the "chicago decline" syndrome (Paris, Phoenix: violent crime, theater, school district)
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What I am hearing now is Chicago is a beautiful but violent city. That seems to be a message that is going out there.
Meanwhile, we have an aggravated assault rate on par with Toledo and Corpus Christi, and a murder rate on par with Miami and Tulsa. Such hotbeds of crime! Our violent crime rate could be better, but it's much better than it used to be and is better than a lot of places.
Factions in Chicago have also really pissed of some on the liberal side of things, too, for example the impact of the "Chicago School" of economics tends to really **** off the Left, as did some of the elder Daley's actions..
Maybe I'm naive, but I've always thought (hoped?) that liberals put a "University of" in front of that "Chicago School".
and the irony here is that the university, as an institution and the college town (Hyde Park) where it resides are pretty liberal places.
Meanwhile, we have an aggravated assault rate on par with Toledo and Corpus Christi, and a murder rate on par with Miami and Tulsa. Such hotbeds of crime! Our violent crime rate could be better, but it's much better than it used to be and is better than a lot of places.
Doesn't Miami have one of the highest violent crime rates in the US? I don't think being in the company of Miami is a good thing.
As a relatively new transplant, here is my two cents:
Chicagoans tend to be very proud of their city (which they absolutely should be), but I get the sense many non-Chicagoans tend to roll their eyes at all of the "wind" spewed by people who live here. From my experience Chicago tends to see New York City as it's closest peer, where many other cities might take offense to that (SF, Bos, Was, LA, etc...). So to me it seems like people in the other top cities not named New York (at least on C-D) tend to knock Chicago down to put it in line with the other cities and not on New York's level.
In my year in Chicago I have definitely noticed a little bit of an inferiority complex with New York, and I am frequently reminded how Chicago can match New York at a third of the cost and so on....
Just my perspective, but I do think that it is part of the reason for the put downs on chicago.
you've raised excellent points here. we tend to look at cities on how outsiders see them and rate them. but there is a corollary to this:
how does a city see itself?
and in that sense, Chicagoans tend to be very high up on love of city and sense of place and how much a part of the place they are.
Of course, I would agree with you about how we often compare ourselves to New York, always have and seemingly always will.
But in some ways we go beyond that. We tend to put ourselves more in that "center of the universe" category.
i've brought this up before. I know a number of people disagree, but this is strictly my spin:
Chicago may be unique in the dominating presence it has in its own region. No, we don't dominate the midwest; but we are the most dominant city by far within the region. Our hinterland seems to spread out so much because the city is such a force.
There is no comparable set up anywhere in the US. The northeast has both NYC and DC, two heavy weights, and one can't argue about the important role of a city like Boston as well. No city dominates the South. No one comes close to being at the head of the pack. Atlanta, Miami, Houston, and Dallas are in the same ballpark. New Orleans holds on with its history. And Charlotte challenges.
no dominance comes out in the mountain west either. denver, salt lake, phoenix, and vegas...none is going to emerge as the head of the pack.
on the west coast, the power of NY/DC gets duplicated in the power of LA/SF. And Seattle is out there, too.
Only Chicago dominates its region the way it does (again...my opinion...others can disagree). And that dominance translates into a very boastful character for our city.
For the record, I hardly think the urban midwest is any type of disaster area when you remove Chicago from the mix.
That would be absurd. Minneapolis is one of the most progressive, pristine, high quality of life and arts city in the nation. Our neighbor Milwaukee is another gem on Lake Michigan, a city that compliments our own in this fortunate region to have both of these cities in our expanded metro area on the lake's southwest shores.
Indy is a huckster city that sold itself up to the status it now has today, a product of the late 20th century in its rise. Columbus mimics this, too.
St. Louis has history and charm. Cleveland has a wonderful sense of grit from the industrial age (I say this is seriously, not sarcasm....there's a lot to love with grit and Cleveland's got it). Cincy, like StL has its charms. And for all its battering, under the muck lies a great city in Detroit.
But Chicago exceeds all in a way that isn't true in other regions. And that does affect our moxie about our home town.
Not necessarily, but I think Philadelphia fits your idea better than any other city, and the fact that you left it off your list proves my point.
i left it off, yes....but i debated on that; and no city would be nearer to make "my list" than Philly would. You can't deny that Philadelphia is a great city. It is. I just don't think it was able to cash in on its charms the way Boston did not to reinvent itself economically as Boston did (Boston emerged from WWII as a basket case....look at it today).
Doesn't Miami have one of the highest violent crime rates in the US?
#13. Just behind Kansas City and Nashville, and just ahead of Tulsa and Cincinnati.
My point is that if Chicago is a violent city, we have quite a lot of company in this country. Chicago's crime numbers are right there with most other cities in the U.S., and like most of them its crime has been steadily declining for several decades. What has been rising is media sensationalism.
Until Chicago stops declining we'll be hearing a lot more about it. The city, county and state are in a terrible position with no realistic options for improvement on the table.
In my year in Chicago I have definitely noticed a little bit of an inferiority complex with New York...
I moved here from Boston 20 years ago and Chicago actually has LESS of a NYC inferiority complex than Boston does. I think most East Coast cities have a love/hate relationship with NYC. Every city has a lot of pride, and perhaps an inflated sense of importance. No one in Boston calls it Beantown, but you do hear it referred to as "The Hub", as in The Hub of the Universe.
Quote:
Originally Posted by edsg25
Indy is a huckster city that sold itself up to the status it now has today, a product of the late 20th century in its rise. Columbus mimics this, too.
Don't knock "huckster" cities - Chicago is the original huckster city!
#13. Just behind Kansas City and Nashville, and just ahead of Tulsa and Cincinnati.
My point is that if Chicago is a violent city, we have quite a lot of company in this country. Our crime numbers are right there with most other cities in the U.S., and like most of them it has been steadily declining for several decades. What has been rising is media sensationalism.
Chicago has done a great job bringing the violent crime rate down. The number of murders through the early 90's were very disturbing.
I think the reason that many are talking about it right now is because of the current murder rate in 2012. Chicago is up 33% over last year and didn't see the total number of murders as of today until late July last year. That's bad.
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