Is Chicago "Gotham City"? (Metropolis: rating, best, metro)

[Avengerfire]

Originally Posted by Lookout Kid

Since the 70s in the comic books, according to that article! I think that's pretty cool, even though Gotham City is known for dark alleys and crime.

I have not read many of the books from the 70's, but i know it started to increase greatly in the 80's and in the 90's it became overwhelming. I have read a bunch from the 80's and 90's in the last few years and have been working backwards...

[Hotlanta404]

If you look it up "Gotham City" on Wikipedia it gives you the whole story about how in the comics, the shows, and the movie they vary how Gotham looks/where it's located. I always picture Gotham as a darker version of New York City, like New York but with colder weather, darker skies, more crime, more grit/dirt, plenty of wealth but only for the upperclass. Sometimes they make it so Gotham is right across a lake from Metropolis and other times they make it so it is very far away from Metropolis. I would say Gotham is New York and Metropolis is Chicago because I don't picture Chicago as a dark or intimidating city, not that New York is but between the two I think New York fits that description more.

[Works Aero]

nah, Ive always thought Chicago was way more Gotham then New York.

[via chicago]

Originally Posted by Works Aero

nah, Ive always thought Chicago was way more Gotham then New York.

Agreed. How can a city be Gotham and not have back alleys? That was a huge reason they shot here..and I think that slightly sinister feeling Chicago has comes across well in the film.

[Frank the Tank]

Originally Posted by Hotlanta404

If you look it up "Gotham City" on Wikipedia it gives you the whole story about how in the comics, the shows, and the movie they vary how Gotham looks/where it's located. I always picture Gotham as a darker version of New York City, like New York but with colder weather, darker skies, more crime, more grit/dirt, plenty of wealth but only for the upperclass. Sometimes they make it so Gotham is right across a lake from Metropolis and other times they make it so it is very far away from Metropolis. I would say Gotham is New York and Metropolis is Chicago because I don't picture Chicago as a dark or intimidating city, not that New York is but between the two I think New York fits that description more.

That's a pretty good description, although I'd probably go the other way where Chicago is more like Gotham and New York is more like Metropolis.

[aragx6]

Originally Posted by Frank the Tank

That's a pretty good description, although I'd probably go the other way where Chicago is more like Gotham and New York is more like Metropolis.

That's sort of how I always felt too, but I'm certainly no comic guru.

[coldwine]

Chicago, to me, is every inch what Gotham City should be. It's ironic that everyone has this concept of New York City as being dark and scary, when in fact it's the most safe and secure place in the USA. It's so safe and so boring in that particular sense that it's ridiculous to label it as Gotham. I don't care if it's the coldest night in November below 14th street in Manhattan after midnight, you can walk around with jewelry shining like a lampost and the most that'll happen is a random cabbie asking if you want a ride, or a yuppie with a briefcase and a bag of Chinese carryout passing you by without another glance.

Chicago, though... Chicago has the very dark, very "heavy" architecture from the past that is definitely gothic, intimidating... thicker than the slim, stainless steel uniformity of Manhattan's skyline. The buildings, at least in the city proper, are foreboding at night and I've certainly been intimidated by walking from the L to my apartment. You pass all those alleyways, the random people meandering about... it's a much more sinister environment than Manhattan.

The only thing that Chicago lacks is the density and scale of Manhattan. Gotham is street after street, square mile after square mile, of high density. Chicago doesn't have that; it's just not the same at all. Chicago is also much more "open" to its suburbs, as Manhattan is quite literally an island unto itself. This gives Chicago less of that claustrophobic "city" feel, because you know exactly where Chicago City ends and Chicago Suburbia begins.

[Works Aero]

plus what would Gotham be without a "lower city"? it needs a seedy underground like lower wacker street

[coldwine]

Originally Posted by Works Aero

plus what would Gotham be without a "lower city"? it needs a seedy underground like lower wacker street

Oh yeah, Chicago has an overabundance of seedy neighborhoods.

[UnderTheLiveOaks]

Though the article addresses this, a few of the comments here make it seem like people didn't read the article.

Historically, Gotham was definitely NYC. The name, "Gotham", is an old nickname for NYC coined by Washington Irving in 1807 in his satirical magazine, Salmagundi.

From the ol' Wikipedia

In terms of atmosphere, Batman writer and editor Dennis O'Neil has said that, figuratively, "Batman's Gotham City is Manhattan below Fourteenth Street at eleven minutes past midnight on the coldest night in November."

Metropolis, historically, is probably a brighter, sunnier version of NYC, too. Why are both cities based on NYC in many ways? Because that's where comic books really took off. The writers who created these comic books were generally living and working in NYC.

So, anyway. As comics have become decentralized and cities have changed, Chicago has been used as a model for both cities. (In fact, Toronto has heavily influenced the design and idea of Metropolis as well...).

Nolan's movies definitely help to further associate Chicago and Gotham, but Gotham is still coastal. That's one thing that won't and shouldn't change.