Can we start a secret MIDWEST board up?

[ChaddDerkins]

There's a difference betwen small towns and suburbia, a big difference!  I am talking about suburban areas.

[rex]

lunch hour?

Whoa,  you mean I have lunch hour and quiet times and stuff throughout the day?!?!?  Hahahah. 

Toby, does your wife fuck dogs or not?  Why do you keep dodging the question?  Are you that ashamed about your wife and her lust for dog cock?

rex.

[Halloween_House]

uhhhhh...outside of, like Ben said, the gated communities which are super shitty and isolated and creepy...your point simply isnt valid.

[BenTM]

There's a difference betwen small towns and suburbia, a big difference!  I am talking about suburban areas.

I know, but 50 year-old plus, inner circle suburban areas around midwestern cities are a thriving place with some really great shit.  Honestly, in most midwestern metro areas, these suburbs have more going on than in the "cities" which tend to empty out at 5 pm. 

Beyond the sprawl areas there are actual small towns, but the old suburbs are like small towns in a great number of ways.

[rex]

Yeah,  I have no idea where Chadd even came up with this shit.  He seriously is saying the reason people don't live in big cities is because they are racist, xenophobic assholes.  Just fucking ludicrous.

rex.

[Halloween_House]

in most midwestern metro areas, these suburbs have more going on than in the "cities" which tend to empty out at 5 pm. 

Beyond the sprawl areas there are actual small towns, but the old suburbs are like small towns in a great number of ways.

These two points pretty much sum up everything perfectly.

[ChaddDerkins]

I made my point too strongly.  I didn't really mean that.  But one attracts a group of people who are inherently more into being around other people, no?

[Freddie Fireworks]

This is only true for shitty gated communities in suburban sprawl areas.  Honestly, we don't like those people either.  You are missing out on a lot of really awesome old timey suburban small-town places when you say things like this.

If I had a family, was settled, whatever, I might understand the value of living in a smaller/quieter/slower town.  But when it comes to the things young people value...cities win.  But I can appreciate what you're saying and I think we can agree that there's a time and place for both living situations. 

[Halloween_House]

No.

[ChaddDerkins]

Yeah I definitely don't even like big city life anymore, the more old and jaded I get.  I'd much rather live in a cabin in the woods with my Nintendo.

[ChaddDerkins]

But yeah what you guys are saying just defies common sense logic.  It's as if I said "People who appreciate nature are more likely to be found in big cities"

[Freddie Fireworks]

I know, but 50 year-old plus, inner circle suburban areas around midwestern cities are a thriving place with some really great shit.  Honestly, in most midwestern metro areas, these suburbs have more going on than in the "cities" which tend to empty out at 5 pm. 

Beyond the sprawl areas there are actual small towns, but the old suburbs are like small towns in a great number of ways.

What Midwestern cities are you referring to?  Chicago, Minneapolis, Detroit, Milwaukee, and Cleveland all have vibrant nightlifes and certainly a lot more culture after dark. 

I guess *maybe* Indianapolis, which I haven't spent much time in, nor do I hear anything going on.  But where else?

[rex]

No, it's not.  Just by virtue of there being more people in a big city, there would also be shittier people.  Sure, there are also more good people, but the shit always rises to the top.

I don't remember anyone from NYC making eye contact or talking with anyone the times I've spent there.  I know on the subways, it was "look down at the floor, put on my headphones, play on my phone, ignore everyone and everything."  I have no idea where this big, friendly world you are talking about exists.  It seems a bit rose colored to me.

rex.

[JohnnyB]

What?  Have you actually walked around your city for two seconds?  Its people bumping into you, honking horns, yelling out their windows, acting like basic dickheads, and so on.

Yelling out windows only happens in outer borough neighborhoods, where the same families have lived around each other forever, and on TV.

[JohnnyB]

Chicago seems to have more transplants than SF did, if that's possible.  One of the many reasons people liken it to a coastal city.

Most of the people from my part of Ohio that leave move to Chicago.

[ChaddDerkins]

I think Rex has only been the the Simpsons version of New York City!

[colin]

no one is friendlier anywhere. no one region has a monopoly on friendliness. there are nice people and assholes in every town, suburb or city.

[rex]

I think Rex has only been the the Simpsons version of New York City!

I've been to NYC three times and spent multiple days there.  I have not seen all these friendly, kindhearted people you are talking about.  You're telling me the subway is just one big hoedown with everyone talking to each other and smiling and shaking hands?  And if you are telling me that, you're a goddamn liar.  No one even made eye contact. 

Walking the streets, everyone is hurrying here and there, running, bumping, so I have no idea when these people are introducing themselves and wishing you well.

You're delusional.

rex.

[Freddie Fireworks]

No.  Some people like Johnny B.

rex.

Since Rex always brings this up...

Twitter followers for Rex Sharpe: 33

Twitter followers for me: 1,305

[Christian]

no one is friendlier anywhere. no one region has a monopoly on friendliness. there are nice people and assholes in every town, suburb or city.

[Wednesday]

I know, but 50 year-old plus, inner circle suburban areas around midwestern cities are a thriving place with some really great shit.  Honestly, in most midwestern metro areas, these suburbs have more going on than in the "cities" which tend to empty out at 5 pm. 

Beyond the sprawl areas there are actual small towns, but the old suburbs are like small towns in a great number of ways.

what shitty cities do you go to that they empty out at 5pm?

[ChaddDerkins]

I am not really delusional.  Lots of people here are shitty, but most, just by the nature of their daily routines, are friendly to strangers, because they see 10000 of them every time they step out the door.  Interaction with strangers is just a huge part of life here, and in my experience, it's not so much so in smaller towns.  Just my experience.

[ChaddDerkins]

I don't want to argue though.  I love the midwest and pretty much hate NYC these days, so I'm not trying to start any pissing contest.  I just disagree with you whole-heartedly on this issue.

[Freddie Fireworks]

no one is friendlier anywhere. no one region has a monopoly on friendliness. there are nice people and assholes in every town, suburb or city.

That's pretty much what my experience has proven to me as well.  But for people who have never lived in the city, it's just easier for Suburbanites to think their lifestyle is superior.  I'm sure urbanites bullshit themselves about stuff to.

[BenTM]

What Midwestern cities are you referring to?  Chicago, Minneapolis, Detroit, Milwaukee, and Cleveland all have vibrant nightlifes and certainly a lot more culture after dark. 

I guess *maybe* Indianapolis, which I haven't spent much time in, nor do I hear anything going on.  But where else?

Well, Cleveland for one.

Most of the interesting stuff happens in Lakewood or other inner ring "suburbs" or neighborhood areas.  The majority of people have been living there, and not in the actual city, forever.  Most of the city is just office buildings and douchbag night clubs.

Dayton, Columbus and cinncinati are very similar too.  The only difference in the latter two is that over the years, the city has annexed all of the historical suburb areas and stretched way out into the county so that there are all technically part of "the city" now, but really they are not.

Look, maybe Chadd is not describing what I am, but the city proper, downtown areas of a lot of midwestern cities is not like some of the east coast cities.  In the 70s and 80s they tore down all those blighted areas and put in 10-30 story office buildings instead.  They're not like other places where you still have people living where they work.