Recently, I was driving through Rockville, MD and I noticed on their sign that they were “the sister city of Pinneberg, Germany” (and apparently it has a “friendship relationship” with Jiaxing, China. I got to thinking, “Where the heck did this sister city thing come from? And does anywhere I’ve lived have a sister city?”
The definition is not terribly exciting: “… cooperative agreements between towns, cities, and even counties in geographically and politically distinct areas to promote cultural and commercial ties.” What’s more interesting is that there’s an entire organization devoted to the cultivation and promotion of sister cities. There are 600 participating US cities (the college town I lived in has a sister city as does my current hometown).
I don’t know why, but I kind of like the idea of sister cities. Like you’d be able to go overseas to this distinct city and say, “Hi! I’m your city relative! Can I stay in your house for free?”
Posted in Miscellaneous
Wowzers March 13, 2013, 10:08 pm
Brother cities, anyone?