'City of Roses' is a fitting sobriquet for this wonderful metropolis in the northwest corner of Oregon. It sits at the confluence of the mighty Columbia River and its tributary the Willamette, less than 100 miles from the Pacific Ocean. It is Oregon's largest city.
The weather tends to be rather cold and damp in winter, but the frequent rain, and temperatures moderated by the Pacific Ocean, create an ideal climate for roses and other flowers. The crowning achievement in this area is the International Rose Test Garden in the Washington Park neighborhood.
It has over 7,000 rose plants of 550 different varieties. So many people are moving to the Portland area from California that the locals are apt to downplay the fact that the sun does shine in Portland frequently, especially June through September.
2. Gateway to the West
Answer: St. Louis, Missouri
The Gateway Arch, a towering 630 foot monument, is the iconic image of St. Louis. You can drive through it and head westward, or take a tour up inside it. The city nickname certainly derives from its spot on the west bank of the Mississippi River, the historical dividing line between the eastern United States and "the west".
The city also has other interesting facets and firsts. The soft drink 7-Up was invented here, as was the first ice cream cone. St. Louis hosted the first Olympic Games outside of Europe, in 1904.
The games were part of the larger Louisiana Purchase Exhibition (World's Fair), a grand celebration which lasted from January through September of that year and marked the hundred year anniversary of the Louisiana Purchase. St. Louis also boasts the largest beer production plant in the world, The Anheuser-Busch brewery.
3. Rubber Capital of the World
Answer: Akron, Ohio
Akron made its name as the headquarters of tire industry giants Goodyear, B.F. Goodrich, Firestone, and General Tire in the early 1900s, around the same time as the trucking industry came into prominence in the country. The city was formed in 1833 at the high point of the Ohio and Erie Canal.
This moderately sized city ranks as Ohio's fifth largest, at just under 200,000 as of 2015. It is 40 miles south of Lake Erie, and is therefore part of the larger Cleveland-Akron-Canton statistical area which includes over three million people. Akron is also the town where the fellowship of Alcoholics Anonymous marks its founding location, the result of a chance meeting between a traveling stockbroker trying to stay sober and a local doctor who couldn't cure his alcoholism alone.
4. Happy Valley
Answer: State College, Pennsylvania
Happy Valley can refer to the borough of State College, PA., or to the larger metro statistical area in Centre County which includes College, Harris, Ferguson, and Patton townships. This university town is located almost in the exact center of this rectangular state.
The name arose because the area, dominated by the Pennsylvania State University (better known as Penn State), suffered relatively little during the depression of the 1930s. Large, well funded colleges as major employers are usually impervious to economic downturn. Known for academic research and also its blue and white clad football team, the borough is truly a happy valley on a fall Saturday afternoon when thousands of tailgaters can celebrate a home team win.
5. The Palmetto City
Answer: Charleston, South Carolina
At least six US states have a city or town named "Palmetto". South Carolina, however, is the Palmetto State and has Charleston, the Palmetto City. Palmetto means "little palm". In this context, it refers to a specific kind of palm tree, the saw palmetto, found throughout the southeastern subtropical United States and especially abundant in coastal lowlands and sand hills of South Carolina.
These trees are plentiful in and around the city. Charleston is the oldest and the second largest metro area in South Carolina.
The saw palmetto is also found on the back of the South Carolina state quarter.
6. Crossroads of America
Answer: Indianapolis, Indiana
Perhaps by reference to the famous automobile race held in the city since 1911, perhaps due to its central location in the US Midwest, Indianapolis seems to fit its nickname. The Indiana General Assembly established the phrase as the official state nickname in 1937, but the city, the largest in the state and its capital, having unofficially co-opted it, seems to get the most mileage from it.
Other nicknames occasionally applied to Indianapolis include "Railroad city," "Circle city," and the somewhat less charitable "India-no-place." Indiana is a medium sized state with few hills, lots of corn, and many regular state and county highways running straight north-south and east-west. Looking on a map, the "crossroads" nickname seems especially applicable.
7. Mistake by the Lake
Answer: Cleveland, Ohio
I hope Clevelanders will forgive this inclusion, but it is fascinating that a major city would have acquired such a moniker. Cleveland is located on Lake Erie in northeast Ohio. Many find Cleveland to be a great city with much to offer in terms of culture and beautiful scenery.
It is home to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Even its traditional reputation for failures of its sports teams was turned on its head when in 2016 the Cavaliers won the NBA championship and the Indians made it to baseball's World Series.
However, the nickname, which gained prominence in the 1970s and hasn't completely disappeared, comes from several sources. In 1969, the Cuyahoga River, which bisects the city, caught fire due to excessive pollution and oil slicks. This does not look good on tourist brochures. Lake Erie itself is highly polluted, due mostly to unregulated industrial dumping in the 1960s and afterward, and warming temperatures have led to extensive algae growth and "dead zones" in the lake.
In 1978, Cleveland became the first US city since the depression to default on its debts. Like many Midwest cities, Cleveland's manufacturing base dried up and the city lost population for decades. Finally, one must factor in the brutally cold, snowy winters.
Other than that, it's a great place to live.
8. The Elm City
Answer: New Haven, Connecticut
In the 1600s, New Haven was one of the first American cities to be planned out, with a grid of nine squares. Through the first public tree planting program in the country, the center square, known as "The New Haven Green," was adorned with elm trees donated by church parishioners. In the 1930s, Dutch Elm disease decimated elms throughout the city (and throughout the country). The caretakers of the The Green raised over $100,000 to purchase and plant over fifty disease resistant elms, effectively replenishing the elms in the Elm City.
New Haven, home of Yale University, is located on Long Island Sound in southern Connecticut, about an hour northeast of New York City. The city was a rather drab place through the 1970s, and clearly suffered an urban inferiority complex because of the powerful and elite Ivy League institution dominating its landscape. Like many other formerly industrial-based US municipalities in the northeastern United States, it has to an extent reinvented itself, in this case with a service and healthcare based economy, and a resurgence of local restaurants and culture.
9. Conch City
Answer: Key West, Florida
Key West, former home to Ernest "Papa" Hemingway and southernmost US city of the contiguous 48 states, is a unique town. Considered a last refuge by ne'er do wells and drifters looking to survive another winter, it's the endmost of the Florida Keys, a string of islands stretching 150 miles off the southern tip of Miami, Florida into the Gulf of Mexico.
The weather is consistent year 'round; sunny, windy days with temperatures in the 80s and clear nights in the 60s, except for the occasional violent hurricane! A conch is a type of snail which lives in a large spiral shaped shell.
A skilled practitioner can blow into some of these shells and produce a surprisingly loud, melodious note. These shells can be collected on local beaches, and one of the local delicacies is conch chowder.
10. Music City
Answer: Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the home of the Grand Ole Opry, a venerable country music tradition dating back to 1926. The Opry is a weekly stage show which is also broadcast on radio, ranking as the longest running such show in the country. It features country, folk, bluegrass, and gospel music, performed by all the major acts.
It also includes comedic performances. Nashville is the undisputed home of country music. Elvis Presley recorded over 200 songs at the historic RCA Studio B on music row in downtown Nashville.
It was goodbye to static when Nashville got the first license to air over the FM radio bandwidth in 1941.
This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor agony before going online.
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