Chicago is Middle America's Big City (Manhattan, Atlanta: big house, layoffs, neighborhood)

[emathias]

Originally Posted by rwocmo

Are we talking about Chicago proper or Chicagoland? Remember, a lot of what happens in most big American cities happens in the suburbs. For many big American cities only 10-35% of the area's population lies within the city limits.

Originally Posted by chet everett

The manufacturing jobs in Chicago are a fading fast, and the tax structure is not the only reason. The bottomline even for retirees is that there are many places both in the region but outside the city limits as well as in whole other parts of the country where the c-o-l / cost of doing business is far more attractive...

The most notable mass manufacturing facility is almost certainly the Ford plants on the SE side of the city, which churn out quite a nice array of products with a relatively small workforce. The efforts of the city & Stste to retain that have arguably hamstrung other effforts to attract more entrepreneurial factories...

Originally Posted by ChiNaan

You mean a lot of what happens near most big American cities happens in the suburbs.

I can't speak for others, but when I talk about Chicago (or any other city, for that matter) in a Global context, I refer to the entire metro area because there's no useful way to separate out only the city vs. the suburbs for comparison internationally due to widely divergent methods of political categorization. In my previous answer here, most of my answer used the City as source, but it was not my intention to exclude the suburbs from the discussion.

[jonnynonos]

It's a transforming city, like every city. At one time people came here from around the world for good jobs and built strong neighborhoods where you could safely raise a family--basically what many of the suburbs are today. People still come here for jobs, of course (whether or not they are good anymore) but also largely to experience "big city life." Many of the neighborhoods suffer from crushing poverty. As mentioned, we make few things anymore. The public schools are not very good, by and large.

It has it's good parts and bad parts, but I'm not so sure all of the sloganeering is really apropos. Culturally, though, I would say it is a fairly level headed, hardworking, unpretentious, friendly city. Very Midwestern.

[Heyooooo]

Dont know what to say other than whats already been said.

Chicago is a very well balanced city and you can literally find anything you want to here, and compared to most cities its size (there are only two bigger but just talking about major cities in general), its much more unpretentious and more friendly than its bustling/cosmopolitan peers.

If youre from Chicago or the Midwest, you may not see it unless you go to the coasts, but as someone from Upstate NY, I see it. It was honestly a pleasant surprise.

Its a shame internationally that Chicago isnt as well known as NYC or even LA in certain aspects, but I attribute that entirely to media presence.

[Lorielicious]

Funnily enough, some Italian journalist was on WBEZ's "Worldview" today, and one of the things he said is Chicago is his favorite American city because it is so middle American. Los Angeles is too Californian, NYC is very much New York state, two places that are fairly distinct from the rest of what people think of as classic American pie places, but Chicago (he also put Milwaukee in this category) feels very much like true blue USA. Obviously, Chicago is a much bigger city than Des Moines or Indianapolis or wherever, and has the perks of living in a big city the way other Midwestern cities do not, but I agree with him for what it's worth, and have said so before. I don't know why many Chicagoans seem to take umbrage to their Midwesternness. It's not a bad thing.

[emathias]

Originally Posted by Lorielicious

Funnily enough, some Italian journalist was on WBEZ's "Worldview" today, and one of the things he said is Chicago is his favorite American city because it is so middle American. Los Angeles is too Californian, NYC is very much New York state, two places that are fairly distinct from the rest of what people think of as classic American pie places, but Chicago (he also put Milwaukee in this category) feels very much like true blue USA. Obviously, Chicago is a much bigger city than Des Moines or Indianapolis or wherever, and has the perks of living in a big city the way other Midwestern cities do not, but I agree with him for what it's worth, and have said so before. I don't know why many Chicagoans seem to take umbrage to their Midwesternness. It's not a bad thing.

It's not necessarily a bad thing, but some people use "Midwestern" as a stand-in for "milquetoast," at which point it does become insulting.

[urza216]

There are PLEANTY of "middle Americans" in Orange County, California. I hear Upstate NY has lots of them too.

Generally speaking, you're much more likely to find "middle America" in the Chicago suburbs than the city.

[williepotatoes]

Next time some one tells you that Chicago is in economic decline, please re-direct them to inquire with Price Waterhouse about where our metro ranks in world GDP (see figure 3.3).

http://www.ukmediacentre.pwc.com/ima...DetailsID=1562

Then tell them them to get on their knees and thank their God for having put them here.

[urza216]

Chet Everett is repressenting middle America on the Illinois CityData forums!

And Chicago isn't his city, is it?

[Heyooooo]

Originally Posted by urza216

There are PLEANTY of "middle Americans" in Orange County, California. I hear Upstate NY has lots of them too.

Generally speaking, you're much more likely to find "middle America" in the Chicago suburbs than the city.

I would have to say if Upstate NY cities are like any major cities, its Chicago. Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse and Utica, yes. Albany, mixed.

It is very "Middle American."

[Lorielicious]

Orange county "middle American"? I'm beginning to suspect people are using the term interchangeably with "votes Republican."