What does your favorite city smell like?
March 4, 2010 1:24 PM Subscribe
What does your favorite city, town, or place smell like?
I've moved across the country a couple of times in the last five years, and I've realized that one of the first things I notice about a new city is how it smells. This has made me curious about all of the places I haven't been.
I know cities and towns are often big and varied, and that places smell differently in different seasons, but what smells do you think of first when you imagine a place that you have loved?
I've moved across the country a couple of times in the last five years, and I've realized that one of the first things I notice about a new city is how it smells. This has made me curious about all of the places I haven't been.
I know cities and towns are often big and varied, and that places smell differently in different seasons, but what smells do you think of first when you imagine a place that you have loved?
This post was deleted for the following reason: Chatfilter. -- cortex
My favorite town is Northfield, MN and it often smells like whatever the Malt-O-Meal factory seems to be making. The chocolate scents are the best.
posted by unixrat at 1:31 PM on March 4, 2010
posted by unixrat at 1:31 PM on March 4, 2010
I live in downtown Boston near the river. On certain days, the wind is just right coming off the ocean and up the river that when I walk out of my apartment I get hit with this salty sea air. Having grown up in the Midwest and never having seen a body of salt water until I was 15, this is still like magic to me every time.
posted by olinerd at 1:34 PM on March 4, 2010
posted by olinerd at 1:34 PM on March 4, 2010
When I first moved to Edinburgh, i lived in Gorgie, a working-class neighbourhood that's home to the Caledonian Brewery - thanks to the brewery, that area always smells of yeast. It took a bit of getting used to, but now when we go through that part of town I immediately harken back to my first years of the city.
posted by ukdanae at 1:35 PM on March 4, 2010
posted by ukdanae at 1:35 PM on March 4, 2010
When I moved to Seattle in the early 90s, I was not much into coffee, but spent a lot of time in cafes drinking shmancy organic teas; and I wasn't much into beer, so I spent a lot of time in bars drinking cocktails. So my association with that place and time has always been that it smelled like tea 'n' spirits.
posted by googly at 1:37 PM on March 4, 2010
posted by googly at 1:37 PM on March 4, 2010
My hometown on Cape Cod smells like pine trees, the particular fishy saltiness of the dark sand clams live in, cut grass in the summer and damp leaves in the winter.
posted by Narrative Priorities at 1:37 PM on March 4, 2010
posted by Narrative Priorities at 1:37 PM on March 4, 2010
In a couple of weeks, after the pollen has finished killing me, the town where I live will be scented with the perfume of orange blossoms, which is one of the sublime smells of the world. And it will last about a week or two and then it'll smell like redneck anger and car exhaust again.
posted by contessa at 1:38 PM on March 4, 2010
posted by contessa at 1:38 PM on March 4, 2010
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posted by youcancallmeal at 1:26 PM on March 4, 2010