What do you think would improve Chicago? (Naperville, Joliet: schools, camp)

[NYrules]

Originally Posted by Steve-o

Well, technically we arent Chicagoans by any stretch of the word. Chicagoans are those that live in Chicago. If anything we're "metro-Chicagoans".

But I think we still have the right to B. M. & C. right?

[Steve-o]

Originally Posted by NYrules

But I think we still have the right to B. M. & C. right?

You lost me.

[aragx6]

B**ch, moan and complain

[NYrules]

Originally Posted by aragx6

B**ch, moan and complain

Thank you.

[Steve-o]

Originally Posted by aragx6

B**ch, moan and complain

LOL

I was going the complete opposite direction with that one.

Yeah, we can whine n moan, but it doesnt make us Chicagoans. In fact, we have less in the burbs to whine n moan about than they do, so I think we have it a little easier.

[rgb123]

Give me a break...the whole I live in the city limits I'm a chicagon your not is so 5th GRADE! Really, get over yourself. I'm really proud of you with your street cred, but my dad could beat up your dad from Berwyn, or whatever, cause my dad took street cars to school (he did, but that is beside the point). Whatever! Seriously, most of us in the suburbs have deeper ties than the so called Chicagoans that moved there 5 minutes ago. This is one of the main reasons I dont live in Chicago -- I get so annoyed by the "knowitalls" .....whatever this is futile and I knew it before I started writing.

Anyway, I'm in the camp with NYRules on this. This is a metro area now, like it or not, living within the city limits doesn't make you a different species, and most of us in the suburbs have probably been in this area a lot longer than most of the so called "chicagoans" you speak of. So many of us have moved back and forth from that city limit enough times that you just sound so arrogant.....soo annoying, so sheltered in your own little bitty world. I'm staring to feel like one of the Wisconsin people that hate Illinois people. I GET IT.

[GoCUBS1]

Originally Posted by rgb123

Give me a break...the whole I live in the city limits I'm a chicagon your not is so 5th GRADE! Really, get over yourself. I'm really proud of you with your street cred, but my dad could beat up your dad from Berwyn, or whatever, cause my dad took street cars to school (he did, but that is beside the point). Whatever! Seriously, most of us in the suburbs have deeper ties than the so called Chicagoans that moved there 5 minutes ago. This is one of the main reasons I dont live in Chicago -- I get so annoyed by the "knowitalls" .....whatever this is futile and I knew it before I started writing.

Anyway, I'm in the camp with NYRules on this. This is a metro area now, like it or not, living within the city limits doesn't make you a different species, and most of us in the suburbs have probably been in this area a lot longer than most of the so called "chicagoans" you speak of. So many of us have moved back and forth from that city limit enough times that you just sound so arrogant.....soo annoying, so sheltered in your own little bitty world. I'm staring to feel like one of the Wisconsin people that hate Illinois people. I GET IT.

Well said! It does make me laugh when I meet some city dwellers that think they're so much more "Chicagoan" than me because they've lived, say, the last 6 mos. in Lincoln Park. I'm like 4th generation Chicagoan. My Italian and German ancestors helped build the city. I've owned businesses/real estate in the city and have lived in and out of the city for decades (I will not divulge how many exact decades ). Just because, at this particular moment in my life, we are raising our kids in the burbs, does not mean we are not "Chicagoan".

[j33]

rgb123, GoCUBS1 - well put. While I have lived in the city proper for 12+ years, I grew up in the suburbs and absolutely feel that they are just as much a part of this thing that is 'Chicago'. Good grief, it isn't as if everything changes the moment you, I don't know, cross the street into Evergreen Park. People need to get over this whole 'city/burbs' thing, it is silly.

Ironically enough, it is often the people who have spent the least amount of time in Chicago that rail on this issue the most.

[Lookout Kid]

Today municipal borders are somewhat meaningless in terms of separating the economic entities known as cities. "Chicago" definitely encompasses the city and suburbs, and we really do need to think of it this way. I'd like to see some form of regional governance enacted like like the have in Portland, OR--particularly in the areas of planning and transportation. Portland's "Urban Growth Boundary" has been a stunning success in making that a liveable metro area.

But, suburbanites, you can't have it both ways. If you are truly "Chicagoans", then you should take some responsibility for the city. Let's not forget that the post-war suburbs were created to sort of "wall off" the poor in the city in the name of protecting "nice American families". In many ways, the suburbs allowed middle-class Americans an escape from urban problems, but also urban responsibilities. It made the poor someone else's problem. So, you want to be "Chicago"? Then be "Chicago" and start thinking about what's good for the whole region--not just your littled protected hamlet in Will County or wherever else.

[Lookout Kid]

Originally Posted by j33

People need to get over this whole 'city/burbs' thing, it is silly.

You're missing the point. I think it's more of a "my lifestyle is better than yours" kind of a thing than city vs. suburb. And that's what really makes people get upset. Note that most of the "city snobs" don't get down on people who live in "urban" suburbs like Oak Park, Evanston, Berwyn, etc.

There are many compelling reasons to hate the urban sprawl (traffic, ugly landscape, parking lots, lack of public realm). And there are many reasons to hate the city (crowdedness, lack of open space, cost, crime). It's a matter of personal choice, affordability, and political beliefs.