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Old 12-06-2012, 02:51 PM
 
896 posts, read 1,392,481 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jandur View Post
60611 is one of the most expensive zip codes in the country. Very working class
I meant outside of the downtown area i.e Gold Coast, Michigan avenue. I am talking about the rest of the northside mostly the trendy areas. Even Lincoln Park. The archectiture looks old and working class. Just because yuppies live there does not change the appearance.

That area is about the closest to Manhattan as you get in Chicago the 60611 zip code.
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Old 12-06-2012, 03:02 PM
 
2,556 posts, read 3,598,669 times
Reputation: 3424
Quote:
Originally Posted by edsg25 View Post
To me, Chicago is an iconic city, one with a unique personality and sense of place all its own. Sorry, I don't have a New York yardstick. Or a Los Angeles yardstick with which to compare. Indeed, those are two unique and great cities of their own.

This is the great city of the mid-continent, the only place that has that special quality of major, major city in nation that isn't 100 miles or less from the coast. The is the most American city, the one that is the product of the United States, not the European powers that colonized all three of our coasts.

The flattest of cities, in a glorious way, gives that special mix of the endless blue of the lake, the gold of the beaches, the green of the parks, and the massive and majestic skyline rising beyond. That flatness contributes to the best grid in the world. Chicago's neighborhoods are inviting, walkable, and unique, but they flow seamlessly into each other, a city united by its grid like no others.

To me Chicago has always been the city that combines the critical mass of the larger two with the livability and functionality of those smaller.

There's nothing like Chicago. I adore the place for what it is, not how compares to others.
Yea, this is pretty much true. I don't know if others care much, but Chicagoans rarely use New York city as a yardstick (at least they don't verbalize it much) and never Los Angeles (no one here really thinks about Los Angeles much if at all, besides Hollywood and such).

fwiw...

If I were to give a general account of Chicago's impression of themselves (Ed's might be a bit too eloquent and passionate), I think the average Chicagoan realizes Chicago is a world class city with the attendant warts (crime, education, parking, weather and grift being among the most prominent) but it's nowhere near the beast that is NYC, nor should it be. We know we're in the shadow of NYC but are also comfortable to know that we're really the second city as far as attractive urban, exciting environments. Right or wrong (mainly right), we have the culture, amenities, arts, sports equal to any city in the country plus at a much lower cost of living than the biggie. NYC is awesome to visit and somewhat aspirational, but Chicago is comfortable with its warts, quirks and frankly, greatness.
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Old 12-06-2012, 03:32 PM
 
Location: Not where you ever lived
11,535 posts, read 30,119,245 times
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Q: Why would people willingly choose Chicago over other major cities?

A: They like it.

Obviously not everyone agrees.
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Old 12-06-2012, 03:36 PM
 
Location: Tower Grove East, St. Louis, MO
12,063 posts, read 31,485,827 times
Reputation: 3798
Quote:
Originally Posted by stephei2000 View Post
I meant outside of the downtown area i.e Gold Coast, Michigan avenue. I am talking about the rest of the northside mostly the trendy areas. Even Lincoln Park. The archectiture looks old and working class. Just because yuppies live there does not change the appearance.

That area is about the closest to Manhattan as you get in Chicago the 60611 zip code.
You often seem to conflate old with "working class." I find that rather bizarre.
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Old 12-06-2012, 03:47 PM
 
14,800 posts, read 17,568,241 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by aragx6 View Post
You often seem to conflate old with "working class." I find that rather bizarre.
In general in regards to houses, if it was built after the 40s I don't like it. There are exceptions of course.

Edited, can't believe I wrote that.
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Old 12-06-2012, 03:50 PM
 
Location: Tower Grove East, St. Louis, MO
12,063 posts, read 31,485,827 times
Reputation: 3798
Quote:
Originally Posted by Vlajos View Post
In general in regards to houses, if it was built before the 40s I don't like it. There are exceptions of course.
In general in regards to houses, if it was built after the 40s I don't like it. There are exceptions of course.
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Old 12-06-2012, 03:52 PM
 
14,800 posts, read 17,568,241 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by aragx6 View Post
In general in regards to houses, if it was built after the 40s I don't like it. There are exceptions of course.
My dear, that was a big ass typo on my part! I have corrected.
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Old 12-06-2012, 03:58 PM
 
Location: NY
778 posts, read 992,621 times
Reputation: 422
Quote:
Originally Posted by grapico View Post
Plenty of people go to NYC and live outside Manhattan, Brooklyn? Hello... Brooklyn alone has as much desirable urban living as Chicago sans dt/highrise style. The burbs in NYC are far more diverse than Chicago also. NYC and Chicago shouldn't be talked about together, NYC is out of Chicago's league. Also it isn't like if they don't live in Manhattan they can't go into Manhattan, Manhattan daytime population is 3.7 million people in 22 square miles.


