Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Chicago is a place where I have a network of friends and family, but where I feel like I have to conform.
I have never felt that way.
Quote:
Originally Posted by git45
LA definately wins, but its not that simple of a victory.
Chicago isn't covered in a hideous brown bubble: it certainly has that going for it. Its Architecture doesn't make me want to stick a spoon in my eye. Also while LA's metro has SO much to offer, more than Chicago obviously, getting to those places you have to drive all over and LA doesn't win points for consistency in neighborhoods. Its a huge archipelago of brilliant diamonds in an even bigger sea of feces, more or less. Its like a Christmas that may or may not happen for me, living in LA: I cross my fingers when I wake up in the morning and peer out the window in hope that I can see across the basin, because when I do, its the most beautiful view I've ever seen. Most of the time, I am not so lucky. You'll get about 3 miles of visibility and it fades into a hazy wall that looks like someone smudged a camera lense with vaseline and peanut butter (I know what Marine Layer is...this is NOT marine layer). At night the light pollution makes the smog layer pop out in the dark and you can see exactly where it ends the the upper atmosphere begins. One has to ask, is it really worth being safe from inclement weather when you have to deal with this? I love LA, but this is something I'd be okay moving to the midwest to get away from. What's the point of those beautiful SG mountains if I can only see them clearly 1/2 of the time?? Obviously LA outpaces Chicago in many depts, that's why LA is the second city, but that doesn't mean don't I spend fair amount of time driving though neighborhoods in LA saying to myself "JESUS, were you guys even trying?? I think Chicago is a woefully underrated city, but LA is LA. Its in a league with New York and should only compared with such. Its an amazing place its been amazing watching it dramatically transform from the hellscape it was 20 years ago.
Quote:
Originally Posted by git45
I was being a bit brash, my apologies. I have a bit of a chip on my shoulder as a one who grew up in Chicago and despite having as good an education as anyone, went on to college in Westchester and was pelted with the constant assertion that I was from a rust-belt sad sack hole in the ground (which geographically, is half true). As a good friend of mine who went to school in Massachusetts, "it was the one part of my upbringing I had to defend the most." I had never heard the words "regional" or "Midwestern" as an epithet before, despite doing a fair amount of traveling. Regional to me meant things like Vermont has great maple syrup or San Francisco has lots of cable cars or NYC has loud, honest people who say "youz." Maybe I was naive not to expect this moving out east, but naiveté might as well be the chief export of the Midwest.
What I think is unfair though on my part is that I have a lingering arrogance I deservedly acquired living in New York and upon moving to LA I became that serverly judgmental east coast transient stereotype that I despised as a student. I have really come to love LA, and I should learn to accept its flaws the way I defensively had to come to terms with the fact that Chicago is a dreadfully mixed affair between cosmopolitan sheen and rust-belt war zone. LA is on its way up, and Chicago is on its way down, which is why I am in LA. My complaints erode the longer I live here and also the amount of progress I've seen happen since I arrived. I can't wait for Echo Park to finish its reservation because it would add one more reason for it to be my favorite neighborhood in America. As much as my disdain for parts of the city is apparent, there are parts of it that could go toe-to-toe with any other in the world, imho. I tend to have weird polarizing view of cities for the first year I live there. I have great respect for LA because I was accepted and not given the barbs I had to endure out east (and would probably still experience in SF if I lived there). I find a kinship in that it is another woefully underrated city so Its unfair for me to pick on it. There is a common thread that Chicagoans are bitter and insecure. I will candidly admit there is truth to that.
LA is the most unique city in America, and therefore is pretty conducive to the screwy way my brain was sown together
You really have a personal problem with Chicago, that's what it is. You even stated that yourself.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kobe25
It's about a million L.A NYC threads.....now it's a million L.A Chicago threads
Are you people on here obsessed with California lol
Awesome post. That's what the midwest is all about, once you show the locals you are good people, they will take you in the cave and treat you as one of their own bear cubs.
Outwest it is not like that. Everyone is a transplant or a decendant of one. People move out that way to start over or escape something. Locals are often aware of this and as such tend to be wary of "outsiders". You start to see this attitude at the front range of Denver, but it gets the worst the farther west you go-Hawaii being the worst.
LA strikes me as a great place to make a lot of different aquaintences, where as Chicago is the type of place to make great life-long friends. LA is flaky, you may never make REAL friends being an outsider (and LA's definition of friendship is NOT like the midwest), but people will treat you great-just at a guarded distance. Chicago is stand-offish, it takes a lot to get the guard down, but it is possible.
