Places and things named after modern presidents

[JManc]

Originally Posted by Acajack

I will let someone who is French chime in with more details, but French cities do have local municipal city-level government, known as the "commune". Also in the larger cities they have "arrondissements" that are like wards or boroughs.

But yes the French national government does exercise a lot of power over cities and while France is also subdivided into "régions" (larger, kinda U.S. state sized) and "départements" (smaller, almost county-like) they don't really have anything close to the power (over cities, or anything else) that U.S. states have.

And yes I agree that the French national government invests more in its cities (especially the main ones) and seems to value them as the country's "gems".

I think the French unitarian style of government has direct influence over cities and municipalities where as the US government has none at all, apart from DC. States wield tremendous power of local government. New York's governor almost tossed New York City's mayor over Covid.

Do Canadian Provinces have similar sovereignty over their respective cities?

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by JManc

I think the French unitarian style of government has direct influence over cities and municipalities where as the US government has none at all, apart from DC. States wield tremendous power of local government. New York's governor almost tossed New York City's mayor over Covid.

Do Canadian Provinces have similar sovereignty over their respective cities?

Yes. The federal government in Canada has almost no authority over cities. Famously, in Canada municipalities are often referred to as "creatures of the provinces".

Our provinces can merge, take control of (if poorly run or corrupt) and even abolish municipalities if they wish.

[mousquet]

Acajack is basically Fr-speaking, so he knows about France fairly well.

Since the 2000s, we've been advertising "decentralization" across the country, so municipalities would gradually go more autonomous. It took a lot of effect already, especially in urban planning. Mayors are now free to choose the kind of planning that fit them, whether it'd be good or bad.

Regions are also gradually granted more powers, and I think this level of administration is the most relevant to the scale of our country.

Départements are merely pointless. They're like a parasitic layer of administration in the system.

As for the unitary state, you need to know that the French have always been dangerously individualistic. If you let them free of anything, they would likely end up enforcing their own type of tyranny on anybody around. So the central state based in Paris is designed to keep them disciplined, avoid excessive rivalries or divisions in the country, and ensure some consistent strategy for our country to survive international competition.

That's roughly the principle, "guiding idea", or say the way our country should be managed. It is hard, because we're actually not an easy people.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by mousquet

Acajack is basically Fr-speaking, so he knows about France fairly well.

I am more than *basically* French-speaking, mon ami!

[Minato Ku]

Originally Posted by iheartthed

Also, cities in France are directly administrated by the national government. In the United States, cities are under the authority of their states. The only city in the U.S. that is analogous to Paris or Lyon is Washington, D.C.

Not anymore since 1982 and the decentralisation laws. Mayors and municipal council have powers over construction permit.
Obviously large national scheme can go against municipal government will but it's not anymore that easy.

Our problem in France is the small size of towns and cities. We have more than 35,000 of them in France, that's too much.

Merging municipalities is very difficult and seen as politically suicidal by the national government.
What it has found as an idea to encourage mergers is to reduce the subsidies.
It kinda works for smaller towns but not for larger cities its suburbs.

[iheartthed]

Originally Posted by Minato Ku

Not anymore since 1982 and the decentralisation laws. Mayors and municipal council have powers over construction permit.
Obviously large national scheme can go against municipal government will but it's not anymore that easy.

Our problem in France is the small size of towns and cities. We have more than 35,000 of them in France, that's too much.

Merging municipalities is very difficult and seen as politically suicidal by the national government.
What it has found as an idea to encourage mergers is to reduce the subsidies.
It kinda works for smaller towns but not for larger cities its suburbs.

There's still a huge difference in the approach to cities in the U.S. versus France. The national government of France acts in the role that a state would play here in the U.S. The federal government has little authority at all over the management of any city here except Washington. For instance, in most/all states, the governor has the authority to remove mayors of cities within their state. The president of the United States cannot remove any city's mayor except Washington, D.C.'s.

The delegation of authority, even if it is not exercised directly, has a huge impact on how cities are managed in the U.S. versus France. It means there will never be a uniform approach to management of cities in the United States.

