Most Common Mistakes Newcomers Make (Chicago: crime, moving, train)

[chet everett]

Testing! It works.

[ChicagoMeO]

Originally Posted by marothisu

I was actually told this by a few people when I first moved here. Funny thing is that I've been taken for a ride twice when I got in a cab with others who said an address. The last one happened in October actually with a coworker of mine and before that with a friend visiting town. I always say the intersection when I get in a cab. Always, and IMO I haven't had many times where the cab driver was confused by what I was saying. Uber drivers on the other hand - hit or miss, but cab drivers know the city really well usually.

Well that explains why I know the cab driver took the long way to get to where i was going. I knew the route, but he went the round a bout way that i knew took the longest.. then when i told him, hey why are you going this way? he responded with that foreign "i dunno english" type of words. I had to tell him exactly where to turn and stuff, yet he "acted dumb" THATS why.. and i knew it. And i live here!

[ASOT]

This sort of coincides with marothisu's post, but don't get too attached to one particular neighborhood.

[MassVt]

Go ahead and put ketchup on your hot dog; perfectly normal in most parts of the country, but...

[knitgirl]

Originally Posted by marothisu

5) Thinking that they will make tons of good friends right away in a new city. Unless you're in college, it's going to take longer than that unless you get really lucky. People here are friendly, but they aren't over eager to be your best friend at the drop of a dime after meeting you for 2 minutes...usually. Look at Meetup groups, join a health club, etc etc.

If they ARE that desperate to be your new best friend after 2 minutes, you gotta wonder wtf is wrong with them!

[jwaiter]

If you bring a car, get the necessary registrations as soon as possible.

As mentioned earlier, the city is very determined to fine and ticket you for any rules violations. They are on top of collecting money when and where they can, some people refer to them as professional criminals it's so bad.

They wrote my condo association a $1500 ticket for garbage cans being overflowed, as an example of a non-car ticket the city can levy.

[jwaiter]

And our tree branches in front of the building were hanging too low... another ticket. They're devious.

[RogersParkGuy]

Originally Posted by genericusername

I've got a potential move to Chicago on the horizon and have been wondering what mistakes people have seen newcomers make and how to avoid them. I know mistakes will happen (no relocation is fun without some trial-and-error), but would love to hear people's thoughts on the matter!

Not honoring "Chicago dibs" after a heavy snowfall.

It has long been a tradition in Chicago that if you do the hard work of shoveling out a parking space, you have a right to place a chair or other marker there so that no one else takes it. Unfortunately, a lot of newbies have a much more selfish, mercenary attitude about this. They have no qualms about snatching a parking space someone else has broken their back to dig out. Frankly, I think people like that ought to be tarred and feathered, and have their cars burned. But a better alternative is just to honor Chicago dibs.

[knitgirl]

Or even better, the young healthy people on the block shovel out all the spaces.

[snoylekim]

If you play softball , well, you don't really play softball . Two types here - 16 inch , which is played without gloves and is the game of choice in Chicagoland , and the 12 inch that predominates in the rest of the US. Typically, Glove Softball will be called '12 inch' , and they might or might not be specific with using "16 Inch" in front of 'Softball' . if you're invited to play . Don't be afraid to ask - once .

And , 'Soft' is inaccurate when describing 16 inch Clincher right out of the box ; it takes a few innings . You're not wearing a glove, so watch the fielding heroics, or you'll be paying your orthopedist a visit . Go for your power hitting early in the game; the ball could turn into a boxing glove after a few poundings. Don't worry - you'll figure out things like 'High Arc' eventually .