Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[lyliea]

Hi everyone, I'd like to ask the meaning of strip cities in this this sentence :

'A person commuting between Detroit and Chicago, or between
San Fransisco and Los Angeles,so-called strip cities, may spend
only a relatively short time in the air while spending several hours
getting to and from the airport.'

Because after searching in the dictionary, I didn't get a satisfactory result.
I assume that strip cities in this context means 2 cities that is located very near with each other.

Please help.

Thank you.

~maria

[CP]

I've never heard of strip cities, and when I googled it, I found the TOEFL sample question that has the question that your quote came from, but otherwise didn't learn much. (Of the 2,270 results, I checked 30. Okay, I'm too lazy to check the other 2,240.)

But I don't think strip cities are cities close to one another. San Francisco and L.A. are maybe 500 miles (800 km) apart. Detroit and Chicago are not exactly next door to each other, either.

Who can tell us what a strip city is?
_________________
You live a new life for every new language you speak. -Czech proverb

[Philo Kevetch]

"strips" are concentrations of shopping, entertainment, etc. areas organized along an axis (street/ave./hwy.).......

they developed as a result of the automobile (usually) in zones at the outskirts of towns/cities where land was available for parking ........

in the U.S. ....... other examples of the use of the term "strip" ....

Hollywood, Las Vegas

Philo

[Lorikeet]

San Francisco is most certainly not a strip city. I have no idea where the people who make the TOEFL test get their information.

[Philo Kevetch]

Lorikeet -

I agree; San Francisco is not a strip city....unless they are refering to the bay side strech of Hwy. 101 north from the airport ??

it's not clear, but I guess the reference is to arriving at the airport in Los Angeles or Chicago (the "strip cities" ?). Philo

[Lorikeet]