New York Times declares Chicago dead (Paris, Milan: rank, best, drive)

[Lookout Kid]

Originally Posted by PA Born

This thread pretty much confirms her opinion. Now I'm sure I'll be called an idiot and a troll, etc., but your responses are basically validating her point. Chicago, while a great city, has something of an inferiority complex, and is extremely touchy re. what outsiders say about the city, especially if they compare it unfavorable to coastal cities, or mention it in the same breath with other Midwest cities.

I have to point out that using the sample set of City-Data forum posters to determine ANYTHING about the character of Chicagoans is totally ridiculous.

[ChiNaan]

Originally Posted by chet everett

Shtier seems less than enthusiatic about her current state of life --

Between the NY Times piece and the many comments on her personality in the "rate my professor" link posted earlier, she comes across as someone who hates life in general and would be unhappy anywhere. I think it's more of a trait (personality) than a state (current life situation).

This quote in the link you posted says it all: "Am I ambivalent about Chicago? Yes. But I’d be ambivalent about New York if I lived there."

She bemoans the fact that people are making personal comments about her character, but doesn't seem to understand that it's because her writing says far more about her personality than it does about Chicago. Chicago, like any place, has plenty to criticize, but if you want people to take your criticism seriously, you don't go about it the way she did.

[midwest1]

One of my pet peeves is when (almost to a one East Coast) people ***** and moan about how Chicagoans get defensive about criticism, which somehow is evidence of an inecurity complex regarding NY. Let me show you how this works..

A New York native moves to Chicago.....slags on it....locals react with witty snarky valid criticism....which is obvious proof Chicagoans have an inferiority complex about New York.

Meanwhile...

A Chicago native moves to New York.....slags on it......and the locals react by pointing out that Chicagoans always have an inferiority complex about New York.

Can't win with those clever East Coasters.

[thefallensrvnge]

This is the nature of Chicago which is misunderstood. Study the history of the City of Big Shoulders. At every turn, they faced criticism from the East as backwater and incapable of culture. Little did the East know, this competition and spirit of the Chicago actually galvanized the city to greatness. Tell Chicago it can't, and it gets on tiptoes and points a finger on your chest and says "you and what f**king army?" We took a lot of the bullets the West Coast never did. And we're still taking them...and dishing them.

Chicago, since its inception, has had to deal with New York's massive superiority complex. Chicago is a city that has always had to prove itself. Inferiority complex? Sure. But the city has ego. And this is most inspiring in an area of the country where being down on yourself is the regional pastime.

[mas23]

Originally Posted by midwest1

One of my pet peeves is when (almost to a one East Coast) people ***** and moan about how Chicagoans get defensive about criticism, which somehow is evidence of an inecurity complex regarding NY. Let me show you how this works..

A New York native moves to Chicago.....slags on it....locals react with witty snarky valid criticism....which is obvious proof Chicagoans have an inferiority complex about New York.

Meanwhile...

A Chicago native moves to New York.....slags on it......and the locals react by pointing out that Chicagoans always have an inferiority complex about New York.

Can't win with those clever East Coasters.

TO be fair, there was another East Coaster on here who just rebuttled the other East coaster's wild claims

[Chi-town Native]

Let's not forget that our most infamous resident was actually a NYC transplant. Yeah, I'm talking about Snarky.

Maybe we could sue NYC for damages...

[midwest1]

Originally Posted by mas23

TO be fair, there was another East Coaster on here who just rebuttled the other East coaster's wild claims

I didn't mean that almost all East Coast people feel that way, sorry if it read that way, I meant that almost all people I've met who bloviate about Chicagoans' inferiority complex are from the East Coast....

[jonnynonos]

CTN:

Capone's nickname was Snorky, not Snarky!

Although I'm sure he could also be snarky.

I don't know the origin of the nickname or its meaning.

[55degrees]

The "New York Times declares Chicago dead". Ah well, time for everyone to pack up and move out I guess. Just goes to show how you don't need to be right to be published in the NYT.

[Lucky Clover]

Originally Posted by PA Born

This thread pretty much confirms her opinion. Now I'm sure I'll be called an idiot and a troll, etc., but your responses are basically validating her point. Chicago, while a great city, has something of an inferiority complex, and is extremely touchy re. what outsiders say about the city, especially if they compare it unfavorable to coastal cities, or mention it in the same breath with other Midwest cities.

Now, granted, Chicago is a great city, and the colossus of the interior, but it does have some shortcomings compared to places like NYC, LA, SF, etc.

On the whole, despite its greatness, it's more like a bigger, more successful Detroit than a smaller, less successful NYC or LA, and I think this gets under people's skins here at C-D. Notice all the threads here referencing NYC or CA, indirectly looking for validation.

I know I will get big-time disagreement on this point here on C-D, but if you asked the typical "man on the street" or examined the data (crime, income, housing price appreciation, immigration, foreign visitors, car ownership, suburban sprawl, age of buildings, city layout, racial divisions, etc.) you will find Chicago to me more of a "good" Detroit than a "bad" NYC.

Funny how you call people here having an inferiority complex yet you're the one that gets defensive anytime NYC and Chicago are mentioned in the same sentence. Yes NYC is a notch above Chicago, almost any city in the U.S. really is a notch below. To say Chicago is a bigger Detroit is just as ignorant as saying Chicago is a smaller NYC. They're both different cities. NYC is compared to world cities like London, Paris and Tokyo, while Chicago is compared to Dubai, Madrid, Singapore, LA, and D.C.

And about your comment regarding it getting under peoples skin, again pot meet kettle. This is exactly what YOU do whenever you see a comparison of some kind being made with Chicago and NYC. Furthermore, what a few people compare between two cities doesn't represent Chicago posters on CD as a whole and their opinions on it. I'd like to see how you came up with that "man on the street" opinion also. I don't really get where you come up with these things.