By Alec DavisThe Daily Northwestern
The relationship between Northwestern students and the city of Chicago is a complicated one. Being located in the first suburb north of the city and connected to the El makes us feel like a real part of Chicago. We’re located just miles away from one of the biggest cities in the country and all of the benefits it has to offer. So why do those few miles often seem more like an ocean?
The main reason is obvious: transportation. As most of us students don’t have cars, we’re dependent on public transportation. While the El is a historic and well-known rail system, it is not known for being well-designed. Just getting to Chicago on the El can be an event in itself. Most of the things NU students travel into Chicago for are located at Addison or beyond. That means at least a 30-minute trip each way. And that’s on a good day. To get into the Loop can take up to an hour sometimes.
It’s a bit odd to think that it takes almost as long for us to get into Chicago as it takes people to drive from Madison to Milwaukee, yet no one at the University of Wisconsin’s flagship campus says they live in Milwaukee. Still, we triumphantly declare that we go to school in Chicago and make the trek downtown.
When you do manage to get things together and get out into the city, the results are amazing. There are so many things to do: museums, concerts, ballgames, bars and my personal favorite, just walking around and looking at the buildings in the city that invented the skyscraper. It’s just frustrating knowing that I need to allocate an hour and a half for travel time in order to see a two-hour concert.
It’s really a love-hate relationship when you get down to it. We love spending time with the city but hate the time and money commitments involved with it. It’s hard to keep up the romance in a relationship when you hardly get to see each other. Sometimes it just gets so frustrating that we don’t know why we bother anymore.
But we know that we can’t live without Chicago. It’s a part of us, and for many people a big reason we’re here. And maybe we don’t do everything we could do to help the relationship.
I would say, overall, NU students – myself included – don’t take full advantage of the opportunities that lie just south of us. I’ve lived in this city for four years now, and I haven’t done many of the things that most people do when they visit for a weekend.
I know we get pretty bogged down with work around here. The work seems to just pile up, and previously made plans for getting out of Evanston quickly melt into nights of studying in the library.
Just don’t forget about what we have here. Try to spend a little extra time with the city of wind – and maybe do something nice for Christmas.
McCormick senior Alec Davis can be reached at [email protected].
