100 Cities and Their Nicknames | Travel Away 100 Cities and Their Nicknames Last updated on 9 Feb 2016 | By Miruna Corneanu I like nicknames. They define us better than our names, they are clever and funny, and they tell so much about our personality and sometimes, about our aspect, although this might be the worst case. I’ve had plenty of nicknames from “Bal” and “Maimu” to “Blondy”, but now everyone calls me by using diminutives of my name. That’s why when someone calls me “Miruna”, I know there’s something wrong going on. I know the Internet is full of lists with cities’ nicknames, but I decided to make my own, composed of the world’s most important cities, and I hope this will be useful for my readers. 1. Paris – The City of Love, The City of Light, La Ville-Lumiere 2. Prague – The City of Hundred Spires, The Golden City, The Mother of Cities 3. New York – The Big Apple 4. Las Vegas – Sin City 5. Chicago – The Windy City 6.

Vancouver – The Big Smoke 7. Montreal – La Belle Ville, Frenchtown, The City-Mountain 8. Los Angeles – The City of Angels 9. New Orleans – The Big Easy 10. Philadelphia – City of Brotherly Love, Philly 11. Amsterdam – Venice of the North 12. Venice – La Serenissima, Bride of the Sea 13. Vienna – The Imperial City 14. London – The Square Mile, The Old Smoke, The Smoke 15. Detroit – Motor City 16. Miami – The Magic City, Little Cuba 17. Memphis – Bluff City 18. Petra – The Rose Red City 19. Pittsburgh – Iron City 20. Rome – The Eternal City, City of the Seven Hills 21. Seattle – The Emerald City 22. Bucharest – Little Paris 23. Florence – The City of Lilies 24. Barcelona – The City of Counts, The City of Gaudi 25. Budapest – Pearl of the Danube 26.

Toronto – Queen City, Muddy York, The Big Toe 27. Dublin – The Fair City 28. Jerusalem – The Holy City 29. Boston – The Hub 31. Moscow – The Whitestone, The Forty Forties, Third Rome 32. Edinburgh – Auld Reekie 33. Geneva – The Peace Capital 34. Rio de Janeiro – Marvelous City 35. Salzburg – White City 36. Mumbai – The City of Dreams 37. Singapore – The Lion City 38. Naples – City of the Sun 39. Bologna – Red City; La Dotta, La Rossa, La Grassa (the educated, the red, the fat) 40. Torino – City of Four Rivers 41. Genova – The Superb 43. Milano – Fashion Capital of the World, The Drinkable City 44. Cairo – Paris of the Nile 45. Buenos Aires – Paris of the Americas, Queen of the Plata 46. Ushuaia – The End of the World 47.

Melbourne – City by the Bay, Bleak City, Europe of Australia 48. Sydney – The Harbour City 50. Sao Paulo – Brazil’s Locomotive, Land of Drizzle, Sampa 51. Dubrovnik – The Pearl of the Adriatic 52. Helsinki – The White City of the North 53. Bordeaux – City of Wine 54. Nice – Angels City 55. Berlin – The Grey City 56. Jaipur – The Pink City 57. Oslo – Tiger Town 58. Warsaw – Default City, Big Village in the Middle of Nowhere 59. St Petersburg – The Mind of Russia 60. Madrid – El Foro, The Forum 61. Athens – The City of Violet Crown 62. Dallas – Big D 63. Hong Kong – Pearl of the Orient 64. Munich – World City with Heart 65. Birmingham – The City of a Thousand Trades, Brum 66. Lisbon – City With a Future 67. The Hague – City of Peace and Justice 68.

Calcutta – City of Palaces, City of Love, City of Joy 69. Beijing – The Forbidden City 70. Adelaide – City of Churches 71. Zagreb – Little Vienna 72. Bruges – Venice of the North 73. Marseille – Phocean City 74. Tel Aviv – The City that Never Stops 75. Bolzano – The Door to the Dolomites, The German One 76. Sanremo – The City of Dreams 77. Tivoli – City of Delights 78. Vicenza – City of Gold 79. Kuala Lumpur – Golden Triangle 80. Cuernavaca – The City of Eternal Spring 81. Tijuana – Television Capital of the World 82. Rotterdam – Manhattan upon Meuse 83. Lima – City of the Kings 84. Manila – City by the Bay 85. Porto – The Invincible City 86. Cadiz – The Little Silver Cup 87. Bilbao – El Bocho 88. Zurich – Little Big City 89.

Kiev – The Mother of Rus’ Cities 90. Honolulu – Sheltered Bay 92. Wroclaw – City of Hundred Bridges 93. Beirut – Paris of the Middle East 94. Udine – Capital of the Great War 95. Ancona – Doric City 96. Tehran – The City of 72 Nations 97. Bangalore – The City of Gardens 98. Leipzig – Bimbo Town 99. Split – The Diocletian’s City 100. Grenoble – Capital of the Alps Do you know other cities’ nicknames? Don't be selfish, share this with your friends You May Also Like Why Is Las Vegas Called “Sin City”? Home / Travel / Why Is Las Vegas Called “Sin City”? Why Is Las Vegas Called “Sin City”? Posted on by Deb in Travel I think “Sin City” is the best nickname for an American city, and it’s certainly the most accurate one. So why is Las Vegas called “Sin City”? The short answer is that Las Vegas is tolerant to various forms of “adult entertainment”, mainly prostitution and strip clubs.

While prostitution isn’t legal in the city of Las Vegas, it is legal in the state of Nevada. People can find brothels in the areas just outside of Las Vegas. Also, the Las Vegas police don’t tend to bother street walkers in certain parts of Las Vegas (where prostitution is illegal), if the prostitutes and their customers don’t loiter too long. You might ask, if prostitution is illegal in Las Vegas, then why is Las Vegas called “Sin City” and other cities in Nevada are not? That’s mainly because Las Vegas is more famous than towns like Reno, Nevada, and more people flock to Las Vegas than anywhere else in Nevada. In a larger sense, of course, Las Vegas is known as “Sin City” because of more than just prostitution. Because Las Vegas is permissive towards other so-called “sinful” pastimes like gambling, certain Americans look at Las Vegas as a kind of modern “Sodom and Gomorrah”, with locals and tourists engaged in immoral behavior. Las Vegas is a place where people can get away from the everyday and have fun. That “fun” provides a thrill and is usually expensive, but most satisfied vacationers coming from Las Vegas would say sin is in the eye of the beholder.

