finally visited chicago/suburbs! here is my impression... (Washington: place to live, restaurant)

[Michael3512]

[quote=mia220;4133375]Spanish people are from Spain. The overwhelming majority of the Spanish speaking residents in Chicago are not Spanish. They tend to come from Latin America and many were even born in the United States.

haha technically you're correct, but in this day and age 'spanish' refers mostly to people who are mexican, cuban, dominican, puerto rican, etc. even though they're 'hispanic'. by the way, what hispanic race has majorite in the chicago area? also, do a lot of cubans live in chicago?

[Steve-o]

[quote=mike3512;4138760]

Originally Posted by mia220

Spanish people are from Spain. The overwhelming majority of the Spanish speaking residents in Chicago are not Spanish. They tend to come from Latin America and many were even born in the United States.

haha technically you're correct, but in this day and age 'spanish' refers mostly to people who are mexican, cuban, dominican, puerto rican, etc. even though they're 'hispanic'. by the way, what hispanic race has majorite in the chicago area? also, do a lot of cubans live in chicago?

Mexicans dominate the Hispanic scene here. And yes, there are some Cubans, but not in the numbers you'd find in Miami. Lots of Puerto Ricans and Guatemalans here, as well as Colombians. Ive met some Brazilians as well.

[tcs1366]

Mike -- glad you liked Itasca. it's a great little town ... once you live here... it's hard to leave, but eventually the high taxes will push you out... but they are pretty high in most chicago burbs.

we really love it here.. DH and I were raised here , and we've raised our kids here... sad thing is, our kids will never be able to afford this town now... unless the housing really comes back into 'focus'.

those other villages on the North Shore, Winnetka, Evanston.... most are very high price tags , and yes quite established ... so you have the huge trees, etc ... where out here you don't - as in the newer subdivisions.

If you did not make it down town... you really missed a nice treat, but you can only see so much in so many days. It's a great city, with tons to do.

as for Midway [the airport we fly out of] it's a pretty new airport. I can't recall exactly when it was re-done, but it was pretty much moved to the other side of Cicero. DH has been working out of Midway since `92, so i've seen many changes, all for the better.

Glad you enjoyed your trip.

OH -- did you end up using the Ez Pass in the rental car? if so, how'd that work out?

[chet everett]

Ecudaor, Costa Rica, Argentina -- Chicago has all kinds of links to Central & South America. Certainly numbers are MUCH smaller than Mexico, but just like the immigrants from Eastern Europe decades ago there are all good reason to come...

[Michael3512]

[quote=Steve-o;4139314]

Originally Posted by mike3512

Mexicans dominate the Hispanic scene here. And yes, there are some Cubans, but not in the numbers you'd find in Miami. Lots of Puerto Ricans and Guatemalans here, as well as Colombians. Ive met some Brazilians as well.

yeha i didn't expect too any cubans, but i thought mexicans are probabyl the majority. on cicero, i saw a lot of mexican women walking.

[Michael3512]

Originally Posted by tcs1366

Mike -- glad you liked Itasca. it's a great little town ... once you live here... it's hard to leave, but eventually the high taxes will push you out... but they are pretty high in most chicago burbs.

we really love it here.. DH and I were raised here , and we've raised our kids here... sad thing is, our kids will never be able to afford this town now... unless the housing really comes back into 'focus'.

those other villages on the North Shore, Winnetka, Evanston.... most are very high price tags , and yes quite established ... so you have the huge trees, etc ... where out here you don't - as in the newer subdivisions.

If you did not make it down town... you really missed a nice treat, but you can only see so much in so many days. It's a great city, with tons to do.

as for Midway [the airport we fly out of] it's a pretty new airport. I can't recall exactly when it was re-done, but it was pretty much moved to the other side of Cicero. DH has been working out of Midway since `92, so i've seen many changes, all for the better.

Glad you enjoyed your trip.

OH -- did you end up using the Ez Pass in the rental car? if so, how'd that work out?

yes i used the ezpass but since u guys have open road tolling i wasnt able to see if it worked. well once we went through a regular toll, and it said 'thank you' on the screen, so i think it read. and itasca looked so nice. but if i were to live in chicago...it wud have to be glenview, norhtbrook, evanston, winnetka. i really can't stand all those new developments, and i really wasn't epxecting as many as i saw.

[mia220]

Originally Posted by mike3512

haha technically you're correct, but in this day and age 'spanish' refers mostly to people who are mexican, cuban, dominican, puerto rican, etc.

No, it doesn't.

[CarolL]

[quote=mike3512;4138760]

Originally Posted by mia220

...by the way, what hispanic race has majorite in the chicago area? also, do a lot of cubans live in chicago?

Chicago is approximately 30% Hispanic, the third largest population of Hispanics in any US city, just behind NYC and LA. More than 530,000 of them are Mexican-Americans.

http://www.luc.edu/orgs/mosaic2006/Mosaic/Laurenmosaic/trend%20pages/knight%20trend%20page.html (broken link)

[tfaw]

Originally Posted by mia220

Spanish people are from Spain. The overwhelming majority of the Spanish speaking residents in Chicago are not Spanish. They tend to come from Latin America and many were even born in the United States.

I speak English, but I'm not English.

Most people understood the point. Your desire for language precision is only exceeded by your willingness to bang out useless posts. Thanks for adding value, Captain Irrelevant.

[Costa Rica Chica]

Originally Posted by chet everett

Ecudaor, Costa Rica, Argentina -- Chicago has all kinds of links to Central & South America. Certainly numbers are MUCH smaller than Mexico, but just like the immigrants from Eastern Europe decades ago there are all good reason to come...

My husband is Costa Rican and we will be moving to Chicago in exactly 2 weeks! We once lived there for 4 months and were surprised that there was such a large Costa Rican population in Chicago. There's even a Costa Rican restaurant. Chicago also has a very large Salvadorean population, similar to Washington D.C.