Condor, if there's an IL ping list that you know of, maybe this'd be a good candidate for its use ?
I listed IL as a keyword, but dunno how much effect that might have.
I was born waaaaay downstate .. about as close to Mississippi as to Chicago, and certainly closer in attitude.
Our family moved away when I was five; then returned for a four year stint in the late 70s-early 80s.
But other than for a few days to bury my Dad in '00, I haven't been back since.
The old saying, even back then, used to be : there's Chicago, and there's Illinois
That 'cultural' divide has doubtless widened immeasurably in all the years since.
And I know what you mean about 'Chicago and IL'. We fled Chi and 75 for DuPage County and now its slowly being infested. (I still worked in Chi for many ways but could get away from 'it' for a while anyway)
And a while back, I also met some folks from down Marion way. Wow! I thought I detested the Chi Pols. They feel like political prisoners in a gulag.
I grew up in Chi and we'd joke that 10 miles South of Joliet 'was like being in Kentucky'. Well the joke was on us.