The History of Sin City The officials of Las Vegas have sometimes run from that image and sometimes embraced the “Sin City” moniker. For instance, when Las Vegas first began attracting corporate investments to build the mega-casinos of the 1980’s and 1990’s, the Sin City Chamber of Commerce tried to market Las Vegas as more “family friendly”. Some Vegas old-timers and hardcore gamblers complained that Las Vegas was becoming “Disneyfied” or getting a “Disney image”. In the last ten years, though, Las Vegas has begun to advertise itself as a place to go to commit a few sins. It’s famous and successful ad campaign was “What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas”. That Las Vegas slogan became an American catchphrase. In fact, there was even a Hollywood movie in the last year or two called What Happens in Vegas, continuing Hollywood’s long love affair with Sin City. That brings us to the final reason that Las Vegas is known as “Sin City”. The American pop culture and entertainment industry have glorified Las Vegas as a capital of sin and a mecca of greed, a city of bright lights and crazy dreams where anything can happen and everything is for sell.

From movies like Bugsy to Casino to Sin City — which actually takes place in the western river metropolis of Basin City — the names “Las Vegas” and “Sin City” have been invoked as a place where life is large and action takes place. So there’s a whole list of reasons that Las Vegas is called Sin City. Taking all those reasons into account, I would say Sin City is the most apt, coolest and all-around best nickname for an American city. See also: City nicknames The human animal differs from the lesser primates in his passion for lists of "Ten Best". — H. Allen Smith City nicknames The following is my list of City Nicknames, started around 1993. I had collected suggestions from the rec.games.trivia newsgroup, and had heard someone on KGO (San Francisco's AM news-talk radio station) use the phrase "... 10,000 residents of The City, of complications from ...". So I appropriated that phrase "The City of Complications", as an exceptionally apt nickname for San Francisco, and went on to collect a few other names. When I had enough of them, I posted the list to that newsgroup.

So far, I have only been able to re-locate the quiz version of my list, so I haven't actually merged all of the answers back into the list yet. This past year or two (2001-2002), I added a few from the "Isaac Asimov" quiz column in the newspaper, a Sunset Magazine article (which lists California as the "World Capital of Agricultural World Capitals"), and other sources. I also found two other lists on the web (URLs below). I now keep this merged version in both ~landauer/lists/CityOf.html and the stories link in my Radio Weblog, . The one at ~landauer/CityOf_was.html is older. Other web locations that have some similar lists include: ~rksnow/mottos.htm is (today) the top Google result for City nicknames , with good reason. "COMMUNITY MOTTOS & NICKNAMES" looks like they've been actively collecting these for a lot longer than I have.

The Trivia asylum Most recent additions (8 February 2003): Albany, OR; Alpine, TX; Beaver, OK; Bemidji, MN; Brainerd, MN; Bristol, TN; Burlington, Iowa; Cody, WY; Douglas, WY; Frannie, WY; Gallup, NM; Granby, CO; Isleton, CA; Laramie, WY; Lowell, WY; Meeteetse, WY; New York (as "Never Sleeps"); Noxubee County, Alabama; Philadelphia, PA; Rockport, MA; Santa Rosa, NM; Sonora, CA; Sturgis, Michigan; Taxco, Mexico; Tijuana, Mexico; Westwood, CA.

My List of City Nicknames: City Nickname Aberdeen, Scotland The Granite City Akron, OH Rubber City Albany, Georgia Good Life City Albany, ORHome of the Timber Carnival Alexandria, Egypt Pearl of the Mediterranean Allentown, Pennsylvania Cement City Alpine, TXGateway to the Big Bend Annapolis, Maryland Crabtown Atlanta, GA The Athens of the South Atlanta, GA The City Too Busy to Hate Atlanta, GA Dogwood City Atlanta, GA Gate City of the South Auckland, NZ City of Sails Baltimore, Maryland Charm City Baltimore, Maryland Monument City Banaras, India Luminous City Bandon, OR Storm Capital of the World Bangkok, Thailand Venice of the East Beaver, OKCow Chip Throwing Capital of the World Bemidji, MNHome of Paul Bunyan & Babe, the Blue Ox (see Brainerd and Westwood) Beograd The White City Bickleton, WA Bluebird Capital of the World Birmingham, AL Pittsburgh of the South Boston, MA The Athens of America Boston, MA Beantown Boston, MA The City of Kind Hearts Boston, MA The Cradle of Liberty Boston, MA The Hub of the Universe Boston, MA Puritan City Brainerd, MNHome of Paul Bunyan & Babe, the Blue Ox —

 The legend on the Brainerd city limits sign shows up in the film "Fargo".

(See Bemidji and Westwood) Bristol, TNFood City Brandon, Manitoba The Wheat City Bucharest, Romania The Little Paris Budapest, Hungary The Pearl of the Danube Buffalo, New York Bison City Buffalo, New York Flour City Buffalo, NY The City of Good Neighbors Buffalo, NY The Nickel City Buffalo, NY The Queen City (of the Great Lakes) Burlington, IowaLoader/Backhoe Capital of the World Butte, Montana Copper City Byran, Ohio The Fountain City Calgary, Alberta, Canada The Stampede City Calgary, Alberta, Canada The Heart of The New West (that's the New Convention and Visitors Bureau slogan) Calgary, Alberta, Canada Canada's oil capital (Because of high concentration of oil company head offices, as in Houston) Cape Girardeau, Missouri Rose City Cape Hatteras, North Carolina The Graveyard of the Atlantic Castroville, CA Artichoke Center of the World Champaign-Urbana, IL Chambana Champaign-Urbana, IL Shampoo-Bananna Champaign-Urbana, IL Urpaign Charleston, South Carolina America's Most Historic City Charleston, South CarolinaPalmetto City Charlotte, North Carolina Hornets Nest Charlotte, North Carolina Queen City Chicago, Illinois Big Town Chicago City of

