A Trip To The Provinces

When the New York Times ventures elsewhere, the coverage is a strange combination of "wow, these places have running water just like New York City does" and "this strange city is very strange because it has this totally weird feature which most places, including New York City has." In order words, they reveal ignorance both about the strange land they are visiting and about their own city.

I thought this one was particularly hilarious, though practically every sentence is a howler.

There are many reasons for this problem. Los Angeles County is made up of 88 different cities, including the City of Los Angeles, rolling across 4,571 square miles that stretch from the ocean to the desert. People here are more likely to identify themselves with the city or neighborhood where they live — be it Glendale, Compton, Beverly Hills or Whittier — rather than Los Angeles. The worsening traffic has encouraged people to stay close to the places where they live and work.

Um, in New York City, people are more likely to identify themselves with the borough or neighborhood they live - be it Queens, Brooklyn, Harlem, Greenwich Village, or Williamsburg. And the standard joke is if you visit NYC, your good friends will be happy to meet you for drinks and dinner if you happen to find yourself on their precise block at some point.

Philadelphia, too, has neighborhoods! And no one really wants to travel more than a mile. Sadly, we do not actually have the neighborhood of Little Italy.