[mousquet]

Originally Posted by Minato Ku

Our problem in France is the small size of towns and cities. We have more than 35,000 of them in France, that's too much.

Merging municipalities is very difficult and seen as politically suicidal by the national government.
What it has found as an idea to encourage mergers is to reduce the subsidies.
It kinda works for smaller towns but not for larger cities its suburbs.

You could presume that intercommunalités, each gathering several municipalities would help fix the problem, but in the end, they're much like an extra layer of administration in a country yet plagued by over administration and related taxes.
Also, the consistency of intercommunalités is sometimes questionable, due to political divide. Right- and left- wing municipalities generally won't take part of a same gathering.

Speaking of which, the original topic reminds me of the case of Salvador Allende, a Chilean socialist who's now a hero of socialism or something internationally. There again, political divide. A bunch of left-wing municipalities have spots named after him. No right-wing town would ever do that. The Conservatives don't particularly like the character. Notice that they wouldn't name anything after Pinochet either anyway. Lol.
Allende actually has had a little square named after him in the 7th arrondissement of Central Paris since 2003, that was previously called "place Santiago du Chili". I can remember the naming change pissed off the Conservatives in Paris, that caused a little controversy.

[craigs]

Looks like San Jose is considering naming a street after Barack Obama.

[mousquet]

^ Isn't it a bit too soon for naming anything after Obama? He's still alive, far from dead.
In my country, this kind of honors is meant for supposedly important people who passed away.

For instance, former Fr prez Giscard d'Estaing died from Covid-19 a couple of days ago, aged 94. So he'll probably get something named after him in Paris.
Possibly the Orsay museum 'cause it was his idea to convert the old disused station into a museum, or so I heard.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by mousquet

^ Isn't it a bit too soon for naming anything after Obama? He's still alive, far from dead.
In my country, this kind of honors is meant for supposedly important people who passed away.

For instance, former Fr prez Giscard d'Estaing died from Covid-19 a couple of days ago, aged 94. So he'll probably get something named after him in Paris.
Possibly the Orsay museum 'cause it was his idea to convert the old disused station into a museum, or so I heard.

In the anglosphere it is more common to name stuff after living people.

[Acajack]

Here is Ottawa, Ontario politician Brian Coburn attending the opening of ''his'' boulevard.

https://stephenblais.ca/brian-coburn...nsion-is-open/

You could not do this in Quebec where I live (right across the river from here) as Quebec follows the international UN standard for this stuff. Anglo-Canada generally does not.

[MolsonExport]

10 trillion things in France are named after Charles de Gaulle. I am surprised they didn't rename France "de Gaulle" (after all, the place was once referred to as Gaul).

[mousquet]

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

10 trillion things in France are named after Charles de Gaulle. I am surprised they didn't rename France "de Gaulle" (after all, the place was once referred to as Gaul).

Ah ouais, but the guy is just about the only major French figure of the 2nd half of the 20th century.
He was the leader of the French resistance for WWII, then he designed the constitution of the French 5th Republic that fitted him as a custom tailored suit and was the first president under this semi-presidential regime still in function.

I think he was a bit old-fashioned, even in the 1960s, still managed to effectively redevelop the country following the WWII destruction.
So the French still regard him as a great individual.

He had a massive fucking nose and huge ears.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_de_Gaulle

Good Lord, if the guy's penis and balls were the size of that nose, then he was ballsy indeed.
And if his sense of hearing was proportional to the size of his freaking ears, then he was really sensitive.

I heard some people like Jacqueline Kennedy found him very mean, nasty and obnoxious, that he definitely was to some extent, to some people, occasionally.
But he really tried his very best to serve the country. In fact, he gave pretty much his whole life to this country. So the French are grateful.

[MolsonExport]

^no doubt he was a historical giant, but the guy had the biggest ego in all of France (which is saying something for a people not known for their modesty).
I visited his birthplace when I was in Lille about a decade ago.

