What do Angelenos and Southern Californians think of Chicago? (Los Angeles: for sale, 2014)

[theraven24]

I don't think about Chicago unless my ex-roommate happens to pop into my head (she's a native Chicagoan).

[nograviti]

Originally Posted by BeatAngMoh

Great stats. Well not great but provocative and very much so. I thought Chicago was 'hood but didn't know it is that bad. Seems a travel warning needs to be issued within our own borders. Ironically the N and S is split along racial lines.

Remember visiting Chicago when I worked for IBM back in the day. I am black and other African Americans warned me to not go to the South Side !!

That was a first and a real eye-opener.

But for me the South Side is a product of the extreme shameful segregation that has persisted in Chicago for decades. Even when African Americans got on and moved into better neighbourhoods, redlining was used to keep them out or better yet existing folks just fled, leaving them in the very ghettos they were attempting to leave.

[munchitup]

Originally Posted by jessemh431

Yeah I never looked into until now and it's scary how much a stark contrast exists. And so suddenly too! Like in LA the rich coastal and Santa Monica mountains regions have somewhat of a buffer between them and south central. South Bay cities have Hawthorne and North Redondo and similar places between them and Compton. I'm not sure if Chicago has much of a buffer between the north and south like LA does. But having been to Chicago many times and always staying on the north side, I honestly have never once felt afraid. The worst that happens is some really sketchy people riding the Red Line that goes into the heart of the south side. But for the bad rep that Chicago gets, I have never once felt unsafe in the north side.

The Green Line goes through the also-sketchy Westside. I was never afraid on that train, but there were definitely some very shady dudes on our trains.

I also observed that of all the cities I have taken public transportation in, Chicago easily has the most idiots rapping at themselves on the train.

[JustPassinThru]

I was born and raised on the South Side in what I fondly refer to as an Irish ghetto, although doctors, lawyers, and CPD detectives lived on the block. I've taken the Google bus there and, surprisingly, the street looks nicer now than how I remember it.

While I did deliver newspapers when I was 4' tall, in snowdrifts that seemed to be 5' high, the weather was never viewed negatively. Kids are very adaptable, and there are just too many fun things to do in the winter than to complain about the weather. Adults, however, had to wait in the cold for the El or drive on icy roads, so they may harbor a different opinion.

I am more than happy with LA and have no desire to visit Chicago, as the relatives preferred to visit CA and take "the tour." My memories of visiting the lake and museums and watching the Cardinals, Bears and White Sox play will last a lifetime.

[nograviti]

Originally Posted by JustPassinThru

I was born and raised on the South Side in what I fondly refer to as an Irish ghetto, although doctors, lawyers, and CPD detectives lived on the block. I've taken the Google bus there and, surprisingly, the street looks nicer now than how I remember it.

While I did deliver newspapers when I was 4' tall, in snowdrifts that seemed to be 5' high, the weather was never viewed negatively. Kids are very adaptable, and there are just too many fun things to do in the winter than to complain about the weather. Adults, however, had to wait in the cold for the El or drive on icy roads, so they may harbor a different opinion.

I am more than happy with LA and have no desire to visit Chicago, as the relatives preferred to visit CA and take "the tour." My memories of visiting the lake and museums and watching the Cardinals, Bears and White Sox play will last a lifetime.

Did you grow up near Beverly, heard there used to be a lot of Irish there..

Good old Irish stayed in the South Side the longest from what I heard??

[StreetLegal]

Originally Posted by JustPassinThru

I am more than happy with LA and have no desire to visit Chicago, as the relatives preferred to visit CA and take "the tour." My memories of visiting the lake and museums and watching the Cardinals, Bears and White Sox play will last a lifetime.

The Cardinals? Are you talking about St. Louis or Chicago?

[JustPassinThru]

Originally Posted by StreetLegal

The Cardinals? Are you talking about St. Louis or Chicago?

The Ollie Matson Chicago Cardinals. Once Ollie returned a kickoff 100 yards even though he had been tackled three times. The rule was changed a few years later for safety reasons. (Sometimes virtually the entire defensive squad would pile on a runner, insuring that he would not get up and continue running.)

Chicago Cardinals (1920-1959)


Chicago is a great sports town; reason enough to travel there.

[ellebelle801]

I've lived in the Chicago area my whole life, and it is an amazing city! Very clean, lots to do, people are friendly and down-to-earth, and Lake Michigan even has some great beaches and volleyball leagues. People love to run and bike along the lakefront. The skyline is beautiful with a perfect blend of old architecture and modern skyscrapers (be sure to take an architectural boat tour on the river - they're great!) Everyone is right though when they say the weather ruins it. haha You get somewhat used to it when you've lived here for years, but I think your first winter here (especially coming from somewhere like LA) would be pretty miserable and a big culture shock. Especially if you will have a car and no garage. Honestly I think the weather is the only downfall, everything else is great. Well also if you are into surfing or hiking, we don't have the ocean or mountains so that would be another downfall. When people talk about the rise in violence - that's on the south side. If you stay on the north side you'll be fine. Some nice/popular areas for yuppies include the Loop, Lincoln Park, and Wicker Park.

[moonsparkle]

They are nothing alike besides using the same dollar and being large American cities.

Being from a mid-sized midwestern city, when living in Chicago I was always reminded that "I'm in a real city now". In LA, no one has ever cared, and it's always been "Welcome to LA".

Chicago gets a little heavy on the groupthink, i.e. locals pretend North Beach is the French Riviera in summer and can get really insufferable about it. If you prefer pizza from a chain, people will get upset. If you're a straight guy past 27 not married and into fashion, prepare for nonstop jokes that you belong in Boystown. The sports bar culture gets old fast as well.

I don't like the architecture in Chicago much, everything looks old, and the same as every other rust belt or Northeast city. Some of the buildings downtown are very tall, which is nice, but you can only stare at them so long. It doesn't compare to mountains & palm trees or views that go on for miles.

The other thing, you have those "from the city" vs "the suburbs" and it's a never ending war of stupidity. I've never heard anyone in LA say "that person lives in Santa Monica, Venice Beach, Pasadena, etc - so they're not real LA". I'm sure there are some like this, but it's nowhere near as common as in Chicago.

In Chicago, city dwellers literally pride themselves on letting those who live in the suburbs aware of it and how superior they are for living in the city. The millenialls from the suburbs originally or surrounding states are the absolute worst about this.

The nicer parts of Chicago are too defined by "Stuff white people like" events like Zombie 5k runs, craft beer crawls or food festivals. LA has too much edge for these clown events to really be entertained.

While LA being a very large city obviously has similar things, it simply doesn't define the culture of the city. I know this point will be disputed, but LA is significantly more international as well in an interesting way.

You'll meet people from places like London/Sydney/Tokyo/Paris/Rio De Janiero all the time who moved to LA, you simply don't find that on nearly the same level in Chicago. It's mainly standard immigrant migration there, moved there for work or because knew someone there opposed to actually wanting to.

[CrockettandTubbs]

Chicago is like Seattle. It's a bunch of boring and nerdy white people. I'm a white guy that lives in Seattle and when I get tired of Seattle, I normally go down to Los Angeles because it's different.