Cities suck, suburbs blow (i.e. chicago and burbs)

[Benny B]

Dude seriously?  Chicago is completely segregated.  It is actually pretty ridiculous how divided the city is.  Naperville is also more racially diverse than... Marquette University!  Don't be such a poopyhead.  

My bad... I thought you DuPagers had a sense of humor.

I expected more from a locale where their one homeless guy is a quasi-celebrity, not to mention a former mayoral candidate.  (As I said... there is no political suicide in Illinois.)

[buckchuckler]

My bad... I thought you DuPagers had a sense of humor.

I expected more from a locale where their one homeless guy is a quasi-celebrity, not to mention a former mayoral candidate.  (As I said... there is no political suicide in Illinois.)

Hey, that homeless guy is the man.  Friend him on facebook.  

If that was a joke, I feel it was poorly executed.  Sorry.    

[Dr. Blackheart]

Thank you Naperville residents for the other part of the McPier bond you are bankrolling...

[DegenerateDish]

This entire thread has gotten ridiculous. If you're in your 20's and yelling about how the suburbs suck, shut up already, my god. I live in Elgin, which is the 8th largest city in the state, and part of Kane County. I have a wife and two kids, plenty of house/plenty of land, not in U-46. I love Chicago, but am more than fine not living in the city proper and raising 3 year old twins there. Chicago's an hour away on 90, it's easy to get there just fine with my own car or public transportation.

For the record, Milwaukee is a great city. The suburbs of Milwaukee that I've been too many times are all fine and worthy of raising a family.

The mentality of "I live in the city, I'm holier than though" is juvenile.

[🏀]

Is this a bad time to mention my high school was 99.3% white?

This whole 'What is a suburb?" argument is stupid. CMAP clearly defines suburban Chicago as Cook, Kane, DuPage, Lake, McHenry, Will & Lake (IN). While I'm from McHenry County, I would never, ever say I'm from a Chicago suburb.

[Galway Eagle]

Aww man my sarcastic comment gets credited for starting an argument? Man I don't wanna be "that" guy.

[rocky_warrior]

Aww man my sarcastic comment gets credited for starting an argument? Man I don't wanna be "that" guy.

Sorry man, sarcastic or not, you started the war!

[Dr. Blackheart]

Just a note as I am not joking, that iceberg image was one of the final designs to spend $80million for Navy Pier bond money.  The Titanic that is the DePaul Arena is a row boat compared to that monstrosity, 

[keefe]

Interesting because suburbanization has actually lead to the re-forestation of lands that were cleared for farming a few generations ago.

perhaps you should visit the Pacific Northwest and see the Cascades...

[Eldon]

The Naperville bum!! He makes a cameo on Scoop! I don't believe it! Exclamation point!

I remember my priest one time giving a homily about caring for the poor and he actually brought up the Naperville bum.  My priest went up to him and was chatting with him for quite some time.  He said that the bum feels bad, is often disrespected, and is treated generally poorly by locals. 

A friend from school (MU) told me that she was from Naperville and I told her about the bum and she said "that guy isn't even a bum!  He has a laptop!!"

Is this guy really that known in the Chicagoland area?

[MerrittsMustache]

This entire thread has gotten ridiculous. If you're in your 20's and yelling about how the suburbs suck, shut up already, my god. I live in Elgin, which is the 8th largest city in the state, and part of Kane County. I have a wife and two kids, plenty of house/plenty of land, not in U-46. I love Chicago, but am more than fine not living in the city proper and raising 3 year old twins there. Chicago's an hour away on 90, it's easy to get there just fine with my own car or public transportation.

For the record, Milwaukee is a great city. The suburbs of Milwaukee that I've been too many times are all fine and worthy of raising a family.

The mentality of "I live in the city, I'm holier than though" is juvenile.

If you're single and in your 20s, the suburbs do suck. Hell, if you're married with no kids, the suburbs suck. If you're married with 3 kids and in your 30s (like me), the suburbs are awesome. It's all about place in life.

[Sunbelt15]

If you're not from the Suburbs, don't come to the Suburbs, cause you wouldn't understand the Suburbs!

[Benny B]

The Naperville bum!! He makes a cameo on Scoop! I don't believe it! Exclamation point!

I remember my priest one time giving a homily about caring for the poor and he actually brought up the Naperville bum.  My priest went up to him and was chatting with him for quite some time.  He said that the bum feels bad, is often disrespected, and is treated generally poorly by locals. 

A friend from school (MU) told me that she was from Naperville and I told her about the bum and she said "that guy isn't even a bum!  He has a laptop!!"

Is this guy really that known in the Chicagoland area?

A laptop and a generator.

[warrior_rugby15]

Lincoln Park is a partial magnet school if you're in their area they have to accept you.  That's why when Cabrini Green was up they had some of the worst teens in the city going to school with the wealthiest city kids.  And ok so if my kids didn't get in to North Shore, Lane Tech, Lincoln Park, Walter Peyton, Jones college prep, Brooks College prep or Whitney Young then they likely weren't raised by me.  No i wouldn't send my kids to Simeon, but that's what catholic schools are for Fenwick, Loyola, St Ignatius to name a few easily accessible ones. 


Fenwick is in the burbs.  So is Loyola. 

Don't forget Mt. Carmel, St. Rita, Br. Rice, Marist, De La Salle, Gordon Tech.

[warrior_rugby15]

I was just trying to point out how foolish that suggesting west dupage is an inner suburb is.  I don't actually believe Rockford is a suburb of chicago, but by the logic she used it pretty much would be. 

Like it when I was at Marquette ask someone where they were from and they would say "Chicago"
"Awesome, what neighborhood I'm from Beverly"
"Oh I'm from Naperville"

[mu03eng]

Is this a bad time to mention my high school was 99.3% white?

This whole 'What is a suburb?" argument is stupid. CMAP clearly defines suburban Chicago as Cook, Kane, DuPage, Lake, McHenry, Will & Lake (IN). While I'm from McHenry County, I would never, ever say I'm from a Chicago suburb.

I went to high school in McHenry County and always said when asked, far NW burb of Chicago.  How else to describe it?  It's crazy because I was almost equadistant from a time perspective to Rockford and Milwaukee as I  was Chicago.

I hated the people at MU that would say Chicago when asked where they were from and then follow up with, yeah Woodstock was a cool place to live.

[mu-rara]

My dad grew up on the South Side.   I have cousins all over Chicago.  When someone says they grew up in Chicago, I naturally ask "where in Chicago?"

[reinko]

This thread is a vortex of derp.

[warrior_rugby15]

From my experience most of the people who plan on living for +10 years in the city generally tend to be City Workers - fireman, cops, paramedics, teachers, etc- because it is required by the law for city workers to live within the boundaries. The neighborhood that I live in now was going bad in the 70s, but the City started to enforce that law and all those workers moved back in from the suburbs. Then you have your people downtown with loads of money.

Yes they are bad neighborhoods- Humboldt Park, Roseland, Englewood, Woodlawn (where 85% of the news comes from). Just don't be an idiot and avoid them.  But there are good neighborhoods in the Northwest and Southwest sides, Hyde Park, Bridgeport, North Side. Even the West loop area (A place where my grandpa would drive my aunts and uncle around to scare them straight)  around the UC and UIC is coming back where young professionals are moving into condos and  apartments, with a lot of bars and restaurants. And in the Wicker Park, Bucktown and South Loop areas, a lot of families with children are moving in.

A big reason why many left the city for the suburbs was because of white flight in the 50s and 60s. These real estate businesses would purposely bring in a black family to walk around the white neighborhood to scare the residents, pressure them to sell their house for a lower value and then these families would purchase land from the same real estate business out in the suburbs.

There are pros and cons to where you live, it's just what works best for you and for your family for now and for the future. I know this is my biased opinion but I don't think that city neighborhoods are as bad as they seem, nor do I think that the suburbs are as boring.

[Abode4life]

perhaps you should visit the Pacific Northwest and see the Cascades...

The Pacific Northwest and Midwest are completely different landscapes.  In your own picture there are all mountains.  No one is doing large scale farming on that.

[Galway Eagle]

Like it when I was at Marquette ask someone where they were from and they would say "Chicago"
"Awesome, what neighborhood I'm from Beverly"
"Oh I'm from Naperville"

Same here, I say the west side border now grew up in Albany Park. I think it's fine to say chicago area or near chicago or chicago suburbs but saying Chicago implies the city.   

[Pakuni]

There are pros and cons to where you live, it's just what works best for you and for your family for now and for the future. I know this is my biased opinion but I don't think that city neighborhoods are as bad as they seem, nor do I think that the suburbs are as boring.

Stop it, you, with your reasoned perspective.
Everyone knows that every block of Chicago is filled with gun-toting, heroin-dealing gang members and the 14-year-old crack-addicted prostitutes they're pimping.
And every suburb is rife with middle managers and their pasty, overfed children whose idea of scintillating entertainment is a youth soccer game followed by a trip to Target, mowing the lawn and topped off by dinner at Applebees (or maybe even Olive Garden if they're feeling risque).