cities-in-the-united-states

"I'm going to Wichita, far from this opera forevermore."

"Stay and play that Blink-182 song that we beat to death in Tucson."

"In the past two months alone, eight major municipalities—including Albuquerque, New Mexico; Portland, Oregon; St. Paul, Minnesota; Bexar County, Texas; Anadarko, Oklahoma; Alpena, Michigan; Lawrence, Kansas; Carrboro, North Carolina; and Olympia, Washington—have opted to pay homage to the history and culture of the country's true native people by celebrating Indigenous Peoples Day on the second Monday in October. "For the Native community here, Indigenous Peoples Day means a lot," Nick Estes, who helped coordinate the city celebration after Albuquerque city council issued a declaration on the matter, told the Associated Press. “For the Native community here, Indigenous Peoples Day means a lot. We actually have something,” said Nick Estes of Albuquerque, who is co-ordinating a celebration on Monday after the city council recently issued a proclamation. “We understand it’s just a proclamation, but at the same time, we also understand this is the beginning of something greater.”"

"Youth interest in civic engagement is soaring among the generation that the global volunteering nonprofit Points of Light says was already the most active in history. “If there is something that is harming us directly, we should be the ones to take charge,’’ said Isaiah Llamas, a recent high school graduate who helped facilitate a spring youth leadership session in Albuquerque. The New Mexico meeting was one of six around the nation co-hosted and funded by America’s Promise Alliance, a national network of groups working to improve conditions for young people.."

"Just weeks before they would take to the streets to protest the dispatching of federal agents to Albuquerque, members of the Red Nation drove north, to Alcalde—a town just outside of Española. As Confederate monuments fell across the East Coast, a similar movement to topple statues of conquistadors, reminiscent of the Red Nation’s early work at UNM, emerged in New Mexico. In Albuquerque, protesters tried to overturn a statue of Juan de Oñate in the city’s Old Town, and in October protesters knocked over an obelisk in Santa Fe dedicated to “the heroes” who fought “savage Indians.”"

"On July 31, 2020, as heavy clouds gathered on the horizon, hundreds of protesters filled downtown Albuquerque, N.M. The Red Nation, an Indigenous-led socialist organization, coordinated the rally to protest the Trump administration’s decision to send 35 federal agents to support the local police. After participating in a summer of uprisings against police brutality and hearing about federal agents targeting demonstrators in Portland, Ore., the Red Nation knew that this moment required bodies in the streets—especially in the city with the second-highest rate of fatal police shootings in the country. Members of the Red Nation carried hefty red and black shields that read “Land Back” and “No Fash” to protect them from riot police and members of the New Mexico Civil Guard, a civilian militia group. But just as this protest was beginning, it started to pour. Amid the torrential rain, the protesters kept going, while the cops and armed right-wingers never showed up. Members of the Red Nation suggested... that even if the police had come, their tear gas wouldn’t have worked in such weather. The rain had protected the protesters. “There is a deep spiritual element to what we do. There always has been in Indigenous movements. And so when we’re out in public, doing these types of things, those types of moments are really significant for us because it demonstrates to us that our ancestors and the earth itself is in solidarity with us,” Melanie Yazzie"

"Within three years a flourishing community of eleven thousand souls, combining religious fervour, philoprogenitiveness, and shrewd economic sense, had been established by careful planning in the Salt Lake country, and in 1850 the territory received recognition by the Federal Government under the name of Utah. The colony was established in a key position on the trail which led both to Oregon and California. The sale of food and goods to the travellers and adventurers who moved in both directions along this route brought riches to the Mormon settler, and Salt Lake City, soon tainted, it is true, by the introduction of more lawless and unbelieving elements, became one of the richest cities in America."

"[J]ust send me to hell or Salt Lake City; it would be about the same to me."

"Among the many settlements which lay dotted over the whole of the American continent the strangest perhaps was the Mormon colony at Salt Lake City. In the spring of 1847 members of this revivalist and polygamist sect started from the state of Illinois under their prophet leader, Brigham Young, to find homes free from molestation in the West. By the summer they reached the country round Salt Lake, and two hours after their arrival they had begun establishing their homes and ploughing up the soil."

"Denver is not unlike a prison. Its inhabitants, too, have been sent there “to do time.” That which makes the position of the prisoner preferable, is the consolation that the State will feed him and that some day his time will expire. The majority of Denverites have no such cheerful outlook, Although arriving there with hopes of a speedy return, it’s usually imprisonment for life."

