Chicago (Aurora, Oak Forest, Oregon: scorpions, luxury, dangerous)

[SJaye]

Originally Posted by mmcgirk3

Things I hate about Chicago"land" since moving here.

1.People on these message boards named "Milwaukee City" who pretend they left Wisconsin to live in the intimate wonderland of Chicago
.
.
.
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40. The people.

WOW! While every city has both positives and negatives, this list makes it seem like the outer rungs of hell. Unfortunately, some of the items on your list are generalizations, exaggerations, and things you find in almost any city you will live in.

Originally Posted by mmcgirk3

2. Cubs fans
40. The people

Really? There are some annoying people everywhere you go, and every baseball team has some annoying fans.

Originally Posted by mmcgirk3

3. Drivers who either go 110mph in the passing lane or 40.
25. In competition with San Fran for most homeless
26. In competition with Detroit for biggest ghetto

I do see people going 85,90 periodically, but rarely have I seen someone going 110. They contrast with those driving 55, but I do not see 40. Chicago has some homeless and ghetto, but also a lot of really nice areas. As far as % of city ghetto and % of city homeless, Chicago does not compare to Detroit.

Originally Posted by mmcgirk3

17. Parking (or lack there of)
35. The houses in most neighborhoods are 12 inches apart

It's called living in the city. If houses weren't close and parking weren't tight, it would not be a city.

Originally Posted by mmcgirk3

5. The people who think Obama gives Chicago a better image
12. People driving to another county to avoid the high sales tax
16. King Daley the 2nd
38. rated most over-regulated city in America

Our politics is annoying, and could possibly be Chicago's undoing.

Everything else on the list pretty much relates to one person you find annoying (Harry Cary, John Cusak, etc.), or one place you don't care for (Millennium Park, Castaways). No location you ever go to will be without personalities you don't care for, and places you feel are overrated and worthless. That is why you just avoid them with your own free will. Nobody is making you turn your radio dial to the Mancow show, and nobody is making you ever go back to Millenium Park.

If you really can't put up with the traffic, the weather, people's attitudes, and some of the stuff that actually could possibly be different in a different part of the country, then you should probably try to move to a place that is more favorable in that respect. Maybe you can find a city or town where your list will only be 25 bullet points instead of 40. Most importantly, I hope you can be happy there.

[Lookout Kid]

Originally Posted by mmcgirk3

Chicagoland is incredibly sprawling. I should know I live in it!
Suburban Sprawl in Chicago Extends Further
The city itself has alot of density, about 12,000 per sq. mile...

You're missing the point. Someone complained about Chicago's density. Some of us pointed out that density can be a good thing in an urban environment. In spite of "Chicagoland's" suburban sprawl, the city does offer a high-density urban lifestyle in many areas for people who are interested in that. Most American cities do not.

Originally Posted by mmcgirk3

...most of them living in constant fear that someone somewhere is talking poorly of Chicago Oh no!

No one cares. You are basing this off of experience on this forum only. This is a forum where people compare cities to one another, so it's natural that Chicagoans posting on a forum (many of whom love their city) will not take kindly to people bashing Chicago. Especially since much (not all) of the bashing is utterly unfounded and ridiculous.

[loren4]

Originally Posted by HCC

I'm curious to hear other's reasons for not liking Chicago. This is NOT a thread to tell of all the reasons you love Chicago or to defend it. While I'm sure valid, I'm not interested in hearing those stories here.

Can anyone relate?

I lived, or rather endured, Chicago from 2000-2005. I moved there with the best intentions, a good job offer out of school. My first exposure was Michigan Ave and apartment hunting on the North Side mid-afternoon when everyone was at work and the area was vacated. So, I never got the full picture or a feel for the people before moving there. I did notice it wasn't the best dressed city I had been to, but it seemed to have good museums, shopping and lots of young people like myself looking to have a good time. I thought, back then, "I can make this work!"

WRONG!!!

By 2004 I was depressed, miserable and not able to sleep.

I've forgotten or blocked a lot of it, but here are some of the reasons I loathe Chicago: (these are from my experiences)

1. Passive-aggressive. Don't confuse small pleasantries with friendliness or kindness. People in the Mid-West are bred not to be direct, it is considered rude there. They are raised to be "nicey-nice". They don't actually want to know you or how you're doing or what you're doing. It is just a formality to smile all the time, guffaw and talk nonsense at all times. I have NEVER met such back stabbing, nasty, two-faced liars in all my life! They aren't "nice" at all.

