Unfriendly Rivalries between cities

[chix4free 0]

The idea's not mine, I took it from another website but I thought it interesting to have your point of view and examples from all over the world of obvious bitter unfriendly rivalries between cities (neighboring or not).

A few cases from my country, France:

Paris vs Marseille (the arrogant capital city vs the rebellious mediterranean second largest French city)
Lyon vs Saint-Etienne
Nantes vs Rennes (both claiming the title of Brittany's capital city)
Rouen & Le Havre vs Caen (Northern Normandy vs Southern Normandy)
Metz vs Nancy (Northern German-like Lorraine vs Southern Lorraine)
Bordeaux vs Toulouse (both cities think they're south-western France's one and only metropolis)

[Newguy1717 1]

Ha ha... a great one here:

Boston vs. New York

no need to say anymore

[jeeper 14]

The cities of Dallas and Fort Worth in Texas are two cities that overlap each other, yet they haven't got along with each other for years.

[wallasey 8]

Here are a few UK ones...

Liverpool V Manchester (Manchester hated Liverpool so much that they built a canal from the Mersey into thier city. They thought that they wouldn't have to pay Liverpool for the privalage of sailing ships up the Mersey. Unfortunatly this theory didn't work out!)

Derby V Nottingham (Derby sits in the shadow of this city, and they aint happy about it)

Newcastle V Sunderland

Newcastle doesn't get on with Sunderland (and thats the biggest understatement here). Sunderland is highly mistreated by the Geordies, For example, if you go to Newcastle with anything Sunderland-esq, you wont be seen again (or rtather you won't see anyone again with the black eyes you will have picked up free of charge!. Sunderland Folk are called Mackhams out of spite and are constantly the butt of a geordies joke. infact Newcastle hates Sunderland so much, you wont find a signpost for the city anywhere in Tyneside. You have to get to Sunderland beofre there is a signpost for it! How pathetic!

So there you go. Those are the three that I know of, bound to be more in the UK as most of this rivalry comes from the Civil War of the 1600's, nice to see old traditions continue-ing on!

[norbutt2001 8]

The Newcastle - Scumberland rivalry comes from the fact that during the civil war the Mackhams supported Cromwell and parliment and Newcastle was royalist, Sunderland was used as a base to lay seige to Newcastle. After the restoration the rights to the coalfields of Northumberland were awarded to Newcastle, giving the city huge wealth and infulence whilst Sunderland descended into abject squalor and poverty (remains in the same state today actually!!) So there you go, oh and there is a small football rivalry as well!

[spa 968]

The biggest one from Canada by far is Edmonton vs Calgary. Toronto and Montreal use to be big rivals, but I get the sense that the two cities have diverged in different directions so much in the last decades that the rivalry isn't what it once was. Toronto vs Ottawa pops up from time to time too mainly because of NHL hockey, but I think the definite real rivalry in Canada is Edmonton vs Calgary. Of course, I haven't been to Saskatchewan and it strikes me that Saskatoon and Regina might duke it out being both about the same size and in the same province. In general, it seems that Canadian cities are too far apart geographically to have real strong rivalries with each other. That's one of the things about living in such a big country.

[storms991 0]

norbutt2001, football rivalry my ass, its as much as a rivalry as Birmingham City is to Liverpool

[Ratieya455 1]

You think Minneapolis and St. Paul would feud with their downtowns only seven miles apart, but there does not seem to be any animosity at all. There is a tiny bit between Fargo and Grand Forks, though they are 75 miles apart (an hour's drive, legally).

[Micah 16]

Of course, NYC and Chicago. They always have had the best wars and they always turn out for the better of America like the Sears Tower and WTC (please no comments on that one). Now the Fordhm (Fordram?) Tower and the Freedom Tower!

[norbutt2001 8]

Well Storms to be honest, its not like Sunderland are capable of being rivals!!! Ahh but it will be sad to wave goodbye to 6 points next season when they stop banking at Barclays and start drinking Coca-Cola hey hey!

[Haljackey 17,302]

Agreed, Chix4free, Bordeaux vs Toulouse is one of the biggest city rivalry's in the first world. 

[petriknl 15]

Mmm I would not call it unfriendly but mainly due to soccer Amsterdam and Rotterdam are the rivals in Holland. Not only because of soccer but also because they are the two biggest cities in the Netherlands (altough Amsterdam has far more people than Rotterdam). There are plans to improve cooperation between them and other cities in the provinces of Holland and Utrecht to form a metropolitan Randstad Holland which is, I guess, the fourth metropolitan area of Europe, after Paris, London and the Ruhr-area.. with a circle of cities surrounding a huge rural area called the Groene Hart.

[coultharda 135]

Portsmouth and Southampton in England are bitter rivals when it comes to many things. Especially football.

[lakeyboy 12]

Here is two I can think off from the top of my head.

Melbourne vs Sydney (Trying to be the best aussie city)

Melbourne vs Vancouver (Trying to be the worlds most livable city)

[storms991 0]

norbutt2001 - lol, very funny

coultharda - I don't know whether they'll play each other next season, very close with Birmingham and West Brom, I just hope that Leicester will make it to the top once more...

