What is "midwestern mentality"???

[j33]

I didn't know Lupe Fiasco and R. Kelly were originally from my childhood neck of the woods. I guess you learn something new every day.

[Irishtom29]

You'll find more old school Chicago in burbs like Tinley, Oak Lawn and Orland than you will in many city neighborhoods. Many of those people used to live at 63rd and Ashland and such.

The other day I visted a friend who lives in Shorewood and lived at 51st and Halsted when he was a kid. As we sat in his yard he pointed out the various houses and said "this guy came from Bridgeport, that guy came from Marquette Park, that guy came from Archer and Central" and so on.

[Lookout Kid]

The location of municipal borders is largely arbitrary, and the greater Chicago region is an interdependent patchwork of hundreds of small locally governed jurisdictions. As in most metro areas, there are far more people in the suburbs than in the central city of Chicago. And while the Loop and greater downtown Chicago certainly have a large concentration of employment, it is a drop in the bucket compared to the gross employment numbers in the suburbs.

Increasingly you see academics taking the broad view of "city" to include an entire metro area. It's pointless to study one without the other. The real "Chicago" does not stop at the city limits. The city proper itself may be landlocked and somewhat stagnant in growth, but the metro area has continued to push outward and now dominates the metro area. Why would we discount all of Chicagoland's growth of the last 60 years by claiming it is something different from "Chicago"? It's all "Chicago". Avengerfire, I don't give a f___ about your little grabs at "street cred" because you're from the "real city". I understand. You base a lot of your self identity on being a "real Chicagoan". Good luck with that. Maybe you can sell it to Hollywood or something. Or you can just sit here on City-Data correcting people when they get an outdated and arbitrary "neighborhood boundary" wrong. As if the Ukranian Village borders really define the location of the modern day Ukranian community in Chicago.

[Irishtom29]

Chicago should be allowed to annex all of Cook County. Then DuPage and Will. Really. Then we run El trains all over the place.

[Lookout Kid]

I often notice that a lot of suburbanites I know have deep family roots in the city, like a dad who grew up in Rogers Park or a family who were once part of the "white flight" phenomenon. A lot of the old Chicago DNA is still floating around the suburbs. Many of the same people are still around, or at least their direct descendents are.

[Avengerfire]

Originally Posted by Kippers

Right, Smashing Pumpkins, Tortoise, The Sea and Cake, Steve Albini, Local H, Liz Phair, Wilco, Jesus Lizard, Cheap Trick are all "Chicago bands" but 99% of the members grew up in the Chicago surrounding suburbs or another state. If we are then to go by AngelPuss's standards they arent really chicago bands at all...

I always state where the band members originated from. But the fact of the matter is if the band bases out of Chicago and the band members live in Chicago they are Chicago bands and Chicagoans. As far as your personal attack, let me ask you a question: have you ever danced with the devil in the pale moonlight?

[Avengerfire]

Originally Posted by Irishtom29

Chicago should be allowed to annex all of Cook County. Then DuPage and Will. Really. Then we run El trains all over the place.

That would be fun renaming a load of streets and changing a tload of addresses to the city numbering system! It would probably take 20 years!

[Avengerfire]

Originally Posted by Irishtom29

You'll find more old school Chicago in burbs like Tinley, Oak Lawn and Orland than you will in many city neighborhoods. Many of those people used to live at 63rd and Ashland and such...

Yeah. No doubt. I never said that was not the case.

[Avengerfire]

Originally Posted by tb4000

The Chicagoland area basically encompasses the entirety of the region. If you travel and someone asks where you're from, you mention the city, but you always have to add, "near Chicago" so they know where exactly.

In a perfect world yes.

It is like one time I was in Toronto and I started talking to a couple of people. We were staying at the same hotel. I ask one guy "Where are you from?" He says "Chicago." I say I am too. I say "What neighborhood do you live in?" He goes "Lombard." I just laughed.

[linicx]

Okay, this train ran off the tracks about 9 pages ago. The OP has had one post in 13 months -- and he was in Chicago when he posted. I'm gonna shut 'er down.