[KennyDubz]

^^Your nose, ears, penis, balls and tits, never stop growing and gravity is responsible.

[Nantais]

There are tons of streets, avenues, boulevards or whatever in French cities named after three American presidents : Woodrow Wilson, Franklin Roosevelt and John Kennedy. Sometimes you can also come across some Eisenhower street.
But we also have our share of streets named after Karl Marx, Lenin or Gagarin, especially in communist or ex-communist municipalities. I don't think we have any Stalin street, though there are plenty of places named Stalingrad.
And I guess the most honored foreign leader must be Salvador Allende : you would have hard time finding a French town which doesn't have its Salvador Allende street or square.

[mousquet]

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

I visited his birthplace when I was in Lille about a decade ago.

Cool. I'm not familiar at all with the northernmost areas of the country. I must confess, I've never been to Lille. I don't know what the town actually looks like. There must be a lot of red brick, just as in the overall region.

In fact, when they're youngsters, Parisian idiots like myself outright skip Lille and its metro area to have fun in Belgium's nightclubs and the Netherlands' coffee shops.
Hell, I guess we should finally legalize weed and prostitutes, so there's no need to cross any border.

My dad took me to his grave in Colombey-les-Deux-Églises when I was a kid. I can more or less remember because the cemetery was probably the busiest I'd ever seen to such a small village.
But my dad was an atheist and I didn't believe in God either as a child.
So we forgot to say the prayer for the sake of his poor soul... Shame.

[Comrade]

Originally Posted by mousquet

^ Isn't it a bit too soon for naming anything after Obama? He's still alive, far from dead.
In my country, this kind of honors is meant for supposedly important people who passed away.

For instance, former Fr prez Giscard d'Estaing died from Covid-19 a couple of days ago, aged 94. So he'll probably get something named after him in Paris.
Possibly the Orsay museum 'cause it was his idea to convert the old disused station into a museum, or so I heard.

The US names a lot of streets and airports and buildings after living people.

Occasionally, yes, they will rename something after the death of a politician. John F. Kennedy International Airport was named after his assassination, as was RFK Stadium in D.C., however, Houston named their airport after both Bushes, Reagan National Airport was named after President Reagan in 1998, I believe. McCain had a terminal in Phoenix named after him before he passed. Little Rock's airport was named after the Clintons.

You'll also find a lot of streets and schools named after living people - sports figures, politicians, businessmen.

Obama has highways and roads named after him in the following states already:

California (4)
Florida (6)
Illinois (2)
Indiana (1)
Missouri (1)
Mississippi (1)
Ohio (1)

As well as schools:

California (3)
Connecticut (1)
Georgia (2)
Illinois (1)
Maryland (1)
Michigan (1)
Minnesota (1)
Mississippi (1)
Missouri (1)
New Jersey (1)
New York (1)
Ohio (1)
Pennsylvania (1)
Texas (1)
Virginia (1)
Wisconsin (1)

The rail depot in Wilmington, Delaware is named after President-elect Joe Biden.

[ChiSoxRox]

A certain businessman donated a chunk of land to New York state, meaning this is a real thing:

[mousquet]

Originally Posted by Nantais

But we also have our share of streets named after Karl Marx, Lenin or Gagarin, especially in communist or ex-communist municipalities. I don't think we have any Stalin street, though there are plenty of places named Stalingrad.

It's totally different. Nothing to do with Stalin that was a sick paranoid psycho.

Places named after Stalingrad are obviously to honor the countless Russian soldiers who died there.
Besides, without their win in this battle, war might've been lost to the Allies. Or to say the least, it would've been much harder without the Soviet victory out there.

I think something like 26 million Russians have died for WWII. That's even more than the 20 million people exterminated by Stalin's policy itself.
It's worth a couple of spots named after Stalingrad here and there, though using the older and current name of the city, Volgograd would be much better.

Because Stalin was a sadistic pile of crap, then I'm glad when I think about his death... Slowly dying in pain, from a stroke, all alone lying on the floor in his urine.
That's the kind of death he deserved.