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I want to thank all who offered practical and thoughtful feedback. I really do appreciate it.
My apologies to anyone who found my perspective offensive, it was not intended and I did my best to communicate what I am feeling and get some input without causing offense.
A few things I want to just clarify.
1-I didn't choose river west, the building is related to my relocation package. I may see if there is anyway I can get out to a less isolated location but I have a lease and employer expectations.
2-In the last few days I have spent some more time in Wicker park having coffee, etc. That has made me feel a bit less isolated.
3-I have family in all parts of the country including the midwest. I did not grow up in anyplace close (culturally or geographically) to New York or Boston. I am open to all people and perspectives. I chose to come to the midwest knowing it would be different, I chose Chicago.
4-Im a person of color and I loved being around brown folks in Fort Greene and New York. Blacks and browns from all over the world. That doesn't mean I don't like or have realationships with whites, I just want to be around some folks that look and live like me. In my area now I feel very isolated racially/culturally. I have been in this boat before, and I don't like it. My workplace is almost entirely white as well. It wears you down. For those who don't relate, I don't know what else to say.
Again, thank you for those who offered constructive and thoughtful feedback. I am going to act on a few of the tips, keep working at it, and see how this goes. I know that I can always go back to New York. I just want to really give Chicago a shot.
I'm not sure if it was here at CD or in an article I read, but it pertains to theatre in Chicago and NYC. Supposedly, there is a lot of pressure to profit and make headlines in NYC, therefore the shows that do make it into broadway or the likes are more likely to be blockbusters. Whereas in Chicago, that pressure doesn't exist, so you have a LOT more little production companies and experimental productions that may be obscure, yet good.
I can tell you that I've seen my share of flops, but I've also seen some absolute gems that I don't think would have gotten a chance in NYC. Something like Lookingglass comes to mind.
You do realize that there are Broadway, Off Broadway, and Off Off Broadway shows in NYC that are much smaller productions and are more in line with the theater one would find in Chicago. Regardless, both cities still offer excellent theater options compared to almost ANY US city.
You do realize that there are Broadway, Off Broadway, and Off Off Broadway shows in NYC that are much smaller productions and are more in line with the theater one would find in Chicago. Regardless, both cities still offer excellent theater options compared to almost ANY US city.
I realize this. I was just trying to vocalize (or write, rather) that any theater I've seen in NYC is "go for broke" or "all or nothing" compared to what I've seen in Chicago. Though, I do admit that I've not gone and seen much low end, obscure stuff in NYC.
Woah! Stop bickering and start listening to what the OP said. I am a transplant. I am a transplant from New York. I am a transplant from NY who has visited the city many times. I am a transplant from NY who wanted to move to Chicago (based solely on short visits).
Short visits is not living in Chicago day in and day out. Short visits is not knowing the neightborhoods or the best place to live. Short visits is not understanding the many Chicago neighborhood, where they are or even where it is safe. Shor visits is not knowing where to find basic necessities like a pharmacy, hospital, taxi or even a train schedule. Short visits is not knowing where to find alot of the neat stuff. It is not living in the city day in and day out.
The EastCoast started to develope in the early 1600s or before. It's history is 200-years older than Chicago and the settlers were an enirely different group. They say at one time in the 1600s 60 different languages coule be heard in New Amsterdam. The East Coast has NY, NJ. LI, DC. Boston, Philly. Harvard, Yale, Fifth Avenue, Brodway, Central Park, Boston Commons, the diamond district, Fulton street, the Wise Nine, the Atlantic Occan, tall ships, Staten Island and a whole lot of other history.
It is a culture shock to move from the East Coast to the Midwest where the three largest areas are Mpls-St. Paul, Chicago and St. Louis, and the only thing in between them is mall towns, John Deere, cows and water - the two largest being Lake Michigan and the Mississippi River.
Relocators frequently suffer from "buyers remorse" when they learn that Iowa and Illinos are the largest producers of Corn and Soybeans. These four cities are all awesome and they are all unique. It is impossible to compare services or entertainment.
