Well, Manhattan, Kansas has a solid lock on the Little Apple 
so you’re probably right.
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Fair enough. I get “going to the city”…but “The City” is different. It’s like Northwest Indiana (suburbs of Chicago) gets called “The Region”…separating it from the rest of Indiana. I don’t know why, the history, but it’s also local vernacular. Frankly the whole thing is goofy…like San Fran and Frisco…but “The City” has been a regional name used by local for a long time. The City jerseys do have history. Never seen anything like that for NY…but have heard of the Big Apple forever. You know, it’s an identifier and it is BIG and dominant compared to the rest of the region, the cultural hub…just like SF is to the Bay Area.
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I’m looking forward to Thanksgiving in the …
Cheers here on all the info and passion – good fun!!
This is a vernacular that I always found odd before I moved here. I’d meet people and ask where they’re from and they’d say “the Bay Area” or “San Francisco Bay Area”, when they lived in Fremont or wherever, instead of saying the city they lived in. I’ve gotten used to iy since I’ve lived here though.
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not to beat a dead horse here, but kinda along those lines, but there’s even a debate in NYC as to “the city” whether it’s the whole city or just manhattan
Do You Refer To Manhattan As “The City”? - Gothamist
I know you’re big on citations people lol
Manhattan (/mænˈhætən, mən-/), known regionally as The City ,[1]
greetings from the southland!
My sister lived in Queens for a while and when we’d visit she’d say what do you want to do, and usually I’d say oh we’re going into the city for the day - and she’d say YOU ARE IN THE CITY!
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Not intended for you, but last weekend I sat next to a man at Zuni who said “Black chicks like it”. I have no idea what he was talking about, but beyond awkward. His dining partner seemed to agreee.
Looking for my pictures of Zuni last week.
None! Maybe I just enjoyed it!
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Part of the reason is that Gary and other towns in that corner are economically dependent on Chicago. Illinois is part of the Central time zone. Indiana is part of the Eastern time zone. That lead to problems with Indiana companies being out of sync with their Chicago counterparts. So the Indiana legislature allowed that small corner of the state to declare itself part of the Central time zone, letting them run the same hours as Chicago.
So, that region really IS a region with a distinct characteristic that DOES, in fact, set it apart from the rest of Indiana.
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Seriously
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The shoestring fries?
Kidding I’m at a loss.
Growing up in Hammond, having another time zone a short drive away often came in handy for beating postmark deadlines.
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That’s been my experience.
I grew up on the Central Coast. We always called SF “The City”. I learned later, from older relatives that when they taught school in Southern California, they were surprised to hear locals say they were going into The City and thinking it rather far until it was explained that they were referring to Los Angeles. This was roughly the 1920s. So the term for both cities has long legs.
Many of us have lived in the shadow of a city that took on that moniker.
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I did a little search and the general answer is San Francisco really was the only real city in the Bay Area from the 1860s until San Jose build up post war, hence “The City”. The nine Bay Area counties are: SF, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Alameda, Contra Costa, Solano, Sonoma and Napa. No other real city before SJ built up. Also, SF was the central cultural, transportation and trading hub (docks).
In regards to saying the Bay Area, I think it’s like when asking someone from the US, they usually say the state. I always say California.
Regarding the use of “the”, it’s a California thing. The Richmond (district), the 405, the 101. Ever see the SNL skit “The Californians”? Hilarious and accurate. My guess is the laid back California accent requires “the” to help distinguish it…otherwise it’s just Richmond (city or neighborhood), or 405…area code or address? Say that with a full surfer dude accent on dope and you’d have no idea what was said.
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I think you missed Marin.
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I like to think “The Bay Area” recognizes there are important cities around the bay, outside of San Francisco. It’s taking forever for “the outer boroughs” to get that respect, at least outside of folks who live in New York City.
“full surfer dude accent on dope”.
It is my impression that most people in California live nowhere near a beach and have never surfed. No comment on the “dope” part.
Yes, so maybe not Santa Cruz.
The “the” before freeway names is specifically a SOUTHERN California thing. The 101. The 405. I lived in Marin for about 15 years and Glendale for 5. The difference was distinct.
The reason is that SoCal freeways predated the Federal Highway system. So the freeways were NAMED. The Hollywood Freeway. The Malibu Freeway. Etc. So directions were “take the Malibu to the Hollywood…” When the numbers came in, the ‘the’ stuck as a local linguistic quirk. “Take the 101 to the 405…”
Northern Cal didn’t depend on freeways to the same extent the SoCal did, so when numbers came, they were just used.
Growing up in Chicago, there was I-94 and I-90, but they were also, respectively, The Edens Expressway and the Dan Ryan Expressway. If you were older, you referred to them by name, and used ‘the’. If you were younger, you just said ‘94’ or ‘90’.
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Santa Cruz is not the bay area . It’s Monterey bay . Or central Coast
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