[Halsted & Villagio]

Originally Posted by left of center

I do remember when I was younger (highschool, college) there was an intense pride from Chicagoans about our city, and the boasting was probably to an annoying level for out of town visitors. Two things have given our collective self esteem a big hit: the resurgent murder rate (which is still WELL below previous highs in the 90's, and even lower than the early 00's, when Chicago's bravado was still full steam ahead) and the Illinois pension/budget crisis. Both of these issues have been a problem for the city for some time, but like Halsted&Villagio said, the national media pounced on them like vultures to fresh carrion. Its been a non stop beratement from the like of Fox News, CNN, MSNBC, etc that has caused Chicagoans to shift from prideful boasting to self deprecation, even if it is only jokingly. My hope is that this is a temporary state of affairs, and when both of these problems are abated/reduced, the national media can just f*ck off and allow us to lick our wounds.

I try not to think about it, but by the 2030 Census, Houston will most likely pass us up in city limits population. Never mind the fact that Houston is 3x larger than Chicago (627 sq mi vs 227 sq mi) or that the Chicago metro is 50% larger than that of Houston (9.6 million vs 6.3 million). The media is going to have a field day with that. CHICAGO IS OVER! Blah blah blah... Its going to make the shit storm going on now look like a day in the park.

Completely agree with this... and would add it's not just the "news" media... I would add print/tv/movies/radio to that as well.

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