Quote:
Originally Posted by Via Chicago
how so? i dont think a weekend is enough to form an educated opinion on any place. youre pretty much pumped full of endorphins. traveling is almost like living in a parallel reality. i certainly have done the "I can see myself living here!" thing dozens of times, without really meaning it completely seriously...everywhere from middle of nowhere West Texas, to little German towns, to big bustling metropolises. I can see the appeal each of them hold, in their own way. its fun to imagine yourself living another life. even in the shittiest of towns its easy to look past the negatives when your mind dosent have to focus on responsibilities, or needing to deal with the real life implications of the negatives. not to say people dont move places on a whim. but i mean, i was in Richmond VA last week and i would be lying if i wasnt doing the old "stare at fliers taped to the real estate office window" thing and saying hmm i wonder if i can make this work. i think the longer you stay in a given place though, the more the magic tends to wear off. at the end of the day, its just a place to call home. i wish i could say the architecture of the loop still gave me chills, but mostly im just trying to get the things done in my life that i need to do.
theres actually a phenomenon somewhat related to this called the Paris Syndrome, a city which in a way has been built up in a way far more extreme than Chicago. and the inevitable disappointment when tourists realize its just another city filled with problems and struggles just like any other.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articl...-tourists-away |
I just think falling in love with Chicago is slightly different in the tourist aspect than falling in love with some small beach town in Florida or Breckenridge, Colorado. Those are unrealistic in a way unless you are a business owner or retired. People falling in love with nyc is what keeps the city growing.
The part about life getting in the way is true, once you live in Chicago the glitz probably wears off until someone visits you and you show them around, but thats anywhere. You have bills, rent, work, etc anywhere you live. Negatives are in every part of America, and I'm sure they are just as bad in Beijing if not slightly worse. And for this retiring family, how many retirees move somewhere for the sole purpose of they like it? A good amount or Florida and their lack of corporate presence wouldn't be growing at triple the rate we do. I've also met plenty of people from Florida that get completely fed up come August when the 105 heat index has beat them to the ground and they still have 2 months of insanely hot weather left. Not to mention a 78 degree Christmas..
The argument can be flipped anywhere. I personally think people falling in love with the city for the weekend (especially college students and retirees) is very helpful to our demand of pulling in people from inside or outside the Midwest. For 35-55 year olds, life doesn't allow them to pick up and move because they fall in love with a vacation spot, but when you're out of college its almost the only free pass you'll ever have to pick a city you want to move to.
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