 2000, also there was a close call in 2002.
THE GOOD, THE BAD, THE UGLY: Family orientated area, lost of bushland, close proximity to *most* services. the bad... Govt housing areas, some street gangs, lack of police, traffic and being the but of several failed election promises

[Parmenion]

NAME : Nottingham
POPULATION : About 740,000 Fairly multi-cultural.
GEOGRAPHY : Relatively flat midlands region with some gentle hills. Nearby is the Peak District which is famous for walkers and climbers.
WEATHER : Mild summers and winters with less rainfall than the west of the country. Winter -3 C to Summer 28 C
SHORT HISTORY : A major English city from Medieval times (was once the capital for a short time) onwards. The city thrived in the industrial era due to it's coal mines and lace manufacture. Also famous for it's subterranean caves, the large number of castles and stately homes in the area, and of course Robin Hood. Nottingham can also boast to have Britain's oldest inn. The 'Trip to Jerusalem' was supposedly a meeting place for pilgrims and crusaders on their way to the Holy Land.
THE GOOD, THE BAD, THE UGLY : Lots of things to do in a centrally located part of the country. Fantastic night life for the young party-goer. High proportion of females to males (last quoted as 3-1). Has national outdoor watersports centre. High crime rate, especially petty crime such as theft and burglary. Some drugs probs, although localised in run-down estates. Has been labelled as the most dangerous city in the UK, but this is very exaggerated. Very expensive housing with the highest increase in house price for the past year. My favourite city in Britain.

[KukriKhan]

Thanks guys, I feel like I'm watching Robin Leach's Lifestyles of the not-so Rich and Famous, LoL.

Seriously tho', these are very informative posts. If you have a pic you'd like to include & need web-space for, I can host for you. Email me at jim@jimcee.com .

p.s. Thanks ShadesPanther for your sensitivity. Appreciated.

[ShadesWolf]

NAME: Cannock Chase
POPULATION: 100,000 and growing
GEOGRAPHY: A high plateau bordered by the Trent Valley to the north, the bustle of England's West Midlands to the south
WEATHER: Mild summers and winters - Winter -6 C to Summer 28 C
SHORT HISTORY - Iron Age hill Fort built over 2000 years ago and ancient hunting forest, The local towns have ancient origins. In 1189 the parishes of Cannock and Rugeley were sold to the Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield. Both towns began to grow and by 1259 each held weekly markets. The mining of coal had a long local history, but from the middle of the 19th century the massive exploitation of local seams got underway. Canal and railway links fostered the remarkable growth of an industry that would dominate for more than a century. At its peak in the 1920s, 23,000 men brought up over four million tons of coal a year. Changes in the community have continued through more recent times as collieries closed and other industries were sought to replace them. 1993 saw the closure of Littleton, the last deep-mined colliery on Cannock Chase.
THE GOOD, THE BAD, THE UGLY: Beautiful countryside, high unemployment, Crime rate going up.

http://www.shadesmtw.com/cc.jpg

[smakkz]

NAME: Svelgen (Svel-gen)
POPULATION: 1450 (small huh)
GEOGRAPHY: sealevel, surrounded with tall mountains dressed in forest and ice even in july
WEATHER: nothern coastal climate, -30 fahrenheit in the winter and +50 in the summer
SHORT HISTORY: a small farm community before in 1915 when a hydro plant was constructed here, exported electricity to 1918 when a aluminium factory was built. But the war ended after only 1 month of startup, so it closed. in 1920 they began iron production and it stopped in 1985. Now we produced silicone to be used in computers. There is over 45% chance you are sittin with a chip in your computer where the silicone came from us... http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif 99% norwegians, 1% foreigners, mostly from asia and africa
THE GOOD, THE BAD, THE UGLY: the nature, you can step out and walk 50 yards and then you are in the thickest pine forest.. Some pollution from the factory, but they are finding new ways to take care of it. The neighbouring cities look down upon us since we are svelgars, therefore confrontations are is on regular basis when you are travelling to those cities. Never actually figured why, they just doesnt like us.

[Knight_Yellow]

NAME: Bonnybridge
POPULATION: 3,000
GEOGRAPHY: in a valley with some steep hills
WEATHER: -13 in winter +25 in summer
HISTORY:

URI GELLAR: (spoon guy) Another asked me to investigate alleged supernatural activity in Bonnybridge, which he claimed was the UFO capital of Britain. The list just goes on and on.

