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The main point is Chicagoans are absolutely not wedded to the official list of city proper populations. They will in fact tell you that they live in the eye 2nd city, and their city is on a whole different tier than Houston abd that Northwestern is a Chicago school etc.
I don't know what the eye 2nd city means, but the idea of it being a whole different tier than Houston if they are emphasizing the urban city aspect of it as often happens on this forum does make sense while saying Northwestern is a Chicago school is perfectly reasonable especially if saying it to people from outside the region since a lot of people aren't going to know what Evanston is which is a small municipality bordering Chicago. You may also want to inquire what the context was when they talked about Northwestern. A friend of mine went to med school there and that was in the city proper adjacent to the loop as is the law school. Both of these are among the top draws for Northwestern and why it's become so highly regarded.
Again though, I think you should realize that what you were saying about how Chicago regards Los Angeles or Houston not being "real cities" isn't a very good point in that it's not exclusive to Chicago nor is it universal among Chicagoans. It's not something I myself agree with, but if it's something that's about as true among people in Boston and New York City, then it's not a very good point.
Really hard to characterize it as suburban, especially with UA and MGM corporate HQ's there.
Thanks for the photos.
Cambridge is the biotech capital of the world
Harvard MIT
200,000 people in 11 square miles
Heavy rail, light rail dozens of bus lines
Looks like this
Cambridge
You must not be a scientist
A majority of objective measures place chicago closer to Boston or at the least I could listen to an argument in the middle
All these wing and a prayer questions just don’t do it for me but to each your own
I'm not a scientist, which was really the spirit of that post. The word "stature" is right there in the thread title which leaves a lot open to interpretation.
If I'm expected to have an advanced degree, significant financial reserves, family/friend connections before moving to a city, then that place is a "big city" in number only.
In Chicago, you can be a high roller with an expensive pad IF YOU WANT TO, or you can be an Average Joe and live in a respectable place in the city limits-because its not a gated community like other cities.
Thanks for the photos.
Cambridge is the biotech capital of the world
Harvard MIT
200,000 people in 11 square miles
Heavy rail, light rail dozens of bus lines
Looks like this
Cambridge
Wasn't making a direct comparison between the two, just disputing the "suburban" characterization. For the majority of people interacting with BH, its the same hustle and grind of anywhere else in L.A.
I don't know what the eye 2nd city means, but the idea of it being a whole different tier than Houston if they are emphasizing the urban city aspect of it as often happens on this forum does make sense while saying Northwestern is a Chicago school is perfectly reasonable especially if saying it to people from outside the region since a lot of people aren't going to know what Evanston is which is a small municipality bordering Chicago. You may also want to inquire what the context was when they talked about Northwestern. A friend of mine went to med school there and that was in the city proper adjacent to the loop as is the law school. Both of these are among the top draws for Northwestern and why it's become so highly regarded.
Again though, I think you should realize that what you were saying about how Chicago regards Los Angeles or Houston not being "real cities" isn't a very good point in that it's not exclusive to Chicago nor is it universal among Chicagoans. It's not something I myself agree with, but if it's something that's about as true among people in Boston and New York City, then it's not a very good point.
Typo, it was suppose to be “real second city”.
And in my experience Bostonians largely talk about how huge and hard to get across cities like Houston or LA are compared to Boston rather than how they’re fake cities. I’ve heard way more people talk about his Houston is just massive than “not a real city that can never truly surpass Boston” from people who are from the Boston area.
Chicagoans have a deep inferiority complex about losing status that does not exist in Boston to nearly the same degree. Chicagoans also go on about how small cities like SF, Boston and Philly are compared to Chicago in a way that Bostonians just don’t about like Cleveland, Baltimore or Portland. It’s almost always the first thing they bring up about any place not New York. Because the city is insecure.
But the main point in Chicagoans examine cities beyond just reading a list of city proper populations. And it’s reasonable because everyone recognizes they live in a region and Cambridge or Somerville count as much as Skokie or Evanston.
