"I'm from Chicago" boundaries (Naperville, Schaumburg: middle-class, restaurants, moving)

[xavier xerxes]

Originally Posted by A2DAC1985

Internet Poster: "You're a Jag."

A2DAC: "Does anyone even understand the meaning of words anymore???
Or has the internet killed any reading comprehension, we as a species, might have had??? "

i like it .

[Attrill]

Originally Posted by A2DAC1985

Does anyone even understand the meaning of words anymore???

Boundary:

1. Something that indicates bounds or limits; a limiting or bounding line....Boundary, border, frontier share the sense of that which divides one entity or political unit from another. Boundary, in reference to a country, city, state, territory, or the like, most often designates a line on a map: boundaries are shown in red.

Boundaries of Chicago can be found here.

[almost3am]

Originally Posted by A2DAC1985

Does anyone even understand the meaning of words anymore???

Or has the internet killed any reading comprehension, we as a species, might have had???



Being FROM somewhere is/can be different from where someone lives.



Internet Poster: "Hey A2DAC1985!"

A2DAC: "Hey person-I-just-made-up-to-have-a-fake-conversation-to-make-a-point! How's it going?

Internet Poster: "I'm not too shabby. But I've been thinking... You are a little bit different from the people I usually run into around these parts... Where are you FROM?"

A2DAC: "I'm from Indiana."

Internet Poster: "Oh, really? What city?"

A2DAC: "Well, I was born in Indianapolis, but lived outside the city for a little while."

Internet Poster: "But you now live back in Indianapolis?"

A2DAC: "No."

Internet Poster: "Well, I asked you where you're FROM, and you told me..."

A2DAC: "Yeah, I know what I said. I'm FROM Indianapolis, Indiana. That doesn't mean I live there now."

Internet Poster: "Well... where do you live now?"

A2DAC: "Chicago."

Internet Poster: "Wow!!! That's so cool! I live in Chicago too!"

A2DAC: "Sweet, which neighborhood?"

Internet Poster: "I live in Schaumburg."

A2DAC: "Hmm... I think... wait... I know I'm not the most knowledgable person on Chicago neighborhoods... Maybe you can tell me what side of town it's on?"

Internet Poster: "Sure! The Northwest side."

A2DAC: "That doesn't help me much... I live on the Northwest side and have walked a sizable portion with the dog... And I've looked at a few neighborhood maps... And I don't recall ever seeing a 'Schaumburg' on the Northwest side. Could you be more specific?"

Internet Poster: "Well, I guess it would be West, and a little to the North of O'Hare Airport."

A2DAC: ""

Internet Poster: "You don't know what or where O'Hare is???"

A2DAC: "Oh, no. I most certainly do. I know that 'Politics' helped shape Chicago's boundaries to extend out to just include O'Hare. So, if you are to the West, and then North of O'Hare, you don't live in Chicago."

Internet Poster: "But I live in Chicagoland."

A2DAC: "Yeah, that's not Chicago. It's 'Chicagoland'."

Internet Poster: "OF COURSE IT'S CHICAGO!!!!!!!!!!! I'm a CHICAGOAN!!!!!!!!! People who live in the suburbs their whole lives, but frequent the city on a regular basis are CHICAGOANS!!!!!! THE TRUE CHICAGOANS because I've been to more places in and around Chicago than you!!!!!! Just because you happen to live inside the arbitrary city limits does not mean you are a Chicagoan!"

A2DAC: "It means I am a resident of Chicago. When I have lived INSIDE the city for as long as I did in Indiana, then I might start to consider myself a 'Chicagoan'. And by my estimate I have about 25 years until I can make that claim. But what I need no time limit for is claiming to be a resident of the great CITY of Chicago. Do you see the difference between living in the city and being a Chicagoan?"

Internet Poster: "But those boundaries are silly and arbitrary and..."

A2DAC: "Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know, I know. But here's the thing; They still do matter, no matter how much you want them not to. You can live outside the city and still be a Chicagoan. How? Being from the city to begin with, or spending a very significant amount of time living inside the city. If you have never 'lived' a minute inside the city limits, for me personally, would not call someone a Chicagoan if their only residence has been OUTSIDE the city limits their entire lives. Heading into the city limits once in a blue Moon does not, at least for me, satisfy the criteria of being 'FROM' Chicago or being a 'Chicagoan'.

Internet Poster: "BUT I AM A CHICAGOAN!!!!!!!!!"

A2DAC: "I am in no position to decide your 'Chicagoan' status. I am not debating that for one second. What there is NO DEBATE about is that I live inside the city of Chicago. You live OUTSIDE the city and you are a RESIDENT of Schaumburg, a suburb of Chicago. Could you have lived in the city at some point in time and been a Chicagoan inside the city limits of Chicago? Most certainly. But at this point in time, that is not the case. The case is: You are a Chciagoan that lives in a place that is not Chicago. End of Story.

Internet Poster: "You're a Jag."

A2DAC: "Does anyone even understand the meaning of words anymore???
Or has the internet killed any reading comprehension, we as a species, might have had??? "

This reminds me of that "Exact Words" episode of The Brady Bunch where Greg does everything by exact words, not by what someone actually means and how ludricrous life becomes.

[urza216]

Originally Posted by A2DAC1985

Does anyone even understand the meaning of words anymore???

Or has the internet killed any reading comprehension, we as a species, might have had???



Being FROM somewhere is/can be different from where someone lives.



Internet Poster: "Hey A2DAC1985!"

A2DAC: "Hey person-I-just-made-up-to-have-a-fake-conversation-to-make-a-point! How's it going?

Internet Poster: "I'm not too shabby. But I've been thinking... You are a little bit different from the people I usually run into around these parts... Where are you FROM?"

