Sorry I haven’t posted in a while. I’ve been going through a period of transition (moving across the country, seeking employment, living with new people, making new friends in a strange new city… you know) and the thought of boiling those experiences and feelings down into a blog post was daunting.
Mostly, I’m in awe of my new city. I’m still in that stage where I compare just about everything to DC. It helps me gain perspective and form opinions about this strange new place based on past norms and experiences. The gist of what I’ve come up with is actually quite simple. Compared to DC… Chicago HAS NO RULES.
Allow me to explain.
There is an overall air of formality and politically correctness that pervades life in the District. It’s visible in the layout of the streets, the endless traffic circles, the vast expanses of marble plazas designed for the tread of tired tourists, the stately grandeur of Embassies and government buildings, and the continual flashing of police cruiser lights in a city trapped in an indefinite ‘crime emergency.’ You can feel it in the starched suits of government workers, the exhausted faces of commuting Hill interns, the countdown clocks in spotlessly clean metro stations, the evening emptiness of a city whose employees live outside the Beltway.
But Chicago…
Montrose Harbor just down the street from my apartment.
Is literally bursting with life. People smile at you on the street. Dunkin’ Donuts employees learn your name and inquire about your day. You can DRINK YOUR COFFEE ON THE L TRAIN. There are skyscrapers. “Downtown” has people after 5pm AND it smells like chocolate (there’s a factory nearby). The subway system is above ground! I get to stare out the window at my new city and NOT feel like a mole person. Chicagoans get representation in Congress. Bars stay open until 4 and 5 am and drinks cost less than $10. People actually pay attention to the city’s sports teams.
Wrigley Field from the cargo doors that were open one day as we walked by.
CABS TAKE CREDIT CARDS and I can get almost anywhere for $13. There is incredible shopping IN the city. The L train goes to both airports. I can always tell which way is East because of the lake. Oh yea, there’s a lake. Starving artists don’t actually starve here (it’s cheap enough to survive). I can walk for hours and not get sweaty because I have yet to see a hill. There is THEATER. It’s a city of comedians (everyone does improv). Liquor is sold just about everywhere (grocery stores, gas stations, pharmacies). I can take the train to Missouri.
I could probably go on all day like this but hopefully you get the point. I loved DC. It’s a fantastic city and a terrific place to go to school. I wouldn’t trade my time there for anything… but Chicago? It’s wondrous.
It’s home.