I'm not a scientist, which was really the spirit of that post. The word "stature" is right there in the thread title which leaves a lot open to interpretation.
If I'm expected to have an advanced degree, significant financial reserves, family/friend connections before moving to a city, then that place is a "big city" in number only.
In Chicago, you can be a high roller with an expensive pad IF YOU WANT TO, or you can be an Average Joe and live in a respectable place in the city limits-because its not a gated community like other cities.
Boston has a higher poverty rate than Chicago, a higher foreign born population and a lower in state population. (Although it is more educated)
Nothing you said is at all representative of the actual reality of these cities
And in my experience Bostonians largely talk about how huge and hard to get across cities like Houston or LA are compared to Boston rather than how they’re fake cities. I’ve heard way more people talk about his Houston is just massive than “not a real city that can never truly surpass Boston” from people who are from the Boston area.
Chicagoans have a deep inferiority complex about losing status that does not exist in Boston to nearly the same degree. Chicagoans also go on about how small cities like SF, Boston and Philly are compared to Chicago in a way that Bostonians just don’t about like Cleveland, Baltimore or Portland. It’s almost always the first thing they bring up about any place not New York. Because the city is insecure.
But the main point in Chicagoans examine cities beyond just reading a list of city proper populations. And it’s reasonable because everyone recognizes they live in a region and Cambridge or Somerville count as much as Skokie or Evanston.
I have not experienced almost any of what you're saying to the scale and prevalence of how you're saying it. Are you just in a particularly weird circle of people? I think you should realize that your broad generalizations of people by where they're from is overly broad. It's a bit akin to me surmising Bostonians have an incredible inferiority complex that they then project on Chicagoans because I saw someone with a username with what seemed to be a Boston reference. I don't think that's actually true or accurate. Mind you, I do think in the categories you listed in the original post that pretty much all of it is towards Boston rather than New York City. Most of that is because New York City is such an extreme outlier where both Chicago and Boston in the categories you posted are closer to Hartford than New York City.
I'm also likely missing some context here. I'm not sure what someone referring to Northwestern as a Chicago school is supposed to point towards. What is the logical chain there?
I have not experienced almost any of what you're saying to the scale and prevalence of how you're saying it. Are you just in a particularly weird circle of people? I think you should realize that your broad generalizations of people by where they're from is overly broad. It's a bit akin to me surmising Bostonians have an incredible inferiority complex that they then project on Chicagoans because I saw someone with a username with what seemed to be a Boston reference. I don't think that's actually true or accurate. Mind you, I do think in the categories you listed in the original post that pretty much all of it is towards Boston rather than New York City. Most of that is because New York City is such an extreme outlier where both Chicago and Boston in the categories you posted are closer to Hartford than New York City.
I'm also likely missing some context here. I'm not sure what someone referring to Northwestern as a Chicago school is supposed to point towards. What is the logical chain there?
People were arguing that Cambridge/Somerville etc shouldn’t could towards “Boston” cause they are not Boston so I pointed out Chicago (and literally every other city) also “claims” suburban amenities regularly.
Btw I went to college in the Midwest and knew loads of people from Chicago so it isn’t limited to my city-data experiences
Boston has a higher poverty rate than Chicago, a higher foreign born population and a lower in state population. (Although it is more educated)
Nothing you said is at all representative of the actual reality of these cities
Boston is more than three times as expensive as Philadelphia (also a much bigger city) and more than twice as expensive as Chicago. Sounds like a gated community to me.
People were arguing that Cambridge/Somerville etc shouldn’t could towards “Boston” cause they are not Boston so I pointed out Chicago (and literally every other city) also “claims” suburban amenities regularly.
Btw I went to college in the Midwest and knew loads of people from Chicago so it isn’t limited to my city-data experiences
How popular of an argument did you think Cambridge/Somerville shouldn't count as Boston while Evanston should count as Chicago was in this context? I agree it's a derpy statement.
I am impressed you were around people that were so monolithic in thought.
Last edited by OyCrumbler; 10-30-2023 at 10:07 PM..
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