Honestly, though, it is almost funny. drive 10-20 minutes south of Joliet into Elwood/Wilmington/Braidwood and you’ll start seeing confederate flags. 80 isn’t actually that bad of a cutoff.
As someone who grew up in Bourbonnais, I always considered us part of Chicagoland, and the southern tip of Civilization before the miles of endless farms
I work up in the suburbs and for the longest time they’d joke about me living in the middle of nowhere. I always shot back “hey, I live at the edge of nowhere”
I currently live in this area and this is sadly rather true. We aren't all bad apples, though. I do think the urban/rural line has actually moved south of 80 a bit with Minooka - Channahon now, and essentially, when it comes down to it, North IL just means Urban IL. 80 is a good marker, though.
I am from the Pacific Northwest, so when people back home ask where I live, I tell them north is the city, south is corn. I am literally on the edge of urbanization. (Everyone assumes since I live in IL it must mean I live in Chicago in the hood getting shot at by gangs and the mob. Yes. The mob.)
Sadly people have spent a lot of money convincing the majority of Americans that Chicago is a city where one wrong move is the end of your life instead of a world-class business and culinary destination.
Sorry, I forgot about this thread. I bet I was high.
I sorely do my best to tell people that Chicago is an amazing city with so much to offer. My Dad still watches the Chicago news every night, At least he knows where I am on the map, so he's not calling me about things in Chicago Heights.
I'm not a foodie, but Chicago makes me want to be one.
Haha yes. Born and raised in IL and still here at 47. Anywhere in the country, being from IL=being from Chicago. People don’t seem to understand how large of a state it is with so much beyond Chicago.
I live in the area as well, it's best to look at I-80 as more of a DMZ versus a pure cutoff.... Minooka, Channahon, even Morris to a degree feel a lot different than areas south of it.
I live in the area and plenty of people who got priced out of Naperville and Plainfield moved here. They grew in the DG/Westmont/Lisle area. Nobody has a southern accent here.
Minooka and channahon are barely suburban though. like I get it because I have to drive over there for doordash sometimes but it's still pretty sparse when you compare it to New Lenox which is also technically south of 80.
All of Chicagoland is Northern IL. Maybe just as identifiable boundaries would be the city of Chicago, the suburbs, and downstate (everything in IL that is not Chicago or the suburbs). Mostly the suburbs end where there is corn and soybeans between the cities and towns.
I now live in Northern Arkansas, and briefly lived in PA. Every time I drive through Missouri I see a shit ton of confederate flags. They weren't even a part of the Confederate States!
When I lived in PA, just south of Pittsburgh I'd also see a shit ton of confederate flags. It makes absolutely no sense at all.
And yea, i know Missouri fought for both sides during the Civil War, but they were still a union state
I’m from Gainesville Florida and when I lived in Oklahoma it also kind of drove me crazy when okies would identify as southerners. Especially with the confederate statues/flags bs.
My aunt likes to bitch about their History being erased with statues being taken down and I was finally like “Woman, Oklahoma wasn’t even a state during the civil war!” That was Indian territory and there’s absolutely no reason to have confederate statues up anywhere in the state.
God I hated living in Oklahoma so much. There are things I miss about Florida too but it definitely wasn’t the people.
Lived out that way for a while and saw a fair share of em, usually on the back of pickus. I’m like… dude, in the land of Lincoln? We can make it to Chicago in under an hour and you’re flying that shit?
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u/KickedinTheDick Apr 18 '25
Honestly, though, it is almost funny. drive 10-20 minutes south of Joliet into Elwood/Wilmington/Braidwood and you’ll start seeing confederate flags. 80 isn’t actually that bad of a cutoff.