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Why New Yorkers Shouldn’t Look for Sweet Home in Chicago

A recent discussion thread in the popular, urbanist City-Data Forum asked for reasons why some people shouldn’t move to Chicago. Speaking as an ex-New Yorker who very annoyingly used to measure every city by the standard of the five boroughs, I can think of eight million people who might want to consider a reason to stay home.

Antigone Goes West: A Man, A Dog, A Bike…and 2,000 Miles Towards A New Life

Know this first: this is the most emotionally compelling blog I’ve ever read, and perhaps the best. A Chicago writer and pet lover loses his job, gets fed up with the economy, and decides to bike to the Pacific Ocean to promote pet adoption, with his favorite Basset Hound, Antigone, blogging the trip from her doggie trailer. But it’s the candid bravery of the human author that shines best as Antigone Goes West.

A Real Chicago Dinosaur

Like all adopted Chicagoans, from time to time I get told by some other local who doesn’t agree with me to ‘go back where you came from’ if I don’t like the way things are done in the Windy City. It’s an age-old prejudice that claims being born in Chicago somehow makes you a more authentic Chicagoan than a person who moved here from a different time zone. It’s also baloney.

The Good Life in Downtown Chicago

During their windy City visit last week, Seattle’s coolest couple, Kasey and John, waxed giddily about the fun and frolic of my downtown Chicago neighborhood. Their reaction stands in stark contrast to the one I normally get from native Chicagoans when I tell them I live downtown. It’s almost like telling a New Yorker you never ride the subway. The response is always the same: no one’s stopping you from doing it, but why would you want the hassle?