"I'm from Chicago" boundaries (Aurora, Naperville: for sale, home, university)

[MassVt]

Originally Posted by knitgirl

Or just really freaking old, Tom!!

I'm a lot older than MassVt and I think of him as a Trib writer. Maybe I don't count as real Chicagoan since I have spent all but about 20 yrs in the burbs. My parents were born within city limits, so that should count for something.

You're a lot older than me? I'm over 50...

[MassVt]

Originally Posted by Irishtom29

Now if you were a real Chicago guy you'd think of Royko as a Daily News writer.

The Burlington (VT) Free Press carried Mike's column; the Boston Globe didn't; I did read several of his books, and it sounds like he practically lived at the Billy Goat , obscessing about his column deadlines...

Mike was good, but his kind of ethnic humor became somewhat dated as he got older. He still tended to see Chicago as a series of Balkinized neighborhoods, each having their own customs and traditions, and that stuff was really dying out. He could be very parochial, too, as his world seemed confined to the city of Chicago, and never anything beyond. But that was his style...

[SJaye]

Definitely don't think riding the El, or any other public transportation is a pre-requisite, as there are plenty of people within the city limits that pretty much drive everywhere they go. There are plenty of people within Chicago that don't care about sports, or meat products as well. Chicago means something different to everybody.

I agree that people need to stop getting so uptight about it, but also agree that someone from a distant suburb that hardly ever ventures into the city should not consider themselves to be "from Chicago". I'd go more by how much of your life revolves around the city, especially for those from suburbs like Orland Park or Mount Prospect. Someone from, say, Skokie, or Oak Park is naturally gonna spend a lot of time in the city, and someone from Aurora or Crystal Lake is just too far away from the city to really claim it. But for those from those middle areas, it would be more based on how often you are in the city, as it is quite conceivable that someone from, say Glenview could spend almost no time in the city or spend almost all of their time in the city.

[Irishtom29]

Originally Posted by MassVt

The Burlington (VT) Free Press carried Mike's column; the Boston Globe didn't; I did read several of his books, and it sounds like he practically lived at the Billy Goat , obscessing about his column deadlines...

Well the old Billy Goat under Wacker Drive was quite the newspaper hangout; writers, pressmen, drivers and others from the Daily News, Tribune and Sun Times hung around there. I used to work as a helper on the Tribune delivery trucks at night after school back in the 1960s and I got served in the Billy Goat when I was 17; the driver I always worked with would take me across the street (the Trib delivery loading docks were on lower Wacker across from the Billy Goat) for a drink once in awhile.

And I got served at a tavern called the Irish-American Club at Madison and Central when I was 16. They knew my Dad and my kinsmen in there, I think half the joint was from Kiltimagh.

[newtohouston2]

saying "im from the suburbs of chicago" is pretty useless when u're out of state. the only people who would care about the distinction are those who actually live in the city of chicago (and of course, if u met someone who's from the city of chicago, youre going to say which suburb ure from instead). if ure visiting some other state, saying "im from buffalo grove, il" is almost more confusing than just saying chicago since "BG ,il" makes it sound like ure from some tiny rural town in il. in a superficial, casual conversation, no one wants to know details. if they do want details and ure having an in depth convo on ur origins, then sure, saying "suburbs of chicago" makes sense.

[thePR]

Originally Posted by Chicagoland60426

I remember at the family reunion in Huntsville, AL one of my close cousins told people he is from Aurora(technically he is from North Aurora). I used to tell him to claim Chicago instead because it cooler to say you're from a big city nearby, especially to the country bammas with strong southern accents who we were visiting, as I initially thought before arriving there. That was
over 4 years ago and my thinking has changed since then. Although Aurora is within the MSA, it is a good
1 hour away from Chicago proper and there are about 200k residents living there, so it's a reasonable size city that can stand on its own. Our usual excuse for the Chicago reference rather than the suburb where we live or from is because the city is far more nationally and worldwide known than somewhere like Naperville. However, there are many standalone cities in America that probably aren't any more well-known than one of Chicago's bigger suburbs. I bet there are few people outside of America whom have ever heard of Manchester, New Hampshire. Even I haven't heard of it until recently before typing this. I'll say Naperville and Evanston have more clout than this place.

As for ''from Chicago'' boundaries, I think its reasonable to say you're from Chicago if you live in a suburb that is very close in proximity or has many of the same basis(street grid, housing stock, Halsted St, Western Ave. lol on the last two). However, it about time that Chicago suburbanites being truthful in where we live or from, rather than the typical generic response ''I'm from/live in Chicago''. One of the things I admire about California is the people usually don't resort to claiming the biggest or center city in the metro.

A lot of people that live in LA County say that they are from LA.

[edsg25]

i think when you're out of town and you say you are from Chicago that generally means the Chicago area. People don't really differentiate. And I think that would be true of virtually any place...Boston, Houston, LA, etc.

Maybe less so for San Francisco. People outside that city if asked where they live would probably say the Bay Area.

But for most places, it works like it does for Chicago.

