To those born and/or living on the coasts, do you perceive Chicago to be "unsophisticated"?

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:I’m from the east coast (Fairfield county) and I’ve lived in chicago for 6 years. I cried moving here but I’m never leaving now. Why? Because it’s such a livable city. The economy is good and housing is so cheap in comparison to where I’m from. People tend to have more kids here because they can. I’ll take my 400k HHI with mg 550k 5 bedroom home any day. Plus the public schools are decent here! Even if I’m around mostly ppl who grew up in unsophisticated Ohio, Michigan and Wisconsin lol.

Yeah, Chicago is great.

But people in Chicago get really bent out of shape about whether everyone else also feels it. Take your HHI and your nice neighborhood and be happy (not you, you sound like you're doing it) and stop worrying about what people in Boston and NYC think of you.

I live in the Chicago area with high HHI and the lower COL and it’s fine, like most other ok to well off suburbs in the country. It’s cheap to live here because most people here don’t make as much and let’s be real, most people wouldn’t want to live here. Even people FROM here question why I moved here and many people insist on knowing my connection to Illinois (family? Grew up here?), because people don’t just move to Chicago, according to the locals.

It's a great city and beats living in Cleveland. Or Omaha.

But yeah, it's not a global elite city like NYC or DC or LA. And, like it or not, Boston is one of the cities. People anywhere in the world know about it. It's half white-trash American, and half-European in nature. Chicago is just white-bread American normalcy with a nasty urban violence problem.

Wait, you think DC is a global elite city. Are you serious?

Ha! Yeah, snuck it in between NY and LA! Nice try! Lol. BTW, DC can’t lick Chicago’s shoes on culture, cuisine, and sophistication.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:I’m from the east coast (Fairfield county) and I’ve lived in chicago for 6 years. I cried moving here but I’m never leaving now. Why? Because it’s such a livable city. The economy is good and housing is so cheap in comparison to where I’m from. People tend to have more kids here because they can. I’ll take my 400k HHI with mg 550k 5 bedroom home any day. Plus the public schools are decent here! Even if I’m around mostly ppl who grew up in unsophisticated Ohio, Michigan and Wisconsin lol.

Yeah, Chicago is great.

But people in Chicago get really bent out of shape about whether everyone else also feels it. Take your HHI and your nice neighborhood and be happy (not you, you sound like you're doing it) and stop worrying about what people in Boston and NYC think of you.

I live in the Chicago area with high HHI and the lower COL and it’s fine, like most other ok to well off suburbs in the country. It’s cheap to live here because most people here don’t make as much and let’s be real, most people wouldn’t want to live here. Even people FROM here question why I moved here and many people insist on knowing my connection to Illinois (family? Grew up here?), because people don’t just move to Chicago, according to the locals.

It's a great city and beats living in Cleveland. Or Omaha.

But yeah, it's not a global elite city like NYC or DC or LA. And, like it or not, Boston is one of the cities. People anywhere in the world know about it. It's half white-trash American, and half-European in nature. Chicago is just white-bread American normalcy with a nasty urban violence problem.

Wait, you think DC is a global elite city. Are you serious?

Are you insane?? DC is the center of the world. We are literally housed in the corridors of power.

It is some government buildings and monuments surrounded by generic office buildings and rundown neighborhoods and mediocre restaurants. It is a real embarrassment compared seats of power in other countries like London, Paris, and Rome. The seat of power in this country should have been NYC, not swampy backwater DC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s full of obnoxious state school hicks who grew up <300 miles away and are scared to move more than a few hour drive from hometown. It’s also on the decline, so much so that Nashville is eating its lunch as a middle class weekend vacation destination. Sophisticated people flee Chicago and never go back, ex Obamas.

Imagine being so unsophisticated yourself that you think 300 miles is a few hours in the car while trying to crap on everyone who lives in one of the largest metropolitan areas in the country.

Do you know what <300 miles means? Look where the Big Ten universities are located. Wisconsin, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan and Michigan State, Ohio State, plus all of the lower tier state schools in that region. For all the bumpkin midwits 30 to 300 miles away from Chicago, it's easy to move there after college with your high school friends. Mom and dad are just a car drive away. In contrast, moving to the West Coast or the District, New York or Boston requires guts, a better job, and more ambition.

This pretty much applies to any large metro area, especially DC. I can't tell you how many people I've met here that grew up in NoVA or MoCo, went to UVA, UMD, VT, WM and then moved to Arlington after college and worked for a govt contractor. Not much drive or ambition there.

I currently live in Vienna, and it's rather odd how provincial this place is. People brag that their child is going to the same high school that they went to, which seems like something you'd hear if you were in the Midwest.

