4 ms·

Wait, you lived in downtown Chicago -- not a community by any stretch, but instead a commercial and tourism district that rolls up its sidewalks by 7PM -- and y

Wait, you lived in downtown Chicago -- not a community by any stretch, but instead a commercial and tourism district that rolls up its sidewalks by 7PM -- and you call that "living in the city" and imagine that area descriptive of "city benefits"? Hey, you prefer the suburbs and long commutes. Great. But neighborhoods do actually exist in a city of 3 million+. Commutes are minimal, with few taxis and sirens to rattle one prone to rattling. Let's not for a second indulge the idea that you made a fair comparison.

carlmcqueen 11y ago
Wow, I'm not exactly sure where this intense hate of Chicago came from. I grew up in Chicago and lived there as an adult as well for a stretch before moving where I live now and I still have a lot of friends who live there. Chicago is large enough there are a lot of communities [1] not a central one. Depending on what you're interested there are different neighborhoods for whatever kind of lifestyle you're wanting to find yourself in and always new developing ones if you want to make your own. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Community_areas_in_Chicago https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Community_areas_in_Chicago
- harrumph 11y ago
  If I had to guess, what we're seeing in the post above is almost certainly someone who grew up in wealthier suburban enclaves and whose comfort level is forever pegged to those enclaves. How else might one mistake downtown Chicago for a community representative of city living? No friends in neighborhoods, no familiarity with neighborhoods.
zaccus 11y ago
I live in a "legit" Chicago neighborhood. There are plenty of taxis and sirens around. OP's comparison isn't that far off. Definitely looking forward to living in suburban house someday. IMO apartments suck and city living is overrated. I do like not having a car though.
- harrumph 11y ago
  >OP's comparison isn't that far off. No, it's actually ridiculous. Again: you like suburbs and necessarily the long commutes that go with them.
HeyLaughingBoy 11y ago
Let's not for a second indulge the idea that you made a fair comparison Fine. Then I'll try to make one. I used to live in a beautiful part of Minneapolis. A tree-lined, peaceful street near the edge of town that was so bucolic I had a friend who came to my house for over a year before she realized that I lived within the city limits, not an inner-ring suburb. I knew my neighbors, could walk to the grocery store, restaurants, movie theater and the big museums, theaters, etc were a 10 minute drive away in downtown. We went to art galleries and performances fairly regularly. Now I live on a small farm about 40 miles outside the city. The two closest non-agricultural businesses to my home are a bar and a McDonald's. Yet I will never move back to the city; I simply prefer it here. The problem with so many of these articles, and the resulting comments, is that everyone comes out of the woodwork claiming that their way is best and anyone who disagrees doesn't know what the other side looks like. Not so: as the GP stated, we know the pros and cons of either choice. We also know better than you what we prefer!
- harrumph 11y ago
  >We also know better than you what we prefer! Not sure where you think I've claimed to know better than you or anybody on that matter. You like long commutes and exurbs and aren't so hot on having close neighbors. Great. Call it what it is.
  - jasode 11y ago
    >Not sure where you think I've claimed to know better than you or anybody Probably because your replies have an undercurrent of condescension in them. Take your following comment for example: >and whose comfort level is forever pegged to those enclaves. This type of psychological profiling of my background to make it look like my living preferences are "defective" smacks of smug superiority. My mother didn't buy a suburban house until I was 19 so I grew up living in apartments. And yes, I had friends in Chicago's Gold Coast and other "community" neighborhoods where you see people riding bicycles, etc. Those benefits don't tip the scales for me. It's still sharing walls and ceilings with neighbors. Yes, townhomes are less dense than apartments but it's still sharing walls. Besides, the Chicago loop was a quick 10 minute walk from the office. The Gold Coast means a 20+ minute subway ride -- and more walking after the substation. That kind of negates the convenience aspects. In any case, none of those urban environments make may say, "gosh, this apartment and community is my dream." Here's another unproductive comment from you: >You like long commutes Nobody here said he "likes/enjoys/favors long commutes". Please don't put words in people's mouths to try to win an argument. The commute is a tradeoff (aka a necessary evil). It is not something we "like". And another one: >Again: you like suburbs You just ignore the fact that he stated, "apartments suck and city living is overrated." Your style of replies to everyone has that fingers-in-the-ears-I-can't-hear-you vibe to it.

