If you’ve chatted with us at any time over the last few years, you probably know that our family (and perhaps one member in particular) hasn’t always had the greatest affection for Chicago. There are ups and downs, as in every place we’ve lived. But after a couple of years here, I thought I’d give a list of ten things that we love about Chicago.
1. Location: Everyone wants to visit Chicago. Everyone is traveling through Chicago or making a stop or needs to make a business visit or whatever it may be. It’s wonderful to be in a place where we have frequent guests!
2. Beach: Last summer was one of the coolest on record in Chicago, and we had a newborn, so we didn’t exactly take advantage of the beach. But a 10-minute drive from our house is Lake Michigan, and free parking (a rarity in Chicago) to boot. Tommy quickly took to wading in the water, and we hope to frequent the beach far more this… spring.
3. Restaurants: There’s no question that if we were listing our favorite restaurants (on the rare occasions we get out to eat), Chicago restaurants would dominate the list. Our favorite two Italian restaurants are here, a steakhouse where Emily ate the best chicken she’s ever had, and great pizza (although we dispute which place is best).
4. Opera: More coming on that at the end of the season, but we had season’s tickets at Lyric, and we’ve greatly enjoyed the performances!
5. Skating: Okay, this is another one we failed to take advantage of, but the opportunity to skate, for free, at a dozen outdoor skating rinks scattered throughout the city is quite impressive.
6. Museum of Science and Industry: Tractors, trains, and a 3-year-old boy. I think that sums it up.
7. Haircuts: This may sound like a small thing, but Em and I haven’t had the best fortune in finding good places for haircuts in our almost six years of marriage. But here in Chicago, I found a quality old-school barbershop with straight razors and baseball on the radio just minutes from work, and Em found an extremely affordable stylist just minutes from our house. It’s a small thing, but sometimes we really like the small things.
8. Snow removal: Mishawaka/South Bend snow removal was not bad, but it was certainly nothing exceptional, particularly given that we lived in a little apartment ghetto that received little attention. St. Louis snow removal was non-existent, and we lived there for an unfortunately snowy winter. But here in Chicago, the plows work quickly and efficiently, descending upon the main streets at the first hint of snow, and hitting all of the side streets within hours of a storm’s finish. In a snowy city like Chicago, we’re very grateful!
9. Caris: Em has been involved in four pregnancy centers now (Columbia, South Bend, St. Louis, and now Chicago, not counting things we did with Alpha Omega in Hillsdale), and we’ve been very impressed with the operation here in Chicago. While drumming up volunteers for events like showers or supply drives can be taxing, we’ve been excited at the efficiency and the perspective of Caris, which has made its goal to be “for the woman and the child,” a two-step all-inclusive process to provide support for pregnant women and their babies. We’ll miss them!
10. Lake Shore Drive: It’s no secret that I have an odd affection for quality surface streets in metropolitan areas. I grew up near Woodward, a legendary street in Detroit and easily my favorite Michigan road. South Bend and St. Louis didn’t have great surface streets, but I did enjoy 23 and Manchester, respectively, from time to time. But in Chicago, the fast-moving and efficient LSD, coupled with its beautiful lake front and clear skyline views, make this easily our favorite street, perhaps of all time.
Note that Derek wrote this post. After a harrowing two-and-a-half-hour attempt to take a meal to a grieving family in our church (involving being lost in the west side AND the south side), I’m inclined to delete anything positive about Chicago from our blog. But I’m just not going to go anywhere else I’m unfamiliar with for the next three months.
Oh stop. Your apartment in Mishawaka was far from ghetto. There was a Super Target two minutes away!
I’m totally with you on this, Piko.
Um, yeah. Indian Lakes is a stone’s throw from Super Target, Marshall’s, a Dollar Store, Babies ‘R Us, Sam’s Club, Walmart, Bed Bath and Beyond, TJ Maxx, Lowe’s, Office Max, Aldi, Meijer, the mall, Barnes and Noble, a dollar theatre, multiple pharmacies and just about any variety of restaurant — fast food or otherwise — you can imagine. Ghetto? I don’t think so, Derek.
I said an “apartment ghetto.” That means out-of-the-way nook of nothing but parking lots, apartment buildings, no sidewalks, etc. It wasn’t a ghetto; it was an apartment ghetto. That’s why it didn’t get attention from the snow plows.
Fair enough. But I still would rather live there than here!