Originally Posted by
corvax
Look, I love Detroit and wouldn't be on this board if i didn't. My family is still in the area and i visit often.
But....Chicago, in and around which i have lived for 28 years, has, in fact, evolved into a unique and magnificent city. There is nothing comparable.
Take the relatively small part of the metropolitan area from Wrigley Field to Comiskey Park [[yeah, we don't call it US Cellular Field) N to S and from the lake to about Ashland Avenue E to W. In that urban strip you have the best theatre in America [[Steppenwolf [run by an ex-Detroiter], Goodman, Chicago Shakespeare, et al.), some of the best restaurants [[Charlie Trotter's, Alinea, Tru, Obama favorite Spiaggia, Topolobampo, etc.), all major league sports [[including AL and NL), a free zoo, a public golf course, storied rock + jazz + blues + ethnic music clubs, Chinatown, Bronzeville, Greektown and other vibrant ethnic enclaves, numerous museums [[not just the Art Institute and the Field Musuem of Nat'l History, but also museums dedicated to Judaica, modern art, photgraphy, Greek history, Mexican art, etc), the recreational possibilities of Lincoln and Grant Parks [[swimming, boating, fishing, running, baseball and softball, rowing, soccer, cycling), campuses of several universities including many of Northwestern's and U Chicago's graduate schools, great shopping [[including 6 department stores from Sears to Neiman Marcus and tons of smaller boutiques), public and private libraries.......and 2 train lines and countless bus routes running through it, making it all accessible to anyone w/o a car.
For comparison's sake [[and I do so only because someone above mentioned NYC and San Francisco, 2other cities I love), New York may have more to do, but it's not nearly as accessible and affordable as in Chicago and similar attractions are far more spread out. San Fran and Boston are wonderful, but far smaller and less diverse [[and more expensive).
The acknowledgement of what Chicago has to offer doesn't have to be a knock on any place else, especially a city like Detroit with such an outsized cultural legacy recognized worldwide. But it's equally true there's no place else like Chicago in the midwest because there's never been any place else where so many choices are so available to so many people.