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I have never heard of anyone from Chicago going to the Ozarks, just the Byrds. Chicago is a huge city, so I assume there are some.
Chicagoans go to Michigan and Wisconsin in the summer (not Illinois). In the winter, they go to Florida, Arizona, and Texas in rough order. Arizona is Chicago south for with the snowbirds.
The Byrds! Damn, I will miss that show once it ends.
The Byrds! Damn, I will miss that show once it ends.
I thought the poster that mentioned the Ozarks for IL was talking for those in Southern IL and said so, not Chicagoland. Makes more sense then no.... it is a long state north and south in distance.
Chicagoland goes into WI for one and just around the tip of Lake Michigan and you can enter MI. Southern IL yeah.... not far to the Ozarks then if one chooses and wants more mountains like Appalachia. or they can go into KY TN.
We know where many go from DC for such right and Mass/Boston. There maybe more in NYC likely to go for that to the Poconos of PA over the Adirondacks in their own state.... though many will also.
I would choose Mass, because of its location geographically and its legacy assets, although Illinois is no slouch and anchors the Great Lake region and Northern MidWest.
I think both states have pros and cons, I find though Illinois falls off the map pretty quick once you leave the Chicago metro, and the state is flat, rural and relatively lifeless.
I thought the poster that mentioned the Ozarks for IL was talking for those in Southern IL and said so, not Chicagoland. Makes more sense then no.... it is a long state north and south in distance.
Chicagoland goes into WI for one and just around the tip of Lake Michigan and you can enter MI. Southern IL yeah.... not far to the Ozarks then if one chooses and wants more mountains like Appalachia. or they can go into KY TN.
We know where many go from DC for such right and Mass/Boston. There maybe more in NYC likely to go for that to the Poconos of PA over the Adirondacks in their own state.... though many will also.
The Ozarks are not terribly further from Chicago than Door County/the UP of Michigan, which are obviously places many Chicagoans vacation to. I am sure tons in the Chicago MSA go to the Ozarks to vacation.
As a guy who has deep roots in MA ( my mother's family was from there, college, law school and my first job) who is a transplant to Illinois, there are some surprisingly nice areas of the state that don't fit the "stereotype". One of these was Peoria, which aside from being a surprisingly really nice city with Caterpillar wealth, was this linked above drive that Teddy Roosevelt called "the world's most beautiful drive", overlooking the Illinois River and lined with mansions, old and new.
Another is Champaign/Urbana, home to the University of Illinois, which actually has new skyscrapers in town and is bustling with a nice downtown area, as well as Galena which is out of a storybook in the hilly NW part of the state. Springfield, the capitol, is full of Lincoln history, with an incredible interactive museum.
Non-Illiinoisans give it some grief on this post, but I find the small rural towns here, some home to some famous people like Ronald Reagan, interesting, clean and well kept. Compared to some Mass towns like New Bedford, Fall River, Holyoke, North Adams,, etc. they are fairly pleasant. Chicagoans tend to go to MIchigan towns like Saugatauk and Traverse City for the summer, as well as Lake Geneva in Wisconsin and Sheboygan on Lake MIchigan. Just a different lifestyle that those on the East Coast don't understand.
Meant to reply to this, but never got around.
I don’t fully understand what you mean. Someone like you, who knows the two areas well, should know you’re comparing apples to pork chops.
“Non-Illiinoisans give it some grief on this post, but I find the small rural towns here, some home to some famous people like Ronald Reagan, interesting, clean and well kept. Compared to some Mass towns like New Bedford, Fall River, Holyoke, North Adams, Ware, etc. they are fairly pleasant.”
You’re comparing small town rural IL to blighted nautical cities like New Bedford. Instead, wouldn’t it make sense to compare small town rural IL to small town rural MA?
If you think about the second most intriguing city in IL, many will now say Naperville. Some might say Springfield, maybe Champaign? MA has Salem, Cambridge, Somerville, Northampton, Worcester, Brookline. I mean, even downtown Lowell is nicer than Peoria or Rockford.
At the end of the day, both have Tier 1 suburbia rivaled by very few. Both have amazing cities, Chicago being significantly bigger and in my eyes more complete. Beyond that, to me, Illinois has very little of what MA has, while MA has just about everything IL has.
