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Because Chicago is the legal, financial, research, manufacturing, transportation, and yes, cultural hub/clearinghouse of the Midwest. No disrespect to any of the other cities in the Midwest, but if one of them (with the possible exception of Detroit) and all of their institutions and resources were to vanish from the map, their absence would be felt but the region would soldier on. If Chicago and all of ITS institutions and resources were to vanish from the map, the Midwest would be in deep shi'ite.
I can't speak for the Midwest as a whole, but for Minneapolis and its swathe of the Upper Midwest that wouldn't be the case. We have our own institutions, culture and economy. Chicago actually has very little impact on what happens in this part of the Midwest. Minneapolis is "the city" in the same way that Boston is for most of New England.
** A major political disconnect and BLAME GAME is prevalent to both. I don't see that more have to visit NYC at least once? Points to a less disconnect???? Most Elementary thru High School kids in Illinois get the School trips to Chicago's great museums. As much as to NYC for its state and region. NYC is a beast. But still many feel no real connections if in different areas of the state as much as those of Illinois.
I never went to Chicago on field trips in school. It would have required more than one day due to the distance. Springfield was the big draw for school field trips out of the immediate area near St. Louis.
I can't speak for the Midwest as a whole, but for Minneapolis and its swathe of the Upper Midwest that wouldn't be the case. We have our own institutions, culture and economy. Chicago actually has very little impact on what happens in this part of the Midwest. Minneapolis is "the city" in the same way that Boston is for most of New England.
I think this is true for much of the Midwest. Chicago is the de facto face of the Midwest when you get outside of the region simply due to its size, but within the Midwest Chicago doesn't dominate the other cities culturally, historically, etc. It has a pull on college aged Millennials, especially ones who went to Big 10 schools, but that's about it in my experience. If all the other major cities of the Midwest were closer together, and closer to Chicago in particular, then this might be different than it actually is.
Btw, when I say doesn't dominate historically I mean that Chicago's history isn't necessarily longer or more varied than other Midwestern cities'. We all know that historically Chicago won the battle to become the largest city in the Midwest thanks to railroads.
Last edited by PerseusVeil; 04-21-2017 at 05:13 PM..
I can't speak for the Midwest as a whole, but for Minneapolis and its swathe of the Upper Midwest that wouldn't be the case. We have our own institutions, culture and economy. Chicago actually has very little impact on what happens in this part of the Midwest. Minneapolis is "the city" in the same way that Boston is for most of New England.
Where do you think much of the agricultural output from Minnesota gets sent to be processed and packaged? Where do you think the financial exchanges for those commodities takes place? How much of your state's products end up in Chicago to be distributed throughout the rest of the country either by air or by rail? How much of the consumer goods you use in Minnesota came through Chicago first?
Where do you think much of the agricultural output from Minnesota gets sent to be processed and packaged? Where do you think the financial exchanges for those commodities takes place? How much of your state's products end up in Chicago to be distributed throughout the rest of the country either by air or by rail? How much of the consumer goods you use in Minnesota came through Chicago first?
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Twin Cities MSA has the seventh largest manufacturing workforce in the country which is nine places above its population rank. The single largest segment of its manufacturing base is food processing, which suggests that a large quantity of Minnesota's and the upper Midwest's agricultural output is processed in Minnesota. It is also a major processing center for a lot of the food exports of the Canadian Prairies. They are also home to General Mills/Pillsbury, Land o Lakes and Cargill (which is the largest privately held food/ag commodities company in the world). The Minneapolis grain exchange is the largest cash and carry grain exchange in the world. The Minneapolis is also the main financial center for the upper Midwest and northern plains so most of the financial deals around local agriculture (besides futures) are happening here. It is like Chicago in that it is a major node in the world's food system, the only thing Chicago has in that regard that the Twin Cities don't is the Board of Trade. Anyway, agriculture is only a piece of Minneapolis' economy, the non-agricultural part is significantly larger. It isn't 1950 anymore. There are a ton of Fortune 500 companies based here that have nothing to do with agriculture - Target, Best Buy, 3M, and United Health Care are the most recognizable names, but there are a lot more behind them. Minnesota also has a large cluster of medical device manufacturing operations which Chicago has nothing to do with.
Most of the consumer goods for sale here are manufactured in China and come here through west coast ports. That said, being a logistics hub isn't that big of a deal anymore.
Last edited by Drewcifer; 04-21-2017 at 06:27 PM..
According to the data I found, the MSP area has about 15,000 food manufacturing jobs vs ~50,000 in the Chicago area, rivaled only by NYC and LA. where there are facilities for Canfield, Armour, Brach, Ferrara-Pan, Eli's, Keebler, Kraft, M&M/Mars, Nabisco, Oscar Mayer, Sara Lee, Swift, Ingredion, Tropicana, and a whole lot of mid-level players too. Not only does a lot more food get processed in Chicago but a wider variety of products as well.
And yeah, being a logistics hub of Chicago's magnitude is still a big a deal. It's a big reason why so much food and other manufacturing happens there.
Where do you think much of the agricultural output from Minnesota gets sent to be processed and packaged? Where do you think the financial exchanges for those commodities takes place? How much of your state's products end up in Chicago to be distributed throughout the rest of the country either by air or by rail? How much of the consumer goods you use in Minnesota came through Chicago first?
I totally agree, and so do most on this poll. In order to get to many destinations either by plane or rail, Chicago is a central Hub for the Midwest. Region V in the Federal Govt., home to many govt. agencies in the 6 state Midwest Region is based there and has a wide influence on housing, environmental, and social programs. Entertainment options such as theatre and tourism for the region are based primarily there; the northeast cannot say that, as NYC, Philly, Boston and Washington have their own thriving tourist industries. Many trucking and manufacturing companies are based there, as well as distribution centers for the entire region. In education, Chicago has the largest student population in the region, and has numerous schools such as U of Chicago, Northwestern, Deaul, IIT, UIC, Loyola, Wheaton, Roosevelt, Columbia, etc. are found there. The number of HQ is huge, and continues to take from the surrounding region, recent examples being ConAgra from Omaha and Catapillar from Peoria, all relocating there to take advantage of the educated young populous. The Board of Trade is active and has great impact in the economy of the region, and the number of huge law firms dominates the region.
So why are the posters here shocked that Chicago is running away with this poll?
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