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I want to live in Chicago.

Jill

Everything cool is happening there. YearlyKos. Pitchfork music festival. BlogHer. Damn. At least I’m one for three. And I’m sure there’s lots of other stuff happening in the windy city this summer — stuff that’s so cool, I don’t even know about it.

So for all of you Chicagoans: I have a serious case of city-envy.

29 thoughts on I want to live in Chicago.

  1. I don’t blame you one bit. Chicago rawks baby!

    And Blogher will rawk way more than YK..for one, I’ll be at Blogher and two, I won’t be at YK. ha!

  4. Yea… us Chicagoans are pretty damn cool.

    And don’t forget things like Blues Fest.

    Or even better, Jazz Fest.

    Or if you like ridiculous crowds, overpriced tickets, and trendy bands sprinkled around the random great act, we have Lollapolooza.

  5. I grew up a Midwesterner, and though I’m not a Chicagoan (I’m originally from a Certain Rival City To The East), Chicago is one of my favorite cities ever. It’s “our” metropolis.

    Anyone who thinks that 1) the Midwest is not diverse or 2) that the Midwest is no fun has never been to Chicago. It’s not without its problems, like any large city anywhere in America, but there’s a lot to recommend it. If I had to move away from where I am now (a place I love dearly), Chicago would be near or at the top of my list of places to go to.

  6. yeah, i loved living in chicago, til rent got too high and i had to leave the city to live in rural illinois where there arent any jobs.

    gentrification has not been kind to chicago, in my opinion. all the places i used to love have been overrun by white baseball-hatted fratboys and girls with neon orange fake tans.

    i only sound bitter cos i am.

  7. Don’t every envy Chicago. On a good day this city makes you want to cry. Did you know that the mayor’s old neighborhood is separated from slums by a freeway that his father (also the mayor) put there to keep blacks geographically segregated? Did you know that its starting to look like our mayor knew that police were torturing suspects with car batteries as standard procedure when he was the DA? Did you know that the mayor’s brother is married to the daughter of a prominent gangster? This is a city in which traffic enforcers are sent out to generate revenue because the city is nearly bankrupt from all the sweetheart public works projects being done in white neighborhoods (while black neighborhoods look like Baghdad unless they’re about to be gentrified) by contractors who are politically connected by way of outfit connections. The corruption in this city is the worst in the country, hands down.

    And thats just the official horrors. Go outside of the tourist areas and you get to the widespread racism that infects this city. You get to police who are as violent as they are corrupt. You get to schools that have completely given up on kids that weren’t lucky enough to make it into a magnet program or a private school.

    jessilikewhoa: Don’t blame anything on gentrification. All gentrification has done was made working class white neighborhoods become middle class white neighborhoods. It hasn’t created any problems, just shifted them around a little bit.

  8. That’s funny, because yesterday (a beautifully sunny, not-oppressively humid July day) I was cruising down Clark St where it abuts Lincoln Park, and I was thinking “this is nice…but if I could afford it, I’d move to New York.”

    But I’m becoming a big fan of my neighborhood, Rogers Park. Maybe I should just never go south of Devon.

  9. That’s funny, because yesterday (a beautifully sunny, not-oppressively humid July day) I was cruising down Clark St where it abuts Lincoln Park, and I was thinking “this is nice…but if I could afford it, I’d move to New York.”

    Ha. Yeah, I wouldn’t leave New York for Chicago, but I do with I was able to fly out there for the three weeks at the end of July/beginning of August. That’s when all the cool stuff is happening.

  10. william says:
    “jessilikewhoa: Don’t blame anything on gentrification. All gentrification has done was made working class white neighborhoods become middle class white neighborhoods. It hasn’t created any problems, just shifted them around a little bit. ”

    i dont kno about that, i cant even afford to live in humbolt park or pilsen at this point, and those arent exactly white neighborhoods. what about logan square? what about down on division where they tore down public housing and instead built luxury condos? sounds alot like gentrification to me. and i left the city before the com-ed rate hike. i cant imagine even trying to live there now. at this point the city just isnt hospitable to the working poor unless youre willing to work yourself to death just to get by.

    but yes,chicago police are brutal, i swear not a day goes by where i turn on cltv and i dont hear about the cops shooting someone, or beating someone. the city definitely has a history of corruption, and despite being a racially diverse city, there isnt alot of dialogue going on between groups of disenfranchised people. while chicago has political activism, it seems to take place in small pockets, not in a more bold in your face way the way i see in west coast liberal cities.

