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Chicago is to Minneapolis as Toronto is to Montreal.
Chicago and Toronto are the main powerhouses of their regions and both offer world-class culture and big-city amenities. The Twin Cities and Montreal are of secondary importance globally, but what they lack in size they make up for in disproportionately high levels of accessibility, arts, and cultural vibrancy.
My point being, of course, that it may be the hub of the region, but no, Chicago can't "beat" the rest of the Midwest by itself. Minneapolis alone is a decent enough rival, and St. Louis and Detroit aren't bad either. Then you have Cleveland and Cincinnati with their own merits, and KC, Milwaukee, Indianapolis, and Columbus fast becoming major national players, and then looking another generation down the road, Grand Rapids, Omaha, Des Moines, and Madison are only going to get better and better and gain recognition.
I think the sentiments OP was referring to (of Chicagoans being reluctant to call themselves Midwesterners) comes as much as anything from the fact that Chicago is sort of its own independent subregion, with the Upper Midwest to its north and west and the bulk of the Rust Belt to its south and east. Chicago is absolutely distinct from both regions, so when people say it doesn't feel Midwestern, that may be why.
...Despite all the problems of Detroit, there is something underlyingly (if thats a word) SEXY about a city that gave Americans and the world two very sexy things: Automobiles that allowed a boy and girl/man and woman steal away to somewhere more private under the auspices of family and community like never before...
1. In 1886 Carl Benz made the first automobile. He was from Germany. I won't use the word "ironically", because it isn't ironic, but Eisenhower also got the idea for an American freeway system from the (Nazi) Germans.
2. Detroit never made assembly line cars that kicked off the "everyone can own a car in America" mindset that still seems to resonate today. The suburbs of Detroit handle(d) that.
3. I lost my virginity nine (9) years before I got married... in the backseat of a mass produced automobile. So, hooray to Detroit's cultural legacy!... and for the premarital sex and unplanned pregnancies that ensued!
Not only that, but the blues was a far more important and popular contribution to music than Motown. It's true that Detroit has added (and continues to add) much to our nation's culture, and that this is often forgotten in the rush to point fingers at its decay, but let's not overdo it here.
Not only that, but the blues was a far more important and popular contribution to music than Motown. It's true that Detroit has added (and continues to add) much to our nation's culture, and that this is often forgotten in the rush to point fingers at its decay, but let's not overdo it here.
Possibly Blues as a whole, but it began in the Mississippi Delta, (all those Chicago Blues guys grew up in rural Mississippi) and then popularized/"rockified" by white British Invasion bands/musicians (Eric Clapton, Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, etc.) Chicago had a hold on the Blues scene only for a very short term in the 1950s.
Whereas one Motown WAS the center of soul and R&B. One can draw a straight line from Motown to Michael Jackson to contemporary R&B artists.
Yes, I'm too curious about where this is. I really can't think of anywhere in Chicagoland where walking around the mall would be 50% hispanic and 30% Asian together.
I don't even think there is anywhere in Chicagoland that is that high in Asian. I always thought that Oak Brook might have the largest Asian %, but even there its not quite 25%.
And the areas where there's a high Asian% are not the same with a high hispanic%. But I could see a few areas where the malls might be 50% hispanic, for example North Riverside mall (close to Cicero and Berwyn). (What mall is closest to Franklin Park, Northlake, Des Plaines, etc. around O'Hare? That might possible be 50% hispanic too.
Also how would you know who is Italian-American?? Sure on average they look different than white Americans of other backgrounds but still, unless you ask you wouldn't know. Besides other midwest cities have a high % of Italian Americans, most notable Cleveland.
Sure, Chicago may have an edge when it comes to diversity over other midwest cities, but other midwest metro areas, metro Detroit (largest Arab population in the country), greater Cleveland (Italian and eastern European heritage similar to Chicagoland but scaled down), Twin Cities (significant Asian and sub-Sah African) also have significant diversity too.
Location: Cleveland, OH USA / formerly Chicago for 20 years
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MarvinStrong313
Wait, what!?!?
In Michigan doing 80-85 mph on the freeway is keeping up with traffic. I wouldn't really call Midwestern drivers slow, where in the Midwest have you been??? And Chicago traffic is horrible, their freeways are OFTEN congested.
I think Ohio drivers are pretty slow for the most part.
I grew up in Ohio and learned to drive there, so that slowness always seemed "normal" to me. When I moved to Chicago I thought drivers here were crazy and reckless, especially on the expressways (when they're not congested, of course).
I always found that odd about MN. In the other large cities I've lived in, it was city first, not state.
Not surprising. Probably why our professional sports are the only ones where every team takes the name of our state instead of the city in which they play (NY doesn't count in my mind, everyone knows they are referring to NYC).
That Chicago is not the only city in the Midwest where people drive fast and often times reckless. Like one of the posters said "If you have driven around Detroit at all or some parts of St. Louis you would know better". But Chicago traffic is the worst (in the Midwest).
Quote:
I think Ohio drivers are pretty slow for the most part.
I grew up in Ohio and learned to drive there, so that slowness always seemed "normal" to me. When I moved to Chicago I thought drivers here were crazy and reckless, especially on the expressways (when they're not congested, of course).
I can't really speak for Ohio, I'm used to driving in Michigan (mostly Detroit).
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