ITP and OTP #Atlanta
In Portland, Oregon, it's called "the Bubble," a reference to "what lies beyond" the city and its culture, vibe, and community. After recently visiting Atlanta, Georgia, I learned that city also has an insider reference to environs that are "in group" and "out group." I wondered what other cities have this open secret about areas claimed by the city and those disavowed.
In Atlanta, the moniker for in/out is called "the Perimeter." Anything that is "ITP" is Inside the Perimeter and deemed safe and proudly different from what's around it. "OTP" it Outside the Perimeter, and there's a local comedian who says "OTP is Georgia, y'all," and it's like a tap-the-nose moment for Atlantans. Perhaps a political image to short cut that would be to say what is ITP is blue and what is OTP is red; the Perimeter is defined by I-285, which forms a ring around the city.
Source: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/atlanta_n_5008299
The ITP/OTP distinction reminded me of living in Portland, OR, and how there was definitely a bubble around the city, closely aligned to I-205 on the east side, down south to the Clackamas County line, and over to include parts of the next county to the west: Washington County's Beaverton and Hillsboro and south to the wineries of Newberg. (Portland's bubble was a lot more amorphous than Atlanta's perimeter.)
I would love to know more cities' insider references to itself and its enclaves. I suspect that most of Texas' cities have such perspectives, but it's hard to find them online. San Antonio's mostly aligns with its county (Bexar County, pronounced in the modern age as "Bear," but longer ago, the Tejano pronunciation was likely, "BA-har," in keeping with the silent Spanish "X" in the center).
I sheepishly admit to being amused and relieved at such burgs and bastions and the differences inherent in the "city state of mind/reality" and those of the farther flung country/rural sensibilities. But mostly it bums me out, because it seems a shame to me that these distinctions of place are made. It seems this Us vs. Them is a deep a part of what is rusting the American culture from the inside: our quickness to drive In-Group and Out-Group biases. Whether we cloak them in city or state pride, or school club vs. school club, or sports team vs. sports team, it seems at its core to be inherently about who is In and who is Out.
And this seems unworthy of freedom's flame to spend a lot of time supporting even tendrils of this ancient bias and its tribalistic roots. My flavor of patriotism doesn't lean that way, but I suspect I'm an oddball in this.
(See this article for a bit more discussion on In Group bias: https://exploringyourmind.com/in-group-bias-what-about/.)
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“Patriotism is a gateway drug to fascism. Tribalism is the gateway to racism.”
~ Oliver Markus Malloy, Inside The Mind of an Introvert