I drive through West Memphis AR every day, and there's a stretch from the Mississippi to about 8 miles west that smells very strongly of the waste purification plants. I do not understand how 30,000 people can produce more crap than the 650,000 who live in Memphis proper.

I'm not actually sure that Memphis has a distinctive smell of its own, though I'm happy to have pine trees and rose bushes immediately outside my windows.

There's a Talking Heads song about Memphis and the smell of the river (but I don't know if the river they're talking about is in/near Memphis).

I was actually going to say that the closer you get to the river, there is a distinct smell. Otherwise? Not so much.

eta: And, I assume the Talking Heads are talking about The River, the Mississippi River.

I drive past a Bud plant every day. It's disgusting.

I work above a brewery. Totally nasty. (It's a restaurant that brews their own beer in giant vats, so they only brew once every couple of weeks, fortunately.)

I was actually going to say that the closer you get to the river, there is a distinct smell. Otherwise? Not so much.

Yeah, but on the eastern shore it's just a general funky slow-moving river smell and only penetrates a few blocks inland. The western shore is a different matter entirely, as apparently the river acts as a barrier to the poo-bearing winds.

I can't believe no other Bayistas have popped up to mention this yet, but up until about 20 years ago Hills Brothers had a roastery perched right on the edge of the Bay, and people driving into San Francisco over the Bay Bridge would roll down their windows about halfway between Treasure Island and the end of the bridge and drive straight into a dense, glorious olfactory fogbank of roasting-coffee bliss. SO. AMAZING.

That roastery and its heavenly smell are key components of the mythic San Francisco of my dreams. If all the good things of this world eventually reappear in heaven, it'll be there.

I'm not actually sure that Memphis has a distinctive smell of its own, though I'm happy to have pine trees and rose bushes immediately outside my windows.

BBQ!!!

I work above a brewery. Totally nasty. (It's a restaurant that brews their own beer in giant vats, so they only brew once every couple of weeks, fortunately.)

Is that the Northampton Brewery (I think that's what it's called)? You're in Northampton, right?

And, yeah, having spent a lot of time in brew pubs (Salem Beer Works especially) the smell of certain parts of the brewing is nas-ty.

I can't believe no other Bayistas have popped up to mention this yet, but up until about 20 years ago Hills Brothers had a roastery perched right on the edge of the Bay, and people driving into San Francisco over the Bay Bridge would roll down their windows about halfway between Treasure Island and the end of the bridge and drive straight into a dense, glorious olfactory fogbank of roasting-coffee bliss. SO. AMAZING.

In sert Homer-drool-noise here. I swear, much as I love the flavor of coffee, I don't think it tastes half as good as it smells roasting.

I work above a brewery. Totally nasty.

Really? I always liked the smell of brewing beer on a small scale. Similar to baking bread. And I associate that smell with Golden, Colorado, so I thought it scaled up.

Oh, yeah. There's a Superior Coffee in Chicago that smells nummy, too.