# Chicago **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 27, 2010, 9:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicago/555198 "2010-09-27T09:20:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2010, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicago/555198/61 "2010-09-29T03:51:44Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > Let me be more specific. **For the purposes of this poll**. should I say I did or didn’t live in Chicago? Yes, of course. (Your response wasn’t up when I wrote my response above.) ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2010, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicago/555198/62 "2010-09-29T03:55:01Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > Chicagoans are not overly fond of suburbanites. It is not outright hostility but a Chicagoan loathes hanging out at in the areas suburbanites like to frequent (in particular Rush St.). Cubs games suck because they are overwhelmed by suburbanites who come in and act like jack asses. Huh. This is not my observation or feeling at all. At all. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2010, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicago/555198/63 "2010-09-29T04:01:18Z")
Well, some Chicagoans are touchier. I grew up in Harvey, which is a very tough blue collar place, and I didn’t really form relationships with any actual Chicago folk (outside of other family) until I was in college in Champaign. And by and large they drew a pretty bright line right at… 95th St? (Was that the southern line – I haven’t lived there since 1976, so my details are getting a little fuzzy). I wasn’t “down state” but I wasn’t “Chicago” either. It was kinda like the old Catholic Limbo. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2010, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicago/555198/64 "2010-09-29T04:14:45Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > Well, some Chicagoans are touchier. I grew up in Harvey, which is a very tough blue collar place, and I didn’t really form relationships with any actual Chicago folk (outside of other family) until I was in college in Champaign. And by and large they drew a pretty bright line right at… 95th St? (Was that the southern line – I haven’t lived there since 1976, so my details are getting a little fuzzy). I wasn’t “down state” but I wasn’t “Chicago” either. It was kinda like the old Catholic Limbo. Chicago goes a bit ways farther than 95th Street. I went to school on 99th (Brother Rice, Chicago Catholic League high school), and that was still Chicago proper. Looking at a map of Hegewisch, it looks to me like the southernmost boundary of Chicago is 138th Street. edit: And I don’t think there’ that much difference between Harvey and, say, south side Chicago. Personally, I don’t think there’s that much difference between Chicago and suburbs, but moreso a difference between North Side and South Side. For example, I feel Oak Lawn, Burbank, Palos Hills, etc., all may as well be part of Southwest Side Chicago proper–there’s little cultural difference there. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2010, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicago/555198/65 "2010-09-29T04:33:13Z")
Okay, looking at a map, I see that. I see that Riverdale extends north of that line, and I thought it was a separate town, but according to Wiki it’s actually part of Chicago. So now I wonder where I got the 95th st. I think it was from my dad. I wonder if Chicago expanded at all in the last 50-60 years? I don’t recall ever hearing of such a thing. Maybe it was something odd like the CTA only went down that far. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2010, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicago/555198/66 "2010-09-29T04:49:08Z")
> [@Sigmagirl](#): > > Love the architecture. As a visitor, found it difficult to get around. Really? Before my wife and I moved to Chicago, we visited often and always found it easy to get around via the L and buses. > [@suranyi](#): > > My wife is from there. Her parents and two of her sisters still live there. So we go there to visit regularly. It’s a nice place. Give us a call the next time! > [@StusBlues](#): > > I concur on the friendliness. Culturally, Chicago isn’t really removed from the Midwest USA. I’ve never gotten a rude vibe there at all. It’s as friendly as anywhere I’ve ever been. This includes small cities and towns that USED to be friendly but have gotten decidedly prickly over the past 20 years. The big city with a Midwestern feel was one of the reasons we moved from Kansas City to Chicago. > [@HazelNutCoffee](#): > > Chicagoans, in general, have never been anything but friendly to me. I’ve even been offered a free joint on the El. Can’t get any friendlier than that. Well, I did once: …get a hand-job on a Kansas City bus. That was pretty friendly. > [@Kyla](#): > > I plain old do not believe the cite that Chicago is the fourth-most expensive city in the US. That cite has Chicago being more expensive than San Francisco. I’m originally from San Francisco, and I can _guarantee you_ that Chicago is cheaper to live in. That cite says that “In Chicago, the fourth-most-expensive city in the United States, the average monthly rent for a two-bedroom apartment is $2,500.” We rent a 3 bedroom apartment in a very unfashionable neighborhood of Chicago for $950 a month. And no, I am not going to mention which one. It is cheap because it is unfashionable and we want to keep it that way. But we picked it because lots of businesses had signs in languages other than English. > [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > Does living in the burbs count as living in chicago? No. To explain, living in most suburbs means living in an area that is going to be the same as similar suburbs around any other major American city. A friend moved from Lenexa, a Kansas City suburb, to a Chicago suburb. He was the same distance from the same selection of franchise shops and restaurants as in his old neighborhood. Other than the existence of the Metra, he might as well not have moved. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2010, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicago/555198/67 "2010-09-29T04:51:26Z")