 Big Shoulders Chicago, Illinois Hog Butcher for the World Chicago Slaughterhouse to the World Chicago, Illinois Phoenix City Chicago, Illinois Second City Chicago The Windy City Christchurch, NZ The Garden City Cincinnati, Ohio Queen City Cleveland, Ohio Mistake on the Lake Cleveland, OH America's North Coast Cody, WYRodeo Capital of the World Columbus, OH The Crossroads of Ohio Cooperstown, New York Birthplace of Baseball Council Bluffs, Iowa Iowa's Leading Edge Crestwood (Louisville), KYWhiskers Cuernavaca, Morelos, MexicoThe City of Eternal Spring Dallas, Texas Big D Dayton, Ohio Birthplace of Aviation Denver, Colorado City of the Plains Denver, Colorado Convention City Denver, CO Mile High City Denver, Colorado Queen City Detroit, MI Motown Detroit, MI Motor City Dipolog City, Philippines Orchid City Douglas, WYJackalope Capitol [sic] of the World — I vaguely recall that one of the main promoters and/or inventor of the Jackelope died within the last few months.

Durham, NC City of Medicine Durham, NC Bull City Edinburgh, Scotland Athens of the North Erie, Pennsylvania The Gem Eskilstuna, Sweden Smedstan (The smith City) Fallbrook, CA Avocado Capital of the World Florence, Italy The City of Lillies Fort Myers, Florida The City of Palms Frannie, WYBiggest Little Town in Wyoming Gainesville, Florida Hogtown Gallup, NMDrunk-Driving Capital of America Gilroy, CA Garlic Capital of the World Gotland, Sweden Pearl of the Baltic Göteborg, Sweden Götet Granby, COSnowmobile Capital of Colorado Grants Pass, Oregon"It's the Climate" ...

see Grants Pass, OregonWhere the Rogue River Runs Greenfield, CA Broccoli Capital of the World Hammondsport, New York Cradle of Aviation Hawthorne, CA The City of Good Neighbors (2) Hershey, PAChocolate Town, USA Hollywood Hollyweird Hollywood Tinseltown Holtville, CA Carrot Capital of the World Hong Kong Pearl of the Orient Hood River, Oregon (Columbia Gorge) Windsurfing Capital of the World Hoople, North DakotaTater Town Houston, Texas Magnolia City Indianapolis, Indiana Naptown Indianapolis, Indiana Circle City Indianapolis, Indiana Railroad City Indio, CA Date Capital of the World International Falls, Minnesota The Icebox of the United States Isleton, CACrawdad Town, USA Jackson, Mississippi Chimneyville Jaipur The Pink City Jerusalem City of David Jerusalem City of Peace Jönköping, SwedenSmålands Jerusalem Kalamazoo, Michigan Celery City Kansas City, Kansas Heart of America Kokomo, Indiana City of Firsts Kristianstad, Sweden Lilla Paris (rare these days) Keizer, OR Iris Capital of the World Kelseyville, CA Pear Capital of the World (but see here ).

Laramie, WYGem City of the Plains Las VegasSin City Las VegasEntertainment Capital of the World Las VegasCity of Lights Las Vegas, Nevada (downtown)Glitter Gulch Las Vegas, Nevada (downtown)The Strip Letchworth (UK, near Cambridge) The first Garden City in the World Lodi, CAThe [Tokay] Grape Capital of the World (probably more popularly known as the place where Creedence Clearwater Revival got stuck in once, in the 1960's.) London, England The Square Mile London's financial district The City of London London, Ontario The Forest City Los Angeles The Big Orange Los Angeles City of Angels Los Angeles, California City of Flowers and Sunshine Los Angeles La La Land Los Banos City of the Spring Baths Louisville, Kentucky City of Beautiful Churches Louisville, Kentucky Falls City Lowell, WYThe Rose City of Wyoming Madison, Wisconsin Four Lake City Manila, Philippines Pearl of the Orient Mar del Plata, Argentina Queen of the Coast Marysville, California Gateway to the Gold Fields Medellin, Columbia Orchid City Meeteetse, WYWhere Chiefs Meet Melbourne, AustraliaCity of Chromatic Dissolution (not a real nickname, but I really liked the phrase.

I'll have to dig up the film , someday.) Memphis, TN Bluff City Memphis, TN The City that Elvis Ruined (I get a Googlewhack for that one! Today, anyway.) Miami, Florida Little Cuba Miami, Florida Magic City Milwaukee, Wisconsin Cream City Minneapolis, Minnesota Flour City Minneapolis The Mini Apple Minneapolis/St.

Paul, MN The Twin Cities Mobile, Alabama City of Five Flags Montreal, Canada The City of Saints Mountain Iron, Minnesota Taconite Capital of the World Moyobamba, Peru Orchid City Nashville, TN Music City, USA New Haven, Connecticut Elm City New Orleans The Big Easy New Orleans The Crescent City New York The Big Apple New York The Capital of the World New YorkThe City that Never Sleeps New York Gotham New York Empire City New York The Melting Pot New York/Manhattan The City Norrköping, Sweden Peking Noxubee County, Alabama Home of the Dancing Rabbit Festival and Magnolia Pilgrimage (I know, it's not really a city, but how could I pass up a phrase like that?) Oakdale, CA Cowboy Capital of the World Oakland, CA Oaktown Oroville, CA City of Gold Oxford City of Dreaming Spires Oxnard, CA Strawberry Capital of the World (but see here ).

Paris City of Light Pasadena, CA City of Roses Patterson, CA Apricot Capital of the World Pearsonville, CA Hubcap Capital of the World Petaluma, CA Egg Basket of the World Petra The Rose Red City Philadelphia City of Brotherly Love Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Rebel Capital Philadelphia, PAMortal City (per Dar Williams) Pittsburgh, PA Steel City Pittsburgh, PA The 'Burgh Pittsburgh, PA Iron City Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania The Birmingham of America Pittsburgh, PA (downtown) Golden Triangle Pittsburgh, PA (downtown) Three Rivers Pittsburgh, PA (region) City of Bridges Placerville, CA Hangtown Portland, Maine Forest City Portland, Maine Hill City Portland, Oregon City of Roses Prague, Czech Republic The Golden City Providence, Rhode Island Beehive of Industry Quebec The Gibraltar of North America Queenstown, NZ Extreme Sports Capital of the World Redmond, WA Mordor Redmond, WA Nerdburg Reno, NV The Biggest Little City in the World Reseda, CA The Hub of the West Valley (That's the San Fernando Valley) Rigby, IdahoBirthplace of TV There's a museum here, the "TV and Pioneer Museum" .

