Do Chicagoans Really Put Down Other Midwestern Cities? (Joliet, Schaumburg: cul-de-sac, best city)

[BigLake]

Originally Posted by QCongress83216

There has been a long stereotype, especially on CD, that Chicagoans put down other Midwest cities to hype up Chicago. So, I'm curious, is it true or untrue?

Incorrect. Chicagoans, on balance, appreciate other Midwestern cities. Granted, it's a generalization, but I find some Chicagoans have a real fondness for some Midwest cities (Milwaukee, Madison, Ann Arbor, even Detroit) and really don't disparage others. I think the only cities that may leave a negative impression are the more bland cities such as Columbus or Indianapolis, but then again, that's not limited to Chicagoans.

[edsg25]

Originally Posted by QCongress83216

OK, just kick down the rest of the rest of us in the Midwest lol (sarcasm).

Hey, hey, not so fast. All those other cities are closer to Chicago than Cleveland. There's something else too: Cleveland, I'd say more so than any city in the Midwest, sees itself as not being part of the midwest and being more part of the northeast. Cleveland, of course, is the furthest east of the major midwestern cities. It is also the one with the strongest northeast influence. Who knows, maybe Cleveland still sees itself as New Englandish, still a part of CT's western reserve.

Interestingly, I'd say the seond most northeastern oriented midwestern city is Chicago. Chicago was hand chosen by NYC as the epicenter of Midamerica, to be its partner city, the western terminal for the Hudson-Mohawk-Erie Canal-Great Lakes connection.

Also, the incredible urbanization....industrialization, immigration, etc..following the end of the Civil War had its epicenter in four cities....New York, Philly, Boston......and very much Chicago

[QCongress83216]

Originally Posted by edsg25

Hey, hey, not so fast. All those other cities are closer to Chicago than Cleveland. There's something else too: Cleveland, I'd say more so than any city in the Midwest, sees itself as not being part of the midwest and being more part of the northeast. Cleveland, of course, is the furthest east of the major midwestern cities. It is also the one with the strongest northeast influence. Who knows, maybe Cleveland still sees itself as New Englandish, still a part of CT's western reserve.

Interestingly, I'd say the seond most northeastern oriented midwestern city is Chicago. Chicago was hand chosen by NYC as the epicenter of Midamerica, to be its partner city, the western terminal for the Hudson-Mohawk-Erie Canal-Great Lakes connection.

Also, the incredible urbanization....industrialization, immigration, etc..following the end of the Civil War had its epicenter in four cities....New York, Philly, Boston......and very much Chicago

It was a joke . LOL! I know you weren't kicking the rest of the Midwest down. Cleveland doesn't really see itself as northeast in my opinion and definitely doesn't see itself as New England in any way. But, Cleveland gets tired of being called The Rust Belt because it's pejorative to a lot of us because no other cities or regions get labeled beyond the South (The Sun Belt). But, you're right about Chicago was handpicked as Cinderella and Cleveland and cities like it were picked as the ugly stepsister. LOL!

[edsg25]

Originally Posted by QCongress83216

It was a joke . LOL! I know you weren't kicking the rest of the Midwest down. Cleveland doesn't really see itself as northeast in my opinion and definitely doesn't see itself as New England in any way. But, Cleveland gets tired of being called The Rust Belt because it's pejorative to a lot of us because no other cities or regions get labeled beyond the South (The Sun Belt). But, you're right about Chicago was handpicked as Cinderella and Cleveland and cities like it were picked as the ugly stepsister. LOL!

And you didn't realize I knew it was a joke. I did.

Meanwhile you need to listen to drew carry: Cleveland rocks, Cleveland rocks

[UsAll]

If anything, it is more often the case (in my experience) that I'll often enough hear residents of other cities everywhere or nearly everywhere (in the U.S. and even outside the U.S.) voice less-than-glowing appraisals of Chicago based on the image of Chicago being "very very crime-ridden" (to whatever degree this assertion about Chicago is true or people come to think it is true because the media-at-large and the web-at-large fixates on this topic so very very often over the decades).

Or, secondarily, they'll deride the longstanding reputation of Chicago being characteristic of "big city machine politics", "cronyism", et al. Or, in much more recent years, various circles will critique "how Chicago's property tax rates have been said to have gotten notably higher".

[andrew61]

Originally Posted by edsg25

Meanwhile you need to listen to drew carry: Cleveland rocks, Cleveland rocks

What some non-Clevelanders don't realize is that the Cleveland Rocks song was around long, long before the Drew Carey Show.

[QCongress83216]

Originally Posted by edsg25

And you didn't realize I knew it was a joke. I did.

Meanwhile you need to listen to drew carry: Cleveland rocks, Cleveland rocks

My bad.

[KerrTown]

Originally Posted by QCongress83216

But, you're right about Chicago was handpicked as Cinderella and Cleveland and cities like it were picked as the ugly stepsister. LOL!

That's why I'm doing my best to make sure Houston gets handpicked as Cinderella and Dallas, Atlanta, and Miami get picked as the ugly stepsister when the South declines.

Originally Posted by edsg25

And you didn't realize I knew it was a joke. I did.

Meanwhile you need to listen to drew carry: Cleveland rocks, Cleveland rocks

I think Drew Carey is now singing "Cleveland sucks, Cleveland sucks!" It's been a few decades since he left Cleveland and can relate better to SoCal. He looks "so L.A." these days, especially after getting The Price is Right gig.

[QCongress83216]

Originally Posted by KerrTown

That's why I'm doing my best to make sure Houston gets handpicked as Cinderella and Dallas, Atlanta, and Miami get picked as the ugly stepsister when the South declines.



I think Drew Carey is now singing "Cleveland sucks, Cleveland sucks!" It's been a few decades since he left Cleveland and can relate better to SoCal. He looks "so L.A." these days, especially after getting The Price is Right gig.

There you go thinking again. Drew Carey still comes back to Cleveland occasionally.

[SkylarkPhotoBooth]

Originally Posted by QCongress83216

There has been a long stereotype, especially on CD, that Chicagoans put down other Midwest cities to hype up Chicago. So, I'm curious, is it true or untrue?

People from larger cities often put down people from smaller cities/towns/rural areas, and vice-versa. That's not unique to the Midwest. I can't say I've ever heard of anyone "hype up" Chicago to other Midwesterners, though, nor would there be any logical reason to do so, since other Midwesterners are regularly moving to Chicago already. I would say Chicagoans can be guilty of hyping the city to those on the coasts and in other countries, but not really to other places in the Midwest.

As for CD stereotypes, I don't spend any time in the forums of other Midwestern cities, so perhaps there is something I'm unaware of regarding Chicagoans going to those forums to hype up Chicago (though again, I don't see what the point would be). What I see is the opposite, though-- People who don't live in Chicago (whether they be in the IL/NWI suburbs or as far away as Georgia or Texas, usually from "red states") who spend a lot of time on the Chicago forum putting down Chicago. It's a strange impulse that I have difficulty understanding. When I don't like a place, I do my best to avoid it, rather than going there (geographically or virtually) to talk about how much I don't like it.