What does Chicago not HAVE compared to NYC? (skateboarding, house)

[oakparkdude]

Also, its impossible to find a real tyrannosaur around here. Supposedly the Field Museum has one, but its just a bunch of bones. Where can I find a living, breathing one?

[Avengerfire]

Originally Posted by 5Lakes

-surrounding areas that are inspiring
-a true old school food/produce market
-corner delis and small neighborhood grocery stores
-street venders selling food

Wrong on all counts.

[emathias]

Originally Posted by Avengerfire

Wrong on all counts.

Well, while Chicago does have *some* of all of those, New York certainly has both more and more per capita than Chicago does.

Other than obvious unique, location-specific examples (i.e. the Brooklyn Bridge, Statue of Liberty, etc), I can't really think of anything New York has that Chicago doesn't at least have something in the same genre of.

But, there are a lot of things that New York has bigger or better or just more of.

Just off the top of my head, New York has more museums, bigger bridges, more, denser neighborhoods, more international groups represented, more headquarters, a much bigger fashion industry with all the accompanying parties and glamour that goes with it, actual film studios that are big enough to handle the entire production of a big-budget feature-length film, Michelin guides and ratings, more international foods, and more airports with more international destinations.

In my mind, Chicago's single biggest industry weakness relative to its size and stature is film. Yes, we do have films here, but relative to other international cities of our size, our film industry is woefully underdeveloped, largely because it's only been recently that the State and local government really started openly supporting it. Chicago would benefit greatly if it had full-sized production studio facilities here, because more films could be set here, which would increase our global exposure and allow more actors to stay here and work instead of really having to leave if they want a career to grow past a certain point.

Fashion, as a subset of "design," is another thing that helps a city's reputation and global reach. Whereas film takes your city to the world, strong fashion and design industries bring the world to your city and cement thoughts of your city in the minds of people.

Architecture falls into the design arena, too, and Chicago is no longer a leader in building architecturally significant buildings. Some of the leading designers still work from here, and there are some great buildings that get built here, but I think there is less interesting work here now than there has been in the past. Part of this is laziness on the part of the City planners and developers, although part of it is the lack of sites with significant site challenges. It's amazing how much more interesting architecture becomes when it has to overcome serious challenges. Where we don't have a lot of locational challenges, the City can create design standards that help provoke challenges to yield more creative and interesting designs. So far, the City is only just starting to realize that.

Lastly, one thing Chicago doesn't really have is a working waterfront. Manhattan has lost much of its working waterfront as those industries were priced out and moved to Brooklyn or Staten Island or New Jersey, but it still has a lot more going on with its waterfront that Chicago does. This is a mixed thing - Chicago's waterfront parks blow away New York's, and Chicago's parks area great thing. But ... did we really need to make 100% of our waterfront parkland? isn't there some value in contrast? Wouldn't a little bit of working docks or commercial use be nice, too?

[5Lakes]

Originally Posted by Avengerfire

Wrong on all counts.

Um, no.

Compared to New York City it’s lacking in the areas I mentioned, which is what the OP had asked about. Thet do not even exist on a relatively smaller scale. Yeah, like any decent sized city you can find some exceptions, but they would not be the norm.

-The areas immediately surrounding Chicago are boring. You may disagree, but compared to say the Adirondacks outside of NYC it is pretty bland around here. Sorry, but I just can’t get all that excited about going to Wisconsin.

-Chicago does not have a true urban market place like the West Side Market in Cleveland or the Reading Terminal Market in Philly. And no, the French Market does not cut it. NYC has the Chealsea Market, but I have never been there so I can't comment on that.

-Sure you can find a few delis and small grocery stores here and there, but they are rare. Most people in Chicago shop at regular chain grocery stores. In NYC there are small delis and grocery stores all over the place. Anyone familiar with NYC knows what I’m talking about.

-a few Mexican street venders catering to a limited cliental within a limited selection of neighborhoods does not cut it. Where are the street vendors around Downtown? Lakeview? Wicker Park? UIC? It would be nice to have some street food here in some of the more active areas.

[HumboldtParkShiner]

Originally Posted by 5Lakes

-a true old school food/produce market
-corner delis and small neighborhood grocery stores
-street venders selling food

most of chicago used to fit this type of description, but now all that has been replaced by banks, relaters and cookie cutter condos. street venders are mostly in hispanic areas, but I thought, for the most part, street vending was made illegal in chicago (?) However, you can still find MANY of these things in un-gentrified neighborhoods- especially on the west and south sides of chicago.