"I can put you in the log cabin somewhere in Aspen, girl it ain't tricking if you've got it."

"“Do you like Denver?” “Sure,” I said. I found the pocket-sized recorder and laid it on the table. “Smog, oil refineries, traffic. What’s not to like?”"

"Stan: Remember when we met in Denver? You said if I'd write you, you would write back."

"Pensacola, I'm a rep it to death, 'cause I'm a Florida boy. Nothing more, nothing less. You disrespect or test what I say, it's body to the head, 'til shit go my way!"

"Meet me in St. Louie, Louie"

"Sing it loud: I'm from the Lou, and I'm proud."

"You have harnessed this great river and increased the product of the manufacturers and have bettered your conditions in a quiet and effective way. Evidences are shown of the elevating influences of educational institutions, the public schools, the colleges which gather in this neighborhood—Mount Holyoke, Smith, Amherst, and the Springfield colleges—all these evidence the high tone which you cultivate and encourage."

"Enterprise, Capital and Mechanical Skill; Enterprise to conceive the plan, Capital to furnish the means, and Engineering Skill to accomplish the work. It is these, and not the fabled powers of necromancy, that have planted themselves below the falls at Hadley; have taught the mighty river to flow backwards from before their gigantic masonry; and thus laid the foundations of a city which will yet with its suburbs spread for miles along the bank, and be felt in the enhanced value of every farm in the county."

"Technology marches on and the wonders of yesterday become the curiosities of today. But in every great age some men succeed in rising above the transient and in creating works which outlast the times which produce them. The founders of Holyoke were such men. They built with such honesty and intelligence that the city has never been forced to abandon its original foundations. It remains a living monument to those pioneer engineers and industrialists of the mid-nineteenth century who had neither coal nor steel. When, after the Civil War, these two commodities became available, creative imaginations of the type which visioned Holyoke transformed America within a third of a century into the leading industrial nation of the world."

"Holyoke, now over a century old, has never flowered. For a brief period, perhaps from about 1878 to 1893, she gave signs of sturdy growth. Then a slow paralysis set in, and the promise was not fulfilled. Today she has far more to recommend her than a dozen other New England manufacturing cities...Nevertheless, if Holyoke is not one of New England's dreary mill towns, she is still far from realizing the hopes her founders and later comers alike had for her."

"I have some confidence in the great principle of local self-government. I believe that this great city of Holyoke, energetic, full of inspiration, the Chicago of Massachusetts, is able to run its own business without the admonition or control of the government in Boston."

"When lived, she often entertained in [Wistariahurst]'s music room, engaging famous artists to sing or play. When she entered the room, her guests would turn to look at her, forgetting the instruments, for she was a striking, charming personality. Like the chaplain of a chateau in a foreign town. And she was also a trained musician, in her girlhood elected class musician at Vassar College, playing the piano, violin, and harpsichord. When she died suddenly in Paris, on an Easter Sunday, of galloping influenza, a light went out of Holyoke."

"Just as our nation's flag represents the ideals and goals of a free people, so does Holyoke High School represent the ideals and goals of the American system of education."

"It is very unlikely that the people of Holyoke generally have any realization of the large value of the natural resources and opportunities virtually at their control, to utilize or to preserve for future utilization, or to waste and destroy by neglect. They have probably been in the situation of the American people as a whole, not unlike that of some spoiled children of wealthy parents; bewildered by more opportunities and resources than they have yet learned to utilize effectively, they are apt in the eagerness with which they pursue certain ends either to waste and neglect or recklessly to sell for a pittance other values that they have not yet had time to appreciate, but which they will sorely regret as time brings greater experience and greater managing ability."

"This infant giant of Western Massachusetts, destined to eclipse Lowell and other manufacturing places in this country, is situated upon the right bank of the Connecticut River, about eight miles from Springfield, and about the same distance south from Northampton, in the midst of a beautiful and fertile region, noted far and wide for the industry of its inhabitants, its salubrious clime, and its enchanting scenery."

"Holyoke was a success. It had achieved what thousands of towns had yearned for: it had become a major industrial center; it had grown rapidly, it was 'on the map.' It was also true that the sewers of the town emptied into the canal that flowed through it; that the community was unable to provide for its paupers; that its disease and death rate had tripled. But only the enemies of progress grumbled—cantankerous farmers and chronic malcontents... The town which failed in the race for industry dwindled into gentle impotence; to succeed as Holyoke did meant to explode into some terrible and tormented form whose sickness was acclaimed true health; to neither succeed nor to fail meant to live from one hope to the next, finding in each just enough nourishment to keep dreams alive."

