Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

On Being Midwestern: The Burden of Normality

iasc-culture.org

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

21–30 of 350 posts

Re: On Being Midwestern: The Burden of Normality

#21

Post by EADGBE »

jetti wrote: post #15
throwaway15814 wrote: post #10

Just moved out of the midwest.. I was originally from the East coast and moved back. I'll just say this, being a minority, I was shocked at how much contempt people had towards middle-easterners and black people. On numerous occasions people have said they've been "dirtying up the neighborhoods which is why they moved to another burb... they need to take better care of their lawns, etc". Out of all the companies that…

>There's a reason why Chicago was the only major city to drop in population the last couple of years. There aren't that many interesting projects happening, it's not conducive to start-ups I would say it has more to do with the Illinois rather than the city itself. People are leaving Illinois, not just Chicago. Also, the startup culture is different in Chicago but to say there there aren't that many interesting proje…

> Cost of living is also significantly lower as well.

Especially outside of Chicago. Literally any midwest 'burb. Most of us have no problem driving 30 minutes to work. That vastly opens up the options, even working in a city.

Re: On Being Midwestern: The Burden of Normality

#22

Post by sandworm101 »

le-mark wrote: post #16

I found this piece to be interesting, but rather odd too. For example from the middle; I took the first option. As a child, I accepted without thinking that my small town, a city of 9,383 people, contained within it every possible human type; if I could not fit in here, I would not fit in anywhere. (“Fitting in” I defined as being occupied on Friday nights and, sooner or later, kissing a girl.) Every week that passed…

>>> ... and eked lives somehow. I honestly don't know how.

Drugs? Or some other invisible economy? I had the same impression of late-90s Vancouver. No real growth outside of real estate, but lots of people with piles of cash and a huge population who never seemed to work but still made rent each month. In BC pot brought in, by some estimates, more money than forestry and mining combined. Now it's purely real estate.

Re: On Being Midwestern: The Burden of Normality

#24

Post by pm90 »

mark_l_watson wrote: post #3

Nice read! My wife and I just moved to Urbana/Champaign Illinois 4 months ago for my new job, and the Midwest really is different (from Arizona and California where we lived before). People are really nice, food is great, very inexpensive place to live, and there is real natural beauty here if you look for it. Anyways, we are delighted with this area.

Former UIUC student... just wait till it starts snowing ;).

But in all seriousness: the town(s) do have their charm. And if you're bored, its only a hour drive to Chicago. The affordability was actually what attracted me as a student: I had a rather high standard of living for the money I was living on.

Re: On Being Midwestern: The Burden of Normality

#25

Post by Kurtz79 »

throwaway15814 wrote: post #10

Just moved out of the midwest.. I was originally from the East coast and moved back. I'll just say this, being a minority, I was shocked at how much contempt people had towards middle-easterners and black people. On numerous occasions people have said they've been "dirtying up the neighborhoods which is why they moved to another burb... they need to take better care of their lawns, etc". Out of all the companies that…

"i've had more arguments in the midwest with people that think tesla is a POS company for not following the rules. there's a lot of people averse to change."

People are averse to change that might negatively their impact livelihood, such as taxi drivers not being great Uber fans. Since most of the innovations in recent years have meant less jobs and worse condition for the area, it is understandable they might have such a position.

Re: On Being Midwestern: The Burden of Normality

#26

Post by EADGBE »

throwaway15814 wrote: post #10

Just moved out of the midwest.. I was originally from the East coast and moved back. I'll just say this, being a minority, I was shocked at how much contempt people had towards middle-easterners and black people. On numerous occasions people have said they've been "dirtying up the neighborhoods which is why they moved to another burb... they need to take better care of their lawns, etc". Out of all the companies that…

> Out of all the companies that I've worked in the midwest, I've ever had a co-worker that was a black software engineer.

I'm really sorry you had such a polarizing experience.

But just to give an anecdote of my own, in a much smaller midwest hub, over five years and two jobs I've worked with:

- A young woman from Russia

- An African American (29% of the population, a hair under Chicago's)

- An Indian (this isn't extremely uncommon, though)

- A Malaysian

- Multiple women over 50

All these people were/are great developers. Most of them worked above me.

Your experience was completely unlike my own. I'd hate for it to be so hastily packaged together as one.

Re: On Being Midwestern: The Burden of Normality

#28

Post by adam »

mark_l_watson wrote: post #3

Nice read! My wife and I just moved to Urbana/Champaign Illinois 4 months ago for my new job, and the Midwest really is different (from Arizona and California where we lived before). People are really nice, food is great, very inexpensive place to live, and there is real natural beauty here if you look for it. Anyways, we are delighted with this area.

Congrats on the move. I grew up in Champaign. I wanted to get out of there by the time I was 18, but now I get back at least once a year and have a new appreciation for the place. Go to Papa Dels pizza if you haven't been. Get the deep dish. It will change your life.

Re: On Being Midwestern: The Burden of Normality

#29

Post by dsfyu404ed »

mark_l_watson wrote: post #3

Nice read! My wife and I just moved to Urbana/Champaign Illinois 4 months ago for my new job, and the Midwest really is different (from Arizona and California where we lived before). People are really nice, food is great, very inexpensive place to live, and there is real natural beauty here if you look for it. Anyways, we are delighted with this area.

> People are really nice, food is great, very inexpensive place to live, and there is real natural beauty here if you look for it. Anyways, we are delighted with this area.

You probably shouldn't talk like that if you want it to stay that way...

Denver is a warning, not a template.

(I say this with partial sarcasm, obviously you can't fight change to some extent but being conscious of it and careful management to guide it's direction can prevent a lot of problems)

Re: On Being Midwestern: The Burden of Normality

#30

Post by cableshaft »

pure_ambition wrote: post #20
mark_l_watson wrote: post #3

Nice read! My wife and I just moved to Urbana/Champaign Illinois 4 months ago for my new job, and the Midwest really is different (from Arizona and California where we lived before). People are really nice, food is great, very inexpensive place to live, and there is real natural beauty here if you look for it. Anyways, we are delighted with this area.

Check out Allerton Park if you haven't already! The trails are amazing.

A friend got married there. It's a really pretty place. Has a giant mansion on the premises too that he used for the reception.
Post reply on HN