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Cities The city of... Always lowercase the word city in constructions such as, "the city of Kalamazoo," or "the cities of Chicago and Detroit." In general, the construction the "city of... " is unnecessary and should not be used, except as a nonspecific reference to the government of a city. Use: "Funding was provided by the city of Kalamazoo." (meaning the government). Use: "He was born in Kalamazoo." rather than, "He was born in the city of Kalamazoo." See similar style under states. Do not abbreviate names of cities (except in addresses, as prescribed by the postal service) Use: Chicago, Detroit, New York City, Los Angeles Do not use: Chi., Det., NYC, L.A. Use: Mount Pleasant, Fort Wayne Do not use: Mt. Pleasant, Ft. Wayne (except in addresses, as prescribed by the postal service) Exception: Use the abbreviation for "Saint" in city names such as St. Louis and St. Paul. Note that Sault Ste. Marie is abbreviated "Ste." because the full spelling is "Sainte." Which cities need to be identified by state Certain cities do not need to be identified by state in most contexts. Because WMU is based in Kalamazoo, you may always assume that readers of our University's communications will know you mean Kalamazoo, Michigan. Similarly, you do not need to identify by state, cities of international prominence. It is not necessary, and may be unintentionally patronizing, to explain that Chicago is in Illinois. U.S. cities that generally do not need to be identified by state Atlanta Baltimore Boston Chicago Cincinnati Cleveland Dallas Denver Detroit Honolulu Houston Indianapolis Kalamazoo Las Vegas Los Angeles Miami Milwaukee Minneapolis New Orleans New York Oklahoma City Philadephia Phoenix Pittsburgh St. Louis Salt Lake City San Antonio San Diego San Francisco Seattle Most other cities must be identified by state, at least in the first reference. That includes Kalamazoo area communities such as Battle Creek, Portage, Galesburg, Vicksburg, Richland, and Paw Paw, Mich. The scope and perspective of the University is national and international, and so are the audiences to which we write. There are 16 states that have cities named Rochester, including Michigan, Indiana and Illinois. The largest and probably best known U.S. city named Rochester is in New York. If you write, "The students traveled to Rochester, Mich.," there is no question which Rochester you mean, even for readers in Rochester, N.Y. See also state abbreviations. Top of page

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