> You can move to Chicago too. We have lots of "real"
> people, politics as a full-contact sport ("do not
> collect $200, do not pass go, go directly to jail"), a
> Mayor-for-Life (Hizzoner Da Mare); an astoundingly
> segregated public school system, a federal court which
> is right wing but full of amusing characters and a
> state court system that is not as crooked as it was a
> quarter century ago; several universities -- some of
> them quite fine; culcha without snobbery and lots of
> excellent food; several sports teams, a couple of
> which are actually pretty good even if I favor the
> perennial losers; real blues, good jazz, a great
> symphony orchestra and a great opera; unions not all
> of which are run by the Outfit, great architecture
> that we are fighting against the developers to
> maintain (look up the twizzle stick Chicago Spire in
> River North, or don't), and a 30 mile waterfront with
> only one piece of commercial real estate development
> on the wrong side of the Drive. The "left" is manly
> run the ISO, this their HQ, which means that
> everything else is, depending on how you want to look
> at it, moribund or full of prospects for development.
> Also, it is not as cold or windy here as people think,
> although Spring takes a long time to arrive. It just
> did today.
I like Chicago. I've been there many time. I don't like it when they arrest me for "rioting" and put me in jail, but that was over 20 years ago so I won't hold that against Chi-town. I just stay away from Water Tower Place.
From what I understand, there is plenty of left and anarchist activism in Chicago aside from the ISO. I did have the pleasure a few years ago of having Sherri Wolf of the ISO kicked out of the anarchist bookfair. The ISO has been my bitch for so long that I don't understand why they can't find somebody with the guts to stand up to me. ;-)
Chicago to me is one of those cities where it's almost hard to get around. The public transit system is OK, but it just doesn't go everywhere. You can drive around Chicago, but just don't do it during rush hour.
I'm worried that the cool things I liked about Chicago have been wiped out by gentrification and yuppie scum developments.
Didn't that famous German restaurant close downtown? Bergoff's?
Is Quimby's Queer Store still open?
Chuck