The Little Apple

It is not Boston and not the Big Apple, lacks the hospitality of a small town and the political/social consciousness of Portland. Nonetheless, Chicagoland is awesome. Heck, what do I know anyway? I've never been to either NY or Boston and all I do is "like" said consciousness in p-town.

Mis primeras impresiones fueron digitales... me las tomaron con tinta hecha de comida organica cara mientras me miraban raro por decirles buen dia! More on this afterwards.

I like what Paul Graham has to say about cities:

I find every ambitious town sends you a message. New York tells you "you should make more money." LA tells you "you should be better looking." Rome tells you "you should dress better." London tells you "you should be hipper." The Bay Area tells you "you should live better." And Cambridge tells you "you should read some of those books you've been meaning to."

Chicago seems to be an ambitious town. I haven't deciphered what the message is exactly, though. All I know right now is that it seems like a good place to be a nerd though I'm not sure what kind of a nerd would do the best here (e.g. computer nerds seem to do the best in the Bay Area). I've also figured out that the message is going to be some hybrid of what New York, London and the Bay Area tell you. I like the fact that there are good schools here, concentrated in the urban area. Of course, it is no Boston, but it seems that the schools manage to drive things a bit in terms of startups, which is a very good thing as startuping is in my calendar of future endeavors.

Public transportation rocks. doubleplusgood. I could use an "L" with fewer and farther in between stops that moved a bit faster, but it is still pretty damn good.

I love the diversity. Commuting on the "L" is always interesting in terms of this. Lots of people, many cultural identities and even several different languages!

The city is not shiny and clean. It is as if the city is too busy to clean itself up. I love that. It is the same excuse I give for having a messy apartment/desk :-P.

I have been disappointed so far (I haven't seriously looked) with the availability, quality and price of organic foods. I really miss The Kiva. This is probably more of a problem with Evanston than with Chicago. And, frankly, the fact that Jewel and Wild Oats are less than two blocks away from home may bias my assessment :-).

The other thing that was a bit of a shock was that people seem to be thrown for a loop when you are nice. This was one of the first things Sharon noticed when she was here and it is so true. Holding doors or smiling at people seem to be uncommon around here. Also, it weirds me out how self-involved a lot of people seem to be. In the "L": Most sit idle, with little white ear-adjuncts sticking out the side of their head, abstracted away in thoughts about their own idiosyncrasies, relations and careers. Or, so it seems anyways. I am yet to see a conversation being stricken up by two strangers. I'm not sure why exactly am I surprised by this, it seems like one of the most natural problems of a busy city filled with busy people.

Going downtown is always a treat, specially when a visit to the Art Institute is involved -- that place is magnificent. The twelve-mile bike ride into downtown also makes for a pleasant summer day. Now, being that I'm a bit broke, I haven't managed to go do "cultural" activities such as going to bars, plays, concerts and such as much as I'd like to. This should change over the year provided Physics and the Professors allow. The place seems to be packed with culture.

All in all, I was thirsty for some urban life and I've got it. I may want to move out of Evanston and more into the city sooner or later, but the Little Apple rocks. I like them apples.