The Midwest is the best if... (lease, elementary school, camping)

[OyCrumbler]

Originally Posted by omnivore

The key to this thread is realizing that everyone doesn't want or value the same things. And that's okay.

And that people don't seem to be arguing on the same kinds of basis.

Some of the people are arguing about the Midwest in terms of small towns in the Great Plains state, but the Midwest is also urban and more cosmopolitan cities of varying sizes like Madison, Columbus, the Twin Cities and Chicago which have legitimately good arguments for being better cities than Los Angeles aside from just cost of living as factored into quality of life.

[znlwovuhrjw]

Originally Posted by OyCrumbler

And that people don't seem to be arguing on the same kinds of basis.

Some of the people are arguing about the Midwest in terms of small towns in the Great Plains state, but the Midwest is also urban and more cosmopolitan cities of varying sizes like Madison, Columbus, the Twin Cities and Chicago which have legitimately good arguments for being better cities than Los Angeles aside from just cost of living as factored into quality of life.

"Urban midwest" is something that people in California love to pretend doesn't exist.

[OyCrumbler]

Originally Posted by kingdomkz

"Urban midwest" is something that people in California love to pretend doesn't exist.

Well, I'm not sure if that's accurate either--there are certainly Californians who have come from or moved to parts of the urban midwest. It's more accurate to state that some people in this topic are using some more podunk-y (nothing wrong with podunk if that's your bag) places of the Midwest as examples. It's like taking Victorville or Fresno (no offense to anyone from/currently there) as the examples of why California is better than Chicago or the Twin Cities.

[erin_elise_]

Originally Posted by OyCrumbler

Well, I'm not sure if that's accurate either--there are certainly Californians who have come from or moved to parts of the urban midwest. It's more accurate to state that some people in this topic are using some more podunk-y (nothing wrong with podunk if that's your bag) places of the Midwest as examples. It's like taking Victorville or Fresno (no offense to anyone from/currently there) as the examples of why California is better than Chicago or the Twin Cities.

I just came back from Chicago yesterday actually. I had went in the 90s as a child, but had not been back since then.

I was very pleased with downtown chicago. I enjoyed views of the lake from driving on lakeshore drive etc.

As much as i thought it was a nice city, I could not imagine enduring the winters there. My brother, who was there for 2 months for navy bootcamp in Great Lakes, said the weather was totally unpredictable, and he was there from May to now. In fact, it was 51 degrees on this past Thursday! In July.

So, to me the weather is the killer for me. One of the main reasons why SO-Cal is so popular- it has mild weather. (EVEN if living in the IE or the valley compared to Chicago) Frozen winter days??? not for me....

[nslander]

Originally Posted by kingdomkz

"Urban midwest" is something that people in California love to pretend doesn't exist.

So, all Californians dedicate energy to denying the existence of urban areas of the Midwest. Of course, I mean, it's self-evident.

Gonna miss you, the place wont be the same, can I pack you a lunch?

[seain dublin]

Originally Posted by kingdomkz

"Urban midwest" is something that people in California love to pretend doesn't exist.

Not true at all.

But you can name an urban Midwest city that has mountains, forget the ocean. I'm just talking mountains or even hills?

Add in brutal winters, humid summers, no thanks.

The recent unusually humid weather last week in Southern CA had many complaining and uncomfortable, and it was mild in comparison to what a lot of the country gets for 3 months or more(FL) on a daily basis.

Originally Posted by erin_elise_

I just came back from Chicago yesterday actually. I had went in the 90s as a child, but had not been back since then.

I was very pleased with downtown chicago. I enjoyed views of the lake from driving on lakeshore drive etc.

As much as i thought it was a nice city, I could not imagine enduring the winters there. My brother, who was there for 2 months for navy bootcamp in Great Lakes, said the weather was totally unpredictable, and he was there from May to now. In fact, it was 51 degrees on this past Thursday! In July.

So, to me the weather is the killer for me. One of the main reasons why SO-Cal is so popular- it has mild weather. (EVEN if living in the IE or the valley compared to Chicago) Frozen winter days??? not for me....

I was in Chicago(only time) in late March one year, even with a winter coat the wind blew right through you. It was still bitter, bitter cold.

And I would rather have 51 there than the almost 90 they're having tomorrow with high humidity.

Interesting city yes, but they only get small windows of time where you can say the weather is actually nice. And they're not alone.

[V8 Vega]

7 dead 38 injured in the 4th of July weekend and its not even over yet in Chicago. Liberal citys with strict gun control laws are so much safer.

[OyCrumbler]

Originally Posted by erin_elise_

I just came back from Chicago yesterday actually. I had went in the 90s as a child, but had not been back since then.

I was very pleased with downtown chicago. I enjoyed views of the lake from driving on lakeshore drive etc.

As much as i thought it was a nice city, I could not imagine enduring the winters there. My brother, who was there for 2 months for navy bootcamp in Great Lakes, said the weather was totally unpredictable, and he was there from May to now. In fact, it was 51 degrees on this past Thursday! In July.

So, to me the weather is the killer for me. One of the main reasons why SO-Cal is so popular- it has mild weather. (EVEN if living in the IE or the valley compared to Chicago) Frozen winter days??? not for me....

Yea, I get that criticism. Some people can't take cold winters, especially as people get older in age. For other people, it's not really that big of a factor--so I understand it shifts from person to person. However, some of the complaints leveled against the Midwest seemed a lot more specific to just a place being podunk which can be just as true in California as in the Midwest.

[OyCrumbler]

Originally Posted by seain dublin

Not true at all.

But you can name an urban Midwest city that has mountains, forget the ocean. I'm just talking mountains or even hills?

Add in brutal winters, humid summers, no thanks.

The recent unusually humid weather last week in Southern CA had many complaining and uncomfortable, and it was mild in comparison to what a lot of the country gets for 3 months or more(FL) on a daily basis.





I was in Chicago(only time) in late March one year, even with a winter coat the wind blew right through you. It was still bitter, bitter cold.

And I would rather have 51 there than the almost 90 they're having tomorrow with high humidity.

Interesting city yes, but they only get small windows of time where you can say the weather is actually nice. And they're not alone.

Sure there is, but some of them aren't my cup of tea. Cincinnati is the largest of the really hilly ones apparent of them--not the massive peaks of the Sierra Nevada, of course, but very, very hilly. A smaller and even hillier city would be Duluth. There are also several cities that have some more notable elevation differences such as Cleveland, St. Louis, Omaha, Dubuque, etc.

One thing I find funny about the Midwest is how people take to winters. It's weird because the Twin Cities seem to have more severe winters, but that seems to result in a lot more people going out skiing or playing hockey or something and I've heard the same for Wisconsin. However, it seems like people in Chicago spend more time just grumbling. Of course, this is all hearsay.

[OyCrumbler]

Originally Posted by V8 Vega

7 dead 38 injured in the 4th of July weekend and its not even over yet in Chicago. Liberal citys with strict gun control laws are so much safer.

Yea, the shootings are a real problem--even bigger problem is that Chicago can't control some of it because there are pretty relaxed gun laws in places very, very close to Chicago. Chicago has some of the strictest gun control laws in the US--just a couple years ago, it had gun laws so strict (complete ban on firearms) that the feds ruled it was illegal and that the municipality had overstepped what it could legally do, so it's now just very, very strict. The issue is also that Illinois state relaxed its state gun control laws.

Hate to say it, but the best thing that can happen to Chicago is get folded into Wisconsin--Minnesota would be even better if they can stretch that far.