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Vote: AT:San Francisco or AT:Bay Area?

10-16-survey.jpgWe have a question for you.

AT is re-launching next month -- stay tuned for some really exciting changes -- and we're debating about whether or not to re-name AT:San Francisco. There are a few blogs that call it Bay Area. (And please don't get started on the Pacific Northwest debate. We'll add additional cities as AT's readership grows.) So, since we obviously can't call it AT:San Francisco-Berkeley-Petaluma-San Mateo-Portland-Seattle, what's your vote?

Image: Wikipedia

Comments (13)

I'd switch my vote from "San Francisco" to "Bay Area" if AT were considering going to regional (non-city) names for all of the "city" sites. But as long as New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles are named AT sites, SF is the local equivalent.

posted by wende in phoenix on 2007-10-16 12:57:09
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definitely keep it "San Francisco". everyone knows where you mean by San Francisco. But folks from other watery locales in this country may be confused as to which "Bay Area" you're talking about. I'm from the Northeast. I've heard some Bostonians actually refer to their particular neck of zee voods as the 'Bay Area'!

posted by *heather leaf* on 2007-10-16 13:09:05
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neither? what about the people who don't live in the bay area, but are still represented by the region? i've seen a fair number of members from portland and seattle. what if everyone became northwest, southwest, east, or midwest? it's not THAT bad....AT-NW, AT-SW, AT-E, AT-MW. since you're sort of taking over the country, shouldn't your name reflect it?

posted by samantha9484 on 2007-10-16 13:10:42
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This is a constant debate in this region. LA and New York incorporated all of their regions long ago into gigantic cities, while San Francisco did not. Yet we would still be calling it New York even if Brooklyn were a separate city. Ya know? The way we call Beverly Hills part of LA even though it IS a separate city? And not LA Area?

posted by sfwriter on 2007-10-16 13:12:09
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I think until (if?) all the names are changed to reflect much larger areas than they do, it should stay AT:SF, for the wende and heather leaf said.

posted by jennifer in sf on 2007-10-16 13:16:27
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Definitely stick with SF. What differentiates this site from AT:LA, AT:NY, etc, is not location; after all, I'm still at my desk and the "location" is just a different prefix to "*.apartmenttherapy.com". We're different because of the SF aesthetic, that is a mix of "livable modern" small-space efficiency, West Coast green mentality, and an infusion from outlying regions like Napa, Monterey, Marin, and East Bay burbs.
Also, as a bunch of people before me said, it's not "AT:Manhattan", even though they all pretend to live there ;-) (had to get them back for the Blu competition)

posted by briankoenig on 2007-10-16 13:31:17
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I hope the AT universe doesn't grow too large. As a Sacramentan, I include myself in the SF region to keep it easy. But I also keep up with the happenings on the other AT sites, and if I suddenly had to also check out AT Austin, Santa Fe, Asheville, Miami, etc. I think my head would explode. I certainly wouldn't ever get any work done!

posted by mayagirl on 2007-10-16 13:41:05
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Oooooh, can there be an AT:Memphis or what about AT:cities so small they don't matter?

posted by chairgal on 2007-10-16 14:00:02
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AT: Atlanta - there needs to be one SOMEWHERE in the southeast! You have two cities on the west coast, one in the midwest, and one in the northeast... what about us southerners?!

I could live with AT: Memphis, but Atlanta's a bigger city :-)

posted by kat98 on 2007-10-16 14:43:14
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I am from out-of-state. Please do not change the name. Everyone in this country and Canada know San Francisco. "Bay Area" would confuse the rest of us. Many people who contribute from beyond the "Bay Area" would feel excluded.

posted by Cate on 2007-10-16 15:39:21
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I agree with above comments that say you should keep it SF because all the other sites are city names. By changing it to Bay Area, I actually think it would feel like you were including more people locally, but excluding those of us that are covered by this site but live outside the bay area (pacific northwest...).

posted by brittanykate on 2007-10-16 16:11:00
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I like AT West Coast! :)

posted by poweredbytofu on 2007-10-16 19:26:26
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north by northwest (cue Bernard Herrman)

posted by Deb of Oz on 2007-10-17 08:37:05
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