2. People are thugs-they really are! I happen to look young for my age, I dress well and for a guy, I guess I fall into the handsome, classic good looks category. This really bothered people in Chicago, where most guys are fat, balding and dress like ****. I had people shoulder-check me on the street (men AND women), in bars and come up to me and say, "**** you!" for no reason. People seemed to be really angry and looking to start fights. I mean the city itself is run by criminals. Oh, and by the way, be off the streets after the Cubs lose. Especially if you're gay or non-white. It will be taken out on you.

3. Intellectual stimulation. F'uggetaboutit! You will not find it here. Maybe if you are at University of Chicago, but, seriously, I didn't know anyone who read (literature. I'm not talking Cosmo, Maxim or The Red Eye) or could have an informed conversation about anything other than big 10 sports and beer. I happened to have gone to good schools (another point of contention among the locals...Yale? WTF?) I needed some kind of intellectual outlet and found NONE!

4. High culture is an upscale sports bar in Chicago.

5. Totally racist. I was shocked by the attitudes.

6. The accent. I mean, I now live in Brooklyn, which is known for having a very strong accent as well, but it's charming. The Chicago accent is absolutely the worst, save, maybe Boston. "Haaaaay you guys! Waaaaant some naaaachooos? "

7. Obsession with sports bars. GAG!!! I can't over-state this one. If I were in a group setting and suggested a decent place to eat or have drinks, I would be overridden with, "naaaah....I want some bar food and wanna watch the game!"

8. Where is this leading? Overall lack of sophistication. In NY, at a party for people in their late 20s-early 30s, you meet people with ambition and goals, dreams... Intersting careers, writers, designers, tops of their fields in finance or whatever. Well dressed, well read, up on current events and yes they can be annoying, don't get me wrong. You might break open some wine and the latest indie hits are playing in the background. It is all very grown-up and civilized. In Chicago, sadly, every party I went to had beer funnels, beer pong, stocky girls in tight, black pants and dudes in over-sized jeans or pleated khakis, t-shirt and french blue dress shirts, beer guzzling and acting like they were 19 back at the frat house at Michigan State. (or fill-in-the-blank Big 10)

9. Drunkards abound! My girlfriend in Chicago had gone to one of the Big 10s and was in a sorority where they had t-shirts made that said, "Alpha-holics." Her girlfriends would get together for their "Sex and the City" viewing nights and wear these t-shirts proudly. I would see girls at 3 AM putting their finger down their throat trying to puke on the sidewalk, guys completely passed out on top of each other, people holding on to cars as they tried to get home. Everyone there leads a life of desperation and the only way to forget about it is to get ****ed up every night of the week.

10. Everything there, even the good stuff, even being able to afford a nice apt in my 20's with a doorman, dinner at the new-hot restaurant, the lake in the summer, or whatever, seemed completely and totally mediocre.

What did I like? hmmm...the parks flanking the Art Institute (not Millenium Park). Also, it was pretty accessible, though there were few places I wanted to go and since I wear a medium and everyone else there wears large, xl or xxl, I could always find my size at sales, I can't do that in NY.

Last night, on the subway going back to Brooklyn, as I was crossing the bridge, I looked out my window, overlooking Manhattan and breathed a sigh of relief. Thank God I'm NOT in Chicago!!!

you sound like a stuck up jerk. I dont care where you go you can find something good about it and have a good time by meeting people and getting to know them unless your completely closed minded like yourself. let yourself go out and meet one person you wouldnt normally talk to out on the street and you would find something interesting about that person. from south dakota

[synapse]

Originally Posted by mmcgirk3

Chicagoland is incredibly sprawling. I should know I live in it!
Suburban Sprawl in Chicago Extends Further
The city itself has alot of density, about 12,000 per sq. mile, most of them living in constant fear that someone somewhere is talking poorly of Chicago Oh no!
Also...too many cars in other cities??? Chicago has three of the worst traffic congested areas in Ameirca.

Oh, yes, Chicagoland is sprawling. But the *city* is dense. The problem in Phoenix is that the *city* is sprawling too. There's no true urban center, like there is in Chicago.

[Tex?Il?]

Originally Posted by mmcgirk3

Things I hate about Chicago"land" since moving here.

1.People on these message boards named "Milwaukee City" who pretend they left Wisconsin to live in the intimate wonderland of Chicago

I agree on this one. The fact that young people can't be proud of their home state just because its not as "hip." I'm proud of your state and I boost up Wisconsin when I'm away from the midwest.

