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Location: East Central Pennsylvania/ Chicago for 6yrs.
2,535 posts, read 3,283,834 times
Reputation: 1483
The thing with CHICAGO...is has always had to deal with negative stereotyping. From the Capone era to the 68 riots to todays gang violence and in the shadows WAY BACK for decades.... to NYC, and LA. But when TOURIST and Business people visit Chicago. They DO SEE ICNIC WORTHY FEATURES? ESPECIALLY TODAY VS 40 years ago and more.
Of course SF had the hippy culture...back in a day negative aspect and Gay scene one.... But they are erased today, CHICAGO'S.... never goes away. With a new replacement each generation.
Try it with someone who never visited Chicago or SF. Say Chicago..... see what you hear.... watch out for the mafia and duck when you hear shots..... all them gangs.... Even if they know of other landmarks? Say SF ....you get Golden Gate Bridge and Cable cars.
But once one has visited Chicago much of the negative..... does change to aspects of ICONIC ASPECTS THEY SAW. LIKE......SKYCRAPERS, MICHIGAN AVE SHOPPING, RESTAURANTS, MILLENNIUM PARK. BEACHES DOWNTOWN.
First off, being born and raised in Chicago I am pretty biased on this subject. My parents retired to northen Spain, a small town near Gijon. They have a neighbor that owns a bar that loves the blues and thus Chicago. San Francisco is a great city but if you are talking about the impact to worldwide culture then Chicago wins fairly easily in my opinion. Our music, architecture, urban planning, etc., has impacted the world in countless ways.
A foreigner once mentioned to me that there are five quintessential American cities, Boston, New York, Chicago, New Orleans and San Francisco. Some have said that Chicago is the most American of American cities. I guess I'd agree with that statement.
What separates Boston from Philadelphia or Washington, DC?
San Francisco's cultural contributions are so iconic to the point where they are stereotyped. SF was the city that was at the forefront of the Hippie movement. The Beatles made a pilgrimage there in the 60's where they were disappointed with all the rampant drug addiction and vagrant nature of the Haight. SF is stereotypically known as being the most gay tolerant city in the nation, although this is probably very inaccurate. The urban backdrop of SF is used in more major advertisements for cars, movies and mainstream pop music videos than even NYC it seems.
But the thing about San Francisco is much of the city's influential culture is not even credited because the non-tourist friendly side of SF is not publicized in the national media. All of SF is inaccurately described as a "nice" place when in reality, SF has its share of dangerous high-crime impoverished ghetto areas like every single major American city. Whereas, the "Chiraq" side of Chicago has been plastered all over the mainstream media as of late, the rough "San Franpsycho" side of the city by the Bay is never publicized in the mainstream national media because SF is a top ten international tourist city that often ranks above NYC being up there with Paris and Rome. The often exaggerated bad reputation of all of Oakland is used as a foil to keep tourist dollars flowing into San Francisco. Many trends in popular slang, music and culture come from the gritty other side of tracks side of San Francisco from neighborhoods like the Mission, Hunter's Point and the Fillmore. For instance, the now nationwide Northern Californian slang word "hella" has roots in San Francisco's infamous Hunter's Point district. That's right, Macklemore from Seattle did not invent the word "hella", kids:
Also, mainstream urban and pop music has completely stolen the trademark 808 bass heavy local Hip Hop production style indigenous to SF ghetto neighborhoods like Hunter's Point, Fillmore and Lakeview. The most popular Hip Hop producer of late, DJ Mustard from Los Angeles, owes his entire production style to local San Francisco and Bay Area Hip Hop producers.
Also, SF sports teams are also more loved it seems. The Giants have had the best five years they have ever had and the 49ers have more non-California fans than most NFL teams. The 49ers have had five Superbowl Championships and have been a great team in the past few years as well.
Last edited by LunaticVillage; 12-22-2014 at 09:39 PM..
First off, being born and raised in Chicago I am pretty biased on this subject. My parents retired to northen Spain, a small town near Gijon. They have a neighbor that owns a bar that loves the blues and thus Chicago. San Francisco is a great city but if you are talking about the impact to worldwide culture then Chicago wins fairly easily in my opinion. Our music, architecture, urban planning, etc., has impacted the world in countless ways.
A foreigner once mentioned to me that there are five quintessential American cities, Boston, New York, Chicago, New Orleans and San Francisco. Some have said that Chicago is the most American of American cities. I guess I'd agree with that statement.
The fact that they didn't include Washington D.C. in there means you probably shouldn't listen to this foreigner.
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