I lived in south central Illinois for a few years and any time someone found this out, they'd say "Where? Chicago?" Nooo..... not Chicago, lol. We always joke that Illinois is just a suburb of Chicago....meaning that people only ever think about Chicago and then there's "everything else" outside of that. Are you like that with Illinois? Do you know anything else about the state or is it just Chicago? Better yet, is there anybody else here from part of the "everything else" that can relate to this?
I live in the Chicago suburb of Elgin, but I'm originally from Clinton, IL. I've been to all the surrounding central Illinois towns and cities and while Bloomington is all right, there still wasn't very much to do. I like living up here in the Chicago area. There is always something going on.
How do you guys cope with the weather? Does being called the "windy city" do the city of Chicago justice?
Born and raised about two hours outside of chicago. Whenever I talk to anyone from the city/suburbs they know my city for its waterpark and soccer fields. When talking to other people I just tell them I'm from Chicago because thats all that anyone knows about Illinois
It really isn't that windy. The only extra wind is maybe because of the lake so if you live maybe within a mile of the lake you might get some extra wind I suppose. Honestly, I don't like the weather year round. The summers are muggy and the winters are often in the negatives with ice and snow. Some people like the snow, and while I don't mind it so much, I hate scraping my car and driving in it. I do like wearing a coat in the winter so I have more pockets to carry my stuff around. My boyfriend is done with college in June and he's in L.A. so when he's done I'd like to move in with him to some kind of desert atmosphere. The only bad time of the year then is in the hottest part of summer and even then it's not too bad. The hottest part of the day is around 110 or so and that's only for a couple hours out of the day. The rest of the time the weather is beautiful.
I acually live in Chicago but I have spent some time living in the south suburbs. The atmosphere in the suburbs is completely different and a lot of people appreciate that they don't live in the city even if they do happen to work there. The weather isn't too bad for me but the summers can get hotter than I would like them to be. The fact that it changes often doesn't bother me too much though. It feels strange when we get the same weather for a week straight.
Chicago is definitely my city. I grew up as a child in Wheaton and Lisle, but currently I am residing in Virginia. I look back at Chicago and I really miss the modernness of the area. Here where I live, most of the area is old except for the D.C. area, which is about 20 minutes form my place.
I used to live sort of close to St. Louis, but on the Illinois side of the river, and then I moved to San Diego. Everyone asked me if I was from Chicago. Half of them didn't even know what St. Louis was when I tried to explain where I had lived. And everybody pronounced Illinois like Illinoize. I finally started saying I was from Chicago, since it was easier. I actually just moved out of Chicago a few months ago, but not because I didn't like it. Chicago is a great town! Winters are pretty harsh though.
I know Illinois people who pronounce the S/Z sound even, gah! And I did the same thing. I used to say "Oh, I live about an hour from St. Louis" or something like that, but then they didn't know where that was. Then I switched to saying "I live in Illinois. About 4 hours south of Chicago." That way I covered all my bases in one smooth move and they didn't even have to ask if I was from there.
Actually, they don't call it the windy city because of wind. The term was coined back in the day as a joke about all the political corruption. The "wind" was supposed to be coming from all the corrupt politicians constantly blabbing their incessant lies. Bit of history trivia for ya!
That's so fascinating. Thanks for the history lesson. Funny thing is, years ago I flew into the Chicago airport while awaiting a transfer for my next flight. It was my first time in the city, and I remember looking outside the window and seeing these strong gusts of wind. I thought to myself, "Yup, I'm in the Windy City alright." And to think that all these years that wasn't the reason behind the name, lol!
I know right? I thought the same thing, because Chicago is windy, especially near the lake. And during the winter, that wind is pretty brutal! But then I was reading that it had to do with political corruption, and the suggestion that people from Chicago are braggarts, and always full of bluster, and something to do with a rivalry with Cincinnati in the 1800s. You learn something new every day I guess!
I live in Schaumburg, and when i'm out of town I always say I ive in Chicago, although I guess I am very close. I always love correcting people from out of town who think the windy city got its nickname from the weather. It seems like it is ot widely known. I once read an article that claimed Chicago was called the second city because it was not as good as New York. When really it is called that because of the rebuilding that occured after the great fire.
Exactly! And the great fire was part of the reason people started thinking the windy thing was primarily about weather. The wind really made the fire hard to contain. As for the bit about not being as good as New York, you may be interested to know that Kurt Vonnegut said Chicago was a better city than New York, because Chicago has alleys so everyone doesn't have to double park all the time. They can pull into alleys for temporary parking. I love Vonnegut!