2. Cubs fans

I agree here. I mean if people just acknowledged that a large portion of the people who go to Cubs games to see and be seen, and therefore is overrated and replicable in other cities. I mean it is a historic ballpark, but the same people who think of the stadium as one of the wonders of the world, could care less if other historic structures get raised to build something tacky. I'm seriously thinking of converting to a sox fan. I hate to say it (since its cliche) but they are more like real Chicagoans. Wrigley Field has a lot of eye candy, but I can see that anywhere.

5. The people who think Obama gives Chicago a better image

I believe Obama gives the world a better image of America. Like Indiana Jones once said (I say about our former president) "You are insulting them and embarrasing me."

6. The palm trees on Oak Street Beach (but we don't try to be California)

I never understood how people can't see through this. The palm trees are so tacky that its rediculous. You are not Miami, you have cold winters! How is that not trying to be like California or Florday.

7. The constant yammering about pizza, skyscrapers, and population density (but we don't try to be like New York)

Same as #6. Even more so. Theres so much to Chicago, but stuff that is not emphasized because it isn't as New York-like. Thats why Hyde Park/University of Chicago area is less boasted. It isn't "gritty-urban" Its even better. It feels like a New England ivy college!

8. The scuzzy trains

Again, its no so much the scuzzy trains so much, as the fact that people put down other American cities that don't have the extensive "El" network. If you were to compare our El to European subway systems . . . Although I will say Metra is a point of pride. Maybe if they actually put bathrooms at the El stop they wouldn't smell like pee (that everyone complains about).

9. The way some twist "segregated" into "diverse"

I get this. How can you boast about the unique neighborhoods, without also admitting that its segregated?


11. The smell of sewers and Gary Indiana permeating the city air

This is the case with any heavy industrial area anywhere.


16. King Daley the 2nd

The Daleys are a mixed blessing. As much as people don't like them, Chicago would not be what it is today, without them.

17. Parking (or lack there of)

Again, this is true of any city.

18. Tough enough to root for the Bears AND brag about the selection of off-broadway shows?

I know what you mean. One hand many people like to suggest that Chicago balances sophistication, with unpretentious American past-times, but again, its suggesting that other midwestern/southern cities are unsophisticated, while suggesting east coast cities are pretentious. Can't have it both ways.


20. Jerry Springer somehow found a platform here

21. Re-runs of Married with Children are a source of pride

There are idiots everywhere. I wouldn't necessarily say these are points of pride.


23. Favorite ballpark reeks of urine!

I think drunk fans miss the toilet.

24. Millenium Park wasted 10 minutes of my time

Its novelty is wearing off. But thats just it. There seems to be an obsession with novelty. I think its more of an American trait. Europeans brag about their city centers that have been preserved (or restored) in some cases. I think from that perspective Chicago is very American. What I think is more cool, is that across the street, Michigan Ave. is lined mostly with building from the first couple decades of the 20th century.

25. In competition with San Fran for most homeless

At least San Francisco, the homeless are more racially diverse (more of the hippie-hobo homeless). Its a bit disconcerting to see all the homeless in Chicago are black.

26. In competition with Detroit for biggest ghetto

Again, its not so much that, but a lack of acknowledgement that half of Chicago proper does still look like Detroit from a global perspective.

27. The tallest building in North America will be shaped like a giant birthday candle/deformed penis

Yay!!, recession/real estate crash!!! It has kept that stupid spire from being built. What is this Dubai?? Shanghai?? We're not some gaudy oil rich mideastern or east Asian city looking to show the world that we're an economic powerhouse.

31. Man Cow

Again, there are jack-***es everywhere.

32. People who are proud of Chicago, but have never lived there

Mostly people who have visited downtown/near north side and thats it.


34. Obnoxious boosterism by people who live 30 miles outside the city

DING! DING! DING! #1. Why can't one just be proud to be from the Tri-state area? The Collar Counties? People from New Jersey, Connecticut, and near-usptate New York don't have to constantly boost their city. They are proud to be from New Jersey, Connecticut, or near upstate New York. I don't undestand why people can't be proud of Chicagos "suburbs/exurbs/hinterlands." Theres lots to see and do here.

35. The houses in most neighborhoods are 12 inches apart

Many cities are like that. You do have many options.

36. The closet racism handed down from generation to generation

I've heard Northerner urban/suburbanites are simply more in the closet about these issues than in the south/Texas.