When I drove through, it made me wonder jest which of those Conestoga wagons had TVs, and how good the reception was. Rincon (Santa Barbara County), California Queen of the Coast Surfers' term. Not really a city. Rochester, New York Kodak City Rochester, New York Snapshot City Rockport, MAThe Mendocino of the East Rogue River Valley, OR Pear Capital of the World (but see here ).

Rome The City of the Seven Hills Rome, Italy The Eternal City Rome, Italy City of Love Rye, New York Border Town Sacramento, California River City Saint Louis, MOGateway to the West (or "The Gateway City") Saint Paul, MinnesotaMoscow on the Mississippi Saint Petersburg, Russia Venice of the North Salem, Massachusetts City of Witches Samal, Philipines Island Garden City of Samal (IGaCoS) San Antonio, Texas Alamo City San Antonio, Texas Mission City San Diego, California The Plymouth of the West San Diego, CA America's Finest City San Francisco, California The Golden Gate City San Francisco, California Shaky Town San Francisco, CA Baghdad by the Bay San Francisco, CA The City North San Jose, CA The Golden Triangle Santa Fe, New Mexico The City Different Santa Rosa, NMThe SCUBA-diving capital of New Mexico Saratoga Springs, New York Spa City Savannah, Georgia Garden City Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario The SOO Sault Ste.

Marie, MI (I think) The SOO Seattle, WA The Emerald City Selma, CA Raisin Capital of the World Shah Alam, Malaysia Orchid City Sonora, CAThe Queen of the Southern Mines Sri Lanka Pearl of the Indian Ocean (I know, not really a city.) Stockholm Eken (The Oak) Stockholm Venice of the North Stockton, CA California's Sunrise Seaport Sturgis, MichiganCurtain Rod Capital of the World Sundbyberg, Sweden Sumpan Syracuse, New York Salt City Taxco, MexicoSilver Capital of the World Thousand Oaks, CA T.O. Tijuana, MexicoTelevision Capital of the World Toledo, Ohio Corn City Toronto, Ontario Hogtown Toronto, Ontario Muddy York (archaic, I think) Toronto, Ontario T.O.

Toronto, Ontario Toronto the Good (sometimes pejorative) Toronto, Ontario Trawna or Trahna Toronto, Ontario, Canada Queen City Tulelake, CA Horseradish Capital of the World Umeå, SwedenBjörkarnas stad (The city of the birches) (Historic) Vancouver, B.C., CanadaGastown Venice, Italy Bride of the Sea Venice, Italy Queen of the Adriatic Värnersborg, SwedenLilla Paris (Little Paris) Västerås Gurkstan (The Cucumber City) Vicksburg, Mississippi The Gibraltar of America Victoria, Australia The Cabbage Patch Victoria, B.C., Canada Little England Walla Walla, WA The Town So Nice They Named It Twice Walla Walla, WA Walla2 Walla Walla, WA Wallyworld Washington D.C. Capital City Washington D.C. News Capital of the World Waterbury, Connecticut Brass City Wenatchee, WA Apple Capital of the World West Hollywood, CA Boystown West Hollywood, CA The Creative City West Palm Beach, Florida Orchid City Westwood, CAHome of Paul Bunyan & Babe, the Blue Ox It seems that a celebrity like Paul Bunyan has several homes.

I've actually seen him here in Westwood — and note that this is the Lassen County Westwood. (See and also see Brainerd and Bemidji.) Wheeling, West Virginia Nail City Wichita, Kansas Emerald City Windsor, Ontario Tijuana North NOTES: I used to have some of the following ones in the main list. I have moved these here mostly for not being unique enough (i.e., Google found too many candidates for the given honor). I should probably move all of the "Queen City"s down here, too. A recent contributor mentioned Coos Bay, Oregon as having (had) the official motto "City With a Future".

Alas, Google says that this is one of the too-common ones: Lansing, KS; Mankato, MN (had this motto in 1912); Yokosuka, Japan; Ruda [approx equal]öl[florin]Öska, Poland; Massillon, Ohio; Fulton, NY?; Monett, MO; ¬¶widnica, Poland; Lisbon, Portugal; Sumner, Iowa; St Louis, MO; Tremonton, Utah And it has a few variations: Altus, Oklahoma: "City with a Future to Share" Kenai, Alaska: "THE VILLAGE WITH A PAST - THE CITY WITH A FUTURE" Lowell, Arkansas: "Town with a Past, City with a Future" Beersheba: "A place with a past, a city with a future" "City of Champions" (Joliet, Illinois; Brockton, Massachusetts; Duncanville, Texas; Lilburn, Georgia; Edmonton, Alberta; Detroit, Michigan; Los Angeles, California; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania). (Pittsburgh has really really bad Google-juice.

I have a vague recollection that it (and Edmonton) were the two "City of Champions"s on my original list. But Pittsburgh is way down low on the Google-meter search for "City of Champions".) "City of Gold" (Gold Beach, OR; Oroville, California; Cite de l'or, Quebec; Gold Coast City in Australia; Victor, Colorado; etc) "City of Love" (Glasgow, San Francisco, Calcutta, Paris) "City of Roses" — Pasadena, California (my first home town) has held the Rose Parade for more than a century now; this gives it first dibs on this monicker. I had also seen Portland, Oregon referred to this way. But Google gives the nod to ?Cape Girardeau, Missouri??? Weird.

The "City That Time Forgot" (Baldwin Park, CA; Galena, IL; New Orleans; Tikal, Guatemala; Bruges/Brugge, Belgium; and a host of others) Cowtown (Both Edmonton and Calgary, Alberta; Chicago; Columbus, OH; Dallas; Kansas City; Wichita, KS; et al) "The All-American City" (I gather there's an award by this name, whose value is enormously diluted by the fact that it is bestowed annually on 10 cities. It is the National Civic League that does this.) Here are a few of the winners, plus other places that claim this title either on the web, or in email I've seen lately: Tri-Cities of TN/VA; Ocean City, MD; Tuscaloosa-Northport Tupelo MI; Roswell, NM; Santa Clara, CA; Delray Beach, FL; South Miami, FL; Fort Dodge, IA; Howard County, MD; Ocean City, MD; Independence, MO; Bozeman, MT; Fayetteville, NC; Brownsville, TX; Allentown, PA The End of the World.

