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All the reasons I read people give for it not being typical are reasons it's my go to choice for basic American city. It looks like it could be anywhere which is why imo it's a great choice.
Also grand is very American. That helps the Chicago argument, it doesn't disqualify it. The average non citizen would think "American City" and think skyscrapers, not small towns. Chicago in a nutshell.
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My background in music/film tends to bring too many references pop up in my head and I write very, very fast (my brain runs even faster.)-that’s just how I think and how my train of thought is. Feel free to skip or ignore.
I could be wrong, but it seems Chicago has always been seen as somewhere foreign or unique to many Americans. Whenever the question is asked; "what is the most typical American city", the answers are usually Columbus, Indianapolis, Kansas City or Omaha. But I don't understand why Chicago is never included. Having done a lot more research on the place recently, to me Chicago very much seems like arguably the most average primary city in America, in the 21st century at least, given how close the demographics are to the national average. If I were to ponder the reasons why Chicago generally is excluded from the definition of somewhere 'average' in America, these would be the reasons;
*It is situated on the Great Lakes, therefor must be part of the core of the rust belt
*The local accent has become part of the Northern Cities Vowel Shift, with the distinct flat "A" vowel pronounced after consonants
*The climate is cold and snowy owing to its slightly more northern location
All of these points I believe are refutable. For a start, unlike other Great Lakes cities such as Cleveland, Detroit, or Buffalo, Chicago never suffered the worst of the effects of the Rust Belt as it was not overly reliant on a single manufacturer or employer. This lack of a major industrial decline as well as the city's central location in the country is one of the main reasons it's so fast-growing and why the demographics are so similar to the rest of the country and most likely also the reason the famous filmmaker John Hughes decided to use the Chicago metro as the setting for his iconic 1980s coming-of-age teen comedy films (Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Pretty in Pink etc.) with honest depictions of typical suburban teenage life, all of whom are still very significant and influential in American popular culture to this day. The large influx of migrants is also the primary reason why the classic 'Chicago' (though really it should be called a 'Great Lakes') accent is only really spoken by older generations, especially working class. The cold climate of Chicago is also very overstated in my view. Wind patterns over the Great Lakes are typically oriented from the west/northwest to east/southeast. This means locations east of the lakes tend to receive significantly more snow than the west in Illinois.
I'd be interested to get other opinions on this. Based on these points I've raised, is Chicago a 'typical' American city or not?
I think you are wrong. I don't know any Americans who consider Chicago to be foreign. It's American as it gets. It's as unique as any city it's size. Out of the top 5 biggest cities (NYC, LA, Chicago, DC, SF) it is the most average of all of them. It's hard to call it the most American against DC and NYC, but it's no less American than any city that's out there. The reasons you mentioned aren't the reasons most people would say. And you agreed they are not valid reasons anyway. The reason is that it's a big city. The weather while I would say it is a picture perfect typical example of the US four-season humid continental climate- It still gets brutal cold snaps.Chicago's March is as cold as January in the West Midlands. Temperatures hitting -20c is not unusual for January /February in Chicago.
I think you are wrong. I don't know any Americans who consider Chicago to be foreign. It's American as it gets. It's as unique as any city it's size. Out of the top 5 biggest cities (NYC, LA, Chicago, DC, SF) it is the most average of all of them. It's hard to call it the most American against DC and NYC, but it's no less American than any city that's out there. The reasons you mentioned aren't the reasons most people would say. And you agreed they are not valid reasons anyway. The reason is that it's a big city. The weather while I would say it is a picture perfect typical example of the US four-season humid continental climate- It still gets brutal cold snaps.Chicago's March is as cold as January in the West Midlands. Temperatures hitting -20c is not unusual for January /February in Chicago.
The climates of the aforementioned Omaha, Indianapolis and Columbus, as well as other smaller cities considered "Middle America" such as Toledo, Fort Wayne or Des Moines are also warm-summer humid continental climate instead of hot-summer.
The entire premise seems to be one guy's idea that people mostly disagree with. But he jumped right to the "why" rather than confirming the basic idea first.
The entire premise seems to be one guy's idea that people mostly disagree with. But he jumped right to the "why" rather than confirming the basic idea first.
1. It refused to become a New York wanna-be.
2. It refused to become a Los Amgeles wanna-be
America, in the 20th Century, was heavily influenced by the entertainment media culture. Americans started thinking of itself behaving like NYC or SoCal. Chicago didn't.
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