Um, youre talking to someone from NY, who lived in Brooklyn.

I know enough, thank you.

The COL in Brooklyn and even Queens is rising as more spill over, and its a COL still above the national average. Of course its less than Manhattan. Its ****ing Manhattan.

The amenities Chicago has over Brooklyn is what im getting at.

Are we really going to discuss high-rise living or density? Why is this always what is brought up? Who gives a **** about these things? Id venture that about 3% of the average American give a **** about those things in comparison with more realistic and practical things people look for like education, jobs, entertainment, COL, etc. Chicago bests the outer boros in these quite easily. They dont have world class skylines, education institutions, theatres, restaurants, museums, etc. The only similarity would be the population. Brooklyn can be a nightmare to get around if youre relying solely on the subway. Chicago is much more car friendly, bus friendly and train friendly. Its less congested, and a better mix of transportation overall. Less claustrophobic. Not even getting to the lakefront or parks (parks both have in abundance, but in proximity to the average resident, it goes to Chicago)

The only thing that Brooklyn or Queens would have is population density, and in respect to the OP, is that really a reason people would base city superiority over?

Last edited by Heyooooo; 12-06-2012 at 04:14 PM..
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Old 12-06-2012, 04:01 PM
 
Location: Tower Grove East, St. Louis, MO
12,063 posts, read 31,485,827 times
Reputation: 3798
Quote:
Originally Posted by Vlajos View Post
My dear, that was a big ass typo on my part! I have corrected.
Ha, I was surprised to see you have that opinion actually, so that it was a typo makes sense!

And, FWIW, I might not be too big of a fan of anything built in certain periods but the main point is that I don't ascribe a socioeconomic status to an area based soley on personal preference. That's weird.
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Old 12-06-2012, 04:13 PM
 
Location: NY
778 posts, read 992,621 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Chicago76 View Post
Very well said. Personally, what I liked about Chicago is that I could walk outside my door at any place I lived and have a dozen solid low to mid-tier restaurants, a couple of higher end places, and half a dozen bars I liked within no more than 5 minutes on foot. My dry cleaner, a good book store, record store, a grocery store, and a park were also within a couple of minutes walking. I didn't need to drive to work. Add to that the fact that parking is easier and the city is more affordable, and I could get to a wide variety of places by transit/bike/car within 30 minutes of home that exponentially extended my options when I wanted something different.

There was enough nearby to realistically satisfy 90% of what I regularly wanted/neede. If you enjoy quality theater, there are several well run productions at any moment you can check out. Plenty of live music of all types. Clubs if you're into that. NYC has more of the same wherever you are due to density. But do you really need 30 restaurants within x blocks rather than 12? Every once in a while, it would be nice, but generally speaking you are going to pick from a smaller group. One of the things that I noticed about NYC when I lived there was that I still generally picked from the dozen closest restaurants just like I did in Chicago. Those restaurants just all happened to be a little bit closer. I don't think I'm unique in that respect--it's just standard human psychology/laziness at play. So effectively, all I was doing was cutting 60-90 seconds off my walk by paying almost twice as much to live in NYC.

Chicago is at a nice point on the marginal utility curve. It is dense enough to make most of your day to day living car free, but not so dense as to make things cost-prohibitive the way they often can be in NYC, London, San Francisco, etc.

Pretty much, this is it.

I like to stress it as "practicality" between the two.

People in NY love to boast about having so much at their leisure, but its a played out and empty slogan to justify where they live (and in most cases, a shoebox).

The average NYer does not use nearly as much of the amenities they boast about. Everyone has routines, and sticks to them.

"Yes, I live in NY, I have this, this and this, and that and this.... etc, etc." -- Right, but how often do you actually use them? More often than not, they dont. Style points.

Oh well, "in Chicago, I have this, this, and that and this too.... etc, etc, but I actually get to use them."
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