Quote:
Originally Posted by SFBruin
This alone probably makes Chicago #1.
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I think Chicago, more than any other major metro area, is in alignment with the nation's overall demographic profile while also having cultural aspects that make it relatable to just about every part of the country.
It's at the geographic center of the Midwest — not too far north or south, Appalachian or Great Plains. It's situated on a Great Lake in a state that is mostly dotted with plains, while the forested southern tip is adjacent to the Ozark Mountains in Missouri and bleeds into Kentucky. The metro area is also situated on two natural rivers, one of which connects with the Mississippi.
Chicagoland is racially diverse but still majority white. Its large and fairly large German, Irish, Italian, Polish, Jewish, and Puerto Rican populations establish a connection with the Bos-Wash corridor. Like much of the South, it has a large African American population/influence. It boasts a large Mexican/Chicano population like the southwestern quadrant of the U.S. Like the Pacific Northwest (looking specifically at Seattle and Portland), German is far and away the most predominant ethnic group and there are relatively sizable Scandinavian American (Swedish and Norwegian) populations. Seattle and Portland are also both very downtown-centric, laid out on grids, and have bungalow housing typologies that are clearly Midwestern-influenced by design (very much like Minneapolis).
Chicago's strong corporate base and high-pedigree academic and artistic institutions establish a connection with elites, intellectuals, and liberals on both coasts (i.e. Northeast and California), while college football popularity/fandom and the manufacturing, logistics, and agriculture-based facets of its economy (white and blue collar) imbue it with a more conservative and less "froufrou" image that resonates with much of middle and rural America.
Chicago is a "cleaner, friendlier, slower-paced" and therefore more familiar "version of NYC" for many Americans, while New Yorkers and residents of the other major Northeast Corridor cities (particularly Boston and Philadelphia) view it as their more "mild-mannered" peers who can bond over sports and complaints about the weather.
Chicago's temperament and attitude are just the right blend of everything. It even has beaches!