r/BeAmazed • u/Super-Stevie117 • Aug 15 '26

Place Downtown Chicago is the most beautiful downtown in America 📍🇺🇸

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6.4k Upvotes

88% Upvoted

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1.1k

u/goodfella311 Aug 15 '26

It is a very beautiful city. I grew up in LA and when I went to Chicago it felt like a city from the movies. It has a distinct personality and energy about it .

235

u/Fit-Actuator4194 Aug 15 '26

Lived there for a decade and it’s fantastic, I’d even call it underrated as far as us cities go (I work with a lot of international clients and it doesn’t seem to be on people’s lists really compared to New York and LA).

59

u/SummertimeThrowaway2 Aug 15 '26

When most people think of Chicago they think of o-block and all the gang violence. It’s a shame. Personally I’ve never been but it seems beautiful from the pictures and videos I’ve seen.

54

u/shes_a_gdb Aug 15 '26

Chicago is a great city. That's why people who live 4 hours outside of Chicago still claim it.

22

u/Top_Audience7471 Aug 15 '26

Listen, us former residents of the firmly established Chicago neighborhood of Lake Zurich take umbrage with your comment.

1

u/guyincognito121 Aug 17 '26

I'm a five minute bike ride from a Metra stop. I'm therefore in Chicago.

6

u/moch1 Aug 16 '26

I think that’s because most people not from the area couldn’t name a single other city in the area…

9

u/corysama Aug 15 '26

Guilty. For a while I lived in the Elgin district of Chicago.

1

u/woolfchick75 Aug 15 '26

Hey. I grew up nearby. My father worked in Elgin.

3

u/bloopbloopsplat Aug 16 '26

Meh. Its because everyone knows where chicago is, but maybe not whatever chicago suburb you live in.

1

u/GeddysPal Aug 16 '26

Exactly. My mailing address may have said Downers Grove, but I lived in Chicago for three years.
Of course I worked for Portillo’s (HQ in Oak Brook, so also worked in Chicago). So double Chicagoan.

0

u/cheneyza Aug 16 '26

Former colleague used to claim it, I looked up what neighborhood she'd go on and on about, 30 minutes outside the city. So annoying about it, like it was a personality trait, still talked like she lived there or had family there but they moved away years ago.

-11

u/Comfortable-Rub-7400 Aug 15 '26

That’s because it’s in the middle of nowhere

6

u/eknutilla Aug 15 '26

How do you figure?

-9

u/Comfortable-Rub-7400 Aug 15 '26

Because I live here and have driven into Illinois and Indiana? Lol

2

u/eknutilla Aug 15 '26

Chicago is in Illinois, how could you drive into Illinois from Chicago?

-5

u/Comfortable-Rub-7400 Aug 15 '26

Oh, I thought you were genuinely asking. Driving further into Illinois outside of the Chicago suburbs, sorry for not explicitly stating that

4

u/eknutilla Aug 15 '26

Okay so how is a city that is surrounded by other cities "in the middle of nowhere?"

2

u/headybutthash Aug 15 '26

Dude he's still trying to figure out where he's going

2

u/Slicelker Aug 15 '26

Not the guy you were talking with, but a 4 hour drive to Chicago could mean a 1-2 hour drive to the nearest decently sized city. You'd call it middle of nowhere to if you'd see how flat and empty it was.

Also look where Chicago is on the map relative to most of Illinois.

2

u/B00G3R Aug 15 '26

maybe 1-2 hours from downtown. not from chicago proper, though.

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30

u/anitabelle Aug 15 '26

It really is as beautiful as the videos and pictures. I love my city!! It’s worth a visit if you ever get a chance.

8

u/redhatfilm Aug 15 '26

Thanks Obama.

