I was living in Chicago when the Old Man died. I was driving up the outer drive listening to WLS when the DJ said that Mayor Daley had died and I thought, ‘wow, he is so going to get fired for that’. Of all the big cities, though, Chicago was the friendliest. I don’t know if it’s that way now.
I was moving into a new apartment when I heard church bells tolling throughout the city. Turned out that Da Mare had died. One of the moments (like JFK’s assassination) that I will never forget. He was quite a character for good and ill.
I don’t know what it’s like living in the city now because I have been in the burbs for almost 20 years. City traffic is horrendous, and we have little tolerance for libbie yuppies, so we stay away.
Chicago was always a friendly town, even with the crime and the corruption. As a Midwesterner, I am biased in that regard. I rarely enjoyed my experiences in the South or the two Coasts. The more time I spent in those areas, the more I dislked them. No offense intended to other Freepers.