Friday, January 04, 2008

Words to Describe a Community

A friend of mine recently shared with me some passages from a book she’s reading. The characters ruminate on “one” word associations for various cities. Words that characterize a community are truly the core elements of its brand. But to be valid in that sense, they need to be words associated with a community by both its internal constituents and its external audiences.

Here are some of the word/city associations in the book:

RomeSex
VaticanPower
Los AngelesSucceed
StockholmConform
New YorkAchieve
NaplesFight

It is an understatement to say Raleigh and Durham have very different cultural identities. A NYT writer once told me one of these places just as well be Tulsa and the other Kuala Lumpur.

Folks in Raleigh always seem to have a lot to say about what they think of Durham. Well, here is what Durham thinks of itself and them. The Durham traits come right out of interviews, focus groups and surveys of both Durham residents and external audiences.

RaleighDurham
ConservativeProgressive
AdaptiveInnovative
SmoothGritty
ConventionalOriginal
Big LeagueIvy League
CentricUnpretentious
ComparableDiverse
GovernmentColorful
ExtrinsicReal
ExclusiveAccepting
JudgeResearch
ModerateActivist

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