Now that I am in my seventh month in LA, I am starting to get a more balanced view of LA, especially as the summer months roll on, as the smog season is well under way, and everything is as dry as a bone. Also, I am actually home in the Chicago suburbs visiting family, and I am reminded about things that I love about this place. While California does have a fascinating extreme variety in geography and real wilderness in the hands of public land on the fringes, I realize I do miss the bike trails that are in the suburbs here with short rides into the small forest preserves, fields, etc. that are scattered and accessible throughout the suburbs. As well as the leafy old neighborhoods (I love River Forest for example). And you are correct, I do feel as if I have life long friends here.
I will also add, that growing up in the Chicago suburbs I also believe there are some differences within the Chicagoland area. I still hold that most of everything south of the Stevenson (except Hyde Park) is a stronghold of backward rustbelt provincialism. Theres just an underlying Archie Bunker-like ignorance I also think that for the most part the north shore is a region of stuffy, old school WASPs, "Andy Bernard on the Office types"
However I do think that in addition to the progressive gems of Evanston, Oak Park, (as well as Skokie, etc.) most of the west and northwest suburbs I think are very open minded, and an environment in which one can be themselves (I think more so than the city) in their way of thinking at the same time being an excellent environment for families. Especially the Schaumburg area, as well as Naperville-Bolingbrook, etc.
So, now that I have said that LA has its lackluster moments for me, and that I feel like the Chicago suburbs are still home for me, I must say I am ver perplexed by the bolded above.
I do agree that people have moved out west to escape and start over, and that many people are transplants or descendants of transplants. I also will agree, that due to the transient nature, it can be difficult to make long term friendships. But, how, how in the world can an area dominated by transplants, or descendents of transplants possibly be wary of outsiders???
That I am TOTALLY confused by. I'm sorry, but regardless of the faults (no pun intended) of LA, California and the west in general, that I am very confused. Although there are downsides to living in an area that are transplants or descendents of them who came to start over or "escape" that can ONLY lead to open mindedness overall, and one where simply:
OUTSIDERS DON'T EXIST! Because everyone is an outsider, if everyone is a transplant! Maybe certain people don't want to be your friend, maybe they are just rude, and believe me, there are most definitely rude people in California. But the exact way you described the west, makes it completely contradictory to say that locals are wary of outsiders.
You only get "locals who are wary of outsiders", if you have the majority of the people in an area are deeply rooted there. Because then outsiders exist. Even in Chicagoland, you have more welcome you are one of us now, in the areas that have more transplants. You certainly don't have it on the WASP north shore, nor the Polish-Irish "da Bears" southwest side. You get in the north side of the city, as well as the west and northwest suburbs where you have major employment centers, etc. in areas like Schaumburg and Naperville.
You really have a personal problem with Chicago, that's what it is. You even stated that yourself.
This is the California forum.
Restating my own observation and apology doesn't really put you ahead in the discussion. Yes I do have a personal problem. I have a personal problem with people on the east coast, despite evidently lacking the education I do, writing me off as a hayseed. I'd like to think I'm doing alright because unlike many in that region I can pronounce the word you I have no issue with Chicago, its were I grew up and I think its the most well rounded city in the country even if its not particularly better than anyone else in any one field. Its still my homeland, even if I live abroad. I have no problem with Chicago, but think some of its denizens can't handle criticism and get a little prickly when anyone denies the city as a magical utopia where it rains gumdrops and money grows on trees. Like LA, it is a flawed, but beautiful place and all factors considered, Chicago is my favorite American city. My only personal problem is that my family lives there and I don't, and that kinda blows. I like LA a lot though, even if I hate on the crummy air and traffic and I don't see myself moving away for quite some time. The only thing I "stated myself" was that I have a chip on my shoulder (like many) about being a Chicagoan and living in regions where they don't think its all that great and I get too defensive and I'm hardly the only one that does that.
Now that I am in my seventh month in LA, I am starting to get a more balanced view of LA, especially as the summer months roll on, as the smog season is well under way, and everything is as dry as a bone. Also, I am actually home in the Chicago suburbs visiting family, and I am reminded about things that I love about this place. While California does have a fascinating extreme variety in geography and real wilderness in the hands of public land on the fringes, I realize I do miss the bike trails that are in the suburbs here with short rides into the small forest preserves, fields, etc. that are scattered and accessible throughout the suburbs. As well as the leafy old neighborhoods (I love River Forest for example). And you are correct, I do feel as if I have life long friends here.
I will also add, that growing up in the Chicago suburbs I also believe there are some differences within the Chicagoland area. I still hold that most of everything south of the Stevenson (except Hyde Park) is a stronghold of backward rustbelt provincialism. Theres just an underlying Archie Bunker-like ignorance I also think that for the most part the north shore is a region of stuffy, old school WASPs, "Andy Bernard on the Office types"
However I do think that in addition to the progressive gems of Evanston, Oak Park, (as well as Skokie, etc.) most of the west and northwest suburbs I think are very open minded, and an environment in which one can be themselves (I think more so than the city) in their way of thinking at the same time being an excellent environment for families. Especially the Schaumburg area, as well as Naperville-Bolingbrook, etc.
