Quote from wilburbear:
Driving my daughters around, to one "playdate" or another, gets me a view of different Chicago neighborhoods.
Which is why I call Chicago "The Quintessential 20th Century City". Almost call it a 19th century city. A German head of state in the 1880's, on his death bed, said, "I never got to see that old Chicago!" In the 1880's we were one of the fastest growing cities in the world. Stockyards! Rail! Water-way Transport!
Our population was very near its peak in 1920. And a lot of this town is built for 1920. Neighborhoods stretch for tens of miles in all directions. Three story "walk-ups", with the bottom floor occupied by retail shops. As I drove, just today, it honestly seemed 7 out of 8 of those independent retail shops were closed down. Street level is not very pretty. And that reverberates. Many neighborhoods are starting to feel strangely gutted-out, occupied by the rootless, and older men in tank tops with their teeth missing.
My informal study of what survives are services like "Hair and Nails" shops, Palm Readers (seriously), and a few Gyms; stuff you can't buy on the internet and avoid our 10% sales tax. Clothes, travel agents, and electronics shops are gone, and they ain't ever coming back.