(Not to be confused with The End of the Internet , of which there are also a whole bunch). Trosa, Sweden; Ushuaia, Argentina; Anchorage, AK; Gibraltar Gateway to the Rockies (Denver and Aurora Colorado; and Calgary, Hinton, and Banff, Alberta. Probably dozens of others.) Devin T McLaughlin suggested a bunch of nicknames for Calgary; some ("Entrepreneurial City" and "Volunteer City") failed the google test (didn't really show up at all), and Cowtown fails in the other direction (see above). Cotton Capital of { World, USA, Western Australia, etc... } "The Garden City" is an unusual one: there appear to be a number of cities with "Garden" as a part of their real names, which makes it a bit hard to sift out and locate the one(s) where it's just a nickname. I left three of these in the main list; Christchurch is Phil Pearson's fault, and the others came from a Google search to see if the nickname was too common for my tastes. pre-Thanksgiving update: Hogtown goes to Toronto mainly, though Gainesville put in a strong enough #2 showing.

So at this point, only one of the nicknames from my original list remains unidentified -- i.e., I haven't quite figured out with enough certainty to put it back in place yet: "The Paris of the 1980's". Maybe Seattle. Gaining no confidence from Google, I'll probably just drop that one. And the other two cities that I didn't find matches for are in Ontario, Canada — Copetown and Welland. My google efforts did not come up with any nickname for either. These will have to wait until I re-locate my original list or check some of the other sites I've listed above. Thanks to Erland, Margaret, Phil, Devin, Drew, Isaac, Kunaal, Dave Letterman, the film "Fargo", and anyone else who contributed suggestions! © Copyright 2006 Doug Landauer . Why Is Las Vegas Called "Sin City"? (with pictures) Why Is Las Vegas Called "Sin City"? Last Modified Date: 17 December 2016 Copyright Protected: Can you see through these real-life optical illusions? Las Vegas is often referred to as Sin City because of its numerous adult attractions, which some may see as immoral, or sinful.

This city, located in Nevada, is one of the most-visited cities in the world. It has numerous venues for adult entertainment, including gambling. Sexual services and adult beverages also are available most of the time. Las Vegas was also considered to be a city under mob rule at one time. Millions of people visit Sin City each year. Although there are some family friendly attractions in this city, most sites are geared toward the adult visitors. The majority of these activities are considered to be immoral by many. Las Vegas is probably most known for gambling and betting, which may thought of as sinful. Dozens of casinos and casino-hotels operate in Las Vegas. Las Vegas Boulevard, commonly referred to as the Las Vegas strip , or the strip, is where many of the flashier and best known casinos operate. These are often open and full of patrons around the clock. Lust is considered to be another sin, and in Sin City there are several ways to satisfy one's lust. Gentlemen's clubs, better known as strip clubs, in Las Vegas are often frequented by both men and women. In these clubs, patrons can watch, and sometimes participate, as male or female dancers seductively disrobe.

Ad Prostitution is also not uncommon in Sin City. Although it is illegal in Las Vegas, prostitutes can be often be found walking down the street. They can also be found soliciting clients in massage parlors, casinos, bars, and hotels. Nevada is the only state in the United States where prostitution is legal. Only certain counties, however, allow this, and Las Vegas is not in one of these counties. Many of the brothels are located in the empty Nevada desert, just a short trip from Sin City. Alcoholic beverages can also be found fairly easily in Sin City. Nearly every hotel and casino has a bar. Many casinos even serve free drinks to those who are gambling. Drinking establishments can also be found outside of the casinos. Along with its many other vices and sins, the history of Las Vegas history also is linked to organized crime. For a good part of the 20th century, there was an abundance of mob activity. Many of the major hotels and casinos were started or run by infamous mobsters. Frank Detra, friend to Al Capone , started one of the very first Las Vegas casinos on the strip, for instance.

Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel, Lucky Luciano, and Meyer Lansky were a few more infamous mobsters involved in the development of Sin City. Near the end of the 20th century, however, city officials began trying to clean up the city. Their goal was to shed the Sin City image and make more families want to visit. The mission was partly successful, but since then, marketers have given up on the family image. Instead, Las Vegas is advertised as a place where adults can have fun and sin a little. Ad How Las Vegas Became Sin City - A Brief History That Nobody Asked For How Las Vegas Became Sin City - A Brief History That Nobody Asked For Published on Thu, May 1, 2014 by Cash Cooper Ever wonder how Casino Boy's favorite city came to be? (History Lesson ALERT!) We all love Sin City (well, it's a love/hate relationship mostly - our heart and soul LOVES Vegas; our liver and bank account despise it), but it wasn't always a glittering paradise in the middle of nowhere. Vegas has a sorted history, from a Mormon-funded desert town to a beacon of organized crime - a natural progression, if you will.

Starting out as a small railroad town, over the past 150 years this desert oasis transormed from a major hub for crime, gambling and parties to, well ... actually that still fits pretty perfectly. Anyways ... Las Vegas means "the meadows." Shocked? We were too. We don't see any meadows in Vegas besides the huge golf courses that have sprung up all over the place. Sure - it's a watering hole, but we're pretty sure green grass doesn't grow from vodka tonics. Surprisingly enough, the Las Vegas valley was so named in the 1800's when it was discovered as an oasis in the middle of a barren desert. Mormon missionaries decided it was the ideal location to link Salt Lake City and Southern California via railroad, so this little town became a mecca for railroad workers and agriculture in the early 1900's, but it wasn't until the 1930's that it really started to boom*. (*Boom meaning economic growth ... and gunshots.) In 1930, under the direction of President Hoover, construction of the Hoover Dam (originally called the Boulder Dam - MAN that Hoover was an egomaniac ... ) had begun.