[emathias]

Originally Posted by 5Lakes

...
-The areas immediately surrounding Chicago are boring. You may disagree, but compared to say the Adirondacks outside of NYC it is pretty bland around here. Sorry, but I just can’t get all that excited about going to Wisconsin.
...

To each their own, but I think you should do a little more exploring. There isn't much in the way of mountains very near, although there are some hills in Wisconsin and Michigan big enough for ski resorts to operate in the winter.

Have you been to Starved Rock State Park? Indiana Dunes National Park? Ice Age National Scenic Trail? Door County? Great River Road National Scenic Byway? Matthiessen State Park?

Did you know that, like Vermont, you can get locally produced maple syrup in northern Indiana? And like upstate New York, both Wisconsin and Illinois are make some really fine cheeses? And all the Great Lakes states have wine districts?

I mean, the Adirondacks are great, there's no questioning that, but there's more around Chicago than people think there is - it's just that there are a lot of smaller things and fewer big, vast parks until you get up near Lake Superior in Wisconsin (which, from a nature standpoint, can be quite spectacular but is also closer to 8 hours away, so kinda outside the scope of your point).

[5Lakes]

Originally Posted by emathias

Have you been to Starved Rock State Park? Indiana Dunes National Park? Ice Age National Scenic Trail? Door County? Great River Road National Scenic Byway? Matthiessen State Park?

Did you know that, like Vermont, you can get locally produced maple syrup in northern Indiana? And like upstate New York, both Wisconsin and Illinois are make some really fine cheeses? And all the Great Lakes states have wine districts?

Yeah, I have done all that except drive the River Road Byway down the Mississippi. I'm not saying they suck, but compared to other regions of the country it's not quite up to par IMO.

I did not know they sold real maple syrup in Northern Indiana though. Do you know if it's sold anywhere in Chicago?

[mas23]

a big suspension bridge,... unless you count the skyway.

[mas23]

Originally Posted by oakparkdude

Also, its impossible to find a real tyrannosaur around here. Supposedly the Field Museum has one, but its just a bunch of bones. Where can I find a living, breathing one?

just go on the set of jurasic park or barney

[mas23]

Originally Posted by emathias

Well, while Chicago does have *some* of all of those, New York certainly has both more and more per capita than Chicago does.

Other than obvious unique, location-specific examples (i.e. the Brooklyn Bridge, Statue of Liberty, etc), I can't really think of anything New York has that Chicago doesn't at least have something in the same genre of.

But, there are a lot of things that New York has bigger or better or just more of.

Just off the top of my head, New York has more museums, bigger bridges, more, denser neighborhoods, more international groups represented, more headquarters, a much bigger fashion industry with all the accompanying parties and glamour that goes with it, actual film studios that are big enough to handle the entire production of a big-budget feature-length film, Michelin guides and ratings, more international foods, and more airports with more international destinations.

In my mind, Chicago's single biggest industry weakness relative to its size and stature is film. Yes, we do have films here, but relative to other international cities of our size, our film industry is woefully underdeveloped, largely because it's only been recently that the State and local government really started openly supporting it. Chicago would benefit greatly if it had full-sized production studio facilities here, because more films could be set here, which would increase our global exposure and allow more actors to stay here and work instead of really having to leave if they want a career to grow past a certain point.

Fashion, as a subset of "design," is another thing that helps a city's reputation and global reach. Whereas film takes your city to the world, strong fashion and design industries bring the world to your city and cement thoughts of your city in the minds of people.

Architecture falls into the design arena, too, and Chicago is no longer a leader in building architecturally significant buildings. Some of the leading designers still work from here, and there are some great buildings that get built here, but I think there is less interesting work here now than there has been in the past. Part of this is laziness on the part of the City planners and developers, although part of it is the lack of sites with significant site challenges. It's amazing how much more interesting architecture becomes when it has to overcome serious challenges. Where we don't have a lot of locational challenges, the City can create design standards that help provoke challenges to yield more creative and interesting designs. So far, the City is only just starting to realize that.

Lastly, one thing Chicago doesn't really have is a working waterfront. Manhattan has lost much of its working waterfront as those industries were priced out and moved to Brooklyn or Staten Island or New Jersey, but it still has a lot more going on with its waterfront that Chicago does. This is a mixed thing - Chicago's waterfront parks blow away New York's, and Chicago's parks area great thing. But ... did we really need to make 100% of our waterfront parkland? isn't there some value in contrast? Wouldn't a little bit of working docks or commercial use be nice, too?

a bigger film & music industry would be a good thing