Visiting Chi/burbs (Chicago, Evanston: fit in, neighborhoods, college)

[storm_owl]

Hi all, long time lurker, first time poster.

My family is from Chicago but most have moved to the suburbs. I visit once every few years for those who are still there, but only recently am I now old enough to be on my own and travel solo there.

I'm from TX and coming from a Hispanic background, am accustomed to the racism (obvious and inadvertent) that comes toward me. Unlike the stereotypes, I've adapted and worked harder to buck those perceptions.

Work in a desirable field/industry, college grad, homeowner, no accent, clean cut and clear English speaking - the opposite of the stereotypical Mexican in TX. In fact, I feel I don't fit in at all in TX. I'm also a musician who loves hockey, foreign food, and fine spirits.


With that said, I'm wondering what areas I can best fit into in Chicago and the suburbs. I'm familiar with the neighborhoods, but not with all the culture. My last visit resulted in hooking up with a very drunk married woman off Rush & Division. That's okay, but I'm not interested in being relegated to some drunk woman's minority fantasy. Am I asking for too much looking for others like me who can look past race? (I'm still reading the segregation thread btw)

I feel fine walking down Rush & Division but still way out of place. What else should I look at? What about outside the city?

[Drover]

So if I understand you correctly, you're Hispanic but not particularly tied to neuvo-Hispanic culture?

There's a massive Hispanic population in Chicago -- more than any city in America other than L.A. Compared to the Southwest where Hispanic culture has been omnipresent for hundreds of years, the rise of the Hispanic population in Chicago is relatively recent and is mostly fueled by immigration. Consequently, the Hispanic population is largely immigrant and first-generation, so the culture you lament in much of Texas is ever-present in Chicago too.

While Hispanics generally coexist well enough with other races here ("segregation" in Chicago is mostly shorthand for "black segregation"), there's still a pretty wide cultural divide between the Hispanic community and others; by and large it's not a very culturally "Americanized" population yet.

Some people will make certain assumptions about you -- Mexicans may walk up and start speaking to you in Spanish, whites/blacks may assume you're into Norteno music and Latin night clubs. Those stereotypes can be typically be broken down with a two-minute conversation. If you like hockey and foreign food and fine spirits, then you might want to set your sights on the Bucktown/Logan square area. Lots of fine spirits, lots of foreign food, and particularly on the Bucktown side of the ledger, a fair dose of sports fans and sports bars.

[soulful]

As for suburbs, my favorite is Evanston. It has a great downtown that is highly walkable. Many fun restaurants and the Northwestern Univ. campus is on the lakefront right at the edge of the town.

Enjoy your visit.

[storm_owl]

@Drover - yes. There's a lot to Hispanic culture I actually can't stand.
The language assumption has been tough due to plenty of situations in which I look like a fool amongst Hispanics who immediately start speaking spanish to me, resulting in my resorting to asking them to speak english or struggling with my bad spanish.

Soulful, I'll give that a shot.

[Alacran]

I'm mex american.
I see guys like ou all the time who don't know spanish.
And its true. I always see paisas asking them questions lol