Great Things About Chicago (Aurora, Naperville: houses, neighborhoods, school)

[DANNYY]

I've made quite a few threads lately, and today given too if you were to see my post history for today or this week in general.

But one thing I haven't been able to do was make a thread for my hometown there is always so much negativity about Chicago and its weather and stuff.

List a few things you like about Chicago, it can literally be anything you like about the place. I just want to get more people in the Chicago forum involved, this is always such a pessimistic or dead section for such a great city.

I'll start off first:
- I like the waterfront
- I like the Thai food
- I like the weather, yes I said it, I actually love the weather
- I like how convenient it is getting around
- I like the cityscape
- I like the housing styles in the Loop
- I like the suburbs, they are generally very attractive
- I like the food in Chicago in general
- I like the White Sox, Bears, & Bulls. Especially the Bulls. (Hate the Cubs)
- I like the art galleries

Your turn. I encourage more people to get involved with this, the Chicago forum could seriously use more optimistic threads and posters and stuff.

[nana053]

- I like the diversity of peoples - my children played with kids from all over the world and many did not speak English as a first language
- I like the variety of housing styles - I love the architecture in the city
- I like the ease of getting around
- I like the variety of food and the ease of getting different ethnic food
- I like the museums and art galleries and even Lincoln Park Zoo
- I love the lakefront - I could walk for miles and people watch as well as get my exercise
- I like the fall and spring weather, but not so much the heat in the summer or the cold and snow in the winter
- I loved Evanston and Skokie. I don't know a lot about the other suburbs, but Evanston has a particularly nice variety of houses
- I like the friendliness of the people - coming from the east coast, I can tell you that people in Chicago are much friendlier than they are in New York (though people in NY are ok once you get to know them).

[Chicago South Sider]

The only things I can think of:

-Great food
-Awesome waterfront
-Diverse (even if it is extremely segregated)
-Good museums/shopping
-A few interesting neighborhoods

[DANNYY]

Originally Posted by Chicago South Sider

The only things I can think of:

-Great food
-Awesome waterfront
-Diverse (even if it is extremely segregated)
-Good museums/shopping
-A few interesting neighborhoods

I think there is more to it than just that.

This summer, I took a few trips.

I live in Chicago, Houston, Washington DC, & do school in Austin. The summer I spent 2 months in Chicago, and for a few weeks went out to see more of the Midwest.

I got to see Cleveland, Indianapolis, Columbus for the first time. And I saw Detroit (again). I also got to see Memphis (again) & Little Rock (again).

Then when I got back, it was almost time for me to head to Houston, and from there a few friends and I planned a trip that we called "BosMia" everything from Miami to Boston.

On that trip, I got to see New Orleans (again), Tampa (first time), Orlando (again), Miami-Fort Lauderdale (again), Jacksonville (first time), Atlanta (first time), Charlotte (first time), Raleigh (first time), Washington DC (again-live there partially now too), Baltimore (first time), Philadelphia (again), Atlantic City (first time), Jersey City (first time), New York City (again).

I never made it to Boston but it ended in New York City.

And after that trip, it made me realize how fortunate Chicago is compared to almost all of those cities with exceptions being Washington DC, Miami, & New York City which were equally as impressive.

I normally am very critical about some of Chicago's mishaps and blame Daley a lot but I wanted to give Chicago its dues. The city is great it offers so much more than every city I've been to besides New York City. And I would say even more so than Los Angeles.

I thought this thread would lighten everyone up a bit and get some positive energy rolling for Chicago. Maybe Dncr can help get this thread going in the right direction.

[Tex?Il?]

Theres something here for everyone if you look hard enough.

No matter what type of community and housing stock you are looking for, you can find it.

I personally don't care for or at the very least sort of indifferent to a lot of the attitudes toward Chicago that many have, but like I said there is something for everyone.

For example: I live in Oak Park. Its very historical, a lot of nice houses of all kinds built before WWII. Theres a strong "granola" vibe with a great farmers market. There is a sizable black middle class too, which I love, becuase I don't have to fear developing the attitudes that many white working class neighbhorhoods have where they talk about the neighborhood "changing for the worse."

Even though we have a lot of great suburbs with small town/small city feel because of the fact that they were well connected to the railroads, they are still somewhat lacking in nightlife, because the city takes so much of it.

Naperville, Evanston, Forest Park, are great in this regard.

I prefer German and Swedish culture to slavic/Polish cuture so I prefer the shops/restaurants/institutions of Lincoln Square and Andersonville.

The facades of the storefront of these neighborhoods are a bit more "cute" than the grittier feel of the brooding starving artists neighborhoods/hispanic barrios of the northwest side.

I also love going to the Indiana Dunes, the Palos/Sag Valley forest preserves. These are natural areas close to the city that can hold a candle to natural areas outside other metro areas.

I love those river towns of Lemont and Lockport. The whole Fox River Valley is awesome too. I hope Elgin and Aurora become a bit gentrified, I hope they get some of the similar nightlife as Naperville.


I love the historic neighborhoods and architecture of places like Hyde Park, the Old Town triangle. I have yet to visit Pullman.

One book that made me see Chicagoland in a whole new light was "Chicagoland: city and suburbs in the age of the railroad" by Ann Durkin Keating. She speaks of Chicagoland as being a bunch of towns woving together as an organism, but yet all distinct as either as an early commuter suburb, an industrial suburb (these are generally the ones that have the socioeconomic problems today), agricultural towns, and institutional/recreational towns).

[MassVt]

Chicago's best selling point is that it's reasonably priced, especially when compared to its coastal rivals like NYC and LA.....

And for those who insist that they must live near the ocean, Lake Michigan is big enough for anyone's taste...

[lotsoflov1232]

I miss Chicago.

I MISS............

The food.
The night life.
The people.
The shopping.
The ease of getting around without a car.
The different cultures.
The architecture.
The museums.
The lake.
The snow.

I think I'm going home.

[Alacran]

The lake.
Live anywhere from dense to mid dense to low dense
Being able to use transportation or a car.
Food
Sports
Summers
Winters
Falls
Everything

[tonythetuna]

Originally Posted by DANNYY

(Hate the Cubs)

Your thread shouldn't be taken seriously when you make a statement like this.

[williepotatoes]

The beautiful women and the fantastic food.