Someone pointed to IL State Parks. You don’t think MA has State Parks!?!? Many bucolic suburbs in MA feel like one big State Park- rivers, lakes, trails everywhere, stone walls, winding roads. (Too much preserved land in Eastern MA alone quite frankly)
Someone pointed to proximity to Wisconsin and Michigan. Have you guys ever been to Maine, or Vermont, or Rhode Island’s coast, or the Whites in New Hampshire? Come on now.
Then there are towns like Newburyport, Marblehead, Concord, Rockport, Manchester by the Sea. Simply nothing as unique or charming in IL, aside from Galena (which is not dissimilar to dozens of towns in New England’s).
Islands like Nantucket and MV in MA are globally sought after. In IL, you are reliant on regional hubs of activity three hours away - Grand Haven, Saugutuck, etc.
Even comparing “the” vacation lake, Geneva vs. Winnipesaukee (and I grew up going to Geneva in the summer).. The latter is much larger, a good bit more scenic with the mountains in the backdrop. Unfortunately, I can’t afford waterfront property on either!
The list goes on - Cape Cod, public beach access all over the State, the Berkshires, etc. etc..
While I agree with the above poster when they alluded to the fact that people on the East Coast don’t understand the subtly and ease of life in much of IL.. I’d equally point out that people in IL don’t understand the quantity and quality of beautiful towns, coastline, and topography in MA and around New England.
If one is happy their adopted state won after this thread had a loooong run and any defense of the state that lost... is going to be faulted even yet it lost. Not sure why a defense for a still much larger state in both population and size has to be a my smaller adopted state has that too and superior? Afterall, it did win.
One state will always see itself in a superior part of the Nation on a ocean. If even a smaller state wins for you so be it. The poll vote agrees. You win and I cannot think of anything that could be added after nearly 130 post....Of course, never say never and if something really can be added to change the poll? Then surely post it.
“Non-Illiinoisans give it some grief on this post, but I find the small rural towns here, some home to some famous people like Ronald Reagan, interesting, clean and well kept. Compared to some Mass towns like New Bedford, Fall River, Holyoke, North Adams, Ware, etc. they are fairly pleasant.”
You’re comparing small town rural IL to blighted nautical cities like New Bedford. Instead, wouldn’t it make sense to compare small town rural IL to small town rural MA?
New Bedford is 20 square miles. About 1/3 of it is blighted. The waterfront and the National Park around the Whaling Museum with the cobblestone streets is pretty attractive. Same for the southern tip of the city with Fort Taber/Fort Rodman, the beaches, and middle class single family homes with ocean views. The North End is middle class suburban sprawl. The West End is leafy middle class single family homes. The whole city isn’t sketchy triple decker tenement buildings from the textile era. If you don’t need the school system, there are substantial slices of the city that are fine as a place to live. The blighted part is a Trumpian-level h3ll hole but the majority of the city doesn’t look like that. Before the Civil War, New Bedford was the wealthiest city per-capita in the country. It has some amazing housing stock built by the whaling captains and merchants.
When we lived in Chicago, we didn't choose it because it was in IL. We chose it, because it was a world-class city, close to another city we loved (Milwaukee), and because of all it offered us. It happened to be in IL, which really didn't mean a whole lot to us. We vacationed in Wisconsin, and TBH, rarely ventured anywhere outside Chicagoland while in IL, other than week-end trips to Galena...a beautiful area with a lovely golf course. When someone chooses a city, the state comes with it. Doesn't have to be, though, a part of one's life.
When we lived in Chicago, we didn't choose it because it was in IL. We chose it, because it was a world-class city, close to another city we loved (Milwaukee), and because of all it offered us. It happened to be in IL, which really didn't mean a whole lot to us. We vacationed in Wisconsin, and TBH, rarely ventured anywhere outside Chicagoland while in IL, other than week-end trips to Galena...a beautiful area with a lovely golf course. When someone chooses a city, the state comes with it. Doesn't have to be, though, a part of one's life.
I do agree, and that is especially true in Chicago and NYC.
If I was buying in a city again- now that we are suburbanites- I think I’d choose Chicago over just about any other city, and that includes Boston.
I do agree, and that is especially true in Chicago and NYC.
If I was buying in a city again- now that we are suburbanites- I think I’d choose Chicago over just about any other city, and that includes Boston.
I like how nice Chicago's suburbs are all while being relatively affordable when compared to Boston. You get so much more for your money, with better services IMHO.
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