City states

Recent conversations with friends have created a kind of game: Pick a city in the world, and then try to capture the character of that city by imagining it as a person. What is that person like? How would you describe them.

Here is my own answer for two of my favorite cities:

Paris is a beautiful and somewhat mysterious woman. You find yourself drawn to her, although you know she is trouble, and you know you will regret your decision to spend time in her company. Yet once you have fallen under her spell, what choice do you have?

New York is an alpha male — brash, handsome, and full of arrogant charm. He wears a beautiful suit of a particularly fine cut, yet beneath the classy veneer he is something of a brute. And that’s part of the attraction. Your mother warned you not to fall for guys like this. But when you met him, you stopped listening.

Does anyone have analogous descriptions for other cities?

One thought on “City states”

  1. I can’t offer you analogous descriptions, reducing a city to a person is too difficult for me (though I like going in the opposite direction: given a single individual (or event or institution, etc.), how many different points of view can be held about it?) However I would like to contribute the following link for a humorous and well-thought-out instance of your game: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Hetalia:_Axis_Powers_episodes

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *