Does Chicago "feel" Midwestern? (Rockford, DeKalb: price, safe, trendy)

[EddieOlSkool]

Originally Posted by BadgerFilms

Not every Midwestern accent is the same. Minnesota, Wisconsin, northern Illinois, northern Michigan, the Dakotas, northern Iowa, those places do not sound neutral at all. It's a lot of Canadian, Scandinavian, Finnish, Irish and other influences creating it's own nasal accent. The "neutral" accent is more like Nebraska to Ohio. Chicago's accent is more Upper Midwestern in sound. The average Midwestern doesn't really sound as neutral as you think. Do you know how many people I have heard claim they sound "neutral" but then I can tell they have a certain accent, especially with certain words.

The Midwest is not all one sound, same with the Southeast.

I agree. I was just saying that to say Chicago's accent is like the rest of the Midwest is inaccurate. Similar to Michigan, SE Wisconsin, and NE Ohio. And of course Upstate New York.

It isn't the standard "General American" accent associated with the Midwest is all I'm saying. Everything you said about those other Northern accents is all true. But the truth is, you're likely to hear a Chicagoan sound like a New Yorker vs. like someone from Kansas City, Cincinnati, or Indianapolis. Consider someone like Jeff Garlin and his accent vs. people like Walter Cronkite. Or Michael Wilbon vs. Vivica A. Fox. The former two people could passably sound "ambiguously" Northeastern vs. the latter two who would never be mistaken for sounding Northeastern.

Note: no I'm not saying Chicago is Northeastern. Nasal accents aren't limited to the Midwest is my point, because vowel shifts present in the Great Lakes extend even from New England to the Dakotas. It's simply a general "Northern" sound, not Midwestern.

[ColdAilment]

Originally Posted by BadgerFilms

Not every Midwestern accent is the same. Minnesota, Wisconsin, northern Illinois, northern Michigan, the Dakotas, northern Iowa, those places do not sound neutral at all. It's a lot of Canadian, Scandinavian, Finnish, Irish and other influences creating it's own nasal accent. The "neutral" accent is more like Nebraska to Ohio. Chicago's accent is more Upper Midwestern in sound. The average Midwestern doesn't really sound as neutral as you think. Do you know how many people I have heard claim they sound "neutral" but then I can tell they have a certain accent, especially with certain words.

The Midwest is not all one sound, same with the Southeast.

I agree with all of those except for Northern Illinois and Northern Iowa. They sound no different than the rest of the Midwest. I've talked with people from Rockford and Dubuque, it's all pretty standard Midwest dialect.

[EddieOlSkool]

Originally Posted by ColdAilment

I agree with all of those except for Northern Illinois and Northern Iowa. They sound no different than the rest of the Midwest. I've talked with people from Rockford and Dubuque, it's all pretty standard Midwest dialect.

Yup. Only Northeastern Illinois has a Northern accent. Iowa is practically fully in Midland territory, though I hear Cedar Rapids has a somewhat Great Lakes sounding accent. Though Rockford, IL is a bit Chicago influenced from what I understand.

[Pincho-toot]

Originally Posted by ColdAilment

I agree with all of those except for Northern Illinois and Northern Iowa. They sound no different than the rest of the Midwest. I've talked with people from Rockford and Dubuque, it's all pretty standard Midwest dialect.

Guess it depends. I've heard people from both Iowa and northern Illinois who sound like that. Have you heard the comedienne Natasha Leggero? She's a native of Rockford and has this skit where she impersonates her mom's accent, and it's the Upper Midwestern "doncha know" accent. I can imagine people from around there having that accent, being right across from Wisconsin. I think it depends on many things though, such as ethnic background and who you were raised by.

[thefallensrvnge]

Originally Posted by EddieOlSkool

Chicago is definitely more like Detroit or Milwaukee than it is like Philly or NYC. By a huge stretch. But just as far as Chicago is from NYC, it is also that different from the central and lower Midwest.

Category Chicago fits in
Cleveland, Detroit, Milwaukee

Category it doesn't fit in
Cincinnati, Indianapolis, Kansas City

Chicago is probably more like NYC than it is like Indianapolis.

Chicago actually has more in common with Kansas City than most people think. For starters, they both flourished in the American Gilded age. They were major points (maybe the two most important in the Midwest) for western expansion. Both cities are major railroad hubs, were heavily influenced by the Great Migration, and hotbeds for jazz and other forms of music.

But most importantly, I think people seem to forget how influential Chicago is in agriculture which is an aspect New York cannot relate to, but places like Kansas City and Omaha can. At one time Kansas City was only second to Chicago in the size of its stockyards. Also, Chicago still remains important in agriculture through the Board of Trade, and coincidentally, recently acquired the KCBOT to control Kansas's supply of winter wheat.

Chicago was an industrial power like Detroit and Cleveland, no question. But don't forget Sandburg's opening lines:

"Hog Butcher for the World,
Tool Maker, Stacker of Wheat,
Player with Railroads and the Nation's Freight Handler;
Stormy, husky, brawling,
City of the Big Shoulders"

[EddieOlSkool]

Originally Posted by thefallensrvnge

Chicago actually has more in common with Kansas City than most people think. For starters, they both flourished in the American Gilded age. They were major points (maybe the two most important in the Midwest) for western expansion. Both cities are major railroad hubs, were heavily influenced by the Great Migration, and hotbeds for jazz and other forms of music.

But most importantly, I think people seem to forget how influential Chicago is in agriculture which is an aspect New York cannot relate to, but places like Kansas City and Omaha can. At one time Kansas City was only second to Chicago in the size of its stockyards. Also, Chicago still remains important in agriculture through the Board of Trade, and coincidentally, recently acquired the KCBOT to control Kansas's supply of winter wheat.

Chicago was an industrial power like Detroit and Cleveland, no question. But don't forget Sandburg's opening lines:

"Hog Butcher for the World,
Tool Maker, Stacker of Wheat,
Player with Railroads and the Nation's Freight Handler;
Stormy, husky, brawling,
City of the Big Shoulders"

All good points. Chicago's culture on the other hand is a deviation from that of the central Midwest was my main point.

P.s. I AM rooting for the Royals tonight because I hate New York.

[NOLA101]

Of course Chicago is Midwest. Geographically, culturally, accent, topography, foods, ethnic mix, architecture it is Midwest (more specifically Great Lakes) to the core. Chicago looks and feels like Milwaukee, Cleveland, Detroit, etc. It does not look or feel like Seattle, NYC, Atlanta, Houston or DC.

Is LA West Coast? Is NYC East Coast? Is New Orleans Southern? Sounds like a very odd question.

[EddieOlSkool]

Originally Posted by NOLA101

Of course Chicago is Midwest. Geographically, culturally, accent, topography, foods, ethnic mix, architecture it is Midwest (more specifically Great Lakes) to the core. Chicago looks and feels like Milwaukee, Cleveland, Detroit, etc. It does not look or feel like Seattle, NYC, Atlanta, Houston or DC.

Is LA West Coast? Is NYC East Coast? Is New Orleans Southern? Sounds like a very odd question.

Chicago unlike New Orleans isn't an anomaly in its region.

Your accent down there in NOLA sounds kinda Chicago!

[ColdAilment]

Originally Posted by BadgerFilms

Guess it depends. I've heard people from both Iowa and northern Illinois who sound like that. Have you heard the comedienne Natasha Leggero? She's a native of Rockford and has this skit where she impersonates her mom's accent, and it's the Upper Midwestern "doncha know" accent. I can imagine people from around there having that accent, being right across from Wisconsin. I think it depends on many things though, such as ethnic background and who you were raised by.

I have not heard of her, wouldn't put it past some of the locals though. I know Minnesotans and Wisconsinites have been known to have that more "Northern" accent vs Midwest accent, I'm not quite sure where it begins though, but I guess I could see that.

Originally Posted by EddieOlSkool

Yup. Only Northeastern Illinois has a Northern accent. Iowa is practically fully in Midland territory, though I hear Cedar Rapids has a somewhat Great Lakes sounding accent. Though Rockford, IL is a bit Chicago influenced from what I understand.

You mean the northern Chicago suburbs?

[UKWildcat1981]

I like North Face jackets!!!!!