I also have a lot of family in both NY and SF. All of my cousins grew up in the suburbs of NJ or San Jose and then moved to the city after college. Being local was a huge reason for staying put.

The only ones that have guts or ambitions are the international people, which the coastal cities do attact more of.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:A work colleague based in Manhattan on zoom earlier today called it a gorgeous city "but unfortunately, it's rather unsophisticated." Others on the zoom nodded and chuckled in agreement, including people from Chicago who now live elsewhere.

That's just how people from Manhattan see the rest of the world. Don't take it personally.

I have been to Manhattan many times, and there are plenty of unsophisticated aspects of it. At least in Chicago, they don’t throw plastic bags full of trash on the sidewalk that smell up the entire city.

https://nypost.com/2024/07/26/us-news/its-the-nycs-stinkiest-summer-in-years-with-complaints-soaring-and-heres-why/

NYC is dirty to a disgusting degree. How on earth is that sophisticated??

Because NYC is so capable of being "meta" about it! See Pizza Rat's own tribute performance artist!

https://hyperallergic.com/602315/new-yorks-own-pizza-rat-on-making-performance-art-accessible/

For the record, I'd like to point out that Chicago invented skyscrapers as an architectural format.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s full of obnoxious state school hicks who grew up <300 miles away and are scared to move more than a few hour drive from hometown. It’s also on the decline, so much so that Nashville is eating its lunch as a middle class weekend vacation destination. Sophisticated people flee Chicago and never go back, ex Obamas.

Imagine being so unsophisticated yourself that you think 300 miles is a few hours in the car while trying to crap on everyone who lives in one of the largest metropolitan areas in the country.

Do you know what <300 miles means? Look where the Big Ten universities are located. Wisconsin, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan and Michigan State, Ohio State, plus all of the lower tier state schools in that region. For all the bumpkin midwits 30 to 300 miles away from Chicago, it's easy to move there after college with your high school friends. Mom and dad are just a car drive away. In contrast, moving to the West Coast or the District, New York or Boston requires guts, a better job, and more ambition.

This pretty much applies to any large metro area, especially DC. I can't tell you how many people I've met here that grew up in NoVA or MoCo, went to UVA, UMD, VT, WM and then moved to Arlington after college and worked for a govt contractor. Not much drive or ambition there.

I currently live in Vienna, and it's rather odd how provincial this place is. People brag that their child is going to the same high school that they went to, which seems like something you'd hear if you were in the Midwest.

I also have a lot of family in both NY and SF. All of my cousins grew up in the suburbs of NJ or San Jose and then moved to the city after college. Being local was a huge reason for staying put.

The only ones that have guts or ambitions are the international people, which the coastal cities do attact more of.

Vienna is odd this way. My friends who grew up there married people from elsewhere and somehow convinced them to move back to Vienna to raise their DC. Different from the rest of the region.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s full of obnoxious state school hicks who grew up <300 miles away and are scared to move more than a few hour drive from hometown. It’s also on the decline, so much so that Nashville is eating its lunch as a middle class weekend vacation destination. Sophisticated people flee Chicago and never go back, ex Obamas.

Imagine being so unsophisticated yourself that you think 300 miles is a few hours in the car while trying to crap on everyone who lives in one of the largest metropolitan areas in the country.

Do you know what <300 miles means? Look where the Big Ten universities are located. Wisconsin, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan and Michigan State, Ohio State, plus all of the lower tier state schools in that region. For all the bumpkin midwits 30 to 300 miles away from Chicago, it's easy to move there after college with your high school friends. Mom and dad are just a car drive away. In contrast, moving to the West Coast or the District, New York or Boston requires guts, a better job, and more ambition.

Requires spending more money on worse accommodations, seeing your family less often, often being undercompensated proportionate to your Master's plus education, to have to work twice as many hours at a better job that fails to impress the people who love you.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:I’m from the east coast (Fairfield county) and I’ve lived in chicago for 6 years. I cried moving here but I’m never leaving now. Why? Because it’s such a livable city. The economy is good and housing is so cheap in comparison to where I’m from. People tend to have more kids here because they can. I’ll take my 400k HHI with mg 550k 5 bedroom home any day. Plus the public schools are decent here! Even if I’m around mostly ppl who grew up in unsophisticated Ohio, Michigan and Wisconsin lol.

Yeah, Chicago is great.

But people in Chicago get really bent out of shape about whether everyone else also feels it. Take your HHI and your nice neighborhood and be happy (not you, you sound like you're doing it) and stop worrying about what people in Boston and NYC think of you.

