\\\\\\ Chicago: The MidWasteland ////// - Page 2

10023 · #21 Posted **Jun 4, 2012, 11:37 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by BnaBreaker

Great set!! You guys really got around. And yes...Longman & Eagle is most definitely the shit.

I like any place where they charge you more to order your breakfast without a can of PBR.

Buckman821 · #22 Posted **Jun 5, 2012, 1:18 AM**

Did you end up exploring Garfield Park and Lawndale? Seems like you were on the El over by Garfield Park but I don't see any other photos from those areas.

ifeeldope9779 · #23 Posted **Jun 5, 2012, 1:24 AM**

What a good looking city. You captured it perfectly. Im really digging your choice of dining. Next time I'm in DC or LA I will have to get your advice on some good restaurants.

J_M_Tungsten · #24 Posted **Jun 5, 2012, 1:52 AM**

Can you post the names of some of the restaurants and cafes you went to? I've been in Chicago for 5 years now and didn't recognize half of the places you went! Thanks!

OhioGuy · #25 Posted **Jun 5, 2012, 2:23 AM**

Enjoyable photo thread!

fflint · #26 Posted **Jun 6, 2012, 2:21 AM**

Outstanding

BnaBreaker · #27 Posted **Jun 6, 2012, 2:39 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by 10023

I like any place where they charge you more to order your breakfast without a can of PBR.

Haha very true...though I've never gotten the PBR Breakfast. I usually get the Duck Confit Hash.

Kilgore Trout · #28 Posted **Jun 6, 2012, 5:01 AM**

big shoulders and big skies. chicago is nothing if not assertive.

destroycreate · #29 Posted **Jun 7, 2012, 6:50 AM**

I've always wanted to visit Chicago, my boyfriend is obsessed with visiting the place.

Does it feel cosmopolatain and worldly (like up to date with Seattle, NYC, LA, SF with all the tech growth, etc.), or kind of stuck in America's past glory days?

BnaBreaker · #30 Posted **Jun 7, 2012, 7:02 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by destroycreate

I've always wanted to visit Chicago, my boyfriend is obsessed with visiting the place.

Does it feel cosmopolatain and worldly (like up to date with Seattle, NYC, LA, SF with all the tech growth, etc.), or kind of stuck in America's past glory days?

I don't know what you consider worldly and cosmopolitan, but in my opinion it's the best of both of those. It is a cosmopolitan, highly diverse, dynamic, global metropolis in every sense of the term, yet at the same time it is very real and authentic and laid back and in touch with what it is and what it's roots are.

Don't be fooled by the towers that it's got, it's still, it's still chi-town from the block. Okay sorry. That was stupid.

Cory · #31 Posted **Jun 7, 2012, 2:00 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by BnaBreaker

Don't be fooled by the towers that it's got, it's still, it's still chi-town from the block.

*crickets*

Nice set!

destroycreate · #32 Posted **Jun 7, 2012, 7:43 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by BnaBreaker

I don't know what you consider worldly and cosmopolitan, but in my opinion it's the best of both of those.

I guess I was referring to the widespread thought that Chicago is ultimately the most American big city in the US. Whereas LA feels extremely hispanic-influences, the Bay Area influenced by Asia, and NYC being a melting pot of the world, I always hear that Chicago is unmistakenly American through and through. And I guess I'm also referring to how Chicago is in in the Midwest, near the rust belt, and has faced a lot of population decline in the past years. You don't hear about flocks of people moving from the coasts to Chicago. I don't mean this in a bad way, it's just demographic shifts.

I really want to visit soon...due to the much cheaper cost of living and what seems to be a strong economy, my boyfriend and I have considered Chicago as a great alternative. Whether I can deal with the winters though is another story ;-)

BnaBreaker · #33 Posted **Jun 7, 2012, 8:34 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by WesternGulf

*crickets*

hahahaha...it's a reference to an old Jennifer Lopez song and, while a horrible, horrible song, it seemed somewhat fitting to what I was saying about Chicago. Never again! lol

Standpoor · #34 Posted **Jun 7, 2012, 8:41 PM**

Was Damen, Arroy Thai, as far west that you got. Lots of Uptown but little of Lincoln Square. That is ok. Even as a resident of Lincoln Square I can say that Uptown is far more interesting. Arroy Thai is amazing but the crazy thing is that this area has maybe five other really great Thai places and dozens of good ones surrounded by "German neighborhood" marketing.

