string thesearchtext, thecitytype;
thesearchtext = HttpContext.Current.Request.QueryString["s"].ToString();
thecitytype = HttpContext.Current.Request.QueryString["bt"].ToString();

cannot implicitly convert type 'string' to 'bool'

int listingsToSearch;
if (thecitytype = "City1")
{
    listingsToSearch = Convert.ToInt32(1);
}
else
{
    listingsToSearch = Convert.ToInt32(2);
}

if (thecitytype == "City1")

listingsToSearch = 1;

[Test]
public void testGetCityToSearch()
{

    // if thecitytype = "City1", listingToSearch = 1
    // if thecitytype = "City2", listingToSearch = 2

    doParseCity(1, "City1");
    doParseCity(2, "City2");
    doParseCity(20, "City20");
}

public void doParseCity(int expected, string input )
{
    int listingsToSearch;
    string cityNum = input.Substring(4);
    bool parseResult = Int32.TryParse(cityNum, out listingsToSearch);
    Assert.IsTrue(parseResult);
    Assert.AreEqual(expected, listingsToSearch);
}

string thecitytype20 = "City20";
string cityNum20 = thecitytype20.Substring(4);
bool parseResult20 = Int32.TryParse(cityNum20, out listingsToSearch);
// parseResult20 tells you whether parse succeeded, listingsToSearch will give you 20