Are people from the coasts less impressed with Chicago?

[Badgers77]

As most of you know, I'm a Wisconsinite. Most people I know love Chicago. The ones who bash it and just mention how it's full of crime are usually the people who haven't been there all that much.

I personally love Chicago. I would like to live there in 10 years. With that said, many people I've talked to at UW-Madison from the coasts (especially East- there is a large East Coast student body) are simply, totally unimpressed with Chitown. And it's not just that Michigan Ave smells like a sewer.

Do you think this is how the US is as a whole? Are Chicago's high marks by fellow midwesterners just because we have "lower standards" if you will?

Serious discussion.

[Bond James Bond]

No.

[shane453]

I think the Middle part of the country in general does have lower standards. In order to qualify as a major city, you don't need a huge metro area. The coasts have New York, LA, Boston, and the Bay Area. The midwest has Chicago, MSP, Indianapolis, St Louis and Cincinnatti. Cities are naturally smaller in the Midwest than on the coasts.

Coastal cities are more important globally. Thus, Coastal persons could feel that they are just a little above central cities due to their importance in global trade and relations. Central cities are simply the local post offices of domestic trade.

Even so, Chicago is the King of the Midwest and domestically, it should be considered on the same level as NY and LA.

[Suburbanite]

Originally Posted by shane453

Coastal cities are more important globally. Thus, Coastal persons could feel that they are just a little above central cities due to their importance in global trade and relations. Central cities are simply the local post offices of domestic trade.

I don't think coastal cities are really more important, rather they are simply perceived as more important because the increased presence of celebrities and the media on the coasts. Of course, this is excepting NY which really is as important as it is made out to be.

[Badgers77]

Originally Posted by Suburbanite

I don't think coastal cities are really more important, rather they are simply perceived as more important because the increased presence of celebrities and the media on the coasts. Of course, this is excepting NY which really is as important as it is made out to be.

Exactly. This is more or less what I was trying to say with the "social" aspect.

[edsg25]

My experiences with people on both coasts is that they are extremely impressed with Chicago.

On the basis of a two way street, I'd say Chicagoans are probably a heckuva lot less impressed with New York than most other Americans and don't really need or use it as a "big city fix".

Jive, you know I agree with you without a lot but you know I don't see eye to eye with you on this one: I see New York and Chicago as peer cities far more than you do....but I respect your opinion otherwise.

[MABCLE]

I think its just ignorance. I know some people from D.C. and Philly that didn't know that there are beaches in Cleveland and Chicago. They think you can see across the various Great Lakes! It may also be that they are more acustomed to the feel of East coast cities. I'll add that Manhattan Between Central Park and Times Square has the distinct smell of urine. I didn't notice a smell about Chicago, so again just ignorance

[wickedestcity]

Originally Posted by MABCLE

I think its just ignorance. ......... so again just ignorance

i think its more arrogance than anything else. those paericular New Yorkers who respond that way see a wopper of a city and the defence mechanisims in there brain say ,"holy crap this city can realy give NY a run for its money but i dont want them to know im impressed cuz im from NY and NY rules"

[Badgers77]

Minneapolis, Indianapolis, Cinci and St. Louis (Although St. L might be) aren't on the same level as New York, LA, Boston, and the Bay Area. People in the midwest "care" about these East Coast cities- like they at least acknowledge them and may think about them.

No midwest city besides Chicago is probably are not even on the same level as Miami. This is causae overall, socially or whatever, the coasts really give a damn about everything in between them. Minneapolis, Indianapolis, and Cinci are overall, at least on a social level, cities that most people on the coasts have only heard of, and not paid attention to or cared about at all.

[Quickdraw]

Are you serious? The Southside of Chicago's population is bigger than all of the Eastern cities outside of NY. And thats not even including the entire city. This thread cant be for real.

[spyguy]

Originally Posted by Badgers77

And it's not just that Michigan Ave smells like a sewer.

What the...Chicago smells 100x better than anything on the Isle of Manhattan at any given time. Chicago (for the time being) smells like chocolate while NYC smells like rotting fish and body bags thrown into the Hudson.

[JivecitySTL]

As a Midwesterner, I think Chicago is extremely impressive. It is one of only 3 megacities in the United States. That said, I don't consider Chicago to be on the same level as New York (neither is LA in my opinion). I do, however, still consider Chicago to be the Second City, even if it is a pretty distant 2nd.

The fact that Chicago is in the Midwest is a strike against it from a coastal perception standpoint, but who cares. It's not really lacking any urban features.

[Quickdraw]

What is so great about Los Angeles?

[Suburbanite]

^Besides the lack of true urbanity, what isn't great about Los Angeles?

[Quickdraw]

Originally Posted by Suburbanite

^Besides the lack of true urbanity, what isn't great about Los Angeles?

I just dont deal with big ass suburbs calling themselves cities.

[i_am_hydrogen]

Originally Posted by Quickdraw

I just dont deal with big ass suburbs calling themselves cities.

I'm not going to sit here and defend LA too much but, rest assured, LA is a real city. In fact, it is one of the 12 "Alpha World Cities".


2000 rankings
A. ALPHA WORLD CITIES (full service world cities)
12: London, New York, Paris, Tokyo

10: Chicago, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, Los Angeles, Milan, Singapore


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

B. BETA WORLD CITIES (major world cities)
9: San Francisco, Sydney, Toronto, Zurich

8: Brussels, Madrid, Mexico City, Sao Paulo

7: Moscow, Seoul


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

C. GAMMA WORLD CITIES (minor world cities)
6: Amsterdam, Boston, Caracas, Dallas, Düsseldorf, Geneva, Houston, Jakarta, Johannesburg, Melbourne, Osaka, Prague, Santiago, Taipei, Washington

5: Bangkok, Beijing, Montreal, Rome, Stockholm, Warsaw

4: Atlanta, Barcelona, Berlin, Budapest, Buenos Aires, Copenhagen, Hamburg, Istanbul, Kuala Lumpur, Manila, Miami, Minneapolis, Munich, Shanghai

[i_am_hydrogen]

It's difficult to characterize how two entire coasts feel about Chicago. It makes for interesting speculation, but in all reality, there will be some people from the coasts who are impressed with Chicago and some who aren't.

[Badgers77]

You can see across the great lakes in an Airplane.

[araman0]

Or from the top of the Sears and John Hancock towers at night.

[MABCLE]

yeah but I'm taling about standing on the coast and looking across. The other ways are cheating