With this, an influx of workers flooded little Las Vegas Valley and, since most of these workers were dirty, smelly men, the demand for some major entertainment hit was only natural. Up popped showgirl theaters (real original, guys) and hotel casinos like the Northern Club and Fremont Hotel opened for business. Naturally, crime wasn't far behind. Mobsters and riff-raff love the naked ladies (Casino Boy falls into the latter category, for the record.), and Vegas provided enough male-focused entertainment to keep the big timers amused and the Mormon financiers busy. Related: Beautiful pic on Wikipedia of the Vegas skyline at night. During the war, the United States Army built a gunnery school in Vegas and quickly cracked down on prostitution in the area. (Total buzz-kill, but we get it.) The famous red light district, Block 16, was shut down in 1942, and an attempt was made to clean up Sin City (obviously a real success). For years the hotels were owned by hard-core Vegas locals (i.e. Casino Boy's ancestors), but that began to change toward the end of the 1940's.

(This is probably where you call Casino Boy a 'sell-out' again. Guys, seriously - this isn't the '90's.) After the war, gangster Bugsy Seigel and mob boss Meyer Lansky opened The Flamingo (inspired by Bugsy's long-legged mistress) in 1946. (Good thing he didn't call it the Walrus, amiright?). This spawned the growth of big hotels like the Tropicana and Sands, owned and operated by known organized criminals. The amount of money being pumped into the city through gambling halls was huge, and stars like Elvis Presley and Frank Sinatra began performing all over Las Vegas, further solidifying it's reputation as the "entertainment capital of the world". (And yes - we're over this self-proclaimed title, too.) It quickly became a HUB for all forms of entertainment - innocent and otherwise - and Sin City became a top destination for all kinds of people looking to get away from reality, and get into some trouble. In the 1980's, Vegas started to become the monstrosity that it is now.

Mega-resorts sprung up along the Vegas Strip starting with the Mirage , and the Strip quickly surpassed Downtown as the "place to be" in Vegas. ( El Cortez and Fremont fans, feel free to air your disdain for that previous statement in the comments section below.) Over the next 30 years, huge clubs like HAZE and Surrender became the (quote) " best places to party in Vegas " and hotels began competing to be the biggest and best in town. Granted, we're not complaining; how do you think beaches and amusement parks ended up in Vegas? It's all about competition. (AMERICA! CAPITALISM! Sorry ... We just got back from an NRA rally. We're not political or anything; they just serve GREAT finger foods at those things.) To sum it all up, thanks to religious money and the mobster lifestyle, our favorite city became the number one party destination for drunken oafs like Casino Boy. From Vegas strip clubs (and beyond), to the Blackjack tables, high rollers slots and, well, just about anywhere else your eyes wander, there are still plenty of ways to get in trouble in Sin City. Just take a look around the corner if you don't believe us ...

Casino Boy's favorite nearby hotels ...in case you need a place to crash. Check-In: Most Sinful Cities Outranking Las Vegas in America - Movoto The 10 Most Sinful Cities in America By Movoto Move over, Las Vegas, NVâthereâs a new capital of sin in America. Oh, youâre still pretty bad, but it turns out that St. Louis, MO has you beat when it comes to the big seven: Pride, lust, greed, wrath, envy, gluttony, and sloth. Now, youâre probably asking yourself, âWhatâre those crazy Movoto bloggers up to this time?â Well, you see, weâve just been asking ourselves some of the big questions again. You know, like how many Tribbles would it take to fill your house or how a PokÃ©mon lives . Or, in this case, what the real Sin City is.

Everyone knows that Las Vegas has made a name for itselfâand attracts nearly 40 million visitors a yearâby being a bastion of âsinfulâ activities: adult entertainment, gambling, drinking, and general debauchery. But what about the real sins? The ones in the Good Book. The ones in the movie âSeven?â We thought it would be fun to figure out which cities are making names for themselves in those (mainly less fun) moral offenses. Weâve already told you which one claimed the tarnished crown; hereâs the full list of the 10 most sinful cities in America: 10. Las Vegas, NV SeeâLas Vegas is still on there. But nine other big cities proved to be more sinful based on Biblical criteria. Read on to find out how we reached our conclusions , and why living in these cities is a bit like a real life Danteâs âInferno.â Howâd We Come Up With Our List?

Unlike most of the city rankings weâve already done, we already had some criteria set out for us coming in, namely the Seven Deadly Sins themselves. However, one canât simply find statistics on things like âprevalence of lustâ and âoccurrences of wrathââwell, actually you can, but you have to get creative. Luckily weâre sort of known for that around here. So, in order to make this ranking, we had to translate the sins into some criteria that makes sense for modern city living.

Thatâs how we came up with the seven we ended up using: Strip clubs per capita (Lust) Cosmetic surgeons per capita (Pride) Violent crime per year per 1,000 residents (Wrath) Theft per year per 1,000 residents (Envy) Percentage of disposable income given to charity each year (Greed) Percentage of obese residents (Gluttony) Percentage of physically inactive residents (Sloth) With those figured out, we looked at the 95 most populous cities in the United States (we had to exclude Baton Rouge, Birmingham, Indianapolis, Toledo, and Tucson since they donât report some of this data) to see how they stacked up in each criterion. We ranked each city from 1 to 95âwith 1 being most sinful and 95 being leastâand averaged the scores across all criteria to come up with our final list of 10 most sinful locales. Keep reading to find out why we chose each criterion to represent its corresponding sin and which cities most embodied that particular moral failing. Lust: Where Vegas Still Reigns Supreme Source: Flickr user Tiger Girl Ah, lust.

Of all the deadly sins, this is the one most people seem to have little difficulty getting behind. We suppose thatâs because being seen as a perv is slightly less unappealing than people thinking youâre a jerk, a bully, or a slob? Anyway, to gauge the lustfulness of our cities, we went with the old standard: strip clubs. We used Yelp to figured out how many of these adult entertainment hubs exist in each city, then divided that number by the population to get how many there are per capita. Unsurprisingly, Las Vegas ranked first. Specifically, North Las Vegas, NV did, with one strip club for every 2,808 residents. Las Vegas, NV proper came in second at one for every 3,406 people. Another desert city, Scottsdale, AZ , ranked third with one strip club for every 4,511 residents. Pride: Where Your Looks are What Matter Most Pride was one of the trickier criteria to decide on, since it can have a variety of meanings. What we eventually landed on has to do with the fact that the sin of pride has also been called the sin of vanity.