What the OP needs to understand is NY is history. Reality is Chicago. You can't wish it into being anything else than the Alpha city it is. What the OP seriously needs to do is stop! Don't like where you live them move. Maybe you will like Streeterville, or the Gold Coast or Oak Park.
Go out and find one thing you like about Chicago. Go find something the second and third and fourth and fifth days. And repeat it five days every week for three months. When you are done you will discoverone of two things: you love the City or you will hate it. It makes no difference what you find. The difference is you found it on your own by investigating the City and its people and not by comparing the past with the present.
I think anyone who moves to the Midwest from the East Coast is in for a serious dose of culture shock. It's normal, it takes a good while to adapt. I just came back from the East Coast and found the whole process unsettling even though I am originally from the Midwest. The reality is that there are many pros and cons to each region. You ultimately have to decide what is best for you. But definitely be sure to give it some time. And if you don't like your neighborhood... move! Not everyone gets it right the first time around. In fact, most people don't I'm willing to bet. We can sit here on this forum all day talking about it. But the truth is you will never really know for sure until you live in the area for some time and get to experience life there for yourself, day-in and day-out. I just secured my share of an apartment yesterday over in the Ukrainian Village after looking at nearly a dozen other places. I'm hoping that I'm making a good decision. It seemed like a beautiful place to live from everything I saw. Not overly yuppie-ish, not overly priced, lots of independent stores and bars, artistic vibe. I will be happy to call it home! What matters most to me is the kind of people who inhabit a place and how actively they are involved in their community. And it seemed like people in the neighborhood genuinely cared about things like that from everything I could tell.
Last edited by EastBoundandDownChick; 07-10-2011 at 03:06 PM..
"I think anyone who moves to the Midwest from the East Coast is in for a serious dose of culture shock. It's normal, it takes a good while to adapt. . . "
It is equally true whether you move 1500 miles or fifty. The only way I ever found to make a successful transition is to look at the immediate future as an adventure.*What is beyond the next door, the next curve, the next experience. Trying to compare a sailboat to a bull, or teach the cat to bark, is futile. The past is not the present or the future, and it cannot be the center of the universe if one ever expect to adjust to the reality of the here and now.
I think you can find what you are looking for... But yeah uhh...you couldn't have picked a more nothing going on white yuppie hood than you did. At least streeterville and gold coast have some actual things to do... I would not want to live over there either.
It isn't New York...but you can find what you are looking for... get out of that area, for sure.
The whole midwest vs east coast thing is bogus too... just a different style, just as many annoying people in both places. If you are coming from one region from another you are going to get "annoyed" by a certain kind of general population anyway, as those are the types that will just well, generally annoy you... there are plenty of educated and "hip" people in Chicago, don't worry.
I try not to get caught up in the whole regional differences, I *always* feel in a bit of culture shock at this point b/c I have moved around so much that I don't really adapt to the subtle local tendencies.
I just got back from NYC actually, while a great city, I certainly wasn't wowed by anything there. I guess I see it through different eyes at 30 than I do when I was 19-20 when I was *wowed*...the whole time I was thinking meh... it's just as good or better in Chicago, I don't get the big deal. I love both cities though.
I think the "harder to find" might be the deal thing though... there are plenty of areas in Chicago I certainly don't want to be in, and are just not my scenes, period!! Downtown outside of a few places is one of these! Same thing would be true in New York, there are huge drab areas in Queens, Bronx, Long Island, plenty of suburban sprawl too!
NYC has awesome neighborhoods, Chicago has awesome neighborhoods, SF has awesome neighborhoods, Boston has awesome neighborhoods... well, they are all different, they aren't replicants, that is what makes them unique, and you can't enjoy one while pining over another one, it just isn't going to happen!!! Maybe it is something else you are missing? Friends, family? They can certainly distract you... Why exactly were you burnt out? All questions to ask oneself.
I think most people here get "bored" after awhile, even in Chicago or New York, that is because they are getting in a routine they need to break out of, doesn't mean they need to necessarily leave the city, just break the routine. An easier way is to up and move of course, quick change! Won't solve any underlying reasons, if you were getting burned out in NYC you are probably going to have a similar experience in Chicago whatever the neighborhood is. Cities take awhile to build up friends, build up relationships, years to have that kind of stuff...