[mas23]

Originally Posted by Chicagoland60426

I remember at the family reunion in Huntsville, AL one of my close cousins told people he is from Aurora(technically he is from North Aurora). I used to tell him to claim Chicago instead because it cooler to say you're from a big city nearby, especially to the country bammas with strong southern accents who we were visiting, as I initially thought before arriving there. That was
over 4 years ago and my thinking has changed since then. Although Aurora is within the MSA, it is a good
1 hour away from Chicago proper and there are about 200k residents living there, so it's a reasonable size city that can stand on its own. Our usual excuse for the Chicago reference rather than the suburb where we live or from is because the city is far more nationally and worldwide known than somewhere like Naperville. However, there are many standalone cities in America that probably aren't any more well-known than one of Chicago's bigger suburbs. I bet there are few people outside of America whom have ever heard of Manchester, New Hampshire. Even I haven't heard of it until recently before typing this. I'll say Naperville and Evanston have more clout than this place.

As for ''from Chicago'' boundaries, I think its reasonable to say you're from Chicago if you live in a suburb that is very close in proximity or has many of the same basis(street grid, housing stock, Halsted St, Western Ave. lol on the last two). However, it about time that Chicago suburbanites being truthful in where we live or from, rather than the typical generic response ''I'm from/live in Chicago''. One of the things I admire about California is the people usually don't resort to claiming the biggest or center city in the metro.

Aurora is It's kinda like a suburb but technically its not. Someone from Aurora saying they're from Chicago IMO feels different than somebody from Evergreen Park or even Villa Park because it's a separate city that just happens to be part of the Chicagoland area and its pretty far. Plus Wayne's World was shot there so some people recognize it.

As far as L.A., there are alot of small and medium sized cities around L.A. that are recognizable (Santa MOnica, Long Beach, Malibu ect) but I see your point. People From Orange County hardly ever say they're from L.A.

[A2DAC1985]

Originally Posted by chet everett

I do not happen to believe that there is any requirement to send your kids to some dysfunctional school or live in a (rare) area of open violence to qualify as being "from Chicago" but apparently in their mind even living in a nice part of Indianpolis would not earn you the cred of living in what (must be the even rarer) crime ridden areas of the capital of the Hoosier state...

1. I posted hypotheticals; not outright lies. If you or anyone else took what I was saying to be 100% truth, I'm sorry. That was not my intention. I was just bringing up situations where, no matter how arbitrary they may be, boundaries do matter. As well as where money is spent.

2. Living in an urban hell hole does not validate someone as being from "the City". Being born inside, or living inside city limits, makes someone from "the City".

3. Fishers (the "nice" part) is not part of Indianapolis. People move to Fishers so they don't even have to give a thought to the, "...crime ridden areas of the capital of the Hoosier state". I brought up my own personal experience with family because after living in an area with problems, I found it laughable that they would suggest the ONLY safe place to live IN the city was to live OUTSIDE the city.

There are plenty of areas INSIDE the city limits of Indy that would be very comparable to Fishers. But the fact remains that people made a conscious decision to live OUTSIDE the city.

So that just leaves me doing this:. I mean, if the city isn't good enough for someone to actually live there, inside the (arbitrary or not) boundaries, I find it puzzling that someone would want to tell strangers and people they just met that they live in the "City". After all, people move out of the city because of "bad" things, and move into the suburbs for "good" things. So I don't understand why people who left the bad for the good will continue to use the location that conjures up Bad Things when referencing their Good area of residence.

But what about the opposite? Do you think people in the suburbs would like it if people from K-Town and various other parts of the city started claiming Schaumburg, Aurora, Winnetka, Barrington, etc. as their stomping ground, their homes? Would people have different views on the suburbs if the gangs, criminals and wackos claimed them as their place of residence? Do you think then that people in the suburbs would go out of their way to make the distinctions between the city and the suburbs they live in? After all, we can't let the undesirables tarnish the squeaky clean image so many worked so hard for.

Which brings up the issue of "Cred". Should credit be given where credit is due? If someone takes a lot of time, effort, and money to build, buy or maintain something, should they not get the privilege of taking credit for it? Should people who didn't put in anything towards the end product (in this case a living environment) get to claim it as "theirs"?

And finally, this seems to be an issue of having the best of both worlds with none of the drawbacks (which is impossible in nature):

Need some clout (as another poster suggested)?: From Chicago.
Need to be family orientated?: From ________, outside Chicago
Need to be exciting and always on the go?: From Chicago
Need to be a laid back, mellow, chill person with the same lifestyle?: From ________, outside Chicago
Need Good Schools?: From ________, outside Chicago
Need Good Colleges?: From Chicago.
Need comfort and stability?: From ________, outside Chicago
Need the world, and all it has to offer at your finger tips?: From Chicago

Etc.

[knitgirl]

Originally Posted by MassVt

You're a lot older than me? I'm over 50...

I must be thinking of somebody else then, I could have sworn you were a 20 something! I'm about as old as you then.