carlmcqueen 11y ago

Wow, I'm not exactly sure where this intense hate of Chicago came from. I grew up in Chicago and lived there as an adult as well for a stretch before moving where I live now and I still have a lot of friends who live there. Chicago is large enough there are a lot of communities [1] not a central one. Depending on what you're interested there are different neighborhoods for whatever kind of lifestyle you're wanting to find yourself in and always new developing ones if you want to make your own. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Community_areas_in_Chicago https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Community_areas_in_Chicago

harrumph 11y ago
If I had to guess, what we're seeing in the post above is almost certainly someone who grew up in wealthier suburban enclaves and whose comfort level is forever pegged to those enclaves. How else might one mistake downtown Chicago for a community representative of city living? No friends in neighborhoods, no familiarity with neighborhoods.

zaccus 11y ago

I live in a "legit" Chicago neighborhood. There are plenty of taxis and sirens around. OP's comparison isn't that far off. Definitely looking forward to living in suburban house someday. IMO apartments suck and city living is overrated. I do like not having a car though.

harrumph 11y ago
>OP's comparison isn't that far off. No, it's actually ridiculous. Again: you like suburbs and necessarily the long commutes that go with them.

HeyLaughingBoy 11y ago

Let's not for a second indulge the idea that you made a fair comparison Fine. Then I'll try to make one. I used to live in a beautiful part of Minneapolis. A tree-lined, peaceful street near the edge of town that was so bucolic I had a friend who came to my house for over a year before she realized that I lived within the city limits, not an inner-ring suburb. I knew my neighbors, could walk to the grocery store, restaurants, movie theater and the big museums, theaters, etc were a 10 minute drive away in downtown. We went to art galleries and performances fairly regularly. Now I live on a small farm about 40 miles outside the city. The two closest non-agricultural businesses to my home are a bar and a McDonald's. Yet I will never move back to the city; I simply prefer it here. The problem with so many of these articles, and the resulting comments, is that everyone comes out of the woodwork claiming that their way is best and anyone who disagrees doesn't know what the other side looks like. Not so: as the GP stated, we know the pros and cons of either choice. We also know better than you what we prefer!

harrumph 11y ago
>We also know better than you what we prefer! Not sure where you think I've claimed to know better than you or anybody on that matter. You like long commutes and exurbs and aren't so hot on having close neighbors. Great. Call it what it is.
- jasode 11y ago
  >Not sure where you think I've claimed to know better than you or anybody Probably because your replies have an undercurrent of condescension in them. Take your following comment for example: >and whose comfort level is forever pegged to those enclaves. This type of psychological profiling of my background to make it look like my living preferences are "defective" smacks of smug superiority. My mother didn't buy a suburban house until I was 19 so I grew up living in apartments. And yes, I had friends in Chicago's Gold Coast and other "community" neighborhoods where you see people riding bicycles, etc. Those benefits don't tip the scales for me. It's still sharing walls and ceilings with neighbors. Yes, townhomes are less dense than apartments but it's still sharing walls. Besides, the Chicago loop was a quick 10 minute walk from the office. The Gold Coast means a 20+ minute subway ride -- and more walking after the substation. That kind of negates the convenience aspects. In any case, none of those urban environments make may say, "gosh, this apartment and community is my dream." Here's another unproductive comment from you: >You like long commutes Nobody here said he "likes/enjoys/favors long commutes". Please don't put words in people's mouths to try to win an argument. The commute is a tradeoff (aka a necessary evil). It is not something we "like". And another one: >Again: you like suburbs You just ignore the fact that he stated, "apartments suck and city living is overrated." Your style of replies to everyone has that fingers-in-the-ears-I-can't-hear-you vibe to it.