Why does most of downstate Illinois not care for Chicago? (Peoria: real estate, apartment)

[cap1717]

I think the "ignorance" runs both ways. . . it's the old urban vs. rural thing. Downstate is mad that Chicago gets more money (It also has Lots and Lots more population), and Chicagoans think that downstate is "hick". . . . both are wrong. . . I've lived both places, very urban and very rural enviornments, people aren't all that different. . . the "difference" is in the minds of the up and downstate residents, based on sterotypes that are not all that accurate, in generaL!

[linicx]

I have to disagree. I don't know anyone downstate that really thinks much about Chicago one way or the other. Most downstaters are more worried about crops and weather than they are about how much tax money goes to Chicago. Is it a disproportionate amount? It depends upon the county you look at. Will County gets very little, whereas Kankakee County gets nearly 100% in matching school funds. Chicago and its burbs have a greater number of schools. I do not know anyone downstate that understands how tax money is disbursed that begrudges any school system the tax dollars it needs. .

All state taxes go to Springfield where the money is dispersed according to need.

People are human. We all need the same things to survive: food, clothing, shelter, air and water. Life becomes more difficult when the national economy is in a slump and there are too many unemployed, productive people looking for work.

[tabone1]

Originally Posted by Maintainschaos

This figure might be a bit misleading, as the Chicago MSA includes both parts of Indiana as well as Wisconsin.

Yes, the Chicago MSA includes areas outside of the state. Throw out Northwest Indiana and Kenosha, and Chicago has roughly 2/3rds the population in the state.

No doubt that is a lot, and a big percentage, but there are other states/cities much the same---New York, Georgia, Massachusetts, Maryland, Colorado, Arizona, Minnesota, Washington state.

[TabulaRasa]

Because Chicagoans refer to non-Chicago Illinois as "downstate" even if it's not, in fact, south of Chicago at all.

I grew up DUE WEST of Chicago. You know, "downstate." In NORTHERN ILLINOIS. Less than an hour from the Wisconsin border. How that's "downstate," I'll never know.

But, really, idiotic misnomers aside, I don't hate Chicago, never did, never will. I lived and worked there for several years, in fact, and had a great experience. But many Illinoisans outside the metro area do dislike it. I also agree that people are really no different, whether they are in urban Illinois, rural Illinois, small town Illinois, or small city Illinois. They're all just Midwesterners. And Midwesterners trying to affect an air of the cosmopolitan are pretty unintentionally hilarious, IMO.

As an aside, when I lived and worked in Chicago, I ran after-school and summer tutoring and enrichment programs for at-risk kids in the inner city. I would frequently take them for trips out to the country, and without fail, some kid (and these were mainly junior high and high school boys, not small children with little study of basic geography or map skills under their belts) would ask me why, by venturing westward out of Chicago, we were going to a different state. They literally DID think Chicago was its own state, and Illinois was another, neighboring state. Very telling.

[linicx]

Originally Posted by tabone1

Yes, the Chicago MSA includes areas outside of the state. Throw out Northwest Indiana and Kenosha, and Chicago has roughly 2/3rds the population in the state.

No doubt that is a lot, and a big percentage, but there are other states/cities much the same---New York, Georgia, Massachusetts, Maryland, Colorado, Arizona, Minnesota, Washington state.

The MSA has nothing to do with tax dollars.

The fact that the majority of Illinois residents live in Chicago and its suburbs is probably more related to opportunity than anything else. I do not know anyone in Chicago who is willing to move to "a small rural town surrounded by cattle and corn" - and this is exactly what a farm state in middle America looks like .

[sandwalk]

Originally Posted by TabulaRasa

Because Chicagoans refer to non-Chicago Illinois as "downstate" even if it's not, in fact, south of Chicago at all.

I grew up DUE WEST of Chicago. You know, "downstate." In NORTHERN ILLINOIS. Less than an hour from the Wisconsin border. How that's "downstate," I'll never know.

I always thought that was pretty crazy as well. I remember watching a news story this past year on ABC Channel 7 out of Chicago where they mentioned something about "downstate Mount Morris." If you look at a map, Mount Morris has about the same latitude as the northern suburb of Evanston! LOL

[TootsieWootsie]

The money may be disbursed for the State in Springfield, but ain't it a shock that Chicago gets such a disproportionate amount of that money? Daley Machine at work for generations? You betcha.

[Chicagoland60426]

Originally Posted by sandwalk

I always thought that was pretty crazy as well. I remember watching a news story this past year on ABC Channel 7 out of Chicago where they mentioned something about "downstate Mount Morris." If you look at a map, Mount Morris has about the same latitude as the northern suburb of Evanston! LOL

I had no idea some people consider Northwestern Illinois as downstate. So people consider Rockford as downstate too then? Now that is funny

[oakparkdude]

Originally Posted by TootsieWootsie

The money may be disbursed for the State in Springfield, but ain't it a shock that Chicago gets such a disproportionate amount of that money? Daley Machine at work for generations? You betcha.

Do you have data to back up your claim? You do realize that Chicagoland has a disproportionate amount of the state's population?

[oakparkdude]

Another unspoken factor:

How much of it is due to demographic differences? In other words, Chicago (and to a lesser degree the burbs) are less white and less Protestant than downstate.