The Urbanophile's "State of Chicago" Series (mortgages, credit rating)

[urza216]

There's a word missing in my post - "voluntarily" don't have cars.

**And not for the sake of dollar signs but for the sake of making Chicago a greater city.

[Kamms]

Originally Posted by Attrill

LOL - I think the big thing was he thought his middling success in Chicago would result in tremendous success elsewhere (i.e NYC). He really couldn't make it in Chicago, then tried going to NYC and failed. Then he moved on to Providence after an NYC fail. He'll probably be in Worcester in a couple years. or maybe Fitchburg. Fitchburg/Leominster has a receptive audience for the crap he's selling.

Don't know this Renn guy but he moved to Chicago in about 1992 so ''couldn't make it in Chicago'' is a bit of a stretch. Of course folks that can't make it in Chicago always go to New York since it's so much easier to make it there.

[ERS-One]

Originally Posted by chet everett

...that have dreamers longing for French / Asian style jet-speed toy trains. The benefits of commuter rail are pretty clear to anyone that cares to look at the desirable spots in the Chicago region or other metro area with a similar development pattern. The "rail fans" that rally round over-priced consultents reports that would shift billions of transportation funding to schemes that fatten-up connected firms while doing a lot of harm to the established transportation methods in the US are clearly in the fad camp...

Shifting billions to connected firms is the American way.

It is embarrassing though that the greatest country in the history of everything - ever, can't figure out how to implement every mode of transportation that are available in these modern times. I'm a big proponent of having as many options as possible.

[ChiNaan]

Originally Posted by ERS-One

It is embarrassing though that the greatest country in the history of everything - ever, can't figure out how to implement every mode of transportation that are available in these modern times. I'm a big proponent of having as many options as possible.

Well said.

[MassVt]

Originally Posted by andrew61

And just what is wrong with that?

One person's trash is another person's treasure. To each his own. Diversity and all that.

Big, frenetic cities are not the be-all and end-all of human civilization. Sometimes I fantasize about retiring to a remote small town in my old age and becoming a hermit.

Nothing, but I'll bet that you haven't seen Fitchburg, MA...

Big cities aren't the end-all, be-all, but to the OP, I think that they are....

[andrew61]

Originally Posted by Chi-town Native

Right, but the sour grapes on big city life from a guy who fancied himself the guru of urban living is pretty ridiculous.

Ah, context. Yes.

But it is worth noting that some people do change over time.

[SmartGXL]

Although I cannot speak for the sour grapes aspect of his posts, I do relate to some of what he stated in his blogs.

His final post did mention that Chicago was getting "stale"...after 14 years of living in the city, I noticed this happened to me as well...not that I wasnt loving the city anymore, I still love Chicago, but after a while, I just needed to see and do something different...for 14 years it was "Lakeview-Wicker park" over and over and over again, and I wanted to see and do something different for a while. I feel like I had eaten at almost every sushi joint, been to almost every club, lived in every neighborhood, etc. I had been thinking about doing something different but kept deciding to stay...but it was the recent crime waves in Boystown and Gold Coast/mag mile that wrere the final straws to get me to pick up and try something new. If the city gets this handled, then I will think about coming back, but until then, it has been refreshing to do something different. On one hand, I feel like I am "on vacation" from Chicago while I am here in TX. But, as amazing and exciting as living on the city's North Side was, Chicago does have a A LOT of problems that it needs to address....safety, infrastructure, budget issues, etc. These problems are now starting to impact the daily lives of people who live in the city. If the city proves that it can overcome these problems (especially the safety issues) by taking serious measures to fix them, then I will come back in the future.

[emathias]

Originally Posted by ERS-One

...
I'm a big proponent of having as many options as possible.

I know I wish the city had more horse-ties and affordable rickshaws.

Originally Posted by SmartGXL

...
His final post did mention that Chicago was getting "stale"...after 14 years of living in the city, I noticed this happened to me as well...not that I wasnt loving the city anymore, I still love Chicago, but after a while, I just needed to see and do something different...for 14 years it was "Lakeview-Wicker park" over and over and over again, and I wanted to see and do something different for a while. I feel like I had eaten at almost every sushi joint, been to almost every club, lived in every neighborhood, etc. I had been thinking about doing something different but kept deciding to stay...but it was the recent crime waves in Boystown and Gold Coast/mag mile that wrere the final straws to get me to pick up and try something new. If the city gets this handled, then I will think about coming back, but until then, it has been refreshing to do something different. On one hand, I feel like I am "on vacation" from Chicago while I am here in TX. But, as amazing and exciting as living on the city's North Side was, Chicago does have a A LOT of problems that it needs to address....safety, infrastructure, budget issues, etc. These problems are now starting to impact the daily lives of people who live in the city. If the city proves that it can overcome these problems (especially the safety issues) by taking serious measures to fix them, then I will come back in the future.

I live in River North and have lived in Chicago for about 17 years. If i never left the Lakeview-Lincoln Park-Wicker Park bubble, I'd feel pretty stale too. Fortunately, those only account for a tiny portion of the city. I suppose if you never left The Village in New York or Le Marais in Paris, those cities would start to seem stale after a while, too.

[Aleking]

lol @ smartGXL, such a broken record

[ChiNaan]

Originally Posted by SmartGXL

for 14 years it was "Lakeview-Wicker park" over and over and over again

That's not a problem with Chicago, that's a problem with you not utilizing most of the city.