(the fox propaganda machine went full in on demonizing chi during his first run)

1

u/revolutiontime161 Aug 15 '26

I met a lot of people ( as in Fox News diehards from the South ) both online and at the inaugural NASCAR race . The one thing that sticks in mind is them fawning over the city saying that none of the Fox News propaganda was true about “ the war zone of Chicago “ . Of the race fans I kept in contact with , they about doubled the amount of friends they brought back for the 2nd yrs race . They literally fell in love with Chicago .

5

u/redhatfilm Aug 15 '26

The greatest cures for ignorance and bigotry are education, travel and exposure to other cultures. And that's why conservatives are against those things

2

u/crystallmytea Aug 15 '26

It’s so stupid. Those places do have mighty struggles and deserve a fair shake and help and care, but to let it overwhelm your impression of Chicago is just plain stupid.

1

u/2faast Aug 16 '26

I don't think "most" people think of Chicago that way. Most people think of it as a world-class city with the best cultural, food, arts, sports, architectural, business, financial, destinations in the world.

1

u/Brilliant-Bottle1935 Aug 16 '26

I’ve always thought Chicago had its mystique and very beautiful in the late spring and summers and early fall. But yeah it’s seedy past and current gang climate takes away from that. Hell Ken Griffin pull up stakes and moved his hub to Brickell, Miami, which in certain areas is scenic without the charm. I know they tore down the infamous Cabrini Green Projects some time back but I had a military roommate who grew up there and he said it was no joke. Chicago is where also where I felt the coldest I’ve ever felt in my life that one time, lol

0

u/[deleted] Aug 15 '26

[deleted]

3

u/SimonOfOoo Aug 15 '26

This is completely false

4

u/Twaam Aug 15 '26

The guy above you is 100% from downstate where they think this. They think you get killed when you enter the city limits lmao

2

u/nimoto Aug 15 '26

lol no

0

u/SeonaidMacSaicais Aug 15 '26

My parents nearly had a heart attack when I last went down there to play the tourist. I’ve been to enough big cities that I know how to blend in and how to get around without looking like the stereotypical lost tourist. I always have pepper spray in easy reach, and I keep my wallet VERY hidden. It’s just an absolutely fun city and steeped in history.

1

u/woolfchick75 Aug 15 '26

Chicago isn't even in the top 10.

1

u/SeonaidMacSaicais Aug 15 '26

Top 10 of..?

1

u/woolfchick75 Aug 17 '26

Sorry, unclear. Top ten in homicide

1

u/SeonaidMacSaicais Aug 17 '26

My parents are MAGA. They tend to believe every single thing Fox “news” says. They refuse to go into Milwaukee (we live less than an hour north) for the same reason.

1

u/woolfchick75 Aug 17 '26

Milwaukee is a great city.

-22

u/-Howitzer- Aug 15 '26

Chicago is a beautiful city only because of strong, godly men of old generations that built it. Today, we look at it in appreciation of those men because the people who run the city today are a trove of ignorant, corrupt, and morally bankrupt leeches.

14

u/baby_jamie Aug 15 '26

I’m from Chicago, my favorite city in the world, and it was famously corrupt pretty much from day one. Like, FAMOUSLY corrupt.

11

u/johnnieswalker Aug 15 '26

Do you have tears in your eyes whilst thinking of these strong, godly, and old generational men? Chicago has always been corrupt. Read a book and stop sharing your weird fantasy. This was some weird shit to read.

4

u/atomic_chippie Aug 15 '26

What a strange thing to say.

5

u/Snoo93079 Aug 15 '26

If you think Chicago today is corrupt and not past Chicago, you really need to learn your Chicago history. It's not perfect but it's probably the least corrupt than it's ever been.

7

u/7chalices Aug 15 '26 edited Aug 15 '26

Shove that reactionary horseshit up your ass. How is the quality of life for the average, working Chicagoan today compared to when your ”strong, godly men” built it?

2

u/Objective-Rub-8763 Aug 15 '26

Godly? I take it you're unfamiliar with George Streeter.

2

u/East_Whole4385 Aug 15 '26

I too am from Chicago, and this is a huge over exaggeration. Chicago has always had some level of functional corruption.