New York Times declares Chicago dead (Brooklyn: appointed, live in, to relocate)

[mjtinmemphis]

I wonder why we get into this "my city is better than yours".

So what if someone thinks New York City is better than Chicago. (in some ways I agree)

Why take it personal? I'm not Chicago! I enjoy living in Chicago but if someone doesn't like it that's ok I don't get offended. Maybe it's because I didn't grow up here but I don't care what someone thinks of this city.

[Minervah]

The New York Times seems to love to either pontificate or bash other cities through fantasy rather than fact. I have lived in both Chicago and Portland Oregon. The NYT's glowing imaginary images of Portland have caused many a poor soul to relocate here only to find that the streets are not paved with the "Porlandia" experience resulting in their heading back home withing a year's time.

Now one of the so-called writers for this rag who could use a remedial course in journalism 101 is bashing Chicago, a city in which she may have lived but obviously never got to know.

[boulevardofdef]

So regarding Chicago being dead: I went to college there in the mid- to late 1990s and used to return at least once a year, often more than once -- but now that I have a 3-year-old and flying with a small child sucks royally, I hadn't been back for more than four years, since January 2009. A close friend's wedding finally forced me to visit two weeks ago. (I drove from New York. Fun trip, and the 3-year-old was as well-behaved as you could expect a 3-year-old stuck in a car seat for hours and hours and hours to be.)

I missed Chicago, but part of me is glad I waited so long, because that made it easier to see how the city had changed -- and the change was so universally for the better that it's hard to see how anyone could sound a death knell. I've been observing for a long time now that Chicago gets better every time I visit -- honestly, I didn't love it while I was living there, liked it but didn't love it; I only fell in love after I left -- but there's a big difference between 12 months of improvement and 52 months of improvement.

Here's the best example I can give you, and I'll be specific with the location for those of you who know the city well. My friend, the one who got married, lives on the corner of Halsted and Bradley. (And yes, he got married to a woman.) I've stayed with him many times and am very familiar with the neighborhood. I always liked it, but I also got a little bit of a sense that something was missing. A big part of it was this: His front window looked out on enormous parking lot, just a big flat sea of nothing, beyond which was a church that looked like a roller-skating rink, beyond which was a big, ugly IHOP. Always seemed to me that Chicago's gayborhood should be little denser and funkier than that.

Well, when I dropped by the day after the wedding, lo and behold, the parking lot is now gone, replaced by a gigantic building currently under construction. I looked it up later -- mixed residential and retail, of course. With the skeleton of the building in place, the church kind of disappeared into the streetscape, and I believe its tacky sign was gone as well. And without the parking lot as a front yard, the IHOP was less of an eyesore, blending into its surroundings a lot better. Beyond the parking lot, I could see anywhere from three to five reasonably attractive high-rise apartment buildings in the immediate vicinity that definitely weren't there the last time I was in town.

What else? I stayed in an Airbnb at the edge of Andersonville, not far a stretch of Broadway I last hit about five years ago. Back then I went to a show at the Annoyance (one of my favorite haunts when I was in college, when it was in Wrigleyville) and had dinner a few doors down at the Fat Cat, but the strip was otherwise mostly desolate. It seemed livelier this time, with more cool businesses moved in to complement the others. Sadly, the Annoyance, whose email list I'm on, recently told me they're moving to Belmont -- they want more foot traffic -- but the trend is nonetheless clearly upward.

Speaking of Belmont, the nightlife over there -- my in-laws drove down from Michigan to babysit -- was more hopping than I remember, though I could just be remembering wrong.

My only must-do on this trip was to walk over the bridge and visit the Modern Wing at the Art Institute -- both the bridge and the Modern Wing were still under construction on my last trip. I'm not really sure why it was necessary to build a pedestrian bridge that starts in Millennium Park and goes to the third floor of the Modern Wing, where you then have to take an escalator down to the first floor to enter the museum. But it looked cool, at least! FYI, with the addition of the Modern Wing, the Art Institute is now the second-biggest art museum in the United States, only surpassed by the Met here in New York (which, if you've been there, you very well know will never be surpassed by anything).

So yeah, it's pretty obvious that good things are happening in Chicago. The weather still bites, though.

[linicx]

Just because the Times prints bx because there is isn't any fresh meat doesn't mean it is any more valid Forbes. I've been in many large cities across the United States including LA and Chicago and many states. LA is just one more pit-stop on I-5. I've never been to NYC, DC, Philly or Boston. It isn't worth my time for four more concrete snarls of traffic. This does not mean these cities are not valid or great places to work, play or raise a family. It means there is little that sets them apart except eye candy and they are generally a popular tourist destination. One thing that NYC does have that is unique is the diamond district.

IMO. traffic aside, there are two large cities in the lower 48 that offer a reason to stop. Chicago and NOLA. It's more than the steel, concrete and glass, and common amenities. These are cities that are very different, yet similar as each must be savored as an experience to be fully enjoyed.

After a time the airports, the trains, the buses and the highways of concrete ribbon all look as much the same as the toll booths and the truck stops. The only thing that changes is the names of towns and the route numbers. Except once in awhile something captures your attention and offers a glimmer of hope of something special. Maybe it is the sea air, or maybe it is the Picasso. You won't know until you find it.

[treemoni]

Originally Posted by Minervah

The New York Times seems to love to either pontificate or bash other cities through fantasy rather than fact. I have lived in both Chicago and Portland Oregon. The NYT's glowing imaginary images of Portland have caused many a poor soul to relocate here only to find that the streets are not paved with the "Porlandia" experience resulting in their heading back home withing a year's time.

This isn't limited to the NYT. Play close attention to all media lists that name the "best" and "worst". Chicago will almost always be painted in a negative light on these lists, and New York--no matter how expensive, crowded, and dirty--will rank high. It's not a coincidence.

[flamadiddle]

This thread was started back in April and here I sit in Chicago in July 2013 and things couldn't be any better from my perspective. The city is packed with tourists, new buildings are going up and everything is more vibrant that ever. So what happened to its demise? lol

[Attrill]

Originally Posted by flamadiddle

This thread was started back in April and here I sit in Chicago in July 2013 and things couldn't be any better from my perspective. The city is packed with tourists, new buildings are going up and everything is more vibrant that ever. So what happened to its demise? lol

And don't forget, by this point Michigan Ave. was supposed to be overrun with mobs of bloodthirsty teens. Instead people are freaking out over someone taking an iPhone.

[TBideon]

No, people are freaking out because a woman, along with her Good Samaritan, got assaulted and traumatized by a bunch of animals. In the middle of one of the most expensive streets in the country. With lots of normal people nearby.

Let me know when you think it's okay to be concerned with these attacks.

[jwaiter]

I'm on Michigan ave 5 days per week and not only have I never been robbed I've never witnessed any crimes, I think it's a very small percentage of people effected by these crimes. Yes, they happen. Yes, you should always be a bit defensive in the city, but it's not rampant by any means.

[tollfree]

Originally Posted by mjtinmemphis

I wonder why we get into this "my city is better than yours".

So what if someone thinks New York City is better than Chicago. (in some ways I agree)

Why take it personal? I'm not Chicago! I enjoy living in Chicago but if someone doesn't like it that's ok I don't get offended. Maybe it's because I didn't grow up here but I don't care what someone thinks of this city.

It's a midwest thing, gotta hold onto that pride till the cows come home.

One of the cool things about LA, they generally don't care what NY says. They know LA will always be the most talked about, most photographed, most televised place in the US by far and that's all that matters to them.