"I'm from Chicago" boundaries (Naperville, Joliet: fit in, wedding, to buy)

[Irishtom29]

Southern Illinois starts at the Shelbyville Moraine, the terminal moraine of the Wisconsin Glacier. South of the moraine the land is more rugged, more wooded and less fertile than to the north and was settled mainly by southerners. North of the moraine is the Grand Prairie, flatter and more fertile and settled mainly by New Englanders and New Yorkers. Thus a social division as well as a geographic one.

[edsg25]

i have always found it helpful and advocated to New Yorkers who travel far from home when asked where they live to reply:

"a city some 700 miles east of Chicago."

[Tex?Il?]

Originally Posted by andrew61

They might want to rethink the Cleveland one. There were a heck of a lot of hillbillies living on the West Side of Cleveland back when I was growing up. They moved into the houses the older working-class ethnics (Irish, Italians, etc.) vacated when they left the city for the suburbs. Most had migrated from West Virginia to take jobs in the steel mills and whatnot.

This is the case for all northern/Great Lakes industrial cities too.

Detroit had a huge population of white southerners coming north for jobs in factories. Pittsburgh is an anomaly in Appalachia being a big city, but obviously would have a population of appalchians.

and . . . so did Chicago. Uptown was a major neighborhood for poor Appalachians that were moving into the city from after world war II to the 70s.

Read "From Diversity to Unity" or watch "Next of Kin" or just google Uptown hillbillies"

[linicx]

Next of Kin? An ignorant wise guy caused it. The clan answered (I loved those snakes) and the Godfather agreed to a truce as it was his blood that started it and died because of it.

It is dumb to start a war if you don't know your enemy. It is even dumber for a city dofus to start a feud with skilled hunters and trappers. It's inhealthy.

[A2DAC1985]

Originally Posted by edsg25

...Isn't "I'm from Chicago" given for the purpose of the listener, not the speaker, giving broad stroke to the region you're from in a form that can be used anywhere from St. Louis to Sri Lanka, Denver to Dubai, LA to London?

And since it is done for the listener, it is irrelevant how great the ties or even the nearness to Chicago (as I noted before, even 100 miles away, beyond even the exurbs, would serve as reference)...

And if it is used to give the listener (who we assume doesn't know the difference between suburb and city) a frame of reference, is it not a little disingenious of the person who DOES KNOW (the speaker) the difference between the suburb and the city?


Bill: "Hey Ted, I live in Chicago."
Ted: "That's awesome Bill."
Bill: "I know, right? How about you come visit me at my home in Chicago and we can hop on the L and travel around the city?"
Ted: "I would love that Bill."

*One Week Later*

Bill: "Glad you made it Ted!"
Ted: "Wow Bill! I never knew Chicago was so spacious! All these houses are on quarter to full acre lots, and there are garages and pools! This is so awesome to be able to live in a major city and have all the space that a suburban environment would offer! And I never knew that farm land was so close to the city either! I'm ready for this 'L' ride, let's go!"
Bill: "Let's get in the car then!"
Ted: ""
Bill: "Yeah, the car Ted. We aren't going to walk to the 'L' stop. That would take hours! Maybe even a whole day."
Ted: "Does it take everyone in the city hours to get to the nearest 'L' stop?"
Bill: "No. Most people can walk to a stop, or if it's just beyond reasonable walking distance, they can take a CTA bus to the closest 'L' stop."
Ted: "Okay then! Let's take a CTA bus to the nearest stop!"
Bill: "We can't do that. It doesn't run here.
Ted: ". So the CTA buses don't cover the city of Chicago?"
Bill: "Oh, they cover all of Chicago!"
Ted: "Soooo..... Why can't we take a CTA bus if they cover all of Chicago?"
Bill: "Because this isn't Chicago Ted!"
Ted: "... But you told me you lived in Chicago."
Bill: "It is obvious when I say I live in Chicago, I mean the Chicago area. We are 25 miles outside the city boundaries, therefore I can say I live in Chicago. It helps to alleviate confusion."
Ted: "."

What's wrong with saying, "Outside", "Near", "North/West/South of", or even "Greater" Chicago? Saying any of those descriptors before "Chicago" is not untruthful, or even bending the truth.