BBC: However, the Scottish town of Bonnybridge could have usurped its crown, having been dubbed the UFO capital of the world by some enthusiasts.


http://www.falkirkwheel.net/wheel/images/rough-castlle6.jpg

oh and apart from being the NO1. UFO capital in the world http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/rolleyes.gif and also their being Antonine wall and a roman fort in bonnybridge theres also this great big bloody thing....

http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/falkirk/falkirkwheel/images/wheelx-450.jpg

Its the falkirk wheel and was opened by the queen, its supposed to regenrate canal holidays along the forth and clyde canal obly 30 meters from my house


PROS: ermmm nice scenery
CONS: no law enforcement excpet when there after u

[Efrem Da King]

Name: Bondi (opposite side of sydney to alrowan)
Population:ah Lots. Its hard to say coss Bondis pretty small but really built up. I could also say I lived in Bondi junction, waverly, south bondi or bondi beach. But bondi best describes my location.
Geography: Really steep hill leading down to beach.
Weather: Pretty good al year round, but tropical showers in summer. Never snows.
Short History: Well this dude called capt. cook came and said woo what a cool beach And every one lived happily ever after.
Pros: Best beach in the world. Hot women from all over the world come here to get drunk and party. Very good bus acsess. VERY strong jewish community.
Cons: Many of that jewish community is far too leftwing for my liking. We get games about a year after they're released in america. My school sydney boys though not a local one till sucks big time.
http://www.trinity.com.au/images/map-sydney.gif

Edit:left out map.

[Beowulf]

NAME: Santos / Brazil
POPULATION: 450.000 ( 50/50 Male /female)
GEOGRAPHY: Sea level surrounded by hills ( Great waves for surfing )
WEATHER: Winter 20 C, Summer 35-45C - 3 months of winter, than summer.
SHORT HISTORY: the 2nd oldest town of Brazil ( founded in 1532 ) has the largest harbor of latin america. Economy based on import/export movements in the harbor. population of portuguese / spanish imigrants, but with a reasonable multi racial flavor. Once the World center of Sugar and Coffee.
THE GOOD, THE BAD, THE UGLY: Beautifeul Women http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif, the best soccer team of Brazil ( Santos FC, Pelé played here, Brazilian champion of 2002 ) Compared with the other major cities in Brazil, it has a low crime rate, but it has been increasing in the last years. Not so good medical facilities. The downfall of the harbor activities ( Due to a disorganized politic ) has increased the unenployment rate.
But, like the rest of my country it has a lot of hollydays and parties
considered one of the three best cities to live, in Brazil, but it has a gigantic road ahead to improve.

Thats All

[Aleborg]

NAME: Sevilla (Seville)
POPULATION: Around 800.000
GEOGRAPHY: Near to the river side of Guadalquivir, strategic position in south spain.
WEATHER: Really nice, but perhaps too hot in summer http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif
SHORT HISTORY: Create by Romans, we have had many civilizations here. Roman, Godos, Muslims, Cristians, etc. Ppl here are very good natured with forains, one of the most important businesses here are services (Bars, hotels, restaurants, etc...), and normally every year we receive millions of visits. The most popular building here is The Giralda, it was started by muslims, then when the cristians reconquist spain they destroyed the tip of the building and built it again, so in the base u have a muslims construction and a cristian one on the top.
http://www.hispalis.net/turismo_y_cultura/monumentos/catedral/images/gira_1.jpg

Another important building is the Golden Tower (Torre del oro) where spanish governement has all the gold from America on the 15th. and 16th. centuries. Today is a Naval museum:
http://www.andalunet.com/monumentos/fichas/images/torredeloro.jpg

THE GOOD, THE BAD, THE UGLY:The most i like here is ppl in general, the weather and that we have also here the best football team of the world: RealBetis Balompié Ok ok ok, perhaps not the best, but at least the funniest one (i dont like football, i only like Betis...).
The bad thing is that lately the robberies are growing.
And of course, i like the parties here, we have the Feria de Abril party. It is one whole week when the ppl go to a very large place and sing and dance the typical Sevillanas. This is really funny, if some of u come here i will invite u to some fino (typical wine of here) and jamón serrano (dry ham). Here u can read more information about the Feria:

Feria de Abril (http://www.spanishunlimited.com/spain/fiestas/feriadeabril.asp)

[Papewaio]

NAME: Pape's Apartment
POPULATION: 2
GEOGRAPHY: 2 bedroom apartment, with wall to wall tiling in the bathroom for extra long showers. Stone top benches in the kitchen with gas stove... cooked a Jaffa cake on the weekend with swirls of chocolate through it.
WEATHER: Misty due to the extra long showers.
SHORT HISTORY - Been here just over a year. First tenant. Can hear Paramatta stadium when it gets going and Paramatta park is nice to rollar blade in.
THE GOOD, THE BAD, THE UGLY: Wasabi, Pape, Pape in the morning http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif.

Essentially another inhabitant of Sydney which has a population of about 4 million.

The Good is the harbour.
The Bad is the rudeness of Sydney people in general (compared with other major Australian cities)
The Ugly... the humidity.

[Parmenion]

Hey Papewaio, I used to live in Parra too (a few years ago though).
Are you an Eels fan? Does Dymock still play for those guys?
I used to like the Rabbitohs until that disgraceful incident when they were forced into closure.....BAH

[Herodotus]

Name: Adelaide
Population: under a million
Geography: hills sloping down to a coastline both running North South.
Weather: Mediteranean
Short History: Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia, it was the only colony in Australia to be established as a free colony. Colonel Light planned the city, notable parts of his plan were wide roads (before the invention of the automobile) and a ring of parklands that incircle the city centre to this day. Although the parklands are impeached upon slightly by public buildings and facilities like the University Museum, Art Gallery and Hospital.

http://users.chariot.net.au/~rbuckley/a/city.jpg
View from Colonel Lights statue of Adelaide oval and the City Centre. (I used to go iceblocking down that hill)

http://www.lonelyplanet.com/mapimages/australasia/adelaide/adelaide.gif
The City Centre

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. Adelaide isn't really considered an exciting place in Australia. Smoking marijuana is not a criminal offence here, decide on your own if that is good bad or ugly. To the north and south are the newer cheaper and poorer suburbs where crime and unemployment are at their highest. The centre, east and near south are well established and affluent (although I live in the east and we are not rich but that is another story) there are lots of parks and sporting facilities. The west and closer north (basically between the port and the city centre) are more industrialized. Adelaide may not be the most exciting place in the world every day, but you can do or get just about anything you could want here.

EDIT: More images here: http://users.chariot.net.au/~rbuckley/

[MrNiceGuy]

Name: Martinez, California
Population: 40,000 +/- 5% (Surrounding communities in entire valley about 300,000)
Geography: Coastal valley with river outlet to bay 42 miles east of San Francisco
Climate: Mediterranean
Short history: One of the former capitols of California before gaining statehood. Still important politically in regional matters.
The good, etc.:Nicknamed 'Where the sewer meets the sea', mainly due to being home to 3 of the 5 oil refineries in northern CA. The slow creep from suburban to urban makes negotiating roads somewhere between a GTA experience and a satisfying 'scream therapy' session. Was that the bad or the ugly?. On a postive note there are limitless outdoor activities, even with industry in the area there has been great attention placed on preserving plants, wildlife and open space for public use. This isn't surprising to locals, Martinez is home to the John Muir national historic sight.

Links:
My travel page (http://www.virtualtourist.com/m/58cd1/)
Martinez - The official page (http://www.cityofmartinez.org/)

[Efrem Da King]

The Bad is the rudeness of Sydney people in general (compared with other major Australian cities)

Maybe its cause your a leftie, I find people here to be very kind. Even when I'm booing anti-war protests.

[KukriKhan]

I know it's hard to do these days, but let's try really hard to keep politics out of this travelog. Let's pretend we all get along...OK? Thanks.

[Surprise]

Hometown : some random ghetto

dont have any pics

[Efrem Da King]

I know it's hard to do these days, but let's try really hard to keep politics out of this travelog. Let's pretend we all get along...OK? Thanks.
Yeah and how about not bashing other peoples hometowns too aye?

