# People's perceptions of Illinois and their residents **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 18, 2003, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peoples-perceptions-of-illinois-and-their-residents/155771 "2003-02-18T01:28:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![jellen92](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/6bbea6/32.png) [@jellen92](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jellen92)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2003, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peoples-perceptions-of-illinois-and-their-residents/155771/41 "2003-02-18T18:17:46Z")
I happen to live in Chicago, but moved here from my homeland of Iowa… so needless to say it is quite exciting compared to the latter. Most midwestern states have the same types of people (excluding big cities) - hard working, humble, modest, and decent . Not the most exciting people in the world, and there is definitely the time-warp going on when I go back to visit. I could never move back, but appreciate the differences in those kinds of people. It’s nice to be around people every now and then that are simple and comforting. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2003, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peoples-perceptions-of-illinois-and-their-residents/155771/42 "2003-02-18T18:43:12Z")
> [@](#): > > _Legomancer says:_ My vat of nutritive fluid is located in central Illinois. When we were first moving here, I would tell people I was moving to Illinois and they’d say, “Chicago?” When I said I wasn’t moving to Chicago, they were clearly all out of ideas. I think most people have a hard time coming up with place names in Illinois that aren’t Chicago. People talk about Peoria a lot but not as a real place. Springfield is, of course, where the Simpsons live. My wife is from So.Ill. and we own a house in Du Quoin (where my MIL lives). When we tell anyone in California about our trips to Illinois, they always ask in relation to Chicago. We tell them we’re so far south, we fly into St. Louis to drive to the house, and have gotten used to describing Southern Illinois as “think…Kentucky”. ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2003, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peoples-perceptions-of-illinois-and-their-residents/155771/43 "2003-02-18T18:46:11Z")
If it weren’t for the weather, Chicago would be a top tourist spot and a great place to live. Unfortunately, there is the weather…hot and humid in the summer, cold and windy in the winter. I grew up in a small town 80 miles SW of Chicago. As a kid, my mantra while mowing the grass was, “I have to get out of here. I have to get out of here. I have to get out of here.” The day after I graduated from SIU, I left Illinois for good. Still have family back there, but sorry - the only way I would move back would be at gunpoint. I did, however, like what Gov. Ryan did regarding the parden of death row inmates. I am not against the death penalty, but knowing how corrupt the police in Illinois are, I can assure you there were more than one or two falsely imprisoned guys on death row. To paraphrase and old joke: The best thing to come out of Illinois is Interstate 80. ---
**Author:** ![Lorenzo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4da419/32.png) [@Lorenzo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lorenzo)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2003, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peoples-perceptions-of-illinois-and-their-residents/155771/44 "2003-02-18T18:55:30Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by carnivorousplant \* > \*\*It’s cold up there. Very cold. > > Huckleberry and Jim were trying to get to Cairo, but missed the steamboat landing in the weather. > > My Grandmother was from Illinois. > > How do you pronounce “Cairo”? > We pronounce it like the city in Egypt down here. \*\* Near Cairo, most pronounce it “Kay-ro,” like the syrup. ---
**Author:** ![MSU\_1978](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac8455/32.png) [@MSU\_1978](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MSU_1978)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2003, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peoples-perceptions-of-illinois-and-their-residents/155771/45 "2003-02-18T19:03:49Z")
We think of Illinois as a southern state and your weather is too darn hot. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2003, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peoples-perceptions-of-illinois-and-their-residents/155771/46 "2003-02-18T19:46:54Z")
Thanks. Lorenzo. ---
**Author:** ![Ego\_Mk2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/58956e/32.png) [@Ego\_Mk2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ego_Mk2)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2003, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peoples-perceptions-of-illinois-and-their-residents/155771/47 "2003-02-18T20:00:54Z")
Illinois people drive like bats out of hell when not in Illinois, and like blue haired grannies when in Illinois. ---
