Why does most of downstate Illinois not care for Chicago? (credit, cabinet)

[Maintainschaos]

Originally Posted by BaptistFundie

My daughter really is not looking at U of I. Sure, it seems like an academically respected school...but it seems to have a reputation as a party school. It's also pretty expensive.

But what are those other schools you are referring to? As a guy that has only lived in Illinois for a year, I don't recognize them.

If you have the opportunity, UIUC is one of the best public institutions in the US, and all college is what you make of it—if your child is at all interest in the sciences and/or engineering, it’s hard to beat. Public out of state universities are all pretty expensive, so beware.

The others are Illinois State (ISU), Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE) or Carbondale (SIUC), Northwestern (NU), and University of Chicago.

[BaptistFundie]

Originally Posted by Maintainschaos

If you have the opportunity, UIUC is one of the best public institutions in the US, and all college is what you make of it—if your child is at all interest in the sciences and/or engineering, it’s hard to beat. Public out of state universities are all pretty expensive, so beware.

The others are Illinois State (ISU), Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE) or Carbondale (SIUC), Northwestern (NU), and University of Chicago.

Ah...ok, Edwardsville I've heard of. Her boyfriend is looking to go there. I think she looked at Carbondale..but as for the others...she is adamantly opposed to anything north of I-80.

[PerseusVeil]

Originally Posted by edsg25

This thread brings up a question for me:

I've already brought up the U of I and how heavily its enrollment is made up of Chicago area kids. Illinois is our state's flagship public university.....but Chicagoland students don't go there because it is located downstate (interestingly, back many years ago, U of i was referred to as "downstate" in the Chicago area, as in "I'm going downstate next year')...they're there for the school.

The University of Illinois system is made up of three institutions, one relatively small (UIS) and two large universities (Illinois, UIC).

I've already discussed that a huge number of Chicago area kids go to Illinois. And, being there, they build up some familiarity to downstate IL.

But is there any "reverse" on this? UIC, by virtually all measures, is the state's second highest ranking public university and, I believe, the second largest in enrollment of our state schools. My question is this: how much is UIC an attraction for students in downstate IL? On this one, I have no idea, but given that the school has a very good reputation, that it is located in Chicago, a global city of renown, and gives downstate kids the opportunity to go to such a school with the relatively low in-state tuition...it would seem to me that UIC should be a popular choice of IL kids away from the metro area (but frankly I don't believe that it is, that that many downstaters are attracted to it).

I guess I'm suggesting that through Chicago kids going downstate (Champaign, Normal, Carbondale, etc.) and through downstate kids coming to the Chgo Area for school (UIC foremost, of course,but even schools like NEIU), do we build any sort of bonds between metro Chicago and the rest of the state.

When I was applying for college (granted we're talking about a decade ago at this point), UIC didn't hit my radar. Looking back on it it's rather odd that I didn't hear more about it considering I eventually became laser focused on moving to Chicago and going to college there, and I had even applied to UIUC. The school, even when I had already started at Loyola, has a commuter school reputation (Or at least it did). That wasn't something I was interested in when I was looking at colleges, although I won't pretend I had rigorous standards when looking at schools back then. Loyola managed to completely sell me thanks to their lakeshore campus alone.

[PerseusVeil]

Originally Posted by BaptistFundie

Ah...ok, Edwardsville I've heard of. Her boyfriend is looking to go there. I think she looked at Carbondale..but as for the others...she is adamantly opposed to anything north of I-80.

Carbondale is the flagship campus, but Edwardsville has rapidly gained on it. There's talk of possibly separating the campuses at this point due to funding discrepancies between the two.

In terms of day to day life, Edwardsville is the far nicer city over Carbondale and it's only about 30 minutes away from St. Louis.

[BLS2753]

Originally Posted by phlinak

Actually, you're not.

According to Google, Chicago is closer by less than 10 miles but I'm familiar with the area and I totally get your point.

I don't know how you can pinpoint a "rock throw". The Ohio River, which forms the IL-KY border, proceeds in a northeasterly direction, and depending on where one lives along the river, the distance from either Chicago or Atlanta can vary as much as 50 miles. So his "rock throw" could be anywhere along the river, and he could possibly be closer to Atlanta.

A better analogy has always been to compare the Mississippi state line, which is around 200 miles, compared to about 360 for Chicago.

[BLS2753]

I lived in the Chicago burbs for 16 of my 65 years. The years previous and now, have been in the southern tip of the state. I could've chosen to remain in the Chicago area, but didn't. I have no dislike for Chicago, it was just never "home" for me.

One thing that I perceive among many Chicagolanders, is it's like one has to meet a certain qualification of intelligence and cultural literacy to be allowed to live there. And somehow, all of us downstaters lust to be able to live there but can't, because we're inferior beings of some sort. Also, there's an implied jealousy, that doesn't exist.

[lepoisson]

Originally Posted by BLS2753

One thing that I perceive among many Chicagolanders, is it's like one has to meet a certain qualification of intelligence and cultural literacy to be allowed to live there. And somehow, all of us downstaters lust to be able to live there but can't, because we're inferior beings of some sort. Also, there's an implied jealousy, that doesn't exist.

I think you're just hearing from a vocal minority. When I moved to Chicago, I expected the place to be full of obnoxious yuppies or liberals, but the reality is that more than half of the city is filled with residents who live below the poverty line, another 25% are working class, and the other 25% are the obnoxious yuppies/liberals I previously mentioned.

Actually, I think the city of Chicago is fairly representative of the entire state. The north side represents higher income areas like Champaign-Urbana and the Chicago burbs, the south and west sides represent declining and low income areas, and the working class neighborhoods like Jefferson Park represent everything else.

[BaptistFundie]

Originally Posted by lepoisson

I think you're just hearing from a vocal minority. When I moved to Chicago, I expected the place to be full of obnoxious yuppies or liberals, but the reality is that more than half of the city is filled with residents who live below the poverty line, another 25% are working class, and the other 25% are the obnoxious yuppies/liberals I previously mentioned.

Actually, I think the city of Chicago is fairly representative of the entire state. The north side represents higher income areas like Champaign-Urbana and the Chicago burbs, the south and west sides represent declining and low income areas, and the working class neighborhoods like Jefferson Park represent everything else.

So, like just about any other group....it may be that the ones that tend to be active on internet forums tend to be a bit more intense than the average member of whatever group they represent? My own moniker is a tongue-in-cheek poke at that.

[damba]

Originally Posted by BaptistFundie

So, like just about any other group....it may be that the ones that tend to be active on internet forums tend to be a bit more intense than the average member of whatever group they represent? My own moniker is a tongue-in-cheek poke at that.

ROTFL

Seems accurate considering how much posting you have in the religion sub-forum.

God and guns(!)

[BaptistFundie]

Originally Posted by damba

ROTFL

Seems accurate considering how much posting you have in the religion sub-forum.

God and guns(!)

Does "damba" mean "stalker" in another language?