I live in the Chicago area with high HHI and the lower COL and it’s fine, like most other ok to well off suburbs in the country. It’s cheap to live here because most people here don’t make as much and let’s be real, most people wouldn’t want to live here. Even people FROM here question why I moved here and many people insist on knowing my connection to Illinois (family? Grew up here?), because people don’t just move to Chicago, according to the locals.

It's a great city and beats living in Cleveland. Or Omaha.

But yeah, it's not a global elite city like NYC or DC or LA. And, like it or not, Boston is one of the cities. People anywhere in the world know about it. It's half white-trash American, and half-European in nature. Chicago is just white-bread American normalcy with a nasty urban violence problem.

Wait, you think DC is a global elite city. Are you serious?

Are you insane?? DC is the center of the world. We are literally housed in the corridors of power.

It is some government buildings and monuments surrounded by generic office buildings and rundown neighborhoods and mediocre restaurants. It is a real embarrassment compared seats of power in other countries like London, Paris, and Rome. The seat of power in this country should have been NYC, not swampy backwater DC.

Meh… NYC is a soul sucking hell except for the MET and Broadway. DC is totally cool, also, power changes hands. London, Paris, Rome have character but they no longer have any real power.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m from the east coast (Fairfield county) and I’ve lived in chicago for 6 years. I cried moving here but I’m never leaving now. Why? Because it’s such a livable city. The economy is good and housing is so cheap in comparison to where I’m from. People tend to have more kids here because they can. I’ll take my 400k HHI with mg 550k 5 bedroom home any day. Plus the public schools are decent here! Even if I’m around mostly ppl who grew up in unsophisticated Ohio, Michigan and Wisconsin lol.

Yeah, Chicago is great.

But people in Chicago get really bent out of shape about whether everyone else also feels it. Take your HHI and your nice neighborhood and be happy (not you, you sound like you're doing it) and stop worrying about what people in Boston and NYC think of you.

I live in the Chicago area with high HHI and the lower COL and it’s fine, like most other ok to well off suburbs in the country. It’s cheap to live here because most people here don’t make as much and let’s be real, most people wouldn’t want to live here. Even people FROM here question why I moved here and many people insist on knowing my connection to Illinois (family? Grew up here?), because people don’t just move to Chicago, according to the locals.

It's a great city and beats living in Cleveland. Or Omaha.

But yeah, it's not a global elite city like NYC or DC or LA. And, like it or not, Boston is one of the cities. People anywhere in the world know about it. It's half white-trash American, and half-European in nature. Chicago is just white-bread American normalcy with a nasty urban violence problem.

Wait, you think DC is a global elite city. Are you serious?

Are you insane?? DC is the center of the world. We are literally housed in the corridors of power.

It is some government buildings and monuments surrounded by generic office buildings and rundown neighborhoods and mediocre restaurants. It is a real embarrassment compared seats of power in other countries like London, Paris, and Rome. The seat of power in this country should have been NYC, not swampy backwater DC.

Rome!? You lose all credibility. Other than the pope, what power resides in Rome? They don’t even make the best Cacio e Pepe anymore.

[Anonymous]

There's a ton of NYC people in Chicago. I'm now in DC but Chicagos my hometown till age 32. Listen up - do not mistake ever for friendly down to earth as unsophisticated.

Chicago is one of the most beautiful, clean, friendly and balanced cities in the world. Most people who have ever lived 1 or more years in Chicago will never say anything bad about it.

Most sophisticated well travelled people will tell you that Chicagoans are awesome people. I want to throw up on a daily basis in DC. You all think you know good food but really it's all about the $$. In Chicago that is not the case. Good food can be cheap and expensive. Good food is simply good food. That's just one example of sophistication.

As a financial trading center and with advertising and marcomm being to prevalent in industry to call Chicago unsophisticated can only be by someone unsophisticated.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m from the east coast (Fairfield county) and I’ve lived in chicago for 6 years. I cried moving here but I’m never leaving now. Why? Because it’s such a livable city. The economy is good and housing is so cheap in comparison to where I’m from. People tend to have more kids here because they can. I’ll take my 400k HHI with mg 550k 5 bedroom home any day. Plus the public schools are decent here! Even if I’m around mostly ppl who grew up in unsophisticated Ohio, Michigan and Wisconsin lol.

Yeah, Chicago is great.

But people in Chicago get really bent out of shape about whether everyone else also feels it. Take your HHI and your nice neighborhood and be happy (not you, you sound like you're doing it) and stop worrying about what people in Boston and NYC think of you.

