Bryan W. Alaspa 1Some truths about Chicago
November 24th 2009 14:28
Chicago is a great city. I just recently read the list of the Most Dangerous Cities in the United States and Chicago was not routinely mentioned in the various articles about this list. Instead, places like Camden New Jersey were mentioned and places like that. So, Chicago must have dropped out of the top ten or something, which is nice. I saw that St. Louis was in there, though, which further confirms I made the right decision when I moved out of the place.
There are a lot of people who associate crime with Chicago. Unfortunately, Chicago has earned its fearsome reputation of the centuries. We did have the mob here and Al Capone and his cronies were so vicious that the mob in places like New York thought them as barbarians and wanted nothing to do with them. We have also had lovely citizens like Richard Speck and John Wayne Gacy to help tarnish our image. Also, in the past, we have had ridiculously high crime and murder rates and when the nation sees footage of a high school kid being beaten to death on the streets, well, you can sort of see why the Olympic committee avoided us (but then why choose Rio?)
However, I have never felt safer in any other city. In St. Louis I heard gunfire while sitting in my suburban living room. Then, a few weeks later, explosions that turned out to be homemade car bombs. I was nearly mugged there once while in college on a bright Sunday afternoon in downtown St. Louis.
Chicago is starting to be known for its food. This is a good thing. I defy other cities and challenge them to compete against Chicago chefs with food. My father has said he has been to New York many times and has yet to have a decent steak. I have visited the city twice and was not overly impressed with the food. Chicago-style hot dogs are better and so is our pizza. However, let me clue you in on a little secret about Chicago and pizza. The deep dish stuff is primarily for tourists. Most Chicagoans that I know order their pizza from local pizzerias and they get the thin crust.
Chicago is the birthplace of much of modern architecture. Frank Lloyd Wright once lived in the area and you can still see and live in his houses. Burnham had a design for this city and he helped design some of the earliest skyscrapers. He also changed the way they were made because the ground in Chicago was much different than in New York. So, he changed the way skyscrapers were built.
We have a great lake and by that I mean we have a Great Lake. Sure, we have to worry about pollution, but you get used to having two heads, really, so it’s not that big of a deal. It’s great because you get the feeling of swimming in the ocean without the salt or the sharks. There may be Asian Carp soon and that means I wouldn’t want to be water skiing anytime soon out there, but that is a small price to pay, right?
Chicago has been known for corruption and crime and all things bad for so long. It’s about time to start crowing about the good things here. We are, generally speaking, friendly people and we are hardy people. We survive the Chicago winters with a kind of pride while, at the same time, incessantly bitching about them. We love our town, our food, our buildings, and even our corrupt politicians. And that, my friends, is the truth about Chicago.
There are a lot of people who associate crime with Chicago. Unfortunately, Chicago has earned its fearsome reputation of the centuries. We did have the mob here and Al Capone and his cronies were so vicious that the mob in places like New York thought them as barbarians and wanted nothing to do with them. We have also had lovely citizens like Richard Speck and John Wayne Gacy to help tarnish our image. Also, in the past, we have had ridiculously high crime and murder rates and when the nation sees footage of a high school kid being beaten to death on the streets, well, you can sort of see why the Olympic committee avoided us (but then why choose Rio?)
However, I have never felt safer in any other city. In St. Louis I heard gunfire while sitting in my suburban living room. Then, a few weeks later, explosions that turned out to be homemade car bombs. I was nearly mugged there once while in college on a bright Sunday afternoon in downtown St. Louis.
Chicago is starting to be known for its food. This is a good thing. I defy other cities and challenge them to compete against Chicago chefs with food. My father has said he has been to New York many times and has yet to have a decent steak. I have visited the city twice and was not overly impressed with the food. Chicago-style hot dogs are better and so is our pizza. However, let me clue you in on a little secret about Chicago and pizza. The deep dish stuff is primarily for tourists. Most Chicagoans that I know order their pizza from local pizzerias and they get the thin crust.
Chicago is the birthplace of much of modern architecture. Frank Lloyd Wright once lived in the area and you can still see and live in his houses. Burnham had a design for this city and he helped design some of the earliest skyscrapers. He also changed the way they were made because the ground in Chicago was much different than in New York. So, he changed the way skyscrapers were built.
We have a great lake and by that I mean we have a Great Lake. Sure, we have to worry about pollution, but you get used to having two heads, really, so it’s not that big of a deal. It’s great because you get the feeling of swimming in the ocean without the salt or the sharks. There may be Asian Carp soon and that means I wouldn’t want to be water skiing anytime soon out there, but that is a small price to pay, right?
Chicago has been known for corruption and crime and all things bad for so long. It’s about time to start crowing about the good things here. We are, generally speaking, friendly people and we are hardy people. We survive the Chicago winters with a kind of pride while, at the same time, incessantly bitching about them. We love our town, our food, our buildings, and even our corrupt politicians. And that, my friends, is the truth about Chicago.
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