[xavier xerxes]

Originally Posted by A2DAC1985

And if it is used to give the listener (who we assume doesn't know the difference between suburb and city) a frame of reference, is it not a little disingenious of the person who DOES KNOW (the speaker) the difference between the suburb and the city?


Bill: "Hey Ted, I live in Chicago."
Ted: "That's awesome Bill."
Bill: "I know, right? How about you come visit me at my home in Chicago and we can hop on the L and travel around the city?"
Ted: "I would love that Bill."

*One Week Later*

Bill: "Glad you made it Ted!"
Ted: "Wow Bill! I never knew Chicago was so spacious! All these houses are on quarter to full acre lots, and there are garages and pools! This is so awesome to be able to live in a major city and have all the space that a suburban environment would offer! And I never knew that farm land was so close to the city either! I'm ready for this 'L' ride, let's go!"
Bill: "Let's get in the car then!"
Ted: ""
Bill: "Yeah, the car Ted. We aren't going to walk to the 'L' stop. That would take hours! Maybe even a whole day."
Ted: "Does it take everyone in the city hours to get to the nearest 'L' stop?"
Bill: "No. Most people can walk to a stop, or if it's just beyond reasonable walking distance, they can take a CTA bus to the closest 'L' stop."
Ted: "Okay then! Let's take a CTA bus to the nearest stop!"
Bill: "We can't do that. It doesn't run here.
Ted: ". So the CTA buses don't cover the city of Chicago?"
Bill: "Oh, they cover all of Chicago!"
Ted: "Soooo..... Why can't we take a CTA bus if they cover all of Chicago?"
Bill: "Because this isn't Chicago Ted!"
Ted: "... But you told me you lived in Chicago."
Bill: "It is obvious when I say I live in Chicago, I mean the Chicago area. We are 25 miles outside the city boundaries, therefore I can say I live in Chicago. It helps to alleviate confusion."
Ted: "."

What's wrong with saying, "Outside", "Near", "North/West/South of", or even "Greater" Chicago? Saying any of those descriptors before "Chicago" is not untruthful, or even bending the truth.

Agreed I hate when people say they live in Chicago but its actually a suburb. I like your fake conversation. I have overheard suburbanites defending their position of saying they are from or live in Chicago.
How hard is it to say, Im live in a burb near Chicago? If you so want to say you live IN a city then live there, otherwise you have to fess up that where you live is a bit lame.

[urza216]

"i live outside of Chicago."
"Cool. What's it like living in Chicago?"

[urza216]

Since when does the El mean anything anyway? If you live south of 95th Street in the city limits, you are prabobly gonna have to drive or take the bus to an EL stop. If you live in suburbs like Oak Park, Berwyn, Forest Park, Skokie, or Evanston, you very well might be able to walk or ride your bicycle to it.

[chicago103]

How about the opposite problem, as in when you tell people you are "from Chicago" they automatically assume a suburb. When I went to high school downstate in the late 1990's I told some fellow student me and my family is from Chicago. Anyways he asked me "so you are from Chicago, what town?". Then I said "What town? Chicago!" Then he told me he spent part of his earlier childhood in Joliet and he meant what suburb I lived in then I responded "we lived in Chicago itself", then he said "Oh you mean THE Chicago?!" in a quite surprised way and I politely but firmly confirmed it. I think what it was is that he was surprised that an ordinary white family like mine actually lived in the city itself.

Some people, especially those in far flung exurbs or downstate have this notion that the city is just a place with skyscrapers, cultural attractions, a few rich living in highrises and then surrounded by ghettos and minorities, they don't actually realize many middle class white people live in the city. Granted this was the late 1990's and this perception might have changed as more and more young people from everywhere are living in the city and perhaps educating their families back home.

[edsg25]

Originally Posted by xavier xerxes

Agreed I hate when people say they live in Chicago but its actually a suburb.

you do realize that some people...and I'm not saying I'm one of them because I'm not.....might look at the above as a 312 attitude.

New York has its bridge and tunnel people. Chicago has its collar counties. And let's face it: both New York and Chicago are loaded with attitude.

so for the life of me, I'm not sure why anyone would care if a suburbanite gives Chicago as his home. Indeed, nobody has yet to explain to me why live changes when crossing Howard Street into Evanston or Austin Blvd into Oak Park. Am I to assume that the mere crossing of a street totally changes a lifestyle?