I live in the Chicago area with high HHI and the lower COL and it’s fine, like most other ok to well off suburbs in the country. It’s cheap to live here because most people here don’t make as much and let’s be real, most people wouldn’t want to live here. Even people FROM here question why I moved here and many people insist on knowing my connection to Illinois (family? Grew up here?), because people don’t just move to Chicago, according to the locals.

It's a great city and beats living in Cleveland. Or Omaha.

But yeah, it's not a global elite city like NYC or DC or LA. And, like it or not, Boston is one of the cities. People anywhere in the world know about it. It's half white-trash American, and half-European in nature. Chicago is just white-bread American normalcy with a nasty urban violence problem.

Wait, you think DC is a global elite city. Are you serious?

Ha! Yeah, snuck it in between NY and LA! Nice try! Lol. BTW, DC can’t lick Chicago’s shoes on culture, cuisine, and sophistication.

[phone]

I hate DMV so much. DH is here and I've no choice to be here but good hod if DC is not the most unsophisticated city ever. Ugh. Chicago is like a bazillion times prettier, more awesome, nicer and in every which way just better. No comparison at all. The Smithsonian is a joke v the Chicago museums. Truly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m from the east coast (Fairfield county) and I’ve lived in chicago for 6 years. I cried moving here but I’m never leaving now. Why? Because it’s such a livable city. The economy is good and housing is so cheap in comparison to where I’m from. People tend to have more kids here because they can. I’ll take my 400k HHI with mg 550k 5 bedroom home any day. Plus the public schools are decent here! Even if I’m around mostly ppl who grew up in unsophisticated Ohio, Michigan and Wisconsin lol.

Yeah, Chicago is great.

But people in Chicago get really bent out of shape about whether everyone else also feels it. Take your HHI and your nice neighborhood and be happy (not you, you sound like you're doing it) and stop worrying about what people in Boston and NYC think of you.

I live in the Chicago area with high HHI and the lower COL and it’s fine, like most other ok to well off suburbs in the country. It’s cheap to live here because most people here don’t make as much and let’s be real, most people wouldn’t want to live here. Even people FROM here question why I moved here and many people insist on knowing my connection to Illinois (family? Grew up here?), because people don’t just move to Chicago, according to the locals.

It's a great city and beats living in Cleveland. Or Omaha.

But yeah, it's not a global elite city like NYC or DC or LA. And, like it or not, Boston is one of the cities. People anywhere in the world know about it. It's half white-trash American, and half-European in nature. Chicago is just white-bread American normalcy with a nasty urban violence problem.

Wait, you think DC is a global elite city. Are you serious?

Are you insane?? DC is the center of the world. We are literally housed in the corridors of power.

It is some government buildings and monuments surrounded by generic office buildings and rundown neighborhoods and mediocre restaurants. It is a real embarrassment compared seats of power in other countries like London, Paris, and Rome. The seat of power in this country should have been NYC, not swampy backwater DC.

Rome!? You lose all credibility. Other than the pope, what power resides in Rome? They don’t even make the best Cacio e Pepe anymore.

Well, they don’t make the best of any food in DC.

[Anonymous]

We got transferred, kicking and screaming, from NY to Chicago when we were in our late 30’s and I was a lifelong NYer. Five years later when I was required to move back to NY I said no and found another job. I’m still a loyal NY sports fan and that won’t change but we are not going back despite most of my family being there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m from the east coast (Fairfield county) and I’ve lived in chicago for 6 years. I cried moving here but I’m never leaving now. Why? Because it’s such a livable city. The economy is good and housing is so cheap in comparison to where I’m from. People tend to have more kids here because they can. I’ll take my 400k HHI with mg 550k 5 bedroom home any day. Plus the public schools are decent here! Even if I’m around mostly ppl who grew up in unsophisticated Ohio, Michigan and Wisconsin lol.

Yeah, Chicago is great.

But people in Chicago get really bent out of shape about whether everyone else also feels it. Take your HHI and your nice neighborhood and be happy (not you, you sound like you're doing it) and stop worrying about what people in Boston and NYC think of you.

I live in the Chicago area with high HHI and the lower COL and it’s fine, like most other ok to well off suburbs in the country. It’s cheap to live here because most people here don’t make as much and let’s be real, most people wouldn’t want to live here. Even people FROM here question why I moved here and many people insist on knowing my connection to Illinois (family? Grew up here?), because people don’t just move to Chicago, according to the locals.

It's a great city and beats living in Cleveland. Or Omaha.

But yeah, it's not a global elite city like NYC or DC or LA. And, like it or not, Boston is one of the cities. People anywhere in the world know about it. It's half white-trash American, and half-European in nature. Chicago is just white-bread American normalcy with a nasty urban violence problem.

