WHY CHICAGO SUCKS

At the dinner sitting at the "artist's" table, two things come up. What we do and where we are from.

The what we do is dealt with quickly, as Amy and I both are artists – I prefer photographer – and teach in the nation’s number one photography department at the world's greatest art establishment. We were seated at the table with Catherine Wagner and her partner. Who countered with
-Oh? Who’s there now? Joy’s gone, Barbara Crane’s retired, so has Ken, Fred's dead. Is Barbara de Genevieve still there? haven’t heard much about it lately.

So I guess the answer is a bunch of nobodies.

When it gets down to where are you from, people seem to feel that they have say “what a great city” when Chicago is mentioned. I don't mention Chicago. Amy said yeah. I said it sucks.

Ah lively debate.
Chicago sucks as it is over regulated. While I am no fan of San Fran – that later – at least the neighbourhoods are distinct. The shops along Fillmore are not like the shops along Haight nor along Judah. There aren’t teardowns in up and coming areas people rehab. I saw little of what is happening in any area that is surrounding the loop, the pulling down of a modest house for the building of the oversized fortress. Don’t know why this is not happening in San Fran but it makes for more interesting walks and a the feeling that new ground is being covered. Neighbourhoods like West Portal, Castro, or along Taraval Boulevard have shops that engage the surreal of the recent past rather than the urge to be oh so trendy – and failing. In a city a third the size of Chicago I found more places to hang out and have a non Starbucks coffee than in the city of big shoulders.

Both Chicago and San Fran are based on a grid but while it may be harder to find addresses in San Fran’s case they have managed to make the grid more interesting – see neighbourhoods above. Add to this the lanes and alleys stairs and cul-de-sacs and the place is rife for exploration. In Chicago is Division Street all that much different than North Avenue.

San Fran where property values are outrageous decided to keep the Presidio green, Chicago which had the same opportunity with the old marshalling yards east of the Loop and the South Loop turned it into Condoland.

Didn’t find in San Francisco a park built to the glory of an Il Duce like mayor which is closed for private parties more than it is open as Millennium Park is.

From downtown San Francisco, I can see the Marin headlands, Mount Tam where Breezer, Fisher et all started the mountain bike craze. From Ocean Beach I can see Half Moon Bay and – I think Stinson Beach.

From Chicago I can see Schaumburg and Gary.

Restaurant choices - anything like Greens or Millennium for the vegetarian in Chicago San Fran 3 x 0 Chicago. Organics abound. Not enough time to go into he choices of Indian, East Asian, West Asian, Mexican food. I would come back hungry as I couldn’t make a decision – Shalamar or Chutney. Chutney or Shalamar…

As for diversity…

But the art scene in Chicago… yeah but what do you do the second day. All the galleries can be seen in a decent weekend – pretty lame for the once second city. While San Fran may not be any better, it does have an excuse it being much smaller.

The polite fallback was Chicago is too worried about competing with New York City to let its traits shine.

To poorly paraphrase Gertrude Stein concerning traits, there is no there there.