37. Recently reported as most segregated big city, yet boasts about diversity

Again, I am willing to accept this. Its just when people ignorantly put down other midwestern/southern cities, and think Chicago is so different. I have seriously heard people saying that Dallas, Houston, Atlanta, Detroit, Kansas City as being prejudice, and how Chicago is so different. Look its America. There are differences, no doubt between American cities, but it really gets on my nerves how someone can seriously spend time in any of the south suburbs, south side, or northwest side, and still elevate Chicago above all the places. Again, I think there is a desire to be seen in the same light as coastal cities as sophisticated, but in reality those coastal cities, and are not necessarily any better than the midwest/south

39. "Nostalgic" about its criminals

I agree to an extent. America has always glamourized people who break the law and are immoral to make money. Really the Wild West outlaws in some ways are similar. But seriously do the British and French glamourize their brutal aspects of their colonial era. Glamourizing Chicagos criminals in ways is akin to the British or French bragging about how they oppressed and beat South Asians/Indians or North Africans respectively.

[Banx]

I'm glad Chicago isn't full of stuck up snobs, I'd much rather prefer to hit up a bears game at a sports bar and get **** drunk than go out to a ritzy restaraunt where I pay fifty dollars for some lettuce leaves with a dabble of some raw meat on top. You might wanna try it again tho HCC, within the last couple years Chicago's sure been headin down that road. With all these dog walking yuppies and fake artists with no talent moving in, I'm slowly starting to hate my own home town too. The city is becoming more polluted with snobs by the day. And don't even get me started on all the idiots in Bucktown who throw on an urban outfitters scarf and have their parents buy them a really expensive camera and then call themselves professional photographers, all the while pretending to be poor in one of Chicago's more expensive neighborhoods. From Bridgeport born southsider currently living in Humboldt Park, I miss and love the old Chicago. Still love it, but starting to hate it more and more. Everytime I see Daley's face on the TV I wanna crack the screen in two. Buncha friggin morons.

[Milwaukee City]

1.People on these message boards named "Milwaukee City" who pretend they left Wisconsin to live in the intimate wonderland of Chicago

I agree on this one. The fact that young people can't be proud of their home state just because its not as "hip." I'm proud of your state and I boost up Wisconsin when I'm away from the midwest.

Since when did I ever rip my state or say I wasn't proud of my city Milwaukee? Hence the name Milwaukee City aka Mr.Milwaukee, I love Milwaukee and the only part of the state that really bothers me is Madison but that's a different story. I enjoy WI but I'm more of a city guy, I have nothing against Wisconsin it's actually very pretty.

[Tex?Il?]

Originally Posted by Milwaukee City

I love Milwaukee and the only part of the state that really bothers me is Madison but that's a different story. .

Heaven forbid, a small city with a high percentage of educated people.

I know you posted a started a thread on this awhile ago.

[oak999]

Originally Posted by synapse

Oh, yes, Chicagoland is sprawling. But the *city* is dense. The problem in Phoenix is that the *city* is sprawling too. There's no true urban center, like there is in Chicago.

I have been to both Chicago and Phoenix (cities and suburbs). The City of Phoenix is MASSIVE cover 3 times the size of the city of Chicago. I find it funny when people talk about "urban". So you like having neighbors living right on top of you like in Chicago? I am sorry I dont and neither do most people either. While its true Phoenix is not perfect (where I am going) I am sick of Chicago and the Chicagoland area. Phoenix here I come!

Am I alone on this thinking? No. The City of Chicago continues to loose population other then some very minor gains. I find it funny up here in the suburbs like Oak Forest that corruption is tolerated and celebrated (true when I live in the City of Chicago too). You bring up Cook County or Mayor Daley and people act as though they are proud they are so corrupt. Are you so proud with the taxes you are paying? Cause corruption comes at a cost.

Are you happy with potholes the size of impact craters from a city and county that does not fix them? Are you happy in Dec, Jan, Feb, and sometimes March when the temps drop below 0 and you can not get your car door open? Or when you can not get out of your driveway because you were plowed in by the snowplows and when you do get out slide down the street.

Chicago is a NYC wannabee thats all it is. In the winter it is in my opinon a toilet bowl. If you want urban and you want the biggest and best go to NYC. Not to get off topic but whenever I have asked the City of Phoenix on issues they have got RIGHT back to me. 5th largest city in the nation and gowing very fast and they treat you like a god. "All American City" 5 times (more then any other city) including 2009 winner. They have a park budget of over 900 million compared to Chicago at 385 million.

So if Chicago is so great why are people moving out of it? How long can you really say "but look--LOOK at that wonderful skyline" before it gets old and say "who cares?" I enjoy the bike riding in Phx on mountains where I do not have to worry about getting hit and killed.

I like many people am done with Chicago its shooting, its corruption, its winters, its infastructure falling apart, its rude people (and its suburbs). I am out of here!

[Milwaukee City]

I enjoy the bike riding in Phx on mountains where I do not have to worry about getting hit and killed.

You can? that's news to me!

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