So, now that I have said that LA has its lackluster moments for me, and that I feel like the Chicago suburbs are still home for me, I must say I am ver perplexed by the bolded above.
I do agree that people have moved out west to escape and start over, and that many people are transplants or descendants of transplants. I also will agree, that due to the transient nature, it can be difficult to make long term friendships. But, how, how in the world can an area dominated by transplants, or descendents of transplants possibly be wary of outsiders???
That I am TOTALLY confused by. I'm sorry, but regardless of the faults (no pun intended) of LA, California and the west in general, that I am very confused. Although there are downsides to living in an area that are transplants or descendents of them who came to start over or "escape" that can ONLY lead to open mindedness overall, and one where simply:
OUTSIDERS DON'T EXIST! Because everyone is an outsider, if everyone is a transplant! Maybe certain people don't want to be your friend, maybe they are just rude, and believe me, there are most definitely rude people in California. But the exact way you described the west, makes it completely contradictory to say that locals are wary of outsiders.
You only get "locals who are wary of outsiders", if you have the majority of the people in an area are deeply rooted there. Because then outsiders exist. Even in Chicagoland, you have more welcome you are one of us now, in the areas that have more transplants. You certainly don't have it on the WASP north shore, nor the Polish-Irish "da Bears" southwest side. You get in the north side of the city, as well as the west and northwest suburbs where you have major employment centers, etc. in areas like Schaumburg and Naperville.
It's because that poster has no idea what they are talking about. Probably came to LA on vacation a couple times and now he/she is an "expert". Seriously some of the things LakeShore says about LA would be impossible to know without having lived here, such as the posts on this thread.
I can assure you, if we were still in L.A. we would care. I can't believe a city like L.A. doesn't have a NFL team...
As for which is better, L>A. of Chic, I would choose L.A. just because of the weather, I would choose Chic for the Pizza.
because L.A. refuses to use public-funds, taxpayer dollars to foot the bill for a Professional Sports venue, arena, meanwhile other cities are okay with it
It seems like there's alot more interest in Chicago to LA, than LA to Chicago.
I personally like Chicago a lot, but it just doesn't have nowhere near the same vibe as LA. It's a great city in its own right. It is sort of funny how you see cornfields in the suburbs though (even Schaumburg, which isn't that far out). For being as international as it is, it just feels like this midwestern giant.
Another thing I've noticed...Chicago seems to look down on Milwaukee (they only praise Summerfest), but LA doesn't seem to look down on San Diego. I thought that was interesting.
If your expecting a true city in LA, you'll be wondering where it is.
Hot weather year around is overrated.
LA lacks so much to make it feel like a real city. I drove through wilshire at night to get a feel, and sadly I didn;t find much vibrancy until I hit the tourist trap known as Hollywood Blvd.
That's the only downside to LA is that often times people dont appreciate the actual city parts of L.A. Everyone has this suburb mentality.
It seems like there's alot more interest in Chicago to LA, than LA to Chicago.
I personally like Chicago a lot, but it just doesn't have nowhere near the same vibe as LA. It's a great city in its own right. It is sort of funny how you see cornfields in the suburbs though (even Schaumburg, which isn't that far out). For being as international as it is, it just feels like this midwestern giant.
Another thing I've noticed...Chicago seems to look down on Milwaukee (they only praise Summerfest), but LA doesn't seem to look down on San Diego. I thought that was interesting.
Great post and e very observant. That is one of the things I can not STAND about Chicago, and why I couldn't take it anywhere, despite the fact I grew up in the suburbs.
You are SO correct about LA - SD, versus Chicago - Milwaukee. When the larger city values and does not look down upon, and loves to visit the smaller city, that shows its residents are very comfortable in their own skin.
You are correct, in saying that even as huge of a center of commerce as Schaumburg, there are a couple farm fields scattered about (between I-90, Roselle, south of Algonquin (near Harper College) for example is a larg. Not that there is anything wrong with that, theres a certain beauty, but come on, people out will claim to be FROM Chicago, and more sophisticated than Des Moines. Thats what irks me.
Here is a perfect article as to what I am talking about. About Jay Chandrasekkar.
Haven't read the whole thread, so don't stone me if I say something redundant. Two things: You DO have to conform in Chicago. You cannot forget that you're in the Midwest when you're here, which honestly surprised me. I thought it would have a big city vibe, but it has a Midwest vibe, but with a lot of people in it. Seriously, if you just made Minneapolis bigger, it'd be Chicago. Same mentality.
Born and raised in LA, live in Chicago. I'm ready to go home.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