Chicago would be hard for me to leave and "try on" NYC, even though I love the city... might be similar for you with Chicago? Maybe not... just enjoy it while you can and stop thinking about New York or Boston or London or Buenos Aires or countless other places you could be right now.
This thread has taken a different turn but I just wanted to check back in regarding some of the perceptions of the original post...
I am not looking for exciting/trendy/cool/hip. Some of the posts seem to think that is what I am looking for in Chicago, but that is not really it at all. As a matter of fact I think I see a lot of hip and cool here. What I am still having a hard time finding, is a critical mass of folks who are liberal intellectuals. For instance, I have yet to hear of anyone carefully following the wonkery of the debt crisis this week anywhere that I have traveled in the city. My friends on the East coast are shooting emails back and forth by the minute, here, its like dead air. I haven't once heard anyone here talking about a piece in the nytimes. Again, out East (not just in New York) a day did not go by without someone starting a sentence with "did you read..." or "Im sure you saw" referring to something in the Times. Here, I see the Wall Street Journal on the train. Here, I have heard dozens of people talking about the Carey Anthony trial in detail, when I had barely heard of it in New York.
These are the types of things I am finding frustrating in terms of community.
This thread has taken a different turn but I just wanted to check back in regarding some of the perceptions of the original post...
I am not looking for exciting/trendy/cool/hip. Some of the posts seem to think that is what I am looking for in Chicago, but that is not really it at all. As a matter of fact I think I see a lot of hip and cool here. What I am still having a hard time finding, is a critical mass of folks who are liberal intellectuals. For instance, I have yet to hear of anyone carefully following the wonkery of the debt crisis this week anywhere that I have traveled in the city. My friends on the East coast are shooting emails back and forth by the minute, here, its like dead air. I haven't once heard anyone here talking about a piece in the nytimes. Again, out East (not just in New York) a day did not go by without someone starting a sentence with "did you read..." or "Im sure you saw" referring to something in the Times. Here, I see the Wall Street Journal on the train. Here, I have heard dozens of people talking about the Carey Anthony trial in detail, when I had barely heard of it in New York.
These are the types of things I am finding frustrating in terms of community.
You really have to search for that type of person in Chicago. I know I will be generalizing here, but I grew up there.
Chicagoans on the whole are more concerned with...Chicago. Out East, people are more closely tied to the financial markets, what's going on in the world, national politics. NYC being close to Boston, Philly, and especially DC.
Chicagoans are very self absorbed. Consider the fact I live in LA now and I still say that Chicagoans are more self absorbed than anyone in LA.
Chicago is also a heavily blue collar city which leads into that. Even many of the white collar workers have blue collar backgrounds, blue collar family. I am not suggesting that blue collar workers are not as wordly, but I know from my own experiences they are more concerned with Chicago politics than anything national.
Many young professionals in Chicago are more concerned with the restaurant and bar they are going to in River North or Lincoln Park than world events. Nothing wrong with that at all. But those are the priorities.
I think you just need to seek out the right people. Try Meetup.com, join networking things.
Not sure what you do for a living, but they have plenty of networking groups for finance industry folks. The Merc is in Chicago and it's the 2nd largest exchange in the country.
On a whole, Chicagoans are actually not very political. People go to the polls and vote in huge numbers, generally for Democrats. People don't really pay attention to what's going on elsewhere. Chicago politics are simply that. Chicago politics. Chicagoans who are from closely tied neighborhoods and suburbs put their trust into people from their neighborhood or suburb to do what is best for their neighborhood or suburb. That is how the city has always functioned and that's how we all were raised.
One other thing, Chicagoans are obsessed with crime. Those have been the headlines since the 1920s. Hasn't changed. Chicagoans are very in tune with the criminal justice system. It is like the Hollywood of Chicago.
That's just my experience, so it's a bit harder to seek out the type of people you are looking for.
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