It's a BIG CITY.
Don't get me wrong, I've known all along that it's bigger than DC, even bigger than Houston. And certainly bigger than any other Midwest city- not that I really know or care about many of those.
But, gosh darn it, Chicago is a big city. This week, as I've driven M downtown for his internship (side note: his office- an intern has an office??- has two large windows that look out over the Carbide and Carbon building and this cool, wavy new condo building) I've been struck by the number of people. They're everywhere. On the roads, on the trains, in the cars, in the taxis. Maybe it's because East Garfield Park isn't exactly overflowing with people and Hyde Park is more college town (nerdy college town, but college town nonetheless) than downtown. But I've just really been struck by the thousands and thousands of individuals walking to and from work, up and down Michigan Avenue and circling the city on the L.
While DC will probably always take the prize for "most fanny-packed tourists per capita" Chicago is overflowing with tourists all its own. From places like Small Town, Iowa and Middle of Nowhere, Indiana, Chicago is- for so many people- the epitome of the Big City. I don't know for sure what it represents, but I think it might be a bittersweet mix of industrial development, capitalism and Americana. It's midwestern enough that these tourists don't feel too out of place and yet different enough that a trip here can feel like a trip to a somewhat foreign locale. There is something familiar and yet so completely unknown that it's exciting and daunting all at the same time.
And it is finally now- in this now 10 month adventure in Chicago- that M and I realize how much we love the city. Not necessarily the specific city of Chicago, but just the grander idea of the city. In the city, you can't help but rub shoulders with people who are altogether different. You can't beat the cultural and artistic opportunities it affords. The city is always thriving and teaming with life; yes, sometimes quite heart-breaking and oftentimes depressing, but thriving nonetheless. Deep inside of us there is a desire to continue to live out life in a place like this, where traffic will most likely drive me to the point of insanity and we will never be able to afford a house the size of the ones we grew up in. Which we most likely don't need anyway.
And yet under these bright lights and in a Big City, we will choose to live our life. And just like the draw those fanny-packed tourists feel, this experience- so familiar and yet so unknown- will no doubt continue to be both exciting and daunting at the same time.
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