With that in mind, we went with the number of cosmetic surgeons each city has, seeing as few things say you take a lot (or too much) pride in yourself than having your appearance surgically altered. According to Yelp, Scottsdale, AZ has the most cosmetic surgeons per capita with one for every 1,812 people. Irvine, CA was a close second with one for every 1,827 residents. Anaheim, CAâalso in Southern Californiaâhas one plastic surgeon for every 2,246 people who live in the city. Wrath: When Things Get Violent Unlike pride, wrath is pretty easy to equate to things that happen in a city. For this criterion we went with reports of violent crimes as cataloged by the FBI. Specifically, we looked at combined incidents of murder (and nonnegligent manslaughter), robbery, aggravated assault, and forcible rape for our most populous cities on a per year per 1,000 residents basis. We canât say the âwinnerâ surprised us much, unfortunately.

The dubious distinction of most wrathful city went to Detroit, MI, with 24 violent crimes per year per 1,000 residents. St. Louis, MO was second with 20, while Memphis, TN was tied with Oakland, CA in third with 16 apiece. Envy: When You Want What Isnât Yours Source: Flickr user Twanda Baker If youâre extremely envious of what others have, you want it for your own. Thatâs how we thought about this sin, which led to us selecting incidents of theftâagain gathered by the FBIâas our representative criterion. Like violent crimes, these were viewed on a per year and per 1,000 resident basis. We looked at combined incidents of burglary, larceny, and motor vehicle theft. The top ranked city in this category kind of threw us off guard (then stole our wallet). Whereâs your stuff most likely to get stolen? Honolulu, HI. The island paradise sees 76 reported thefts per year per 1,000 residents. Thatâs 11 more than St. Louis, which has 65.

Atlanta, GA rounded out the list of cities where the crooks have sticky fingers with 53 thefts every year per 1,000 people. Greed: When Giving Back Isnât a Consideration When thinking about greed as a sin, we initially started looking at things like personal wealth, but we decided that was a little unfair. So, we turned to charityâspecifically, the percentage of disposable income each city gives to charity on a yearly basis, from Philanthropy.com âs research into âHow America Gives.â Laredo, TX turned out to be the most stingy, giving only 2.8 percent of disposable income to charity each year. Fremont, CA gives 3.2 percent, with Reno, NV only slightly better at 3.3 percent. (Detroit was tops, giving a whopping 11.2 percent.) Gluttony: Where Eating Never Ceases While overeating is just one of several contributors to obesity, being overweight is still most commonly caused by the overconsumption of food (and lack of physical activity, which weâll get to in a sec).

With that in mind, we looked at the percentage of residents in each city classified as obese by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as an indicator for this sin. Detroit landed another, er, âwinâ here, with 34 percent of its residents classified as obese. Tulsa, OK nearly tied at 33.9 percent, while Memphis was a close third at 33.8 percent. Sloth: When Getting Off Your Keisterâs a Chore For our final sin, sloth, we probably couldnât have asked for a better criteria than the number of people who arenât meeting government physical activity guidelines. Like our data on obesity, this information came straight from the CDC. Tulsa came out on top here (after struggling to get off the couch) with 32.4 percent of its residents labeled âinactive.â Minneapolis, MN was second at 30 percent, while St. Louis, MO and Orlando, FL tied in third at 28.8 percent.

Where Sin is In To be clear: Weâre not saying youâre a bad person if you live in one of the cities on our latest Kind of a Big Deal List âbut thereâs definitely some Old Testament-level sinful stuff going on around you. Or, hey, maybe youâre reading this post in a strip club right now. In which case, we hope youâre tipping big and keeping your hands to yourself, you perv. Thumbnail image source: Flickr user Skinny Lawyer Homes for Sale Why is Las Vegas called "sin city?" (apartment, hotel) - Nevada (NV) - City-Data Forum Why is Las Vegas called "sin city?" (apartment, hotel) User Name Advanced Search Go to Page... Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account , you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.

View detailed profile ( Advanced ) or search site with 326 posts, read 251,616 times Reputation: 52 Advertisements I hear a lot about people calling Las Vegas "sin city." I wonder why that is? Location: Somewhere along the path to where I'd like to be. 2,181 posts, read 4,540,824 times Reputation: 809 Because some people consider gambling to be a sin. Also, many people mistakenly think prostitution is legal in Vegas, but it's not really. So because prostitution IS considered a sin, and because some people also think gambling is, you combine that with the general perception of "anything goes" in Las Vegas, and.....well, there ya' go. 12,578 posts, read 27,499,568 times Reputation: 5152 Las Vegas has long allowed people to believe the Sin City image as a way to attract tourists. We never used to promote it ourselves, in fact we did just the opposite. Some were even defensive about it. But others gave us the title and we let them.

On the other hand we have always felt a little guilty about what we do here and are quick to point out that we have more churches and schools per capita than any other city. While that used to be true, with all the uncontrolled rapid growth, I don't know if we've been able to keep that distinction. People around the country seem to believe that all the men here are mafia hit men, and all the women are prostitutes, and that we all live in hotel rooms on the Strip. The Las Vegas News Bureau, and the Chamber of Commerce, has always tried to help that image along making people feel that coming here is a little daring and sinful. Apparently it makes their vacation experience a little more fun. For us it's kind of ho hum. For several years, starting in the late 70s if I remember correctly, we tried to promote Vegas as a family vacation spot. It was estimated that the average visitor only loses a small amount per visit, so we needed lots of visitors to make any money. Now the ad men have decided that young, well healed people looking for "sin" are willing to risk more and the family thing didn't really work that well.

So they have taken to promoting the "sin" image again, as in "What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas". Las Vegans tend to be jaded and look at people from elsewhere as naï¿½ve, which really, they are. They see gambling and think "how terrible...but, lets go do it, tee, hee." What they don't see is that being legal it's really no big deal. But illegal gambling goes on in a much bigger way than people imagine in every large city and small hamlet in America. In fact it's way bigger than legal gambling is. 1,607 posts, read 8,474,532 times Reputation: 911 Because what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. :-) The city prides itself on adults going there and "letting their hair down" to party, gamble, go to strip clubs, hire call girls to go your hotel room (even though they are wink wink illegal- yet the yellow pages is loaded with them, trust me those girls aren't all coming to dance!), see naked shows, etc. Many people that visit Las Vegas plan to do things they can't or won't do in other places.