A2DAC: "I'm from Indiana."

Internet Poster: "Oh, really? What city?"

A2DAC: "Well, I was born in Indianapolis, but lived outside the city for a little while."

Internet Poster: "But you now live back in Indianapolis?"

A2DAC: "No."

Internet Poster: "Well, I asked you where you're FROM, and you told me..."

A2DAC: "Yeah, I know what I said. I'm FROM Indianapolis, Indiana. That doesn't mean I live there now."

Internet Poster: "Well... where do you live now?"

A2DAC: "Chicago."

Internet Poster: "Wow!!! That's so cool! I live in Chicago too!"

A2DAC: "Sweet, which neighborhood?"

Internet Poster: "I live in Schaumburg."

A2DAC: "Hmm... I think... wait... I know I'm not the most knowledgable person on Chicago neighborhoods... Maybe you can tell me what side of town it's on?"

Internet Poster: "Sure! The Northwest side."

A2DAC: "That doesn't help me much... I live on the Northwest side and have walked a sizable portion with the dog... And I've looked at a few neighborhood maps... And I don't recall ever seeing a 'Schaumburg' on the Northwest side. Could you be more specific?"

Internet Poster: "Well, I guess it would be West, and a little to the North of O'Hare Airport."

A2DAC: ""

Internet Poster: "You don't know what or where O'Hare is???"

A2DAC: "Oh, no. I most certainly do. I know that 'Politics' helped shape Chicago's boundaries to extend out to just include O'Hare. So, if you are to the West, and then North of O'Hare, you don't live in Chicago."

Internet Poster: "But I live in Chicagoland."

A2DAC: "Yeah, that's not Chicago. It's 'Chicagoland'."

Internet Poster: "OF COURSE IT'S CHICAGO!!!!!!!!!!! I'm a CHICAGOAN!!!!!!!!! People who live in the suburbs their whole lives, but frequent the city on a regular basis are CHICAGOANS!!!!!! THE TRUE CHICAGOANS because I've been to more places in and around Chicago than you!!!!!! Just because you happen to live inside the arbitrary city limits does not mean you are a Chicagoan!"

A2DAC: "It means I am a resident of Chicago. When I have lived INSIDE the city for as long as I did in Indiana, then I might start to consider myself a 'Chicagoan'. And by my estimate I have about 25 years until I can make that claim. But what I need no time limit for is claiming to be a resident of the great CITY of Chicago. Do you see the difference between living in the city and being a Chicagoan?"

Internet Poster: "But those boundaries are silly and arbitrary and..."

A2DAC: "Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know, I know. But here's the thing; They still do matter, no matter how much you want them not to. You can live outside the city and still be a Chicagoan. How? Being from the city to begin with, or spending a very significant amount of time living inside the city. If you have never 'lived' a minute inside the city limits, for me personally, would not call someone a Chicagoan if their only residence has been OUTSIDE the city limits their entire lives. Heading into the city limits once in a blue Moon does not, at least for me, satisfy the criteria of being 'FROM' Chicago or being a 'Chicagoan'.

Internet Poster: "BUT I AM A CHICAGOAN!!!!!!!!!"

A2DAC: "I am in no position to decide your 'Chicagoan' status. I am not debating that for one second. What there is NO DEBATE about is that I live inside the city of Chicago. You live OUTSIDE the city and you are a RESIDENT of Schaumburg, a suburb of Chicago. Could you have lived in the city at some point in time and been a Chicagoan inside the city limits of Chicago? Most certainly. But at this point in time, that is not the case. The case is: You are a Chciagoan that lives in a place that is not Chicago. End of Story.

Internet Poster: "You're a Jag."

A2DAC: "Does anyone even understand the meaning of words anymore???
Or has the internet killed any reading comprehension, we as a species, might have had??? "

I'm willing to bet that someone on the northwest side has heard of Shaumburg before. And would understand that he or she was from the burbs before O'hare Airport was brought up.

[A2DAC1985]

Am I a Chicagoan?

Im happy to move to Chicago

Realistically, what percentage of Chicago is ghetto?

Do ex-Chicagoians keep track of what's going on in Chicago?

[TheTimidBlueBars]

I think the elephant in the room here, the reason why people from the suburbs might choose to keep it at "Chicago" instead of "Chicagoland" or "the Chicago area" or "near Chicago", is that there's a sort of cultural prestige in being from a large city, instead of just a suburb of it. American culture might have glamorized suburban living back in the '50s and '60s, but those days are long gone. Now cities are considered cooler, and the suburbs are where vanilla, conservative white people are supposed to live. There's increasingly little truth to this (part of the reason counties like DuPage and Lake are blue now is that they're getting more diverse), but that's still what people think.

This truncation to just the bare city name among suburnanites is especially the case among younger people, in my experience. I had a guy in one of my college classes who claimed to be "from Chicago" and when I asked where, sheepishly specified "Wheaton."

Personally? I was born and grew up in the city proper, but I don't mind it. It's not my job to police other people's language and how they express their identities. Most of us fudge aspects of our identities when presenting ourselves without even thinking about it.

[pvande55]

I knew someone from Williams Bay Wi, 89 miles away, who claimed to be from the Chicago area.

[TheTimidBlueBars]

Originally Posted by pvande55

I knew someone from Williams Bay Wi, 85 miles away, who claimed to be from the Chicago area.

One of my two roommates in college was from Terre Haute, Indiana (181 miles) and used to say he was from "near Chicago" when he was studying abroad in Peru, since most of the natives had never heard of Indianapolis.

[BOBNCHI]

Why was an old thread that degraded rapidly, ressurected?

I'm from the greater Chicago area!!

[lepoisson]

If you are from the suburbs of any major city, I think it would be more proper to just say "I live in the Chicago suburbs".