[jayrock]

anchorage, alaska
about 300,000 people live here..

a beatiful city, just gotten to urban for me..

http://www.mindspring.com/~wjager/pix/ak/anchorage-sunset-apr003.jpg

this pic was taken from pt warenzoff, across the bay...
its primarily downtown area,
http://www.anchorage.net/images/maps/anchbowl.gif

[Crackslapper]

[/B]NAME Liverpool, England
POPULATION 1,500,000
GEOGRAPHY Coastal city, midway up the west coast of England. Surrounded on three sides by mountain ranges and situated on the mouth of the River Mersey.
[B]WEATHER Normally cold and wet.(its England)
SHORT HISTORY[B] Very old port with a long history of shipbuilding. The Confederate fleet was built here during the American civil war,and was the centre of the British slave trade. The port went into decline in the 1960's but has re-emerged in the last ten years. Politically very leftwing owing to the cities decline during the 60's,70'sand 80's. Liverpool is now undergoing major redevelopment
GOOD Nightlife, Football, Humour
BAD For only being remembered as the home city of the beatles
UGLY[B] The women and the accent

If you ever get the chance its well worth a visit.

[Richard the Lionheart]

Name: Horsforth, Leeds, N.England
Population: About 30,000
Geography: Suburb of Leeds, River Aire runs through it. Thats it
Weather: British
History: Dates back to a Roman Fort, name comes from a horse crossing in the river. Fought against the Royalist in the Civil war. Went under huge development in the Industial Revolution.
Good: Its a nice place
Bad: Its too nice a place
Ugly: Crimes on the way up

[ShadesPanther]

Quote[/b] ]Weather: British
ROFL http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/joker.gif http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/joker.gif http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/joker.gif
Need we say more

[Lord Of Storms]

NAME:Paisley,Florida,U.S.A POPULATION:Approx, 1,750 GEOGRAPHY:CentralFlorida,Low rolling Hills,Lakes WEATHER:Mild Winters, Long Hot Summers History:Settled in late 1800's by the Parker Family Used as a trading post along St. Johns River Borders on the Ocala National Forest GOOD:Small friendly Town , alot of good fishing I live on Lake Jewel and have my own dock BAD:I would say the Humid Summers UGLY:Cant really think of anything We live 1 hr. from all central Florida Attractions DisneyWorld,Sea World,Universal Studio, Daytona Beach I moved from Queens N.Y.C. to enjoy the tranquility[/list]

[solypsist]

Name: New York City
Pop.: 16 million
Geo.: very urban
Weather: four seasons
History: stolen from Native Indians for $24 in beads

Good: 9 million women; most of them models, waitresses and art students
Bad: it costs $3300 a month for a closet sized 5-floor walkup shoebox apartment

http://timessquare.nyctourist.com/images/times%20square/uptown.jpg

[ShadesWolf]

jayrock WOW

[Major Robert Dump]

--Norman, Oklahoma. College town and railroad hub.

--Population @100,000 plus 20,000 migrant OU students

--Wooded plains and shallow valleys. No mountains within 100 miles. always an abundance of water.

--Frozen winters/hot humid summers/cant tell the difference between spring and autumn/we have TORNADOS....no, not hollywood tornados like the move twister...tornados like this...notice the white lines, theres nothing left there http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/img/climate/extremes/1999/may/F5-path.gif


--The GOOD:
Plenty of nightlife. Plenty of young women. Always a party within walking distance. High median income, low crime rate, totally cool police department and a lot of lonely, middle aged women who take good care of themselves http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif
10 minutes from OKC, 2.5 hours from Dallas. Best public schools in the state....a lot of smart people remain here after school.

--THE BAD:
Frat boys. But the frequent trains keep their populations down since they like to drink and go run with the trains.
Snooty people. Spoiled kids who get $80,000 cars for their 16th birthdays and drive like jerks.

--THE UGLY
OKC is TOO close sometimes and its funk spills over. Luckily, the NPD runs them out http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif Other than a few bad attitudes, no problems except: (scroll down a bit)

http://www.srh.noaa.gov/oun/storms/19990503/damage/filmroll2.html

[jayrock]

Quote[/b] (ShadesWolf @ April 16 2003,21:51)]jayrock WOW
im trying to find one i took from the mountains toward the bay, its at sunset so it's really cool, took it 10 years ago when i was dumb enough to go hiking in the mountains you see in that pic.