Obviously you’ve never seen Harvey. In any case, I await a ruling from the OP. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2010, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicago/555198/68 "2010-09-29T04:52:50Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > > [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > > > Chicagoans are not overly fond of suburbanites. It is not outright hostility but a Chicagoan loathes hanging out at in the areas suburbanites like to frequent (in particular Rush St.). Cubs games suck because they are overwhelmed by suburbanites who come in and act like jack asses. > > Huh. This is not my observation or feeling at all. At all. Doubtless some Chicagoans like to hang on Rush and Division. I don’t know any. I mean sure a Chicagoan will and does go there on occasion for various reasons but I know nobody when deciding to go out who suggests partying on Rush and Division. If they have lived in the city for any decent length of time a zillion other places suggest themselves. If you do like to hang there look me up and I will show you many, many better places to hang out. Although if you tell me you want to hang out at Excalibur I’m not talking to you (that or I will organize a Chicago Doper intervention on your behalf). 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2010, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicago/555198/69 "2010-09-29T05:16:24Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > While we can quibble on whether San Francisco is more expensive than Chicago I think it is safe to say Chicago is not exactly a cheap US city to live in as was suggested earlier. This is going to depend on your point of view, I suppose. It’s probably the cheapest place I’ve ever lived in the US. I was shocked (in a good way) by how easy it was to find inexpensive housing there. OTOH, when I moved there, I was roommates with a friend from Las Vegas, and she was shocked at how pricey rent was. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2010, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicago/555198/70 "2010-09-29T05:44:57Z")
Well, I’m moving to the city next month (Lincoln Square specifically), so yes, I love the city. I’ll just have to change my vote come November. > [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > > [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > > > Does living in the burbs count as living in chicago? > > Depends. > > If you live in the burbs and travel to New York (or somewhere a bit distant) then you say you live in Chicago. If you are in Chicago then you say you are from whatever suburb. > > I grew up in the burbs and unless I was around Chicago itself I’d just say I was from Chicago. > > Now, as a person who lives in the city itself and have for years if I hear someone say they are from Chicago I check to see if they mean the burbs. I am in favor of ending this practice when visiting everywhere else in Illinois, because frankly now everyone seems to think that when someone says they’re from Chicago, that they’re really from a suburb. I’ve spent the last month explaining that I’m moving to the _actual city_ of Chicago. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2010, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicago/555198/71 "2010-09-29T05:50:04Z")
> [@AlsoNamedBort](#): > > I am in favor of ending this practice when visiting everywhere else in Illinois, because frankly now everyone seems to think that when someone says they’re from Chicago, that they’re really from a suburb. I’ve spent the last month explaining that I’m moving to the _actual city_ of Chicago. “Living in Chicago” means “can see the Sears Tower from the roof of my building”. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2010, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicago/555198/72 "2010-09-29T07:13:11Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > Doubtless some Chicagoans like to hang on Rush and Division. I don’t know any. That’s probably the company you keep, then. Rush and Division is a mainstream, “fratty” part of Chicago to hang out in. It’s not exactly “hip” or “edgy.” I haven’t been in that area since my college years but, in my experience, it was more populated with city dwellers than it was suburbanites. The people I used to go down there with, all three of them lived in Chicago proper. Same with Wrigley. Similar crowd in certain respects. I don’t find it particularly suburban. Perhaps skewed a bit high towards the fratboy/Trixie Wrigleyville or Lincoln Park types, but not suburban. In my experience, it’s not the suburbanites that are the jackasses. ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2010, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicago/555198/73 "2010-11-04T19:56:44Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > “Living in Chicago” means “can see the Sears Tower from the roof of my building”. That’s a good distinction. When I lived in Urbana, many of the foreign-born folks would tell their friends back home they lived in Chicago. This always struck me as odd, but it had a certain cachet worldwide, where the word “Chicago” most often equals “Al Capone.” ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Midnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@Captain\_Midnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Midnight)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2010, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicago/555198/74 "2010-11-05T03:24:05Z")
My parents lived there in the 1950’s and loved it. They were from Iowa and Chicago was probably the first “big city” they lived in. The only thing they said that sucked about Chicago was the cold and snow. Possibly if the city had a more temperate climate, they would of stayed there. Sometimes I wish they did (because the city they moved to, Memphis Tennessee really sucks a dick). I went to Chicago with my parents as a kid and I was amazed on how large it was and the size of the buildings. Part of me would like to live there because of the sports, food, nightlife and museums, but the freezing ass cold, blizzard snows, boring landscapes, and the crime would deter me somewhat. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2010, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicago/555198/75 "2010-11-05T14:45:36Z")
I haven’t lived in Chicago in over 10 years (and by “in Chicago” I mean, variously, Evanston, Wheeling, and Arlington Heights – although I worked downtown for much of the time). But this thread is making me homesick. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2010, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicago/555198/76 "2010-11-05T14:50:23Z")
> [@Skammer](#): > > I haven’t lived in Chicago in over 10 years (and by “in Chicago” I mean, variously, Evanston, Wheeling, and Arlington Heights – although I worked downtown for much of the time). But this thread is making me homesick. I spent the first 18 years of my life about 20 blocks outside of the city lines, and still don’t really consider I lived in Chicago. I lived in Harvey, which is tougher than Chicago. Harvey is the Gary of Illinois. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2010, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicago/555198/77 "2010-11-05T14:57:35Z")
I know what you mean, and when I lived there I didn’t claim to live in Chicago. But I can’t exactly say I’m nostalgic for Wheeling. And it fits the “see the Sears Tower from here” definition. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2010, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicago/555198/78 "2010-11-05T15:00:21Z")
Yeah, I could see the Sears Tower from my front yard, clearer than Sarah Palin could see Russia. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicago/555198.md?page=3)