I listen to a lot of Internet radio. I will pick a random location across the country to get a feel for the area. While doing so, I’ve heard nicknames for the region that I had never heard of.

For instance, the Myrtle Beach area is known as The Grand Strand. Greensboro/Winston-Salem/High Point is known as The Piedmont Triad or just The Triad.

Everyone has heard of The Twin Cities and most people have heard of the Dallas/Fort Worth area being referred to as The Metroplex. Does your area have a lesser known nickname?

I can give you a couple from my state. The area around LaCrosse, Wisconsin is called The Coulee Region, which describes the local geography. Superior and Duluth, MN are known as The Twin Ports.


44 comments

  3. We have the opposite, in that nobody from here actually calls it “Hotlanta”.

  5. Space coast, but most probably have at least heard of that. But locals break it down to beachside, the island and mainland. Beachside is the barrier island and any of the little cities along it. Merritt Island of the island. And everything else is the mainland.

    Then there’s Melboring for Melbourne.

  7. Pegasus City. One of the tallest buildings had a red neon Pegasus sign on it that could be seen for miles.

  8. “Delaware Valley” for the Philadelphia metro area. Not sure how widely known it is but I am guessing it’s mostly local.

  10. I’m not sure if “the DMV” nickname for the Washington, DC area is well known outside of the area

  11. It’s not my region, but learning that people who live in Indianapolis don’t call it Indy and instead call it Naptown caused me psychic damage.

  13. All nicknames in my region deal with either pine (Pine Country, Piney Woods, Pine Curtain, etc) or hydrocarbons (oil patch or they’ll just refer to the geological formation like the Smackover Formation,Haynesville Shale, etc.)

  14. A lot of people call Albany, NY, Smalbany because even though its a city, everyone knows everyone.

  16. Bloomington/Normal so often locally called “Twin Cities” and more recently “BloNo”.

  21. The city of Louisville has multiple pronunciations:

    Loo-a-vul

    Loo-a-ville

    Loo-ee-ville

    Lull-vul

    They are all considered correct, the only one that’s considered incorrect is pronouncing the “S” sound (lewis-ville) and people that live here will let you know. It’s the easiest way to be identified as an out of towner.

    Nicknames given to Louisville include “Falls city” since we’re settled on the falls of the Ohio River, or “River city”. Our bus system is even called TARC (Transit Authority of River City)

    Also the race track where the Kentucky derby is held is not actually called “the Kentucky derby”, that’s the name of the race, the track is called Churchill Downs. Visitors always make that mistake for some reason.

  23. I wasn’t really aware of the term “Little Rhody” before I moved to Rhode Island.

  24. I think a lot of people outside socal wouldn’t know what you were referring to if you called it the “Southland”, but that’s pretty common on news broadcasts here.

  27. I think “Stumptown” for Portland and “Naptown” for Indianapolis are super local? I’ve certainly never heard a foreigner affect knowing the area with them like with say “Cali” or “Frisco”.

  28. I didn’t know when it started, but there’s apparently been an attempt to make ‘C-Bus’ happen for Columbus, OH.

    Ugh. Just, no.

  29. Locally we call our region: The Triangle

    * The Research Triangle is an office park

    * Raleigh-Durham is an airport

  30. I live in either Lower Alabama Or the Redneck Riviera or the Panhandle (but Oklahoma has one too, so I at least don’t use it)

  33. I grew up in NW PA. When I went back recently to visit family, suddenly it’s “The PA Wilds.” It’s good branding, I guess, but it was pretty sudden. I’m from there and I didn’t know the nickname.🤷‍♂️

  34. The South Carolina coastal area south of Myrtle Beach to the Georgia border is called the Low Country.

  35. El Paso, TX- El Chuco or Chuco Town. The story is that the Pachuco style entered the US from Juarez via El Paso.

  37. Ivr heard of all the names you said…

    Hampton roads is the SE metro area in Virginia that does not have one dominant city. Virginia us a commonwealth so cities and counties are at equal levels. Being a city allow the area to have better control of tax money but they take on more responsibility. Norfolk, Hampton are actual cities. Other places are counties that converted to cities that had cities in them.

    Tricities in washington are Richland, pasco, and kennewick ehich are created at the point thr snake river meets the colimbia creating a 3 section area.

     Pittsburgh covers all 3 parts where 2 rivers come together to create the Ohio and it gets three rivers name such as three rivers stadium 

    Northern neck of Virginia is the arearoughly between US 17, US 301 , Potomac River, and Chesapeake bay. Its NE of Richmond.  It gets its name because of the potomac river turn south to east.

    In the areas of Portland and Seattle elevation matters on weather. The cities and most suburbs are 250-500 ft above sea level. Outer parts or hills around are higher and where thr edges of suburbs are 2000+ ft. In winter these places are colder and so forecasts talk of snow in the foothills above x ft.

    My home town is in western new York.  Thr area covers metro Rochester, Elmira on west. Some include metro Syracuse and some don’t. Others like to call it upstate which yo western NY residents us the area north of I’90 and Albany where andorondavk it’s are up to the border and the area if lake champlain

  38. Chicago is divided up into 77 communities, and very few people outside of locals would recognize the names of them. People know the landmarks here, but they’ve probably never heard of Rogers Park, North Center, Portage Park, or Clearing.

  41. Only the locals? No. But I grew up between Cincinnati, OH and Dayton, OH and know both the Queen City and the Gem City very well, as well as Miamsisburg, OH, the Star City.

  42. New Orleans is “The Crescent City” and no one from here ever says “N’Awlins”. The town I grew up in is too small for a fancy nickname; maybe we’ll get one after we get a stop light or two.

  44. Not exactly, but my local town has a very specific way locals pronounce the name vs how outsiders do.

    You can easily tell who was raised here by how they say the name.

    Another city in my state had a very similar thing, but most people in the state know how it works. Cairo georgia is pronounced “kay-row” and not “kai-row”. My hometown is similar to that, but it’s small enough that most people in my state don’t know how the locals say it.

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