Have you ever been to Chicago? I have been in every major city in this country, I have been in all of the European Capitals and I've been to many cities in Canada.
When I say every major city the only two MAJOR cities I haven't been to are Houston and Dallas.
I've been to New York, Boston, S.F, LA, Seattle, San Antonio, Miami, Philly, Pittsburgh, Nashville, Atlanta, St. Louis, Kansas City, Omaha, Portland, Indianapolis, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Louisville, Minneapolis, Milwaukee, Green Bay, Sioux Falls, Washington DC, Orlando, Tampa, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Tuscon, Providence, Hartford, Detroit, Richmond, I can keep going...
None of these cities hold a penny to Chicago. Yes, the politicians are corrupt but it is the has the CLEANEST downtown area compared to any other city in this country that I have been to (with the exception of Dallas and Houston) as I've never been there.
We have phenomenal restaurants, we don't have garbage in the streets like New York, we have the best assortment of museums in as close proximity as you can possibly get.
Mayor Daley for all his wrongs really did a number on the lake front with the redevelopment of Soldier Field and the Museums surrounding Soldier Field (all within a mile of each other).
We have five historic sports franchises, we have probably the second best area to shop in the country second to New York City on Michigan Avenue which has all of the top stores in the nation.
As far as the corruption and crime. The corruption will never end as long as the populous of Chicago continue to be bribed to vote. The gang activity is not in the downtown area and there are many affluent areas in the city. If you want crime you need to go the south side or west side well outside of the loop.
So as a Chicagoan I find your statement insulting. And I doubt you have ever been here, we also have some of the best hotels in the nation. Oh and many parks that are CLEAN unlike some other cities where you have to dodge bums and needles.
I also have friends who have lived in Chicago and I have read much about the city. While I do not dispute the sports, airports, culture, the fact remains that Chicago has been corrupt in it's politics and practices since way before the turn of the century. That is a fact.
Apparently, the citizens of your fine city either cannot change the atmosphere, or don't want to change the atmosphere.
While I understand your affection for your native city, the fact remains that the Dailey’s, Obama’s and Braun types dominate the perception of Chicago. Once again, that is a fact.
It in Chicago speak, the city and park district employees call Grant Park and the downtown lake front, “The front yard.” At many homes, the front facade of the house and the front lawn are the cleanest and most well manicured part of the properties. The same is true of Chicago.
Daley has revitalized the downtown and those sites with heavy tourist traffice. Some formerly habitable residential neighborhoods are being downgraded as the regime shifts former Chicago Housing tenants, if one can call these people tenants, and Section 8 recipients out of the downtown and near North, South and West Sides and into the city’s periphery. Face it, there are virtually no Chicago Public Schools close to downtown.
Many visitors who see nothing more of Chicago than O’Hare and their downtown hotel think that Chicago is positively beautiful, but so is a Potemkin village.
I have been to Chicago only one — 1993, and there was so much road construction that I could not drive around easily. Unfortunately, I do not recall the cleanliness of the city outside of the downtown area, which as I remember was clean.