Wait, you think DC is a global elite city. Are you serious?

Are you insane?? DC is the center of the world. We are literally housed in the corridors of power.

It is some government buildings and monuments surrounded by generic office buildings and rundown neighborhoods and mediocre restaurants. It is a real embarrassment compared seats of power in other countries like London, Paris, and Rome. The seat of power in this country should have been NYC, not swampy backwater DC.

You clearly are not included in the power circles. DC is the capital of the world. We are very fortunate to live here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m from the east coast (Fairfield county) and I’ve lived in chicago for 6 years. I cried moving here but I’m never leaving now. Why? Because it’s such a livable city. The economy is good and housing is so cheap in comparison to where I’m from. People tend to have more kids here because they can. I’ll take my 400k HHI with mg 550k 5 bedroom home any day. Plus the public schools are decent here! Even if I’m around mostly ppl who grew up in unsophisticated Ohio, Michigan and Wisconsin lol.

Yeah, Chicago is great.

But people in Chicago get really bent out of shape about whether everyone else also feels it. Take your HHI and your nice neighborhood and be happy (not you, you sound like you're doing it) and stop worrying about what people in Boston and NYC think of you.

I live in the Chicago area with high HHI and the lower COL and it’s fine, like most other ok to well off suburbs in the country. It’s cheap to live here because most people here don’t make as much and let’s be real, most people wouldn’t want to live here. Even people FROM here question why I moved here and many people insist on knowing my connection to Illinois (family? Grew up here?), because people don’t just move to Chicago, according to the locals.

It's a great city and beats living in Cleveland. Or Omaha.

But yeah, it's not a global elite city like NYC or DC or LA. And, like it or not, Boston is one of the cities. People anywhere in the world know about it. It's half white-trash American, and half-European in nature. Chicago is just white-bread American normalcy with a nasty urban violence problem.

Wait, you think DC is a global elite city. Are you serious?

Are you insane?? DC is the center of the world. We are literally housed in the corridors of power.

It is some government buildings and monuments surrounded by generic office buildings and rundown neighborhoods and mediocre restaurants. It is a real embarrassment compared seats of power in other countries like London, Paris, and Rome. The seat of power in this country should have been NYC, not swampy backwater DC.

You clearly are not included in the power circles. DC is the capital of the world. We are very fortunate to live here.

Keep convincing yourself of that, O Member of the Self-Proclaimed “Power Circle.”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m from the east coast (Fairfield county) and I’ve lived in chicago for 6 years. I cried moving here but I’m never leaving now. Why? Because it’s such a livable city. The economy is good and housing is so cheap in comparison to where I’m from. People tend to have more kids here because they can. I’ll take my 400k HHI with mg 550k 5 bedroom home any day. Plus the public schools are decent here! Even if I’m around mostly ppl who grew up in unsophisticated Ohio, Michigan and Wisconsin lol.

Yeah, Chicago is great.

But people in Chicago get really bent out of shape about whether everyone else also feels it. Take your HHI and your nice neighborhood and be happy (not you, you sound like you're doing it) and stop worrying about what people in Boston and NYC think of you.

I live in the Chicago area with high HHI and the lower COL and it’s fine, like most other ok to well off suburbs in the country. It’s cheap to live here because most people here don’t make as much and let’s be real, most people wouldn’t want to live here. Even people FROM here question why I moved here and many people insist on knowing my connection to Illinois (family? Grew up here?), because people don’t just move to Chicago, according to the locals.

It's a great city and beats living in Cleveland. Or Omaha.

But yeah, it's not a global elite city like NYC or DC or LA. And, like it or not, Boston is one of the cities. People anywhere in the world know about it. It's half white-trash American, and half-European in nature. Chicago is just white-bread American normalcy with a nasty urban violence problem.

Wait, you think DC is a global elite city. Are you serious?

Are you insane?? DC is the center of the world. We are literally housed in the corridors of power.

It is some government buildings and monuments surrounded by generic office buildings and rundown neighborhoods and mediocre restaurants. It is a real embarrassment compared seats of power in other countries like London, Paris, and Rome. The seat of power in this country should have been NYC, not swampy backwater DC.

You clearly are not included in the power circles. DC is the capital of the world. We are very fortunate to live here.

Keep convincing yourself of that, O Member of the Self-Proclaimed “Power Circle.”

And you keep convincing yourself a hot dog with tomato, a pickle and celery salt is haute cuisine. And nitwit state school hicks from Michigan and Wisconsin, grey skies, blizzards, high crime and predatory parking makes for a sophisticated cosmopolitan.