**Author:** ![Lorenzo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4da419/32.png) [@Lorenzo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lorenzo)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2003, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peoples-perceptions-of-illinois-and-their-residents/155771/48 "2003-02-18T20:58:07Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Lenny \* > \*\*Ill-annoy does not allow its citizens to carry handguns. They are not free to protect themselves from violent criminals. It is amazing to me that the areas that have revoked the right of citizens to defend themselves are also the areas that have the highest violent crime rates. > And the drivers have earned the state citizenry nickname of FIB(\*\*\*\*ing Illinois Bastard). They’re the worst. \*\* > > Welcome to the SDMB. > > \*\*Ill-annoy does not allow its citizens to carry handguns. \*\* > > Actually, the cities of Oak Park and Chicago have gun control laws, but there are no such state laws; such laws would be impossible to pass in conservative “Downstate” Illinois. > > \*\* It is amazing to me that the areas that have revoked the right of citizens to defend themselves are also the areas that have the highest violent crime rates. \*\* > > Citation? > > \*\*And the drivers have earned the state citizenry nickname of FIB(\*\*\*\*ing Illinois Bastard). They’re the worst. \*\* You have tarred with a broad brush, my friend. ---
**Author:** ![lovelee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@lovelee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lovelee)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2003, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peoples-perceptions-of-illinois-and-their-residents/155771/49 "2003-02-19T04:32:11Z")
I live in Illinois, and have for my whole life, so I’m not what you’d call an impartial witness. Yes, the winters do suck. Yes, summer is wicked evil humid. And, darn it, it’s really flat. (I’m in central IL). We also have much fun (hurk) with urban sprawl. As a kid, however, I got to detassel corn. And I wasn’t a farm kid either. 🙂 I caught bluegills on a cane pole using worms I dug up in the backyard. I saw white-tail deer out my back window, using the salt lick my parents put out for them. I made plaster footprints of raccoons, muskrats, geese, and other assorted wildlife. I’m less than 3 hours from Chicago, St. Louis, and Indy. My town is home to several colleges and several large companies. And in the autumn, the leaves are beautiful along the Spoon River Valley. ---
**Author:** ![Shadez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/90ced4/32.png) [@Shadez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shadez)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2003, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peoples-perceptions-of-illinois-and-their-residents/155771/50 "2003-02-19T04:46:23Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Intaglio \* > \*\* > The only thing I know is, having visited several times, IL is in a time warp, nothing ever changes. \*\* :eek: Try being in Will County. I got to watch all the fields near us where I used to let my dog run free (with dad’s help) turned into major housing places. Heck, we even moved a few blocks down into one of them after a while. We’re losing all our farms. So at least _that_ is changing! Shadez ---
**Author:** ![lel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8797f3/32.png) [@lel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lel)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2003, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peoples-perceptions-of-illinois-and-their-residents/155771/51 "2003-02-19T04:55:10Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Shadez \* > \*\*:eek: Try being in Will County. I got to watch all the fields near us where I used to let my dog run free (with dad’s help) turned into major housing places. Heck, we even moved a few blocks down into one of them after a while. We’re losing all our farms. So at least _that_ is changing! > \*\* Sorry for the aside, but is that more a problem in the northern and eastern parts of Will County? Isn’t the southern part still a bit less developed? I also thought of more about Illinois – rivers. There’s a lot of rivers in that state. ---
**Author:** ![FranticMad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c68b51/32.png) [@FranticMad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FranticMad)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2003, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peoples-perceptions-of-illinois-and-their-residents/155771/52 "2003-02-19T05:05:25Z")
Never think of them at all. Nothing personal. ---
**Author:** ![Qwisp](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qwisp/32/397_2.png) [@Qwisp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qwisp)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2003, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peoples-perceptions-of-illinois-and-their-residents/155771/53 "2003-02-19T05:40:48Z")
Hey! At least we’re not IOWA!!! **Shadez** I agree 100% with you about Will County. Used to be corn fields everywhere, now there are neighborhoods and overcrowded schools ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Geshtal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a9a28c/32.png) [@Geshtal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Geshtal)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2003, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peoples-perceptions-of-illinois-and-their-residents/155771/54 "2003-02-20T18:50:06Z")
> [@](#): > > Sorry for the aside, but is that more a problem in the northern and eastern parts of Will County? Isn’t the southern part still a bit less developed? Close. Northern and western parts of Will County. Joliet, my city, is probably the biggest gobbler of farm land in Chicagoland. Heck, we’re even literally spilling over into other counties. While eastern Will County is losing farmland too, I’m always surprised how much simply unused land they have. Not a farm or a housing project, just an empty plot of land until a gas station or something moves in. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peoples-perceptions-of-illinois-and-their-residents/155771.md?page=2)