I love Neko Case.

"People they laugh when they hear you're from my town
They say its a sour and used up old place
I defended its honor, shrugged off the put downs
you know that you're poor, from Tacoma
Buildings are empty like ghettos or ghost-towns
It gives me a chill to think what was inside
I can't seem to fathom the dark of my history
I invented my own in Tacoma..."

--"Thrice All American", could easily be about Buffalo, New York....