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So, you have these two cities, a mere 90 miles apart, on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan. One is a huge, global city, the other one a relatively small major city.
What would you expect those in the big city to think about their far smaller neighbors?
well, if the big city is Chicago and the smaller one is Milwaukee, Chicagoans tend to see Milwaukee in very positive terms, and it is anything but unsung in Chicagoland.
We're more than happy to have Milwaukee as our northern neighbors, greatly appreciate its charms (they're man) and beauty (nobody does lakefront as Chicago and Milwaukee), and readily access the city for pleasure.
A trip from Chicago to Milwaukee is a day trip. And if you see the cars entering the city from the south on I-94, you will note that a good percentage of them (if not majority) have IL plates.
I simply never hear Chicagoans put down Milwaukee. Then again, consider what my city should have been named (and almost was....before the state line was moved northward to give IL Lake Michigan frontage):
Chicago, WI
In many ways, Wisconsin is our home state, we go to it far more than we go to downstate Illinois and we know it well. So Milwaukee easily joins a slew of places.....Lake Geneva, Madison, The Dells, Door County, Eagle River, Spring Green, etc.....that just feels like home to us.
Well i'm not sure if you thought I was referring to Chicagoans under appreciating Milwaukee, or you're just saying that it's loved. I was just saying there aren't a whole lot of voices from Milwaukee on city-data boosting it. So we don't tend to hear a whole lot about it good or bad, when it's got so many ingredients that a lot of cities lack. FWIW Chicagoans are appreciated on our side of the lake too They fill up our hotel rooms, and drink our local beer, tis a bit farther than Milwaukee but there are IL plates all over this side of Michigan.
Buffalo: I then walked for miles all around adjacent Allentown and Elmwood Village and fell in love with those neighborhoods. Both of those neighborhoods could give the best urban neighborhoods of Pittsburgh a run for their money. The tree-lined streets and vernacular residential architecture made my tail wag, too!
We loved the houses off the main streets of Elmwood/Allentown with the DIY second story grilling decks on top of flat front porch roofs. I haven't seen that in any city, usually the city homes have rooftop decks.
I practically grew up in the Pittsburgh area. I always get a kick on this forum when Pittsburgh (by its own posters) or Pennsylvania for that matter isn't viewed in the same light as Ohio. Ohio and Pennsylvania are more of a rival than Ohio is with Wisconsin or Missouri. Being labeled in a certain region doesn't mean much in the way of culture; location and distance do. Basic geography tells you Ohio is more in line with Michigan or Pennsylvania. Sorry, but anything west of I87 or New Jersey if you want to go that far is basically fly over country. There's more hate for Ohio on this forum from Pennsylvania (Pittsburgh posters, again) than the other way around. Interesting.
Ridiculous post of the year award nominee. Glaringly obvious Pennsylvania hater.
Pittsburgh was a surprise. Larger, prettier, more vibrant, than I expected...
Cleveland, too. I was expecting something more grand, more of a big city feel. Completely struck at how alike it is to Buffalo. Enjoyed Cleveland, too, just wasn't quite what I'd heard or thought it would be...
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Birmingham, AL was the butt of many a joke when I was growing up in Atlanta. It was widely considered to be a grimy steel town imbued with violent crime and racist attitude. Its nickname was "Bombingham", a legacy derived from the unspeakable church bombing in 1964.
When I began to visit it, however, I found appealing neighborhoods in the hills overlooking the city, replete with great food and entertainment options. Beyond that were some really great southside suburbs like Mountain Brook, Homewood and Vestavia Hills. Downtown, which in large part has retained its late 19th and early 20th century architecture, is definitely showing signs of life.
Overall, I find it to be a very livable, friendly and forward-thinking metropolis...a notion I never would have entertained 30 years ago.
I visited New Orleans for the first time earlier this year and found it to be both better and worse than I expected. It is such an iconic, mythical kind of place that I didn't know what to expect. On the one hand, I expected to love it, especially being a huge U.S. history buff, but on the other hand, I expected to be unimpressed because of the stories from the post-Katrina years and the arguably checkered reputation of the French Quarter.
I found it to be a mix of both exceeded and depleted expectations. I was blown away by the beauty and charm of Canal Street and much of the French Quarter. The architecture is second to none that I have ever seen outside of Charleston or Savannah, the food was amazing, and many of the natives were charming. However, I was really disappointed with the grunginess of much of the French Quarter and the absolute desolation of much of the city outside of the French Quarter and Canal Street. Honestly, it felt like we were driving through a third world country along I-10 and on surface streets between the city limits and the French Quarter and it was pretty scary. It is depressing to see how little has been done to clean up the effects of Katrina, and it is a non-partisan problem, as both major political parties have been in control at both the state and national levels since Katrina. It is not a great way for outsiders to see the city for the first time, that's for sure.
So both good and bad, but I'm glad I got to see it at least once in my lifetime.
I visited New Orleans for the first time earlier this year and found it to be both better and worse than I expected. It is such an iconic, mythical kind of place that I didn't know what to expect. On the one hand, I expected to love it, especially being a huge U.S. history buff, but on the other hand, I expected to be unimpressed because of the stories from the post-Katrina years and the arguably checkered reputation of the French Quarter.
I found it to be a mix of both exceeded and depleted expectations. I was blown away by the beauty and charm of Canal Street and much of the French Quarter. The architecture is second to none that I have ever seen outside of Charleston or Savannah, the food was amazing, and many of the natives were charming. However, I was really disappointed with the grunginess of much of the French Quarter and the absolute desolation of much of the city outside of the French Quarter and Canal Street. Honestly, it felt like we were driving through a third world country along I-10 and on surface streets between the city limits and the French Quarter and it was pretty scary. It is depressing to see how little has been done to clean up the effects of Katrina, and it is a non-partisan problem, as both major political parties have been in control at both the state and national levels since Katrina. It is not a great way for outsiders to see the city for the first time, that's for sure.
So both good and bad, but I'm glad I got to see it at least once in my lifetime.
Interesting post. I haven't been to new Orleans yet but your reactions are kind of what I expected. S far as the size of the city and vibrancy throughout, did you get a big city feel there? I know many people think it's larger than it is because of historical importance. Or would you put it into the smaller class of major cities
Toledo. - So many jokes are made about that city, and it does have plenty of economic problems, but aside from that, it is a city in a beautiful setting with very friendly people.
Milwaukee and Detroit were about what I expected them to be.
Chicago impressed me way more than I thought it would.
Kansas City was nicer and bigger feeling than I thought it would be.
Albuquerque and Wichita were huge let downs for me.
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They fill up our hotel rooms, and drink our local beer, tis a bit farther than Milwaukee but there are IL plates all over this side of Michigan.
