Anyone Move from New York to Chicago? Thoughts? (Paris, Manhattan: 2013, condos)

[TheSunshineKid]

Originally Posted by Vlajos

Is Mayberry bad? Seemed like a nice place with good people.

Sometimes my neighborhood makes me feel like we live there, except for the Mexicans, texans, ecuadorians, Albanians, Bosnians, Alaskans, greeks, coloradans, Koreans, DCer, and new englanders that live within a few blocks.

Originally Posted by Lorielicious

It's also grave insult to be compared to Minneapolis.

Originally Posted by Lorielicious

I really don't care if people get defensive about what I say, or else I'd stop posting things everybody disagrees with and would start writing "Oh, from NYC? Come on down! There'll be no culture shock!" which is a lie. My wording is often snide, sure and I could afford to knock it off, but it's true that Chicago has more in common with Minneapolis, culture-wise, than it does New York.

So you're basically insulting Chicago by comparing it to Minneapolis.

Just get it off your chest so we know what we're dealing with here: "I, Lorielicous, am often irritated by Chicagoans/Midwesterners/Simple-Folks trying to act cosmopolitan. It is just a big Midwestern city - which I admit the word 'Midwestern' is used as snide - which pales in comparison to cities like NYC, LA and Paris."

And your silence on this part:

Or was "Mayberry" and "Minneapolis with an L train" some sort of compliment we simple folk in "flyover country" don't get?

Kinda explains it all.

I also take that your irritation with the city is compounded with your online interactions on this forum.

[Lorielicious]

Originally Posted by TheSunshineKid

And your silence on this part:

Kinda explains it all.

Oh, I was supposed to respond to that? Because it seemed like some dude saying, "Hey, stop being so snide." My response to that is "No." But if that was an actual question, rather than a rhetorical one, no it's not a compliment, but what is so insulting about being compared to other Midwestern cities culturally again? It's accurate, but strangely offensive to Chicagoans somehow. Apparently you guys only want to be compared to New York, which is weird considering it's nothing like New York here and actually is like other Midwestern places.

[MassVt]

Originally Posted by RonnieJonez

Cosmopolitan has a slightly different meaning to some. In terms of history, foreign consulates, direct airport connections, food variety, shopping, then yes, Chicago is very cosmopolitan.

However, to most, "cosmopolitan" also implies a glamour factor, which Vegas & Miami have more of. Those cities are far more evocative internationally, even being much smaller..

Vegas is the opposite of "cosmopolitan".

There's a difference between "flashy" and "worldly"...

[compactspace]

Originally Posted by TheSunshineKid

I remember by brother saying that he thought the characters in Seinfeld, after his honey moon phase with the show died, were "paranoid and narcissistic." Girls may be humorous, but it's an off-putting show with the lifestyle represented. Taxi Driver is a grand movie, but keep that type of world in the movies.

I probably should mention that I was indulging my bad habit of sarcasm.

[Drover]

Originally Posted by Vlajos

Is Mayberry bad? Seemed like a nice place with good people.

Sometimes my neighborhood makes me feel like we live there, except for the Mexicans, texans, ecuadorians, Albanians, Bosnians, Alaskans, greeks, coloradans, Koreans, DCer, and new englanders that live within a few blocks.

I live in the Maybarrio. Everyone smiles and waves and says "Hola."

[Drover]

Originally Posted by usamathman

. . . I have a car and drove around quite a bit today. The city is much much larger than I ever remember it being. . . .

Yeah, one thing that struck me when I moved back here from Pittsburgh is how I'd forgotten just how massive this place is. I guess I'd gotten used to being able to drive across an entire urbanized area in about 40 minutes (traffic permitting of course -- stupid tunnels).

[MassVt]

Originally Posted by Drover

I live in the Maybarrio. Everyone smiles and waves and says "Hola."

You'll be here all week, right?

[jonnynonos]

Originally Posted by Drover

Yeah, one thing that struck me when I moved back here from Pittsburgh is how I'd forgotten just how massive this place is. I guess I'd gotten used to being able to drive across an entire urbanized area in about 40 minutes (traffic permitting of course -- stupid tunnels).

But most transplants don't go out of their comfort zone. They have no interest in other neighborhoods.

I freely admit there are neighborhoods I avoid, but I actually love walking around Cragin, Belmont Central, Canaryville, Bridgeport, Portage Park, Chinatown, and on and on and on. My gf and I go on walks, find a local watering hole, shoot the s**t with locals, and eat.

I'm not saying that makes me unique or anything, just that I kind of roll my eyes when people say Chicago isn't diverse, or characterize it as being essentially Lakeview or essentially downtown or essentially Lincoln Park.

The truth is that this is a really big city and there are a lot of neighborhoods and just because people don't choose to go to them doesn't mean they aren't part of the city.

[edsg25]

Chicago. We like who are. And where we're at.

there's some awfully great cities in America. East to west (to avoid any bias), they include places like Boston, New York, Washington, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco.

New York and Los Angeles are huge and with that megacity status comes the full spectrum of urban delights. But size comes with a price: So much to access, so hard to access it.

Boston and San Francisco are small, quaint, delightful. they have so much; but they lack a degree of critical mass, that feel that screams "Big City".

Chicago is in the middle, literally and figuratively. 3,000,000 in the city, some 9,000,000 in the metro area. no city matches those demographics and those numbers are not too big, not too small, just right.

you know, like Baby (Chicago) Bear. The happy median. The Great American City.

And that's the Windy City, folks, a place that takes NY and LA style critical mass and combines it with SF and Boston livability and charm. the best of both. and nobody can quite do it like Chicago.

I love New York. I love LA. And SF, Boston, and DC. Chicago isn't any of them. Nor in any way, shape of form does it aspire to be. Chicago is Chicago. we are unique....Lake. Park. Skyline. Neighborhoods.... and that's what I love about it...it's itself.

Yep, I'm repeating myself. I've said the same stuff here ad nassieum. I don't care. I love Chicago and what Chicago is. Some see us as an undersized New York or, so I've learned in this thread, an oversized Minneapolis. fine. have it your way. And, yes, I've heard from many out-of-towners here with a different perspective; for those of you (many indeed) who sang our city's praises, we thank you for your observations. But forgive me (or us)....truthfully we're more impressed how we, Chicagoans, feel about the place. And we love it. We're home towers, we are partisan, and we proudly claim Chicago is "our kind of town". And for us that means: "like no other."

it works for us.

[NOLA101]

Originally Posted by Chubsworth

It's not BS to say NYC is cosmopolitan, it is the 2nd most diverse large city in the USA, after Houston.

Houston?? LOL, no. Where did you come up with that?

Even Chicago gets more immigrants than Houston, and has more people from different places overall.