My kind of town
Two and a half weeks. That's all the time I have left in Chicago after being a full-time resident of the area for most of the past five years.
And I still don't feel like I've begun to scratch the surface of the city or been able to fully appreciate the town. For that I'd need a lifetime. A long, fruitful, ambitious lifetime.
Sure, the weather sucks much of the time (either too hot or too cold) and I won't miss that. But it's an underappreciated city, one that seems to have no hangups about its status as the Second City. Instead of loudly shouting that we're the greatest in the world when it comes to every little thing from pizza to dental floss like New York, or being phony and superficial like L.A., Chicagoans just go out and do it well without braggadocio. They're down to earth yet proud, accomplished yet unassuming.
There's a lot to miss. Uno's deep dish sausage pizza (far and away the greatest pizza the world has known and I will be eternally grateful to my childhood dentist for recommending it). Wrigley Field (is falling down, falling down). The El (I'll pretend that it was punctual most of the time). Lake Michigan at sunset. The forest of skyscrapers stretching across the skyline. A polyglot patchwork of ethnic communities. All the awesome intimate concert venues that draw big acts. Culture up the wazoo. Navy Pier. The Loop. Goose Island beer. The Goose Island brew pubs. The Goose Island brewery tour.
Feel free to add your own.
Seattle promises to be an interesting place to learn and live. I can't say that I know that much about it, having only been there for a few days and having much less indirect knowledge of it than I had of Chicago before plopping down here. It's a beautiful city with lots of greenery and breathtaking vistas, great nature sights and plenty to see and do. I know Pike Place Market holds a lot of promise, especially down the road when presumably I'll have a vehicle or some better way of trekking down there on weekends to load up on fresh produce or to get my fill of fresh seafood.
Granted, the weather's partly cloudy and rainy 360 days of the year, but I can deal with that. I spent a long weekend in the low countries and didn't see the sun until shortly before I flew out, and I think that was a lot worse, or would be much worse to endure all winter. Yes, clear, bright sunny days are few and far between. But the rains are intermittent. The clouds come and go. And the temperatures like to stay more within my comfort zone, never getting too hot, and usually the right level of cool for my tastes. The hilliness will take some adjustment, especially as I traverse the city by foot and bike, but it'll just be good exercise. And I think it's not wholly cliched to say that it seems like a good fit for me in terms of the casual lifestyle. Of course, I don't drink coffee or use Microsoft Windows, and I remain fiercely loyal to my Southern California teams, so I might clash a bit with the natives. But it should be good.
Still, it'll be interesting to see how it pans out. I know it's not fair to either city to make comparisons to the other, though they're inevitable. There's certainly a different ethos to each, both perfectly valid and respectable. I think I'll really enjoy my six or more years in Seattle, just as I've really had a blast during five years in Chicago. But when that's over and done with, it'll be interesting to see which city I think I'd prefer to choose as a home. Not that it'll be anything but an academic exercise as I'm unlikely to have either as a realistic choice, but I'm curious to see which one wins me over.
And I still don't feel like I've begun to scratch the surface of the city or been able to fully appreciate the town. For that I'd need a lifetime. A long, fruitful, ambitious lifetime.
Sure, the weather sucks much of the time (either too hot or too cold) and I won't miss that. But it's an underappreciated city, one that seems to have no hangups about its status as the Second City. Instead of loudly shouting that we're the greatest in the world when it comes to every little thing from pizza to dental floss like New York, or being phony and superficial like L.A., Chicagoans just go out and do it well without braggadocio. They're down to earth yet proud, accomplished yet unassuming.
There's a lot to miss. Uno's deep dish sausage pizza (far and away the greatest pizza the world has known and I will be eternally grateful to my childhood dentist for recommending it). Wrigley Field (is falling down, falling down). The El (I'll pretend that it was punctual most of the time). Lake Michigan at sunset. The forest of skyscrapers stretching across the skyline. A polyglot patchwork of ethnic communities. All the awesome intimate concert venues that draw big acts. Culture up the wazoo. Navy Pier. The Loop. Goose Island beer. The Goose Island brew pubs. The Goose Island brewery tour.
Feel free to add your own.
Seattle promises to be an interesting place to learn and live. I can't say that I know that much about it, having only been there for a few days and having much less indirect knowledge of it than I had of Chicago before plopping down here. It's a beautiful city with lots of greenery and breathtaking vistas, great nature sights and plenty to see and do. I know Pike Place Market holds a lot of promise, especially down the road when presumably I'll have a vehicle or some better way of trekking down there on weekends to load up on fresh produce or to get my fill of fresh seafood.
Granted, the weather's partly cloudy and rainy 360 days of the year, but I can deal with that. I spent a long weekend in the low countries and didn't see the sun until shortly before I flew out, and I think that was a lot worse, or would be much worse to endure all winter. Yes, clear, bright sunny days are few and far between. But the rains are intermittent. The clouds come and go. And the temperatures like to stay more within my comfort zone, never getting too hot, and usually the right level of cool for my tastes. The hilliness will take some adjustment, especially as I traverse the city by foot and bike, but it'll just be good exercise. And I think it's not wholly cliched to say that it seems like a good fit for me in terms of the casual lifestyle. Of course, I don't drink coffee or use Microsoft Windows, and I remain fiercely loyal to my Southern California teams, so I might clash a bit with the natives. But it should be good.
Still, it'll be interesting to see how it pans out. I know it's not fair to either city to make comparisons to the other, though they're inevitable. There's certainly a different ethos to each, both perfectly valid and respectable. I think I'll really enjoy my six or more years in Seattle, just as I've really had a blast during five years in Chicago. But when that's over and done with, it'll be interesting to see which city I think I'd prefer to choose as a home. Not that it'll be anything but an academic exercise as I'm unlikely to have either as a realistic choice, but I'm curious to see which one wins me over.
posted by Alexander Dubcek | 20:21
1 Comments:
Somehow, I think that had you been writing this on a scorchingly hot day, your opinion of Chicago would have been a lot lower. ;-)
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