Thinking today about my college days at a state university in Illinois, I remember that probably nine in ten of the peole I met, when asked where they were from, answered with some suburb of Chicago or another. In getting to know these folks better, I learned the same thing from almost all of them: going into “The City” was regarded by their parents as a huge pain in the ass, to be avoided at all costs. One woman said that she remembered going to the Museum of Science and Industry once on a field trip in 5th Grade. Another said that her dad took her to his office once. For both women that was the beginning and the end of their time spent in The Windy City. And their stories were representative of those of other people I met from the Chicago 'burbs.
You adult Dopers who live in the 'burbs: not counting work, how often do you go into The City? Do you regard it as a huge pain in the ass (when it comes to going there with your kids or whatever)?
When I lived in the D/FW area I rarely ever went to Dallas for anything other than work. I could pretty much find whatever I needed in Plano or Richardson that I could get in Dallas. Going into Dallas wasn’t a huge pain in the ass, but there was no reason to go most of the time. Now that I live in the central Arkansas region, I go into Little Rock frequently. I do a lot of my shopping there, whether for clothes, groceries, or nerd stuff, and it’s not at all a pain to get to.
Parking and traffic come to mind first, but not all US cities are the same. Like Houston, I hear, is so spread out that finding a parking spot is rarely an issue. No so for Chicago.
It strongly depends on the situation. When I was in high school I went into New York all the time, since it was just a bus and subway ride away on days when I couldn’t get a ride with my father to the UN and walk the rest of the way. But I had motivation - my favorite used book store was in the East Village, and I was building my collection.
I used to go to San Francisco all the time, for shows and to do walking tours from a set of flash cards, and to see the Christmas lights. But I haven’t been since Covid. I really need to again.
Silver Spring MD, just outside DC. Couple of times a month maybe, to DC proper (technically the border is a couple of miles from me, but I wouldn’t call that proper DC it’s a suburb slightly closer and without democratic representation;) ). I have loads of kids though, which makes going out in the city challenging (trips to kids museums or other kids attractions are one of main reasons)
I go into Sacramento probably once every couple of months. Typically just if there’s something like a concert or some other event I want to attend. I usually try to use public transpiration if possibly to save the trouble of parking downtown, although really parking in downtown Sac isn’t that bad; there are major garages located near most of the places I go.
I’m over an hour from Seattle, (60 minute ferry plus loading and unloading, or 70 mile drive) I’d say we average once per week. Tomorrow I’m going over for a haircut.
For a “big city” Milwaukee isn’t very big at all. Only a little over half a million and very condensed. Milwaukee County is the third smallest county in the state. Some of the other cities are intertwined with Milwaukee
So there are many times you think you’re in Milwaukee proper but are actually in one of its surrounding cities. This is especially true of Wauwatosa, West Allis, and West Milwaukee.
My daughter lives in Wauwatosa. To get to her home I have to drive through Milwaukee, into Wauwatosa, then into Milwaukee again, then into 'Tosa again, all on the same road!
I live in West Allis ('Stallis) and to get to work I have to cross through Milwaukee and back into WA and then back out.
So we’re in Milwaukee almost everyday even if it’s not our final destination.
Same here. Until I retired I went there for work, but now it’s probably not more than 2-3 times a month, most often for a Nationals game. I go into Takoma DC pretty often for pet supplies, but that hardly counts as “the city.”
Grew up near Chicago and went in a couple times a year as a child then a couple times a month as a young adult. I live in the DC suburbs now and probably go into the city once a month.
Greater Miami (~6.4M people) consists of three counties lined up in a row north / south along the shoreline: Miami-Dade (~2.7M people) in the south, Broward (~2.0M people) in the middle, and Palm Beach (~1.5M people) in the north. Each county has a real central city and a real “downtown” in that central city; Miami (~450K people), Ft. Lauderdale (~185K people), and West Palm Beach (~120K people) respectively.
I live near the shore sorta in the middle north/south wise, ~20 miles from one downtown and ~45 miles from the other two.
I get to one or another city proper (usually to downtown or nearby) about every 10 days. For entertainment, dining, travel, etc. I cannot imagine living in a 'burb and never using the city center(s) that makes it all possible.
Montreal - family trips “downtown” at Christmas in the 1950s - an hour long streetcar ride. I still live in the same neighborhood (about 5 miles from downtown), but now it’s only a 15 minute train ride and a short walk. I still go 2 to 4 times a week - there are still lots of stores and restaurants.
For the past 37 years, I’ve in the western suburbs of Chicago, and worked downtown for most of that time – but that’s excluded from the question.
Over those 37 years, I probably averaged going into the city 3 to 8 times a year for non-work purposes – some years a bit more, some years a bit less. The typical reasons I’d be going into Chicago are: meeting up with friends for lunch or dinner, going to a museum, a play, or a concert, visiting friends who lived in the city, or going to a sporting event.
And, yes, it’s usually a pain in the ass. Traffic is usually awful on at least one way of the trip, parking is always hard to find (if out in the neighborhoods) or stupidly expensive (if downtown). Plus, if you didn’t realize that you were choosing to go into Chicago happened to coincide with one of the city’s innumerable festivals and special events, it makes getting in and out even worse.
A corner case that does add to my “trips to Chicago”: O’Hare is within the city’s limits (though it’s this strange island off to the city’s northwestern edge), so, every flight I’ve been on that went through ORD put me into Chicago as part of the process. Most of those were for work, but there were vacations and personal trips (fewer of those in recent years), which I tried to include in the totals above.
That gets me to wondering how often my daughter and her wife go from the city to the suburbs. The only reason they ever do is to see the inlaws in Naperville, so I would guess every month or two maybe? When I lived in Brooklyn I’m sure I went months without ever leaving the five boroughs. For that matter, I probably went months without going anywhere besides Brooklyn or Manhattan except during baseball season. When I met my wife I went into The Bronx a little more often since she worked there.
I live in an extreme suburb of San Diego but usually drive once a week right now to visit people I know. However all my relatives live in LA suburbs so naturally go 100 miles in the other direction to see them once a week. These habits are getting less frequent due to increasing prices.
I think we need to pin down some definitions some more, here. I’m in the suburbs of Cleveland, and my job is in the city of Cleveland, but my job is further from the city center and in a “more suburban” neighborhood. Am I “going into The City” when I go to work? And my mom also lives inside the Cleveland city limits, closer to the center of the city than me, but in a residential neighborhood of houses on fairly large lots. When I go visit her twice a week, am I going into The City?
I very rarely have occasion to go downtown, but there’s a lot more to a city than downtown.
I noticed the people who go to “the city” frequently are expressing an attitude along the lines of “If I live near a major city I should take advantage of all it has to offer”. Which makes me wonder if there’s a correlation with being the type of person who enjoys “going out” in general. I, personally, am not really the sort of person who enjoys going out to bars / nightclubs / trendy restaurants every single weekend. Like I said, if there’s an event I really want to go to I will go to the city, otherwise I’m content staying home and watching Netflix.
