There's a radio station based in my city that every few minutes says things like
"...and now the weather forecast for the most beautiful city in the world,"
"...and now the road report for the most beautiful city in the world,"
and every now and then one of their announcers referring to their hometown as "the most beautiful in the world" and telling things using twisted statistics to state that this and that in their hometown would be a superlative in some respect.

That radio station has the largest audience of all the city's radio stations. Many people seem to repeat and babble what they heard on the radio and also say unaskedly "our city is the world's most beautiful" and such things.

As someone who has traveled to 150+ cities in many countries I am absolutely embarrassed and annoyed by any bold attitude about any cities because every city in the world has its beautiful spots and there are people everywhere who like to live in their place.

I would consider my city average in many respects, including "beauty", and rather meaningless in many other respects.

Of course I would never deliberately listen to that station but my colleagues at work sometimes do. When I discuss it with them, most of them don't mind that radio station's announcements and don't understand why I'm annoyed.

That's why I'm asking you -- all around the world: what do you think about saying "our city is the world's most beautiful"? Do you have radio stations that do it all the time?

I'm curious what you think...

Do you live in Toronto? We've got a pretty healthy superiority complex up here.

Channel 5 in San Francisco used to call the Bay Area "The Best Place on Earth". They stopped a few years ago.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SbM0Ryw6zQ0

Channel 5 in San Francisco used to call the Bay Area "The Best Place on Earth". They stopped a few years ago.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SbM0Ryw6zQ0

ha!

I was just going to say..CBS 5 use to have this slogan..

"The Best Place for News, In The Best Place on Earth!"

That's stupid,a superiority complex,I don't think that's normal at all..maybe in some big cities.

Hamburgers growing up without ever hearing this sentence are not real Hamburgers. ;) You can even meet Hamburg-born seafaring people who have been all over the world stating that Hamburg is "the most beautiful city". So it is not restricted to non-traveling residents only. It's still stupid. And basicly every local radio station (all crappy btw) states it also once in a while.

Do you live in Toronto? We've got a pretty healthy superiority complex up here.

Huh? This city has such major self-esteem issues its ridiculous (go read that thread in the TO section again). Never have I heard the media say we live the "most beatiful city in the world".

But thankfully so, it is a terribly provincial attitude.

Huh? This city has such major self-esteem issues its ridiculous (go read that thread in the TO section again). Never have I heard the media say we live the "most beatiful city in the world".

But thankfully so, it is a terribly provincial attitude.

Well, not necessarily 'the most beautiful city in the world'...But everytime Chuck Swirsky opens up Raptors broadcasts he says 'Coming to you live from the great, and I mean great, city of Toronto!' I've definitely heard stuff like this from radio stations and TV channels, it's not just a one person thing.

Well thats really not that bad. Just saying its a great city is one thing, but claiming its the best is completely different.

Yeah I suppose

Beautiness is relative... So I don't see a problem with a person who thinks his/her city is the most beautiful over the galaxy. My concept of beauty might not be the same as yours. ;)

Well, not necessarily 'the most beautiful city in the world'...But everytime Chuck Swirsky opens up Raptors broadcasts he says 'Coming to you live from the great, and I mean great, city of Toronto!' I've definitely heard stuff like this from radio stations and TV channels, it's not just a one person thing.

OMG you found someone in Toronto praising his city. He must be stopped immediately, by force
if necessary. And definitely "re-educated".

so what city is it? There are no shortage of cities that go on and on and on like the Energizer Bunny
about how beautiful they are.

Hamburgers growing up without ever hearing this sentence are not real Hamburgers. ;) You can even meet Hamburg-born seafaring people who have been all over the world stating that Hamburg is "the most beautiful city". So it is not restricted to non-traveling residents only. It's still stupid. And basicly every local radio station (all crappy btw) states it also once in a while.

I think there is one radio station claiming that Hamburg is the most beautiful city in Germany.

Well, i do think that Hamburg is the most beautiful city in Germany. :)

Sydney hailed itself as the "Best city in the world"

Well, in the Paris media, people very rarely claim it is the most beautiful city in the world. However, the avenue des Champs-Elysées is very often called "the most beautiful avenue in the world", it became a kind of knickname.

I guess France is a special case though. Most of our media are centralized in Paris. This is true for TV, radio, magazines and main newspapers. Only regional newspapers aren't based in Paris (though they are those selling the best). I guess that as a consequence, Paris is pictured in a very humble way in most media. Most journalists fear to appear despiseful towards the rest of the country, it's a kind of superiority complex. Generally, it is better seen to appear as critical towards Paris. Praises are generally seen as arrogance.

However, I don't believe that it's not because it's not said that it's not meant. Many parisians, especially those living in the center, are utterly convinced they live in one of the best places in the world. They simply don't say it publicly.

Paris is the most beautiful city. How could anyone dispute that?

paris smells of wee

Neat -- this whole topic's reminding me to ask my sister if NYC billboards still often bark about being in ''the world's most exciting city'' (is this slogan pretty well passé there nowadays?)

OMG you found someone in Toronto praising his city. He must be stopped immediately, by force
if necessary. And definitely "re-educated".

so what city is it? There are no shortage of cities that go on and on and on like the Energizer Bunny
about how beautiful they are.

Nah well I was just using good old Chucky as an example of a big Toronto personality who praises the city. I think it's great.

With some 87% of the votes against the self-praising attitude it seems I'm not at all alone with my feelings.

For me, praising the own place is sort of rude behavior because it implies that people from other places are seen as inferior. It is also provincial because it implies that the city has only few visitors.

I find cities far more sympathetic where people are humble or critical about their place.