Is Chicago cliquey in your opinion? (nightlife) (apartment, home)

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by Vlajos

Great advice. If you can't strike up a conversation with strangers (even at a neighborhood bar) while sitting at the bar, you are likely a freak.

I think some people can be timid, but I'd say if you have been drinking and it's a louder atmosphere, and you can't strike up a conversation with any strangers ever, then you may be a bit of an introvert and bars may not be the place for you.

[tribecavsbrowns]

Two words, OP: Beauty Bar.

[Chicago60614]

Originally Posted by romnation

I'm fairly new to Chicago and love it, but coming from a college town, I feel like the people around here can be a bit cliquey at times. This has been evident at a lot of the bars I have been to lately. Everyone seems to be in their own little group and doesn't really go out of their way to talk to other people. This hasn't always been the case, but it seems like it does happen quite a bit.

I believe a lot of this is because you're coming from the standpoint of a college town.

I noticed this too moving here from college, but a large part of it is that in college bars you have people who are meeting new friends in dorms, classes, projects and everything in between. You're constantly meeting new strangers. Bars tend to have a lot more interactions between strangers because that's where people are in their lives.

Once you move to an environment with adults, people have spent those years finding their true friends and have much more stable lives. You have your group and you're not out there actively meeting new people at all times, you're more likely to just stick with the people you've already chosen.

That said I've met TONS of people in Chicago and still see new people all the time. Chicago certainly isn't more "clingy" than other places. It's just coming from college town to the "real world" and being an adult.

Look at the rate you're meeting new people in your life and talking with other peers you don't know at ages 10 compared to 20 to 30 to 40 to 50. It's just a part of growing up. College is when you're hyper-meeting-new-people. That's how things go in college towns. I still go back to Iowa City all the time and notice this, especially in the younger bars with all the students compared to the more older/townie bars.

[MassVt]

Originally Posted by Chicago60614

I believe a lot of this is because you're coming from the standpoint of a college town.

I noticed this too moving here from college, but a large part of it is that in college bars you have people who are meeting new friends in dorms, classes, projects and everything in between. You're constantly meeting new strangers. Bars tend to have a lot more interactions between strangers because that's where people are in their lives.

Once you move to an environment with adults, people have spent those years finding their true friends and have much more stable lives. You have your group and you're not out there actively meeting new people at all times, you're more likely to just stick with the people you've already chosen.

That said I've met TONS of people in Chicago and still see new people all the time. Chicago certainly isn't more "clingy" than other places. It's just coming from college town to the "real world" and being an adult.

Look at the rate you're meeting new people in your life and talking with other peers you don't know at ages 10 compared to 20 to 30 to 40 to 50. It's just a part of growing up. College is when you're hyper-meeting-new-people. That's how things go in college towns. I still go back to Iowa City all the time and notice this, especially in the younger bars with all the students compared to the more older/townie bars.

I could mention my alma mater, UVM ( the University of Vermont) in Chicago, and I'd probably get a blank reaction. Now if I mentioned the University of Wisconsin ( I lived in Madison), then they'd be tripping all over themselves.....

[NorCal Dude]

You are not going to see upper middle class professionals mingling with dirty hipsters , or ghetto nuggets, where ever you live

[jwaiter]

Originally Posted by marothisu

The places where it's more cliquey are the types of bars you'd find in Lakeview or Lincoln Park or a really neighborhood bar where if you aren't a regular, people may say "what the hell?"

At my west town neighborhood pub, all the regulars (of which i am one) frequently engage in conversation with ppl who may have never been there or just stumbled by and came in. It seems friendlier than a club/lounge. But overall Chicago bars do seem pretty cliquey to me.

[reppin_the_847]

It's understandable that Chicagoans probably think University of Vermont is on a different planet. How about if you go to NYC or Boston? I'm guessing Boston is the major city where people know more about Vermont despite the city having tons of colleges within its own metro area.

Originally Posted by MassVt

I could mention my alma mater, UVM ( the University of Vermont) in Chicago, and I'd probably get a blank reaction. Now if I mentioned the University of Wisconsin ( I lived in Madison), then they'd be tripping all over themselves.....

[MassVt]

Originally Posted by reppin_the_847

It's understandable that Chicagoans probably think University of Vermont is on a different planet. How about if you go to NYC or Boston? I'm guessing Boston is the major city where people know more about Vermont despite the city having tons of colleges within its own metro area.

Oh sure, it pretty well represented in Boston, where I live, and it's not unknown in NYC, either. It's really not important to me at all, since I seldom bring it up in conversations, and I graduated over 30 years ago...

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by MassVt

I could mention my alma mater, UVM ( the University of Vermont) in Chicago, and I'd probably get a blank reaction. Now if I mentioned the University of Wisconsin ( I lived in Madison), then they'd be tripping all over themselves.....

I don't understand this statement or some peoples' infatuation with thinking that everybody actually gives a flying **** whether you went to a Big 10 school or not. I didn't go to a Big 10 school, and I've never once in Chicago had anybody look at me strangely, give me crap, etc for not going to a Big 10 school. It's like a non point to them. The most they do is ask me what my degree is in or ask what mascot the school is. The only crap I get is when I'm talking with someone from our rivals in the Big 10 and this is nothing unique to the Big 10. All major sports conferences (and even minor ones) do this amongst fans.

I have friends who have gone to schools like Lehigh and have never once had an experience like you are assuming would happen. It's basically the same thing as what I describe above - what degree do you have? what was it like? what brought you to Chicago?

Honestly, I think this Big 10 thing is overstated in the sense of people actually giving a **** whether you went to a Big 10 school or not. I have never once felt the need to mask what school I went to because I thought some people would start giving me crap for not going to a Big 10 school. Honestly, most people could hardly give a **** about that who actually did go to Big 10 schools.

[♥Puddles♥]

Most college towns have like one or two areas where people go. Here we have all the different neighborhoods and people kind of stick around their own neighborhood a lot of times. Maybe not clique-ish, but neighborhood-ish?