I Know Every City Gets Trashed...But Some Cities Get More Trashed Than Others (high crime, camp)
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I don't think there is any question that we Chicagoans speak up when we think our city has been dissed. We are, after all, the ultimate homers.
But in many ways, we're really not defensive about Chicago. The fact is, we know what a great city it is, we define ourselves. We have absolutely nothing to be defensive about. Sure, we have problems (who doesn't), but we see ourselves as the fabulous global city we are (and one that will only be enhanced.....all you have to do is look at the explosive building boom happening in the city's core, the biggest ever, with a series of huge projects, mainly lining the Chicago River.)...and if, for some reason, any out-of-towner thinks different than that...heck, we can live with that just fine. We're secure. We're more than comfortable with Chicago being one of the great American cities, along with Boston, New York, Washington, Los Angeles and San Francisco (although we differ from them as we are....and quite happily....interior)
San Francisco gets a lot of hate on here, yet it is by far one of my favorite cities in the country. Most common complaints I see about it on CD are regarding homelessness, dirtiness, cost of living, smugness, sleepiness, and NIMBYism.
My opinion of SF is very high though. I think it’s beautiful both in built form and in surrounding environment. I think it is the best urban environment in The Western US, and my favorite city on the West coast. Yes I did find the homeless population to be extra abundant and aggressive compared to the east coast, but in my experience it wasn’t any worse than other West coast cities like Seattle.
Another city on here that a lot of posters call bland and boring is Vancouver — but it’s one of the cities in all of North America that I’m most interested in visiting. I think it looks gorgeous and very interesting. Seems like it has a solid urban form and good rapid transit system too, which is pretty rare for the western half of US/Canada. As someone that doesn’t drive, this is huge for me to have that freedom. I feel like I could easily spend a trip to Vancouver exploring the parks and the cityscape.
Vancouver is a place that seems like it combines all the things that I like about the West (beautiful natural scenery, laid-back, forward-thinking, progressiveness, etc.) with a good urban environment, which IMO the West tends to lack. SF comes close but fails on the transit part — although still better than most Western cities, and maybe even still most in The US overall honestly. Again I’ve never been to Vancouver yet so I could be completely wrong.
Cleveland metro does, but I've been there twice and liked it. I was actually considering moving there.
I have family living in Ohio and I lived there briefly myself, and have visited Ohio a lot. I have been very favorably impressed with Ohio cities in general. And I think Ohio is a beautiful, definitely underappreciated state.
Midwest/rust belt cities probably get a disproportionate amount of trash talk because their decline was so catastrophic (compared to east and west coast cities), and those cities never reinvented themselves. Not really. A lot of Midwesterners never got to see their hometowns in their heyday but rather grew up during a rapid decline, experienced local and national scorn, listened to booster clichés about theater districts, low cost of living, salt of the earth people, great restaurants, etc, and, frankly, read about farcical recoveries based on nonsense metrics. Sure we've heard about the historic millionaires rows, the conventions, "world class" museums, Eurocentric ethnic families, excellent schools, and the working and middle class neighborhoods all over, but those have been mostly dead for decades. There is a lot of pent up rage against the Midwest/rust belt that just doesn't exist on the same level for coast.
Another city on here that a lot of posters call bland and boring is Vancouver — but it’s one of the cities in all of North America that I’m most interested in visiting. I think it looks gorgeous and very interesting. Seems like it has a solid urban form and good rapid transit system too, which is pretty rare for the western half of US/Canada. As someone that doesn’t drive, this is huge for me to have that freedom. I feel like I could easily spend a trip to Vancouver exploring the parks and the cityscape.
Vancouver is a place that seems like it combines all the things that I like about the West (beautiful natural scenery, laid-back, forward-thinking, progressiveness, etc.) with a good urban environment, which IMO the West tends to lack. SF comes close but fails on the transit part — although still better than most Western cities, and maybe even still most in The US overall honestly. Again I’ve never been to Vancouver yet so I could be completely wrong.
As someone who thought that I'd like Vancouver for nearly the exact same reasons that you listed and then finally visited it -- I'd sadly have to put myself in the camp who found it "bland and boring".
I don't think there is any question that we Chicagoans speak up when we think our city has been dissed. We are, after all, the ultimate homers.
But in many ways, we're really not defensive about Chicago. The fact is, we know what a great city it is, we define ourselves. We have absolutely nothing to be defensive about. Sure, we have problems (who doesn't), but we see ourselves as the fabulous global city we are (and one that will only be enhanced.....all you have to do is look at the explosive building boom happening in the city's core, the biggest ever, with a series of huge projects, mainly lining the Chicago River.)...and if, for some reason, any out-of-towner thinks different than that...heck, we can live with that just fine. We're secure. We're more than comfortable with Chicago being one of the great American cities, along with Boston, New York, Washington, Los Angeles and San Francisco (although we differ from them as we are....and quite happily....interior)
Yeah some Chicagoans are major homers. Some of them show their homerism at expense of other Midwest cities. And, the only reason why Chicago gets dissed a lot because of Obama, Fox News, Trump and the right wing. I've even had to tell people that Chicago isn't like what you hear or see in the media. I'm sure you had to tell your fellow Chicagoans that Cleveland isn't like how it's portrayed in the media.
As someone who thought that I'd like Vancouver for nearly the exact same reasons that you listed and then finally visited it -- I'd sadly have to put myself in the camp who found it "bland and boring".
It is in Canada, after all. But it was one of the prettiest cities I have visited. When we were there we were amazed at all the people out walking or riding bikes to work in the morning. I was really impressed -- look how health conscious these people are. Actually, we discovered that it was the 115th day of a transit strike.
Yeah some Chicagoans are major homers. Some of them show their homerism at expense of other Midwest cities. And, the only reason why Chicago gets dissed a lot because of Obama, Fox News, Trump and the right wing. I've even had to tell people that Chicago isn't like what you hear or see in the media. I'm sure you had to tell your fellow Chicagoans that Cleveland isn't like how it's portrayed in the media.
Not sure your issue....Cleveland: nice city. I like it. Much to like. And I say this in all sincerity and in admiration: Cleveland does “grit” better than any city in the nation. What is left from the industrial age, particularly in warehouses is a great piece of architectual treasure. The only time I ever said anything bad about Cleveland was when the Indians went up 3 games to 1....but I was able to get over that very quickly.
Chicago is Midwest...and most happy to be in that region. And most of us recognize that the midwest has great cities.
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