    10 years ago chicago wasnt the never ending spring break it is now. when i graduated highschool in the late 90s alot of all-american white kids were still afraid of the city beyond the confines of the mag mile, and some were even still afraid of the mag mile. when i told my rural illinois classmates i was moving to chicago they couldnt grasp why. now, having finished university, alot of those classmates are living in wicker park.

    despite its flaws tho, i do miss chicago. i miss living in a place where it is an option to bike to work or take public transportation, i miss living in a place where there is diversity, i miss living in a place where i dont regularly see pickups drive by bearing massive confederate flags, i miss steady employment.

    and im not even that rural! half an hour south of joliet isnt exactly central illinois, but, alot is lost out here amongst the corn.

  11. Ugh. Another midwesterner, but I absolutely can’t stand Chicago. It’s dirty, ugly, and smells bad. And all the cool events and decent shows in the world can’t make up for the fact that the overall culture there sucks.

    I much prefer Minneapolis. And Detroit.

  12. I much prefer Minneapolis. And Detroit.

    As one who grew up a Detroiter, I never thought I’d ever hear anyone say that. Things are looking up. 🙂

  13. I much prefer Minneapolis. And Detroit.

    And Madison. As cosmopolitan as Minneapolis, much greener than Detroit, and with a ton of students to keep life interesting. Plus, Chicago’s only two and a half hours away in good traffic. 🙂

  14. I’m originally from Grand Rapids, MI. I used to hate Detroit. I was there this past June for the Allied Media Conference and fell in love with the place. It’s got a pretty happening activist “scene” going on at the moment, which is one of the primary things I look for in a city.

  15. 10 years ago chicago wasnt the never ending spring break it is now. when i graduated highschool in the late 90s alot of all-american white kids were still afraid of the city beyond the confines of the mag mile, and some were even still afraid of the mag mile.

    That’s hilarious, but I know you’re right. I’ve actually known a couple of people like that.

  16. And Madison. As cosmopolitan as Minneapolis, much greener than Detroit, and with a ton of students to keep life interesting. Plus, Chicago’s only two and a half hours away in good traffic. 🙂

    It’s weird to hear of how other people view cities. I love Minneapolis not because it’s cosmopolitan, but because it is basically the punk rock Mecca of the midwest.

  17. I have lived in Chicago my whole life. The “stats” given here regarding Chicago are about 20 years late and are based on one neighborhood.

    The “Suburban people moving to the city” thing really started in the 1980’s. Rush Street was huge in the 80’s…Wrigleyville has been a frat house since the late 1970’s. It is not a new idea whatsoever.

    The “white baseball-hatted fratboys and girls with neon orange fake tans” make up one neighborhood…one. Chicago has so many diverse neighborhoods and these “white baseball-hatted fratboys and girls with neon orange fake tans” are not welcome in any neighborhoods but their own.

    It is funny when a young person experiences something new, they make it sound like they were the first ever to experience it.

    Everything about political corruption and police brutality are right on. It happens…everyday.

    Props to Rogers Park…you can walk down Devon Ave. for 5 blocks and catch 15 difference types of cuisine. And none of them have anything to do with “white baseball-hatted fratboys and girls with neon orange fake tans”.

  18. Jessilikewhoa: Theres still the east side, the far south side, south west, you could have moved out to the northwest side (if you can stomach the worst white Chicago has to offer). There are still affordable places in Chicago, just not in the neighborhoods that are getting trendy. I know gentrification is a popular whipping boy, but no one really likes to ask how it happens. Big evil developers don’t move in and force out the working poor, young singles do. They move to areas like Pilsen and Humbolt because they can afford it and because they’re close to the bar scenes they’re interested in, thats what starts the ball rolling on gentrification. Pilsen and Humbolt got popular because Wicker Park, Bucktown, and Logan Square got too expensive. Those neighborhoods became popular because Lincoln Park, Lakeview, and Wrigley became too expensive. You can trace it back to when Old Town and Streeterville came back to life about 30 years ago.

    Also, I think you’re a little off about how Chicago was 10 years ago. I’ve lived here my entire life and, while its always been a case of good block/bad block, I think you might have your suburban goggles on. The point is that people were afraid of Chicago (and still are), not that they had a valid reason to be. You mentioned the mag mile, but even 10 years ago you had to go pretty far from the Mag mile to really hit anything seedy. Even then, I remember being in high school in the 90s and driving out to the south side at 3 AM because we were stoned and wanted ribs. The only people who ever really gave us any trouble were police who assumed any white person in a black neighborhood was looking to buy drugs.

  19. But it’s so cold! And my mum had a friend with a tenure-track professorship at UChicago, not chopped liver for a woman under 30, who was constantly hoping to be able to leave becaue she hated the city so much (last we heard she had managed to get a tenure track professorship at her grad school alma mater–Columbia). And it’s cold. And the scariest thing I’ve ever heard of happening to a friend of a friend happened in Chicago (at like 6 in the evening too!).

    Plus, we have Siren this weekend! that’s kinda cool, and maybe even less obnoxious than Pitchfork.

