OBSERVATIONS OF CHICAGO

Last month I went to Chicago for the Fall Urban Land Institute (ULI) conference. The reason I went to this conference is for a completely different blog entry. Going to the conference did give me the opportunity to visit Chicago again after being away for over ten years. Me being me, I noticed a few quirky things about this city.

The people are nice. Seriously, the people are really nice. I am painfully aware that me living in Berlin, a city famous for the cold and harsh demeanor of the residents might have significantly skewed my niceness meter in Chicago towards friendly and cheery but hey, it is what it is. The people in Chicago were in my opinion extremely agreeable.  Case in point, drivers in most major cities exercise their right to run down pedestrians caught out in the middle of the street when the light changes to green. If they don’t run you down they honk on their horn long enough to alert everyone within a 12 block radius that they spared your life. Quite often they will roll down the window to explain at the top of their lungs how you are forever indebted for their act of mercy. Not in Chicago. Not only did I notice cars not accelerating into defenseless crowds, but they didn't even blow their horns to hurry people up! They waited patiently for the people to cross then went on their merry ways. Amazing! In turn, pedestrians just meandered across major intersections with no fear at all. In Berlin, when the crossing light turns red half the people immediately break out in sprint to escape the coming onslaught of traffic. The other half TRY to act all cool and nonchalant knowing in theory they still have time even with a red light to cross safely. At some point though their nerves break and they too end up dashing those last few feet. Berlin drivers do not play that! Move or get ran over! And if you take too long walking across the street some will rev their engine to warn you they coming! Then when they drive pass they’ll stare at you to make sure you get the point! None of that stress crossing the street in Chicago. Loved it!

There are about 10 million people who live in the Chicago metropolitan area. That’s a lot of damn people! But you don’t ever get the sense there are 10 million people around when you are in Chicago. I was downtown for my conference and never felt I was surrounded by a mass of people one gets in New York City, London or even Madrid. Spoke about this sensation to Chicagoans and they agreed. There isn’t an area or district in Chicago that is always consistently packed with people they told me, unless there’s a sporting event. But in general, it’s a rather laid back quiet city. Ten minutes travel time from the financial district on public transportation you are in areas that feel like the suburbs. You’d be hard-pressed to find that in any major city in the world and I lost count of areas like that in Chicago. Different, but kinda nice.

There are homeless people everywhere in the world unfortunately. The number we have in the states is nothing compared to say India for example. What I did notice about Chicago is that the homeless are so present. I don’t visit Wall Street so often when I’m in New York, but I don’t recall seeing dozens of homeless people when I am there. Even in Berlin, a city with almost double the unemployment rate of Chicago, I don’t see that many homeless people around the downtown area. Maybe it’s smarter for them, higher foot traffic and all. Other thing I noticed is how many black people were homeless. In New York City I see homeless people of all colors... well except Asian. Has anyone ever seen a homeless Asian person in the United States? I know they exist, but I’m just saying. But in L.A. or New York it’s all races on hard times. In Chicago I only saw black people. That’s it, just black homeless people. 

My next observation might be connected to the number of homeless people I saw in Chicago. The energy of Chicago is flat. In New York for example the energy is alive and pulsating. You can easily get caught up in the “Go, Go, Go” of it and not even realize it. In Berlin the vibe is, “Do whatever the fuck you want as long as you leave me the fuck alone.” In Chicago it was more... flat. Almost like people couldn’t be bothered, or even slightly depressed. Again, could be related to the area I was in, but I felt it everywhere I went, this palpable undercurrent of... hopelessness just under the surface.

Last thing I noticed, I live in Berlin and went to University in Boston. I know intimately what winter cold is. But Chicago weather is an altogether different beast. Chicago weather is like a bitter ex who is unhappy and bitter over the break up and made it her mission in life to ensure you’re gonna be unhappy and bitter right along with her. Cold is one thing, but that wind?? Lord have mercy. It was the first week of November and that wind was already serious! Chicagoans were out in long sleeve t-shirts and shorts like it was NOTHING! They were laughing at me because I had a scarf and jacket on. It was in the low 40’s people! I was choosing my walking paths based on which streets offered the best protection from that sadistic bitch they call wind. No way I want to experience that in January or February. Nu uh, no way. 

So, I was in Chicago for about a week. With the nice people and all the yummy food I had, I hope it's not another ten years before I get back. But it will be late Spring next time I visit. Indeed.