http://www.happytrips.com/destinations/5-towns-with-a-quirky-claim-to-fame/as29540394.cms
5 towns with a quirky claim to fame Hitani Kaur|HappyTrips Editors|QUIRKY These 5 destinations cash in on their film associations, odd names and gimmicky appeal to market themselves as major tourist attractions. Credit: Reuters Vulcan, Alberta (Canada) From complete obscurity, Vulcan rose to fame after the Star Trek franchise took the world by storm. Sharing a name with the extra-terrestrial species certainly had its perks; once a small Canadian town, Vulcan became famous overnight and started cashing in on the show's popularity. Sights and spaces were developed, which revolved around the popular show's theme—including a Star Trek walk of fame, and a mammoth structure resembling the Enterprise (the space ship of the same name). Credit: Reuters Springfield, Vermont (USA) After battling it out with another town of the same name, Springfield in Vermont was officially given the right of association to The Simpsons. Fox Studios arranged a competition to decide which of the two towns the film (The Simpsons Movie) would premiere in—and the one in Vermont won the vote by shooting a local talk-show host running around the town dressed as Homer Simpson. Photo by: Paul Nelson, Creative Commons Attribution Licence Halfway, Oregon (USA) Halfway is a small town that originally promoted itself as an escape for nature-lovers and haters of technology. But it's now known for a very different reason. In the internet boom that took the world by storm in the 1990s, Halfway sold its naming rights as 'half.com' to an Internet company in return for thousands of dollars. Today, it is recognised as America's first dot.com town. Credit: Reuters Hell, Michigan (USA) Afraid of going to hell? Well, those who don't believe in the afterlife can just skip the damnation and head to Hell in Michigan—right here on earth. The town has cashed in on its name with a vengeance. From restaurants offering free perks when 'Hell freezes over' and movies filmed on location, to massive Halloween celebrations; it might seem gimmicky, but it sure helped put the town on the map. Credit: Reuters Hobbiton, New Zealand During the filming of the Lord Of The Rings trilogy, an actual set comprising of a full-sized Hobbit town was built. Upon completion, it was decided to leave the set intact instead of destroying it, in the expectation that it would serve as a major attraction for fans of the franchise. Today, Hobbiton is one of New Zealand's biggest draws. It is even promoted by the country's tourism board—a move which has lead to a 40 per cent boost in tourism.
Oh, how we long for those heady days when the town was renowned for its respectability, earning worldwide acclaim for the technology that it created and exported around the globe. Now it's only claim to fame is as the honorary hometown of a buffoonish cartoon character, a state prison hub, and ground zero to an illegal drug epidemic. Very sad, but in general it's exactly what the misguided majority asked for by inhibiting private enterprise and welcoming more and more "government assistance"!
ReplyDeleteWhat an embarrassing way to be recognized as a town.
ReplyDeleteat least the photo shows a good image of our representative in washington. such a clown. (all 3).
ReplyDelete10:15, it was exactly the lack of inhibiting private enterprise that crucified Springfield.
ReplyDeleteIf there had been regulations in place to keep Wall Street from putting "shareholder value" ahead of customer satisfaction, Textron would have been forbidden to rip the heart out of Precision Valley. If Edgar May and Bob Jones had had some governmental clout behind them to keep the optical comparator division in town, a lot would have remained.
3:51-- Agreed. To pile on the irony, did you know that the manufacturer who made the statues (located in the old Bryant plant) folded the day after it delivered them?
6:43-- I hope to see you run for public office.
Leave it to chuck to blame "wall street". That's his goto blame-game when he has no idea how capitalism works. Companies can chose to locate where ever they feel fit. Part of the move was to be closer to their customers chuck. The South was booming with manufacturing back in the late 70's. If possible could you please try to respond with alittle more knowledge next time.
Deletere: chuck 9:23
DeleteThe bulk of Textrons customers where thru-out the south in the late 70's so I guess they were focused on Customer Service Chuck. Being closer to the customer is the same thing Ford does by having plants in China, Brazil, etc... Plus, there's an international port in North Carolina for shipping overseas. Labor was cheaper in the Carolina's in those days which allowed factories to hire more and produce more insuring the customers were happy with the plentiful and quick products. I know that most people who aren't familiar with the business world use the "blame wallstreet" game as their go-to argument but please, enough is enough.
Having known someone that was in the corporate board room at Textron, the decision went something like this;
DeleteJ&L had a backlog of profitable, turning machinery. Talon Zipper (another Textron subsidiary) has a vacant plant in York, SC. Decision is made to relocate the J&L comparator division to York where taxes and labor costs were significantly less. Then allow lathe manufacture to absorb the balance of space in Plant 2.
What Textron failed to grasp is, the highly specialized optics engineers, machinists, and assembly technicians were key to their product's success. (Critical point here folks.)
The majority of the most experienced were looking at retirement in few years, had deep family roots here and relocating to a relatively low income impoverished area had no attraction. Hence, the comparator division began to die the day it left Springfield.
Fast forward 40 years. Springfield has become the low income impoverished area that can not attract key technical people necessary for any well paying enterprise to flourish.
Ask yourself, why the hell would anyone possessing unique technical ability of high demand, or investment equity to launch or even expand a high tech company give Springfield a second look? Seriously, think about it. If you had the luxury of choosing employment, buying a home and raising a family anywhere, why would you subject yourself and put those you love in a community that's dying.
Excellent posts you two machinists.
DeleteI would like to add to the last post that Springfield is oneof the towns in VT that assesses a "Capital Assets" tax on businesses. This is also a disincentive to investing as well as to businesses moving or setting up here if they depend on high-tech expensive equipment.
ah, chuck, Textron wanted out of the machine tool business. So they 'divested' themselves of Bryant. I don't think we need a board of washington think tankers to decide who should be able to purchase what business. Good old VMT has managed to suck up a pretty big pile of government cash to keep all those 19 people employed. What a crook.
ReplyDeleteChuck, I will take private enterprise over the likes of your central planning/command economy any day of the week - especially if the central planners think like you do!
ReplyDeleteThen, 1:08, you must be happy with the way things are at present in town! I am pleased to hear a contented voice on this blog; it happens so rarely.
ReplyDelete