Jsbodhi

It does seem idyllic doesn't it?
Minus the psycho ex- but we all have one of those.....

DrakeCKC

Lived in suburban Chicago ( I know that is not the same) for a couple years. Grew up in Illinois so I know Chicago well. Expensive! I could not afford all the cool stuff and then the job was boring, so I moved to KC.

Strange about regional differences, I never called them anything but redbuds.

Your apt sounds like the ones down the street from me. I guess they are everywhere these days.

sleepie

omg Drake this city is ridiculously expensive. I have been priced out of every single place I had, and they weren't exactly palaces! It didn't used to be that way though. it was affordable and great for so long.

it's also slowly becoming more gentrified all over and more suburban.

courage2

I grew up in Illinois too, Drake. Went to U of C & lived in Hyde Park --needed more space & a decent school for kid, & didn't want suburbs so we split for Arizona. I don't like Chicago too much -- I <3 Lake Michigan but that particular city on the lake ....honestly I think the politicians there perpetuate violence and deprivation out of their own self-interest. It doesn't have to be that way.

This is a building I worked in for a couple of years on the southside. There used to be a store on the corner that sold crack pipes and port wine to my kids.

DrakeCKC

Yep, this was around 2000-2001. I looked at an apartment in Wrigleyville (I know, but I was making ok money at the time) that was old and tiny. Rent was $1500/mo, parking extra. I told a friend here about that and she said that was more than her mortgage for a huge 5 bedroom home with 3 car garage, exercise room and glorious kitchen located in a gated community. I knew then I made a mistake. I hated the job so I left and took one in St Louis... hated it too. Then came back to KC where I had lived for most of the 90's.

This is when the drinking really took off.

Courage, I grew up in central Illinois, went to UI-Urbana and then UI-Springfield for grad school.

sleepie

Hyde Park is beautiful and has a great art center. I know about the neighborhood there. I only went for the for center, never spent much time there. I never go to the lake... except in the winter when it's quiet, nobody is there and I can watch the birds float on the water.

courage2

I grew up in Springfield I took french classes at Sangamon State University, long long before it became UI-S. It will always be SSU to me.

DrakeCKC

Small world.... It was Sangamon State when I was there too (1981-83), but few remember that these days. I grew up in Decatur, a place dull enough to make anyone an alcoholic.

courage2

Ah now, it can't be duller than Spfld! I used to stand on my front porch and listen to the trains pass through. And then steal daddy's whisky & go looking for trouble

I left in 1979 when I was 16. Still visited sometimes, up until my mom died three years ago. Probably (I hope) I'll never go back, except maybe to my brother's funeral.

Good times!

Lenina

Gentrification is bad. We think it's to clear out the interesting people and let the white fat cats feel cool for a while. And of course, make lots of money while ruining other people's lives.

Rent control is the only answer until we can get some sanity in the real estate market. People need someplace to live!

Love from Lenina

sleepie

Drinking while doing word finds and puzzles was a good time for me... and never started drinking til I was near 30... you guys have had lives. Me fellow mid-westerners.

What a doof I am courage I should have posted a pic of a deep dish pizza for a clue. Shows what I know. That photograph you put up is amazing. Sad and amazing.

sleepie

oh gosh Lenina don't I know it. Now, I have always been a working class gal (you know, I have actually seen people wrinkle their noses at the phrase "working class"... let 'em clean their own homes and watch their own kids, fix their own cars, see how they fare...) and deeply resented the white upper/middle classers moving in after I and others like me were priced out... watching the personality and diversity of each neighborhood disappear... decent working people like me deserve a safe and clean and good place to live as well, this should not be exclusive to the privileged...

courage2

I disagree. If you feel a pinch next time you think that, it's me.

sleepie

free uploader

courage2

g'nite all

sleepie

goodnight Courage sleep well

fantail

I just went to Chicago for the first time a couple of weekends ago, for a play that I really wanted to see. The architecture is what they say and more!

It felt like the most American place I've ever been. I wasn't expecting it to feel so different from other American cities but it was like a painting. I wish I'd had more than a few days.

sleepie

fantail that's cool! Sounds like you enjoyed yourself

...I was wondering lately... has anyone heard from Puffy, or TooShabby?

Puffy... TooShabby... Miss you guys!

DrakeCKC

I do agree that Springfield was pretty boring but I was busy then and didn't really have much time to get out. I remember a radio station that instead of traffic reports reported train traffic and streets that would be blocked while they passed. Decatur had a much larger rail yard, but the main streets were rarely blocked due to many over passes and such.

My sister still lives in Decatur and I get there occasionally. Springfield?? only once in the last 15 years or so.

Soberwolf

Have a nice week everyone