Steely Dan · #35 Posted **Jun 7, 2012, 8:50 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by destroycreate

Does it feel cosmopolatain and worldly (like up to date with Seattle, NYC, LA, SF with all the tech growth, etc.), or kind of stuck in America's past glory days?

chicago is both of those things. as i said in another thread, chicago can best be dscribed as the result of a one night stand between NYC and detroit. you should come check it out for yourself; it's a city of some pretty wild contrasts.

this is chicago:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kingofthehill

4

so is this:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kingofthehill

94

absolutely fantastic pics, king!

Quote:

Originally Posted by destroycreate

Whether I can deal with the winters though is another story ;-)

chances are, you can't.

no offense, but californians tend to be fairly soft (relatively speaking), and the midwest is not kind to soft people. there's a reason why half of the phoenix metro area is made up of former chicagoans (kernel of truth exaggeration).

destroycreate · #36 Posted **Jun 7, 2012, 9:46 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

chances are, you can't.

no offense, but californians tend to be fairly soft (relatively speaking), and the midwest is not kind to soft people. there's a reason why half of the phoenix metro area is made up of former chicagoans (kernel of truth exaggeration).

Well, I did put up with 2 winters in Rhode Island and 6 winters in Denmark...they were all pretty brutal, the latter just being relentlessly dark.

My biggest gripe though is WIND. Omfg, it makes winter so much worse when it's gusty. I hate that SF is incessantly windy; I wonder how it would feel at 15 degrees in the middle of January...

Steely Dan · #37 Posted **Jun 7, 2012, 9:59 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by destroycreate

My biggest gripe though is WIND. Omfg, it makes winter so much worse when it's gusty. I wonder how it would feel at 15 degrees in the middle of January...

as someone who bike commutes 30 miles a day, 12 months a year along chicago's windy-ass lakefront, i can tell you from boatloads of experience that the best word to describe chicago's winter wind is "BRUTAL". there are some winter mornings when i've been riding to work and questioning my sanity.

though this past winter was a complete joke. we never even had winter, it just went from late fall right into early spring sometime in january. winter was entirely by-passed. by far the weirdest winter season of my 36 years of living in chicago.

Rizzo · #38 Posted **Jun 8, 2012, 5:55 AM**

I'm pretty rugged to cold Chicago weather growing up in Michigan. But there's times downtown where the weather is just outrageously inhospitable because of the wind. But the wonderful summers are worth it.

Segun · #39 Posted **Jun 8, 2012, 4:18 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by destroycreate

I guess I was referring to the widespread thought that Chicago is ultimately the most American big city in the US. Whereas LA feels extremely hispanic-influences, the Bay Area influenced by Asia, and NYC being a melting pot of the world, I always hear that Chicago is unmistakenly American through and through.

Chicago is still #5 in international immigration in the US, despite its location. When they say its the most American, its not like you're going to walk around the city and find nothing but "Americans".....it refers to how it represents the good and bad of America. Diverse/segregated, safe/dangerous, cosmopolitan/provincial, friendly/corrupt. Also, its built environment has the greatest concentration and mixes of distinctly "American" forms. It was, for a long while, the largest, truly American-built city.

F1 Tommy · #40 Posted **Jun 8, 2012, 5:15 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

chances are, you can't.

no offense, but californians tend to be fairly soft (relatively speaking), and the midwest is not kind to soft people. there's a reason why half of the phoenix metro area is made up of former chicagoans (kernel of truth exaggeration).

Great picture thread!!

Most of the Californians I know who live here bitch less about the weather than the locals born and raised in Chicago. I think they are so happy that owning a house is possible without some crazy morgage payment
the weather becomes less important.