"[W]hen I'm in Memphis, Ten-a-key, I just might not bring my own. 'Cause them niggas still let me smoke for free."

"I said okay, but just not Memphis. Anywhere but there. And, of course, I went to Memphis."

"Within slightly more than 100 years, the sleepy village of Newport News has transformed itself from a sparsely populated region of watermen and farmers to a city known as one of the nation's greatest centers for shipbuilding..."

"Bad News, VA? Now, that sounds great. I see niggas with that ice on, rims shined up. This town's one big pussy, waiting to get fucked."

"Newport News is the oldest English place name of any city in the New World. Today its population exceeds 183,000."

"[S]everal old maps where the name is given as Newport Ness, being the mariner's way of saying Newport Point."

"The idea of making Germantown an independent city with its own mayor, tax revenues and roads crews has been kicked around for at least a decade... Germantown has come far from the sleepy railroad outpost it was even in the late 1960s. It is home to 80,000 people, which would make it the largest municipality in Montgomery County were it to incorporate, and second to Baltimore in the state. As developers continue to build along the Interstate 270 corridor between Gaithersburg and Clarksburg, record numbers of first-time home buyers are putting down roots in Germantown's residential villages."

"To incorporate, Germantown residents first would need to draw up a charter and collect signatures from 25 percent of registered voters in the area. If the charter won the approval of the County Council, then a majority of residents would need to approve it in a special referendum. In an area that has a new town center, with shops and restaurants, but lacks a town hall, notions of what constitutes a community are open to many definitions. But incorporation was far from the minds of many Germantown residents gathered recently outside the BlackRock Center for the Arts."

"WalletHub, a finance website that rates things and places, named Germantown as the second most diverse city in the country... Germantown is not an incorporated city but is administered by the Montgomery County government."

"I didn't even know we weren't a city... But I don't know if we have to become one. I think Germantown is pretty well established now, and we're gaining a sense of identity."

"Germantown is certainly a diverse community and I see it on a daily basis because it's reflected in the school populations, social interests, places of worship, languages spoken, and the variety of local restaurants... This is a community that looks within for resources and expertise, and I'm confident that these needs will be met through the efforts of residents, businesses, and community organizations, with a little assistance from our county government, if needed."

"The take-away from the meetings was that we really saw people sitting down and saying that this could be a goal... Having a local government would give you the ability to identify priorities for Germantown and to have a team dedicated to fulfilling those priorities... What we don't have right now is an ability to say, 'Here's what Germantown needs'... If you had a mayor or a small council or even a city manager who could carry that ball every day, that would help."

"Yes, the world is coming to us with riches in cuisine, fashion, culture, faith, intellect and socialization... I'm blessed because every day I awake to the sound of geese on Little Seneca Lake and contemplate the variety of people and issues awaiting my attention. We are creating what Martin Luther King, Jr. envisioned in the Beloved Community."

"Welcome to the 6-0-2, it's a 105° in the shade and I'm sipping on a lemonade. Phoenix, Arizona puts the heat up on you. I should warn you."

"I'm hot as Phoenix, Arizona."

"I was flying from Flagstaff, Arizona to Phoenix, Arizona because my manager doesn't own a globe. We flew on a plane that big. Like a pack of gum with eight people in it. What happened was we took off from the Flagstaff Airport, Hair Care and Tire Center there. We're traveling at half the speed of smell. We got passed by a kite. There was a goose behind us, and the pilot was screaming, "Go around!". We get halfway to Phoenix and we gotta go back. It's a 9-minute flight...can't pull it off with this equipment. We had engine trouble."

"If there is, in fact, a Heaven and a Hell, all we know for sure is that Hell will be a viciously overcrowded version of Phoenix..."

"Hell is other people's babies. That's the lesson I learned when I ventured to the Eighth Annual America's Most Beautiful Baby Contest in Phoenix, Arizona. Outside, it's hot enough to fry baby food. But inside the bliss of a beautiful air-conditioned shopping mall, one baby will be judged far more beautiful than all the others, and displayed on stage like a little trained monkey. The grand prize awarded to the winning baby: a brand new car!"