Are people from Chicago nice like the rest of the Midwest? (Kansas: cliquey, vs)

[reppin_the_847]

Originally Posted by chicago0311

People aren't particularly friendly in Chicago. They don't go out of their way to be rude, but there is just too many people you encounter on the streets to say hi or engage in small talk. People are just kind of short and distant here compared to most places.

They can also get edgy on the roads with all the traffic. It's more situational than it really is about the people themselves. Its just the nature of a big city.

I think this is very much on point. Although Chicago is the defacto hub of the Midwest, it is still a big city first & foremost. Many times you're going to face situations that are stereotypical of a big city experience in Chicago.

[BOSORD93]

Drivers are definitely jerks at times. People drive aggressively, and outside of Manhattan, Chicago is the place I hear car horns blaring the most. People are friendly if you engage with them but like others have said, it's too big of a city for people to go out of their way to be nice to you.

[EddieOlSkool]

Marothisu,

Must be the North Side because on the South Side that is not a thing. We mind our own business.

[reneeh63]

I don't know that Chicagoans are especially nice but I've not encountered rude people either. At least drivers are good and will let you into traffic, etc. - maybe that's just because they are smart and aware but at least they give you a chance and don't just run you off the road! You know, like they know it's a tough place so they'll give you a break and that you'll do the same for them if you can. Not to say they don't drive fast, but that's something else.

[Vanderbiltgrad]

Why does this poll say like NY. I find NYers to be extremely friendly when you get to know them. Chicago seemed about average on people being friendly on all the cities that I have been to, def better than Miami Beach thou.

[EddieOlSkool]

Originally Posted by Vanderbiltgrad

Why does this poll say like NY. I find NYers to be extremely friendly when you get to know them. Chicago seemed about average on people being friendly on all the cities that I have been to, def better than Miami Beach thou.

NYC is always used as the standard of East Coast rudeness.

[jman07]

People are defiantly not friendly in Chicago. My friends and I find the women to be more stuck up. Lets just say I'm doing something random like getting a hair cut or going out to eat. The waitress or hair stylist are always all business and impersonable. They don't treat you like you are a friend or try to small talk like surrounding states or cities. Women in the social scene tend to be less approachable. At the same time I wouldn't call them rude either. I would just call people cold. I lived in Philadelphia and people were even friendlier there.

[EddieOlSkool]

Originally Posted by jman07

People are defiantly not friendly in Chicago. My friends and I find the women to be more stuck up. Lets just say I'm doing something random like getting a hair cut or going out to eat. The waitress or hair stylist are always all business and impersonable. They don't treat you like you are a friend or try to small talk like surrounding states or cities. Women in the social scene tend to be less approachable. At the same time I wouldn't call them rude either. I would just call people cold. I lived in Philadelphia and people were even friendlier there.

100% accurate

[ToriaT]

Its either jerks or nice. Very poor poll. I think overall people in Chicago are nice but may not be as nice as other places in the Midwest. We are a big city and move at a quicker pace. We are not in your face like NYC though.

[Tex?Il?]

Originally Posted by reppin_the_847

Interestingly enough, the Metro Detroit area has been recovering quite a bit from the awful recession. I heard that it recently regained the distinction of being the #2 metro area (took it back from Minneapolis) in the Midwest in terms of GDP (after Chicago of course).

Going back to your initial question, however. I do think that many folks within the city limits of Chicago have a different air about them compared to the rest of the Midwest. Take this city population & ultimately you need to divide it into a few distinct groups. You have your native Chicagoans, kind of the Archie Bunkers of Chicago if you will. The old Irish types, firefighters, cops, etc. that usually reside in the bungalow belt these days. Then you have your more recent immigrant groups stretching from the bungalow belt to areas just beyond the trendy areas. Mexicans, folks from Poland, etc. Then of course you have the storied African-American community which dominates the South & West sides. But then finally you have the affluent transplants that inhabit the north side of the city closer to the lakeshore generally. Even in the middle of downtown Chicago you're bound to run into a cross-section of all of these groups, plus the frenzied Metra commuters from the suburbs. It is kind of an NYC-ish effect to have all these disparate groups converge in one small, dense centralized area. Other Midwest cities are far less crowded & more decentralized than Chicago. They also lack the solid public transportation network that Chicago enjoys.

Good post summing up the Chicago subcultures. Although I agree Chicago is going to have aspects to its culture that set it apart from other midwest cities due to its massive, fast paced, transit oriented downtown - I will say that these subcultures do have their direct counterparts to other midwestern cities.

The Chicago native/Archie Bunker types/Old Irish types/firefighters are culturally I would say have their similarities to the "salt of the earth" UAW types in Michigan and Ohio (Ed O'Neill who played Al Bundy in Married With Children is from Youngstown, OH originally).

Obviously Black Chicago has its obvious counterparts in inner city STL/Cleveland/Detroit, with similar urban troubles and strif.

The professional, affluent, transplants obviously are drawn extensively from the big ten universities.

Other midwest cities do not have the huge immigrant neighborhoods on Chicagos scale, although there are still pockets of ethnic/immigrant neighborhoods (East Dearborn, Hamtramck, SW Detroit in Detriot, Bosnians in STL, Somalis and Hmong in Minneapolis, etc.)