City Stories | Read Places, Writers, and Story Trails

WAYS TO EXPLORE

Choose a path into the archive.

Begin with reader stories, city essays, claim announcements, or the recurring Side Eye features that helped build the archive.

Daily Side Eye

Regular observations and feature stories

Clean, sharp commentary on cities, claims, local stories, brand angles, and suspiciously specific American behavior.

Cason’s Cuts

Quick takes and practical picks

Cason Monday throws in the two cents: rankings, city picks, odd discoveries, and short useful observations from behind the dashboard.

Claim Stories

The reason behind the pixel

Founder stories, memory claims, memorial claims, hometown jokes, awareness links, and annual mission updates from approved claimers.

Pixel Picks

Cities worth watching

Featured cities, affordable claim targets, premium metros, strange names, and places with more story than people expect.

CURRENT SPOTLIGHT

Birmingham.com Costs Millions. Birmingham’s City Pixel Costs $5,000.

The Magic City is sitting there with a premium city claim, a famous iron giant on the hill, and a domain-price comparison that deserves its own raised eyebrow.

Read the spotlight article

Featured city:

Birmingham, Alabama

Current Side Eye Tom article spotlight.

CITY ESSAYS

Places with stories worth discovering

Explore overlooked towns, famous small cities, strange names, travel hooks, regional pride, and the geography that gives every place a different story.

featured city city essay

Chicken, Alaska Is a $10 City Pixel With Main-Event Side-Eye Potential

Chicken, AK • $10/year

Read the map one story at a time.

Choose a path into the archive.

Regular observations and feature stories

Quick takes and practical picks

The reason behind the pixel

Cities worth watching

Birmingham.com Costs Millions. Birmingham’s City Pixel Costs $5,000.

Places with stories worth discovering

Chicken, Alaska Is a $10 City Pixel With Main-Event Side-Eye Potential

Birmingham.com Costs Millions. Birmingham’s City Pixel Costs $5,000.

Truth or Consequences, New Mexico Is a Premium City Claim Built for Bold Brands

Metropolis, Illinois Is a Premium City Claim Built for Pop-Culture Attention

Santa Claus, Indiana Is a Premium City Claim Built for Holiday Attention

Sleepy Hollow, New York Is a Premium City Claim for Legend, Literature, and Halloween

Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania Is a Premium City Claim With National Name Recognition

Hazard, Kentucky Has a Name With Edge and a Mountain Story Behind It

Gun Barrel City, Texas Is Lake Country With a Name That Kicks the Door Open

Talent, Oregon Is the Quiet Little Name Every Creative Brand Should Notice

Niceville, Florida Is a Premium City Claim With Real Brand Warmth

Fate, Texas Is the Kind of Name a Growing City Earns by Accident

Memory pieces and local stories

Adamsville, Alabama: The Little City That Still Knows Our Names

Remembering TeleTech in Fairfield, Alabama: The Call Center That Became a Time Capsule

The stories behind annual City Claims

Author Wayne Whitley Claims Gainesboro, Tennessee — Because Every Old Road Has a Story Waiting

Zombie Thriller Author Mike Evans Claims Granger, Texas — Because Some Horror Roads Don’t End at Sundown

Author and Actress Maggie Lynn Heron-Heidel Claims Hart, Texas — Because Every Story Needs Hart

TuxDigital Claims Little America, Wyoming: A Tiny City Pixel With a Penguin-Sized Wink

AlabamaProWrestling.com Claims Piedmont, Alabama — Because Some Wrestling Towns Earn Their Spot the Hard Way

Author M.T. Veins Claims Cross Plains, Texas — Because Some Stories Need Dust, Blood, and a Typewriter

Giggle Damage Claims Peculiar, Missouri — Because Normal Never Stood a Chance

MudComics Claims Chester, Illinois — Because Comics Were Scrappy Before They Were Shiny

Tasting the Fallen Claims Metaline Falls, Washington — Because Some Bands Need Wilderness, Monsters, and a Bad Idea With a Guitar

Vampire Digest Claims Jewett City, Connecticut — Because Some Cities Whisper Louder After Dark

Need more coverage after your claim?