cblj_backup | (no subject)

Okay, world. We need to have a talk about Chicago.

Places Chicago is not:

Des Plaines.
Rosemont.
Lombard.
Mount Prospect.
Oak Park.

I might give you that last one on a technicality because Frank Lloyd Wright lived there, but if you say you know of a great burger joint in Chicago, you cannot then link to a burger joint in DES PLAINES. And much as I hate to say it, Chicago TARDIS, you are not in Chicago. You are in Lombard. I don't care if you have a Metra station. It's still Lombard.

Here's a rule of thumb: if you can't get to it on the El, OR if it costs more than $30 to get to it from the Loop by taxi, it's not Chicago. Yes, you can get to Evanston on the El, but I've never caught Evanston claiming to be Chicago, because Evanston is Chicago's plucky little brother who has really good self esteem and doesn't need to be Chicago.

I realise Des Plaines doesn't have the cachet of Chicago, and neither does Lombard. I know both stand right on the border. I get that it's easier to say "Chicago" when you mean "anywhere in Illinois where you can't see a farm".

But you don't get to be Chicago if someone who lives in Chicago, ie me, cannot get to you. Either move to Chicago and put up with the expense and the coyotes and the humidity, or shut the fuck up.

I might be having an Angry Day, but this has been festering for a while. It's not that I think the suburbs aren't worthy of being Chicago, it's that they taunt me when they say something really awesome is in Chicago and it turns out it's in Des Plaines.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Yeah, over the years I've had a couple of people ask me about stuff to do in Chicago while they're at the con, and I've had to reply "You should maybe googlemap the hotel..."

Yup! I mean, going to Target on Black Friday (if you're Tony Lee) and eating Greek food at the wonderfully-named "Omega" are two good things to do in Lombard Center, but if you're trying to get to Chicago during the con fugeddaboutit.

I was also seriously disappointed, because I like Chicago and was all, yay! That's the main reason NY TARDIS keeps getting cancelled, I think, people realize how far it is from NY, NY and go "Nah."

I'm sort of out of the loop on NY TARDIS, to my shame, but yes, the problem is that NYC's actual conference/convention-type facilities are either horrendously expensive, or just plain horrible places to be in, or both.

It's the same problem with Chicago, I imagine -- facilities actually in Chicago are too expensive, and Chicago TARDIS is already kind of on the ridiculous end of the scale admissions-wise.