Chicagoans (meaning people within the city limits) get really pissy at anyone who lives in the region and says "I'm from Chicago" and unfortunately they've gotten to me, but I would like to propose an alternative qualifier:
If you can see the skyline from where you live, you're "from Chicago"
If you can see the skyline from where you live, you're "from Chicago"
Comments
Imposter syndrome also keeps me from saying I'm from Portland.
I've been yelled at for that very thing.
I moved from the slightly father out suburbs and my friends said I lived “downtown”. My GF at the time laughed and said I was a 30 minute subway ride from downtown.
People do that everywhere, and I don't get why people from the city themselves take offense. Is it taxes ?
-Where are you from?
Chicago
-Chicago Chicago?
No, Orland Park
https://www.earthcam.com/usa/illinois/chicago/field/?cam=fieldmuseum
I grew up in the west suburbs.
"Metroplex" is the fucking coolest word, though.
It just sounds futuristic. You can't say it without seeing the Reuinion Tower ball, in your mind's eye.
It constantly suffered from horrible traffic congestion, and eventually had to be upgraded. Sadly, the new name of "Horseshoe Interchange" has caught on.
And to be honest I think it’s reasonable considering everyone knows these major cities.
And it's way simpler to simply say "I'm from Seattle" (or "near Seattle") than to try and explain complicated reality.
If you're not speaking to a local and you're no further distant from the city than Naperville, you're allowed to say you're from Chicago in my book. I feel the same about the city I'm "from" originally
Even my aunt (who can walk to the L!) censors herself because she's not technically within the city limits.
I always feel like there's a "People hate people from Barrington, so I say I'm from Chicago" element to it all.
There's an intense sense of superiority that a lot of bona fide Chicagoans are not shy to exude towards people who live in the suburbs and it annoys me very muchly. A lot of projection re: why people choose to live where they do.
Chicago suburbs want to be Chicago in some contexts and DEFINITELY NOT CHICAGO in others, but there's also gatekeeping the other way.
I'm not sure there's another city with such an adversarial relationship.
I grew up in Kentucky (Boone County specifically) but have always said "I'm from Cincinnati."
The rest are just innois-ins 😆
from within city limits: "I'm from Chicago"
from a suburb: "I'm from the Chicago area"
Even people from IL assume I can drop by "the city" after work. It's more than 200 miles away.
anywhere the freeway touches is LA
Like, sorry that nobody knows what Birmingham or Oak Park or Taylor or Novi or Royal Oak etc etc is...
Yes we'll sometimes have it on special occasions but Chicago thin crust is its own thing which is what is actually eaten around here almost all the time. Often referred to as "tavern style"
>:3
agree.
I once had a (Southern) friend introduce me to someone as "from Chiraq" and I about had a stroke.
Then they're all Chicagoans!
*Subject to meteorological conditions.
To everyone who asks, I say that I live "near Chicago".
*The Greater Cleveland Area
Just say "I'm from right outside Chicago"
I miss Chicago some days, but I'm proudly a Waukegan guy now. A Chicago ex-pat.
And hey, we have cool shorebirds too!
Which, personally, I think doesn't do the actual city any favors. It primes them to think you think the city is dangerous.
Here in Seattle I’m definitely on the side of saying “Seattle area” if you’re not in the city, since of course no one from elsewhere has heard of Shoreline or Burien.
dear everybody: city limits are an administrative convenience. metro area is what matters
yokohama is merely a tokyo suburb. accept it
Though I might butt in when stuff is happening which affects O'Hare or Metra.
30 miles from Boston is Western Mass, 30 miles from Chicago is Basically Chicago, the roads out here are like pachinko machines in comparison
Also this begs the question of those random places where you can see the Sears Tower on a clear day like the Ogden bridge over the Tri-State.
A lot of the suburbs around Chicago exist specifically for people who don’t want to deal with the city experience (read, Black people) so it’s strange and presumptuous when they identify as being residents of the city they hate
now so i can claim all is Chicago, then maybe we can have some good pizza here smh
Just ask me about the time I was yelled at for talking about dyeing the river green, reversing the river, and lifting the city.
Every city has such neuroses I suspect.
I can't blame them, because Bellevue sucks, but I'll still laugh a little under my breath
And yeah, I say I'm "from [near] Seattle" too, because it makes life so much easier.
1) It's close enough and I lived in Seattle for ~20 years before moving to a smaller town.
2) Not even most locals would know my small city's name.
3) I don't put my exact location on the public internet.
As a "Chicago" resident myself, I live right by the BNSF Railroad, and close enough where the Metra that services Chicago's downtown has a stop at the local station.
Combined with the above, I consider myself qualified to call myself from here.
She’s a nice lady. Happily married otherwise.
A fun benefit for me is that I can get a quick idea of the air quality by how clearly it appears in the distance!
It’s a pretty convenient shorthand to say you’re from Chicago, rather than Schaumburg or Roseville or wherever.
We all know where Chicago is; we’ve all visited there. Roseville could be anywhere.
I like it because it’s less wordy than “greater Chicago Metropolitan area“ or “not Chicago proper, but Chicago adjacent”.
Wrigleyville? “I’m from Chicago.”
Schaumburg? “I’m from Chicagoland.”
DeKalb? “I’m from Illinois.”
Smh.
But when talking to somebody not from Chicago they aren’t going to have any clue where the fuck Romeoville is, so Chicago is acceptable.
I don't go to the city all that often but that's not 'cuz I'm afraid of crime...
Like, OK, if you're on Vashon, yeah you're not from Seattle despite being extremely close. But here in Chicagoland - a great expanse of flat nothing - the borders are all political and people are inventing their own differences.
"Which one?"
"Lake Forest"
"Oh, I grew up in Libertyville!"
"Well in THAT case, I grew up in Lake Bluff."
(Cuz as Chicago burbs go we're tiny)
"Oh I'm in Long Island." "Where's that?"
"Oh, I'm in Jersey City." "Oh that's too far away"
I'd also go with "within rapid transit range". Subways and PATH for NYC - LIRR doesn't count.
But you are the only one in the thread that will get this:)
Still a Yinzer, though. Can't escape that.
This is all going to depend on who you are talking to, of course, but I got yelled at for daring to be proud of stuff the city has done. I wish I was joking.
Unless... wait, that means I... might have to think this through.
While seemingly simple, it fails to acknowledge that a bit part of being a Chicagoan is life shaped by City of Chicago systems & politics.
The actual meta point I'm making is these tests are stupid. Chicago politics affect me, too, even though I can't vote for mayor
And yes, Chicagoans love to draw distinctions (Cubs/Sox anyone?)
Lots of people still use that funny term Chicagoland: although separate, its an acknowledgement we are all connected
And people are happy to tell me when I fail theirs.
So few people live in Cleveland proper that everyone in the county is "from Cleveland"
This has happened to me repeatedly, and I find it really puzzling.
Go ahead and go after people who hate the city, but that's not me.
Nah. It's too big a city. I'm from Chicago.