True names for a city that is a city in the truest sense of the word. Chicago is a big city, but a small town with its own unique personality. Chicago can influence the world, but can still feel human. It is a city that is friendlier than New York, but more real than Los Angeles. It is a place that is like nowhere else, but will feel like home to those who visit.
There are some who say that cities across the U.S. have become some sort of "urban theme parks." A major U.S. city in today's world is not primarily a place to live and work. It's become a place to visit, to shop, a spectacle, a tourist trap. The people have migrated to the suburbs, and the city itself is just a novelty, a place to come to every now and then, to take their relatives or friends to...residence within the city is left to the elite and the homeless.
Chicago goes beyond that. To quote Bob Greene, "Visitors are welcome, but not necessary." Whether or not a tourist is admiring the way the elevated train tracks snake through the neighborhoods or how "retro" Wrigley Field feels, the city will continue living on. No, those train tracks aren't there to give an 'old-timey' feel to the city, they're there to serve a function. No, Wrigley Field was not designed for the nostalgic, it really truly is from an era that has nearly been forgotten. No, the beaches aren't crowded because simply, "that's the thing to do around here," people here want to enjoy what they have at their fingertips, people want to actively enjoy what their city has to offer them.
Chicago is real in the sense that it actually is authentic. The way the train wheels spark like lightning on a curve on the tracks, the way the weather fluctuates on a scale of 100+ degrees (there's both below zero and triple digit temperatures here) and how citizens prepare for either. None of it is for show. There's no major theme park here, no concerted effort to become something that it isn't. Chicago is, and that's really all that matters to its people.
There are distinct neighborhoods with their distinct residents and their distinct interests and hangouts here. You don't need to impress others to make yourself happy here. You are where you are, and everyone is making a living or having a good time. You don't need $12 to enjoy a beer at a bar with flashing lights to have fun. The night doesn't have to end at 2. You will find your grit, you will find your glamor here. Take out the visitors, take out biggest tourist attractions, and you'll still have a city that lives and breathes and will continue to, regardless of time, season, or neighborhood. That's what makes the Windy City the 'City That Works.'
Chicago. A city in the truest sense of the word.
"No, no, that's refreshing. To hear children playing. It's a nice break from adults bitching."
-The clerk at the impound lot
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