Chicago vs saint louis

[andrew61]

As a transplant who has lived in Chicago for some 15 years now, I can truly understand both sides of this argument.

In some ways, Chicago has lost a lot of its local flavor and many of the things that made it special and unique... but in other ways, Chicago has become -- and is continuing to become -- more international and world-class and is better than it's ever been.

And I think the changes aren't unique to Chicago... every major city experiences them. No city is frozen in time. I've lurked on the NYC forum from time to time and have seen similar arguments over there... some don't like how the city has changed over the past 20-30 years, and others wouldn't go back to the way things were if you paid them.

But that's urban dynamism. Nothing is permanent. Institutions and ways of doing things come and go. Cities have to continually evolve, grow, and change with the times. It's either that, or stagnate and decline.

It's understandable -- and only natural -- that some would pine for days gone by... but in the end, you have to live in the real world.

[MassVt]

Originally Posted by smoking357

Did we make Chicago bland enough for your New England taste?

Try an Italian beef with hot peppers. You'll like it much better than that roast beef you guys make.

The "roast beef we make"? New England? I don't think that you've ever been here..

The mere thought of trying Jay's potato chips has me trembling with fear

Don't play the "memory" game with me, kid...

[aragx6]

The ever-changing quality of the city, any city, is my favorite thing about them. If I wanted a place that never changes, I'd move to Seymour, MO or similar.

The self-righteousness of some old timers (and some younger guys with chips on their shoulders ...) simply blows my mind sometimes. It's that real regressive streak in Chicago (and believe me, I've seen it in every city I've lived in) that is a real turn off. I try hard, where ever I am living, to surround myself with progressive folks who want to do good for their city and to make it a better place than it was 5, 25, 50 years ago.

[smoking357]

Originally Posted by MassVt

The "roast beef we make"? New England? I don't think that you've ever been here..

The mere thought of trying Jay's potato chips has me trembling with fear

Don't play the "memory" game with me, kid...

You've never been to Harrison's or Kelly's? I might ask you whether you've ever been to New England.

[smoking357]

Originally Posted by aragx6

The ever-changing quality of the city, any city, is my favorite thing about them. If I wanted a place that never changes, I'd move to Seymour, MO or similar.

The self-righteousness of some old timers (and some younger guys with chips on their shoulders ...) simply blows my mind sometimes. It's that real regressive streak in Chicago (and believe me, I've seen it in every city I've lived in) that is a real turn off. I try hard, where ever I am living, to surround myself with progressive folks who want to do good for their city and to make it a better place than it was 5, 25, 50 years ago.

The problem is that Chicago's not going in the right direction.

[Dport7674]

Originally Posted by smoking357

Not true. Chicago was changed by a lot of people from outside. These outsiders never became Real Chicago, and they had children. In about 40 years of non-assimilation, you kill an identity.

Like I said Champ, in 30 yrs, old guys are going to say "The city has changed, it's not like it was in 2010!"

Listen Sport, In the 70's a bunch of worn out people with nothing to talk about complained that "The Chicago of the 60's was nothing like the Chicago of the 30's. There were certain stores that had closed, certain restaurants had come and gone."

I'm already feeling nostalgia for the Chicago of the 90's. Clubs I used to go to are long gone, the music scene has passed me by. But what am I gonna do? Act superior to the younger guys for making the city their own and creating a new scene?

I had my turn. Out with the old, in with the new.

[Hendu]

Originally Posted by Drover

The "real" Chicago of the 1960s and 1970s was so awesome that about 700,000 people got the hell out. Yeah, that's the "real" Chicago that everyone misses.

No amount of nostalgia can cover up the fact that Chicago was a dump that most people were eager to get the hell out of during this supposed "heyday."

[SonySegaTendo617]

Originally Posted by oakparkdude

My biggest problem would be being non-white in a much less equal opportunity society. Plus my marriage would have been illegal in many states (but not Illinois).

Didn't the US Supreme Court do a court ruling that invalided all state laws that prohibited mixed-race(least I'm guessing that's what you're talking about) marriage laws sometime in the '60s? If this is true, you probably could at least go back in time to the late '60s or all of the 1970s, and not worry about it. Shame many states in our country(and not just the south, some midwest states once had them too) once had such laws.....

Of course, another drawback is you probably would've encountered more prejudice(versus almost non-existent levels today), and a declining Chicago that hadn't quite started to transform into what it was today. I still think I'd jump into that time machine, if only to see some of the blues and other independent music clubs that were before my time.