Many of these things are often considered being morally wrong or against religious beliefs, thus the name sin city. And the city itself loves that name. They want people to go there with the idea they can do anything and everything and leave it all behind when they board the plane. That's why they have the kind of tacky and suggestive commercials and taglines promoting the city. 12,578 posts, read 27,499,568 times Reputation: 5152 Sin City is mostly image. Nothing happens in Vegas that doesn't happen tenfold in other cities, but in other cities the hypocrites keep it locked in the closet. Who do you think are the ones doing these "sinful" things? People from other places. Don't think they aren't doing behind closed doors "back home" the things they can do in the open in Las Vegas. But the difference is that they come here and let their hair down, and as soon as they get home they talk about how sinful it is that their neighbor is committing some vice or other. In Las Vegas, nobody cares what the neighbors are doing. In little towns back east, the rumor mongers are always ruining people's lives.

Here in Vegas nobody talks about anybody very much. What's the point? We just aren't hypocrites here. I could find a hooker in any town, of any size, in America, in about 20 minutes. The outcall services have driven our city fathers crazy for years, but there isn't much that can be done about them. Vegas is somewhat of an enigma at times. I've seen the city council get up in arms over suggestive billboards or when shows tried too go to far and show too much. Now you've got Bada Bings in every state. I once had neighbors that were Mormons. He was an LDS Bishop, and a craps dealer. She was a nude dancer in a show. They were engaged and lived in the same apartment, but he slept on the couch before they got married. I've known other nude dancers in shows like the Follies Bergere that were absolute prudes. Quote: Originally Posted by Buzz123 Sin City is mostly image. Nothing happens in Vegas that doesn't happen tenfold in other cities, but in other cities the hypocrites keep it locked in the closet. Who do you think are the ones doing these "sinful" things? People from other places.

Don't think they aren't doing behind closed doors "back home" the things they can do in the open in Las Vegas. But the difference is that they come here and let their hair down, and as soon as they get home they talk about how sinful it is that their neighbor is committing some vice or other. . I have to disagree. I think (and no many people who have) went to Vegas on vacation and thought it was a free for all. That they could behave differently there than at home. It was a way that they could let their hair down and party. I think a lot happens there that doesn't happen when people are at home. And I don't think a lot of them actually go home and talk about all the "sinful" things they did. They skip those parts and just say they gambled and saw some shows. Location: Somewhere along the path to where I'd like to be. 2,181 posts, read 4,540,824 times Reputation: 809 I was watching a documentary a couple of weeks back about Las Vegas, and it really helped me to see the city differently than what my impression of it had been.

I think the general public (outside the area) think of it as nothing more than a big playground where there really isn't any point in being there unless you want to gamble. But they showed lots of churches, shopping, great shows and great recreational areas, and talked about how there's so much more to the area than simply the casinos. What really impressed me was learning that all the money tossed into the fountains is donated to charities. Seeing all those nice things, as well as the mountains out there, and learning about the climate, caused me to take a look at a place that I previously had never considered. 40 posts, read 181,651 times Reputation: 36 at one time it really was "Sin City"....but the sin has slowly been taken out of it.. i think the only reason they keep whats left is because some stand to make a hefty profit ( after all morals only apply with something that can't turn a profit and promoted by those who don't stand to reap the rewards of the immoral unless the moral itself can turn a profit).... the new ad campaign of "what happens in vegas......" is a quick way for the unweary to get in trouble here......

there is also a saying " come here on vacation, leave on probation" which is more accurate..... fines and such are quickly becoming a secondary income for vegas........ there are even cops who sit on the overpasses looing in cars for drinkers I hear...... ya what happens in vegas...... but it could end up You staying in vegas longer than you planned...... Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned. Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com . Page 1 of 5 Why is Las Vegas Called 'Sin City?' — DTLV Ask a Native 2 years ago So many of us who were raised here tried naively to unload that nefarious nickname. I say “naively” because while my adolescent friends and I were busy trying to shed what we perceived as a stigma to our hometown (and thus, ourselves), the teenaged city we lived in was having just as much of an identity crisis. It wasn’t always that way.

At the beginning, the Union Pacific Railroad plotted auction blocks in the desert east of its train depot. Two of them (roughly where Binion’s is now) soon became notorious as the center of vice-driven excess in the newly minted railroad town of Las Vegas. Long before laws formally legalizing gambling and criminalizing prostitution, if you wanted access to a vice and could pay for it, it was available in Las Vegas on Block 16 and Block 17. Thus, the origin of Sin City. Sure, the idea of a couple of dusty blocks of bars, casinos and saloon girls might seem a bit tame in a world where every conceivable vice can either be witnessed or accomplished using a smartphone. But in the early 1900s, when the East Coast establishment was busy frowning on vice (see: Prohibition), Las Vegas (and Nevada in general) was earning a reputation as the place to escape any overbearing notions of morality. Some citizens may have been opposed to the idea of having sin at the center of their city (literally and figuratively), but in the spirit of what would eventually be many generations of Las Vegans to come, they did little to stop the activity.

Ironically, it was a negotiation between the feds (who wanted a new Air Force facility nearby) and city leaders (who salivated over the influx of money and residents such a facility would bring) that ended prostitution on Block 16 in 1941. The booze and gambling, as we know, went on (as did the misguided notion that some vices are acceptable while others are not). Fast-forward to today, and that trajectory has continued. Thanks to the outdated and subjective “morality clause” in our gaming laws, most of our city’s lust-oriented sin has disappeared. (The morally policed Instagram is saucier than any Las Vegas stage show.) Meanwhile, the sins of consumption—gluttony, greed, sloth—have risen to the top. Frankly, despite all those years of foolishly trying to disown our Sin City image, I’d trade a dozen celebrity chef eateries for just one envelope-pushing bawdy burlesque.

Question: What city is nicknamed "Sin City"?
Answer: Las Vegas