  20. are people still afraid of chicago? seriously?

    and i think youre overestimating my income, i was willing to live anywhere in the city that had reasonable access to public transportation, and couldnt find a thing i could afford with my tips. maybe our definitions of working poor vary. im talking foodstamps, not trustfund.

    as to the idea that the fratboys and fake tans are in one neighborhood, hardly. 10 years ago, yeah, one neighborhood, wrigleyville. now, all over the city. have you walked through wickerpark in the evening? nicks beer garden isnt exactly packed with artists. hell, 15 years ago my boyfriends father was still being shot at in bucktown. 10 years ago i knew single mothers raising kids on modest incomes on division. now i kno single mothers in pilsen who cant afford the rent and a babysitter so they can get to work.

    maybe what i say isnt statistics but anectdotal, but id kindly like you to take back those “suburban goggles” you placed on me, as i havent lived in a suburb since my mother and father split up and my mother couldnt afford the burbs anymore, when i was in 3rd grade. im rural american farmstock thx bunches.

  21. miranda says “I love Minneapolis not because it’s cosmopolitan, but because it is basically the punk rock Mecca of the midwest.”

    totally agree, ive visited minneapolis a few times and the place has a fantastic vibe. ill never get over the way downtown is all connected with the enclosed walkways tho, its a smart idea, with those minneapolis winters, but its just odd to me, as an outsider.

  22. There are dozens and dozens of neighborhoods in the city of Chicago. The aforementioned “frat boys and fake tans” are in their own neighborhoods. They are not everywhere. I do not have an exact number of neighborhoods they have invaded…but does it really matter?

    The point was that there are more neighborhoods where you will not find them compared to the neighborhoods that you will find them.

    If you are going to sum up the City of Chicago as filled with “Frat Boys and Fake Tans”….man…I have to agree with the “Suburban Goggles” angle.

  23. And Madison. As cosmopolitan as Minneapolis, much greener than Detroit, and with a ton of students to keep life interesting. Plus, Chicago’s only two and a half hours away in good traffic. 🙂

    Yeah, but you might run into Prof. Althouse. *shudder*

  24. Yeah, but you might run into Prof. Althouse. *shudder*

    Well, y’know, with the whole world revolving around her, it’s almost inevitable, no matter where you are.

  26. I love Chicago, many ugly warts and all. Sure, there are fratty/fake tan assholes, but find me a city without some group of well-off younguns thinking they are entitled to the world and everything in it.

    Chicago is about what you find when you look beyond the bad stuff — and when you look beyond the bad stuff, Chicago has a lot more good stuff than many other places. Everyone who loves Chicago knows it’s got a lot of problems. Its history is brutal and horrifying and interesting and transcendant. Its present is corrupt and hopeful and bountiful and inequitable. I love that it’s “the city that works” — because it does work, after a fashion, and because the city and everyone in it works their asses off, knowing that we’ve still got a long ways to go. Chicago is a beloved curmudgeon of a city, and it will always be my home, no matter where I live, but for now I live here still.

  27. The thing about Chicago is that it’s run by one very shrewd dictator. Basically, as long as Daley keeps the city clean and doesn’t screw up the lakefront, he can get away with stealing millions and millions of dollars. No one cares here.

    So, with that being said, if you’re visiting Chicago, I highly highly recommending Millennium Park. It explains Chicago politics perfectly. Daley spent $500mil to build the park, but no one cares because it’s absolutely beautiful.

    That’s Chicago.

  28. For those of you who might visit Chicago, skip Millennium park. Its a half interesting fountain and a big reflective bean. If you’re looking for beauty you can walk 500 feet south and go into the Art Institute.

  29. Sweet home Chicago, I will be sad to leave you (it may be imminent).

    Y’all are centering this discussion on two very strange points– the crime/corruption, and the yuppies/trixies. Now, the crime/corruption is worth talking about (the yuppies probably are not), but my counterpoint to the discussion is to say, and say loudly:

    There’s a lot of meaningful activism in Chicago!!

    Yes, we’ve got problems. Big ones- that are largely about race and class. But let’s reframe the discussion about Chicago: the activist, grassroots, and other non-profit organizations in the city that work to counter these big problems are thriving. And innovative. And incredible. And they’re making a difference here in Chicago. And I’m proud to be a part of it, in whatever small ways I contribute.

    Let other folks define Chicago as the mayor, or the crime, or millennium park (which is decidedly awesome, but so are the south side murals if you like public art), or the Art Institute, or the LP trixies, or the gentrification. Take back your city and define it as you want to see it. And while you’re at it, check out the people’s atlas of Chicago project, which is doing just that.

    ps. Jill et al., there WILL be a feministe meet-up here in August, yes? pencil me in.

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