I recently read an article written by a disgruntled inhabitant of Crystal Lake, Illinois, in which she expressed her annoyance of Chicagoans harping on her for saying she’s from Chicago as opposed to a suburb outside of Chicago. Aside from bashing all the Chicagoans that bug her with their “You’re not actually from Chicago” statements, she lists a few reasons why she feels that it is perfectly OK for suburbanites to tell others that they actually live in Chicago; she grew up frequenting the city, she only lives an hour away, she feels it is a central part of her life, and so on. Well, I’m sorry to say, but your statements just aren’t going to fly by us Chicagoans.
You see, it’s not that we Chicagoans are extremely particular people; we just don’t consider it correct for someone from Naperville, Elgin, or Deerfield, Illinois, to say they’re from Chicago when they truly aren’t. You don’t hear people from some little town in California saying they live in L.A. or people from a small city in New York saying they live in New York City. You are not from Chicago; rather, you live near Chicago.
Yes, you may have grown up visiting the city a handful of times, be it the beaches or the skyscrapers, the museums or the busy city streets. You may have pictures in front of the Bean or at North Avenue Beach living life to the fullest with your family and friends. Maybe you’ve visited more often because a relative or close friend lives or works there. That’s all well and great, but that doesn’t make you a part of this city. You visited it, you loved it, but you are not a citizen of Chicago.
Yes, it probably would be a lot easier to tell your friends at college that you are from Chicago; making your life easier is not the point. Your friends, assuming they are educated young people like yourself, have a good enough sense of geography to understand what you mean if you were to say, “I live in a suburb close to the city of Chicago.” Likewise, why not just tell the truth? Your friend from another state isn’t going to cringe and awkwardly side-step away if she hears you’re from Wilmette or Northbrook. Yeah, they aren’t going to know much about your suburb, but why is that a bad thing? Isn’t one of the best parts of going away to college and making friends is being able to talk about new things and show who you really are?
Yes, it’s wonderful that you’ve fallen in love with such a beautiful and diverse city. It’s great that you’ve allowed Chicago to be a big role in shaping who you’ve become. There’s nothing wrong with loving the city and talking endlessly about the opportunity and enjoyment and food it has to offer everyone. Talk and love and miss Chicago all you want, but don’t tell people you live there, because you just don’t.
It’s not that we Chicagoans are trying to segregate between the city dwellers and the suburbanites. It’s not that we look down on suburbanites as if they were the scum of the earth. We simply would just prefer it if you would tell people exactly where you’re from as opposed to labeling your hometown as Chicago. Where you’re from is where you’re from, where you were raised is where you were raised; it’s that simple. Moreover, you should be proud of your hometown. Yes, it’s not Chicago, but that doesn’t mean that it’s necessarily any less of a place. The suburb you live in has shaped you a certain way just as the city of Chicago has shaped us city-dwellers a certain way. So don’t be hesitant to tell people you’re from Glenview or Park Ridge or whatever suburb it may be. Be proud of where you’re from and by all means express you’re love for Chicago, but so long as you don’t pay taxes to the city of Chicago or include Chicago in your mailing address, please do not tell people you are from Chicago.
