I finally left Chicago for Scottsdale
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6/18/2007
People talking good about Chicago usually mean downtown/northside, along the lakefront, Michigan Ave, Rush Street, Lincoln Park, Oak Street beach, northside clubs, Wrigley Field, etc. Nice, but single family houses $400k+, and parking is bad.
People mostly keep to themselves. Neighbors in Chicago, Skokie, Schaumburg I never talked to. Southside neighborhoods are mostly black or white - the white are always paranoid that it will turn black, also Mexican and Puerto Rican neighborhoods, some of those gentrified. There is a 2-block Chinatown and 1-block Little Vietnam.
Chicago + suburbs = a huge sprawling metropolis, each area with it's own feel. In winter you freeze your face waiting at the 'L' stop, frozen pipes, snow buries your car, and people putting chairs to 'protect' the space they shoveled out.
Rains flood your basement and postage stamp yards. Swimming pools are a rare novelty. Post office employees look at you like you are crazy if you ask them a question. City tow trucks tow your car($125) if you leave it for a second.
Always $10 valet fee for downtown clubs. Good luck if you get invited to a northside party and have to park your car.
There is nowhere to 'escape' to except Wisconsin, land of cheese, fudge, and people with limited mentality (they hung Bart Star's dog in Green Bay beacuse he had a losing record).
In Scottsdale you can drive to California, Mexico, Nevada, lots of open and unexplored mountains and lakes.
Life is easier in Scottsdale, people seem more relaxed, friendly. Chicago has energy and vibrancy and, with all it's warts, a strange pull. Since you are always battling the weather in Chicago, maybe that's what makes you think you are missing something when you leave.
kramercat | Phoenix, AZ