[topcliff 1]

i can think of two (NBA related): Sacramento, CA-Los Angeles, CA, and Sacramento, CA-Dallas, TX. need i say more?

[haux 6]

In Arizona it's Tucson vs. Phoenix.

To Tucson, Phoenix is:

-Too cosmopolitan.

-Trying to be like Los Angeles.

-Too big.

-Too corporate.

-Uncultured.

-Dirty.

-Too conservative.

To Phoenix, Tucson is:

-Small.

-Rural.

-Too liberal or hippie.

-Dirty.

-Hillbilly.

-Too congested with traffic. Build a freeway, they say.

Then there's the oldest football rivalry in the NCAA. It's not a big rivalry compared to Ohio State and Michigan or some other schools, but the people take it pretty seriously.

The rivalries between cities make me laugh. Most are total generalizations brought by someone who's only driven through the city twice.

[storms991 0]

Jets vs Giants for "y'all"yanks both New York City by the way

[wallasey 8]

It seems that most of our cities are rivals becouse of the Civil War! That Cromwell has got alot to answer for!!!!

[wallasey 8]

Sorry for the double post!

[hamsterTK 93]

In Texas it's Dallas vs. Houston.

To Houston, Dallas is:

-thinks its all cosmopolitan.

-Stuck up.

-Too rich.

-Too over the top.

-Thinking that they are better than anyone else.

To Dallas, Houston is:

-Boring.

-Industrial.

-Ugly.

-Dirty.

-Uncultured.

-Doesnt have as good of stuff(DART is better than MetroRail, Dallas Galleria is better etc...)

But my opinion is that austin is better than those two...

sorry i used your post haux, but the template fits

[sendarrow 3]

Can I say between states? New York State and New Jersey State. They were/are fighting over who should deserve the statue of Liberty...

[SilentMage 22]

Originally posted by: sendarrow Can I say between states? New York State and New Jersey State. They were/are fighting over who should deserve the statue of Liberty...quote>

NY and NJ also battled endlessly for symbolic control over Ellis Island, which was ultimately settled in 1998: NJ "controlled" the island since most of it was on the Jersey side. Today, however, NY and NJ "share" the island.

However, I believe Ellis Island is considered to strictly be a NYC landmark and not a NJ landmark.

[storms991 0]

I've been there with my uncle, very interesting.

[T.Lowry 0]

We're too passive-agressive in Minnesota to have a real rivalry between Minneapolis and St. Paul, like the one between Boston and New York. We could start one, however! 

"There is one thing that St. Paul has that Minneapolis doesn't. A city next to it."

There is also a rivalry between Minnesota and Texas. It's just that the Texans don't know about it.

Originally posted by: Ratieya455 You think Minneapolis and St. Paul would feud with their downtowns only seven miles apart, but there does not seem to be any animosity at all. There is a tiny bit between Fargo and Grand Forks, though they are 75 miles apart (an hour's drive, legally).quote>

[jeeper 14]

Originally posted by: hamsterTK In Texas it's Dallas vs. Houston.

To Houston, Dallas is:

-thinks its all cosmopolitan.

-Stuck up.

-Too rich.

-Too over the top.

-Thinking that they are better than anyone else.

To Dallas, Houston is:

-Boring.

-Industrial.

-Ugly.

-Dirty.

-Uncultured.

-Doesnt have as good of stuff(DART is better than MetroRail, Dallas Galleria is better etc...)

But my opinion is that austin is better than those two...

sorry i used your post haux, but the template fitsquote>

As a fellow Texan, I'd take San Anotonio over Austin any day. Austin is great if you're a college student who likes live music and lots of bars, but for just about everyting else, San Antonio is a much better place to live in my opinion.

[Frigonaut 2]

EUROPE vs USA.

what to say

[Sargeant Hartman 0]

I've got one for you... Gainesville, FL vs. Tallahassee, FL.

University of Florida vs. Florida State University

In addition to the obvious college football rivalry these two cities share, there is unending mockery of one another.

Gainesville considers Tallahasee (and FSU):

Very Dirty (and it is, I've been there a dozen times)

Too political (nothing but state employees, as it is the state capital of Florida)

A girls school! (FSU used to be Florida State College for Women, while University of Florida was an all male school)

UF still holds the record over FSU and gave them a 34-7 beating this past November.

What's to love about Tally??? Nothing!

[M-SIL 2]

In Texas, there is no bigger rivalry than Texas A&M and University of Texas!

[ILL Tonkso 1,236]

In terms of leading to violance, Portsmouth and Southampton, after one fight, 300 people ended up in jail, 2 police dogs were killed and one policewoman was hospitalised for serious head injuries. Portsmouth and Southampton have a history of violant crime anyway.

Then the railways, when the Southampton and London Railway was built, Portsmouth wouldnt allow it to extend to Portsmouth just because it has 'Southampton' in its name, for a few Portsmouths only rail access was in the Gosport Borough. Today, the violance is stirring with Pompey on the verge of Premiership relegation into the same league as Southampton (Football causes a lot of the trouble).