Saturday, May 06, 2006

city fights

It is really hip to be regionalist? all the hipsters are getting outlines of their state, famous bridges from their city, and state birds tattooed on their arms. my generation/demographic (economic, college educated, baby of babyboomer group) feels the same way about finding a city as they do about finding a mate, they have a fairy tale idea that they will find the perfect one that will match their needs and fulfill their vision of themselves, make them a complete person/citizen. This might even extend to socialists who say we should settle down and just stay where we were and deal with what we were given; even that seems to be over romanticising the role of the city in your life.

That said, I will shamefully do a little city romancing of my own. I just got back from visiting my sisters in Boston, MA. My mom wants me to move there (or to NYC) for three reasons:
1. she wants me closer to home
2. she's east coast centric (she thinks the east is more civilized and culturally advanced, so not much good can come from Chicago)
3.
I don't know if she really really thinks all these things, but it is what i've gathered from conversation with her. needless to say it makes me really defensive about the midwest and my choice to live here. I was kind of an ass, the whole time i was in boston, I kept thinking and maybe saying how it sucked and chicago is SO much better. While sitting in the airport I decided to do something scientific to prove once and for all, beyond all subjective bias which city was better. The best I could come up with was a top ten list. You will have to assign points to each list, and which ever's sum is highest is clearly the winner, i mean most elegant, inviting, and innovative metropolis.

Boston TOP 10::
10. Fresher seafood
9. Public transportation is cheaper
8. Lots of cute college boys with one can only hope bright futures ahead of them
7. Free art performances from students
6. the garment district + lots of craftsters
5. big parks in the middle of the city
4. everyone is really boston/red sox proud (proven with t-shirts)
3. UFO and Sam Adams are pretty good beers
2. Twin Do-nuts diner/completely fake meat Grasshopper restaurant
1. My sister told me I had camel toe (invaluable comment...more important and harder to say to a stranger than your fly is down)

Chicago TOP 10::
10. Fresher Beef
9. Public transportation is quick and efficient and runs later than 12:30
8. clothing style is meaner (more leather, less lambs wool cardigans)
7. TONS of independent art galleries and theaters
6. Aay's live action screen printing
5. actual bike lanes in the streets (only have lake parks which are nice, but out of the way)
4. A diverse/divided city. lots of ethnicities all living in completely separate neighborhoods...heck we aren't even united by one baseball team...but that's cuz its big
3. PBR everywhere, Budwiser is not popular
2. Burritos and cheap hotdogs, the concept of korean-polish bbq (sausage + kim chee)
1. * * * hard to beat a sister or friend close enough to tell you about the c. toe

4 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

nice top ten. sorry about the camel toe, you were the one who asked.

10:19 AM  
Blogger Julia Miller said...

yo, spikes hot dog joint is a few block down from me, and I eat fatty burritos on a regular basis. . .just so you know

10:44 AM  
Blogger sarah said...

yeah..but doesn't it seem wrong that a hot dog place sell burritos?

5:35 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

me-"one time when we were talking you said you would never leave your bioregion. do you still feel that way?"
him- "eh, no i never felt that way. i just thought i was supposed to. i can't wait to get out of here"
me- "yeah, i figured you were just scared to leave"

7:33 PM  

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