[Aurelius1]

Weather: -25c to 35C

Good: 10 women to every man
30 girls to every boy
If you can't get a woman there's a girl waiting.

2.5 hours to anything else.
Great folk festival- fab p*t
Everybody leaves and checks out other countries.
Bad: Cold winters

Ugly: Hit on the wrong girl and the coroner is investigating, not the police.

My Webpage (http://www.sitehouse.net/jamesbow/images/wiarton.jpg)

[Parmenion]

Quote[/b] (Aurelius1 @ April 19 2003,14:39)]Good: 10 women to every man
30 girls to every boy
If you can't get a woman there's a girl waiting.


Where's this and how do I get a visa?

[Sigurd]

NAME: Bergen
POPULATION: 230 000+
GEOGRAPHY: sea-level, surrounded by 7 mountains
WEATHER: wet (annual 2250 mm), mild temperatures from (-13 celsius) winter and (26 celsius) summer
SHORT HISTORY: Bergen was founded in 1070 AD by King Olav Kyrre. The town was favourably situated in relation to shipping traffic and was for a long time the country’s most important commercial, shipping and industrial town. Moreover, Bergen became a commercial and shipping town of European significance and for a while, during the Middle Ages, Bergen was also the largest of all the towns in the Nordic countries. Bergen's commerce still thrives, though nowadays much of it's economic life is centred on the North Sea Oil Industry.

THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY:
Beautiful women, ridiculous high prizes and it rains a lot.
http://www.ebergen.no/img/400-116-1615_IMG.jpg

[Dimeola]

Lubbock, Texas
Just below the west Texas panhandle
Pop. about 175,000
Home of Texas Tech University
We sit on top of the caprock....so its flat....dry....we get dust storms in Spring that you wouldnt believe. In Winter the artic cold fronts shoot down the Great Plains and end up here. Summers can top 100 degrees for weeks.
We have a nice mix of locals and college kids and a large Hispanic community.
The city is dry except for clubs and restaurants.....but just beyond the city limits is the `strip`, a run of stores for beverages. Prices are higher here for beer than anywhere in Texas.
Dimeolas

[el_slapper]

--Taverny, Ile-de-France. suburban home for Parisian average-income workers.

--Population @27,000

--Plain covered with buildings. Hilly forest nearby, with a big military base under it. Forbidden to photograph.....

--Average Weather for the zone : often rainy, rarely snowy(far more this year, we've got 9 days of snow & 3 of icy grounds).

[Preyer]

NAME: Rijeka, Croatia
POPULATION: 182,075 men, women, children & scum
GEOGRAPHY: Sea to the west, steep hills and mountains everywhere else.
CLIMATE: Temperate, with up to 100 kmh NE winds when sunny, and rivers flowing through when raining (all the water coming down the hills) 0C in winter and 35C in summer.
HISTORY: Practically none until Hungarians decided to improve a old boatyard into (at that time) modern shipyard somewhere in mid 19 cent. (Built a couple of destroyers, torpedo-boats and Szent Istvan. You know her... the one that sank after taking two torps from Italian MAS in WW1...Come to think of it, wasn't torpedo invented in Rijeka???)
Later it merged with a nearby port and thus today's city was born.
GOOD: Sea in summer, Snow in winter, unspoiled nature half-hour walk away...
BAD: Where do I begin from???
UGLY: Sea around shipyard. DO NOT ENTER

[71-hour Ahmed]

NAME: Bo'ness, West Lothian, Scotland
POPULATION: 5000 to 10000
GEOGRAPHY: next to the sea, on a slope
CLIMATE: wet
HISTORY: used to be Scotlands second largest port long long ago....now has a historical railway and clay mine
GOOD: ermm.... i came from there?
BAD: ugly ugly ugly/ Only nightlife is in Edinburgh- 20 mins drive away.
UGLY: ditto the BAD. Has a HUGE oil refinery complex in the neighbouring town of Grangemouth.

http://www.srps.org.uk/railway/routemap.gif

http://www.srps.org.uk/railway/419-foreshore.jpg

OK, so its not quite that bad. But it is bad.