Is Chicagos nightlife dead? (Oswego, Manhattan: apartments, schools, teachers)

[Chicago60614]

Originally Posted by stephei2000

Exactly, Chicago overall has a more "let get trashed feel than a lot of big cities which does not appeal me. Like the poster said, I did not even feel that vibe in Vegas.

It's definitely a midwest trait when looking at the country as a whole. The region is the "lets go party our asses off" region. Some people might hate it, some people might love it, but it is what it is. I was even talking to a guy from Florida just last night at a bar who was commenting on how Chicagoans don't BS when it comes to bars. I've had multiple friends who moved here from NYC, Phoenix and Florida state how the nightlight kinda exhausted them on the intensity. It's a cultural thing. Not saying right or wrong, but it's definitely there.

[chikidnw]

The Chicago sports thing is really tired to me. Boring. Every year we have to endure, "This is gonna be the year!" ... then months of bitching about other teams, management, weather, bull****. Then there is the retrospective phase where the actual team in question is dissected in some Quixotic quest to find the missing detail that will make next year work. Like any of it matters at all.

Chicago nightlife is a pale shadow of what it was prior to about 1995. Economic realities, tax fantasies, the culture of political correctness, general sensitivity to potential lawsuits, enhanced regulation, general idiotic behavior, and a lot of interesting people who fled Chicago, have reduced this once amazing scene to just a collection of sports bars and dance clubs.

Am I saying there are no exceptions to my characterization? No. Am I saying that I rotate through all clubs in Chicago on a yearly basis, so I know everything? No. So troll elsewhere. The general trend over the last forty years is obvious and dramatic. Chicago is never honest with itself, it prefers to focus on the self-confidence side of the coin, and ignores the other side of that same coin, which is self-deception.

[ChiNaan]

Originally Posted by trancedout

There's nothing wrong with it...I've never quite understood why that makes people in Chicago mad. In LA, they don't have a pro football team, they don't care. Sports matter there obviously, but it's just not the same as the "way of life" sports culture you'll find in Chicago.

Just imagine if the Bears left Chicago. I'm trying to quantify how many adult males would actually cry over that. Probably a lot.

Nothing wrong with what? I'm just saying it sounds like you haven't been around much if you think no other place compares to Illinois and Wisconsin for love of sports. People in Boston, Philly, and San Fran are crazy about their sports teams, just to name a few....and unlike Chicago, those places actually demand that their teams win. Then you have the smaller cities, where sports dominate more because they don't have as many non-sports entertainment options as places like NY/LA/Chi. Cleveland, Indy, and St. Louis come to mind, though the ultimate example in recent years would be Oklahoma City. Imagine if the "Da Bears" guys from SNL were real, and they occupied every seat at every game, and you pretty much have OKC Thunder fans.

And don't even get me started on how college sports dominate some areas. It's way more extreme than pro sports in Chicago.

[moonsparkle]

I agree about Boston and Philly, and I would add Pittsburgh in there. I would not include San Francisco. Even if the fans are just as crazy, it's not that on the same level in California...people are too concerned with other stuff. The college thing is true as well, but I'd say Chicago Bears fans as a whole are basically one standard deviation away from Nebraska Cornhusker-level fanaticism.

I remember in the 90's there were shirts that read "Sports is life, the rest is just details".

That explains Chicago sports, at least for the Bears & Cubs.

[ChiNaan]

Originally Posted by trancedout

I agree about Boston and Philly, and I would add Pittsburgh in there. I would not include San Francisco. Even if the fans are just as crazy, it's not that on the same level in California...people are too concerned with other stuff.

I'd say that's true in L.A., but have you met Oakland Raiders fans? Giants and 49's fans are pretty hard core, too.

[moonsparkle]

I have heard that about Raiders fans. All pro teams have strong followings...but it's the whole "DA Bears" culture that pushes Chicago over the top.

[marothisu]

Ive lived in Minnesota and Iowa too. The "lets go drink a **** load" is definitely a midwestern thing. I probably drank more on average than in Chicago. Id say its more ..."civilized" drinking here.

[ChiNaan]

Originally Posted by marothisu

Ive lived in Minnesota and Iowa too. The "lets go drink a **** load" is definitely a midwestern thing. I probably drank more on average than in Chicago. Id say its more ..."civilized" drinking here.

I'd say it's more of a middle-of-the-country thing. Texans can give Wisconsinites a run for their money in beer drinking, and let's not forget New Orleans when it comes to drinking culture. You see the same kind of drinking around Big 12 and SEC campuses that you see around the Big 10.

Outside of mid-America, Brooklyn (as I said earlier in the thread) has a heavy-drinking bar scene very similar to Chicago's. Boston can drink, too.

From the Rocky Mountains to the West Coast there seems to be less heavy drinking and more heavy pot smoking compared to here.

[foo cities]

It's over by Rush and River North.

[Heyooooo]

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