At a youth baseball game in Maryland, I told another parent I was from Chicago. He’d lived in Lincoln Park after college, and when I said I grew up in Naperville, he replied, “It’s funny how people from suburbs claim they’re from Chicago.” Naperville has become a punchline in this regard. Although he was right that I never lived in Chicago, I felt indignation that he thought his experience gave him a stronger Chicago claim.
My mother’s parents were Irish immigrants who came to Chicago. Her mother was a domestic worker for wealthy families; her father a longtime Chicago police officer. My father’s parents were deaf, sent as children to a school for the deaf in the city, where they married and raised a family. My grandfather spent decades at Rand McNally, making maps that marked the borders that baseball parents cared so much about.
My parents grew up on the South Side and met in St. Dorothy’s parish. I was in the city constantly in my youth: at my grandparents’ homes, the Fannie May factory on Saturdays for discounted boxes of defective candy, the final games at old Comiskey Park and at Wrigley Field the day Pete Rose tied Ty Cobb’s hit record. My first jobs after college were on Michigan Avenue and then O’Hare Airport. I watch Bears games from Maryland now and think: “Why am I here while those people, my people, are there?”
None of this is unique among many who grew up in the suburbs. Who gets to decide whether an identity claim is legitimate? I have been in groups where Chicagoans born in Ireland don’t challenge Irish identity claims from people with only tangential connections to the country.
Yet it seems a Chicago identity is a bridge too far for someone who grew up a short drive from the city. If being from somewhere means only residing there, the man who passed through Lincoln Park has the stronger claim. But he rented an apartment in a place that made me who I am. I think belonging is something like that pull I feel watching Bears games. We feel it toward the places that shaped us.
I was born in Elmhurst, grew up in Naperville, and yes, I’m from Chicago.
Jeff Lucas, sociology professor, University of Maryland
Self-driving vehicles are future of transportation
Chicago prides itself on being a world-class city, one that is forward-thinking in every aspect.
From the first skyscraper to a landmark paper that continues to shape modern machine learning, these ideas came from a city that has always leaned into what’s next. Chicago is at its best when it’s innovating, and this year, Springfield can support a new technology that fits squarely into that tradition.
Pending legislation authorizes autonomous vehicles to operate on our roads. Unfortunately, the bill was not called for a vote. While it would have been ideal to see these cars on our streets this summer, there is still time to ensure this smart, proactive approach to transportation is implemented efficiently.
To remain a global innovation leader, Chicago must embrace the next big tech space. Our current ecosystem is thriving with Portal Innovations and mHub supporting life sciences, and hard-tech firms that demand specialized infrastructure. With Google and Salesforce already here, our talent and growing infrastructure make self-driving vehicles the city’s next logical step.
For most Chicagoans, the daily commute is often an exercise in uncertainty due to unpredictable schedules. Self-driving vehicles, like Waymo’s, provide an additional layer of reliability, offering residents a way to get from point A to point B on time, without the guesswork.
While skepticism around self-driving vehicles exists, the data is compelling. Waymo reports a 92% reduction in serious injuries and 83% fewer airbag deployments. These vehicles eliminate human factors like distraction and impairment using detailed mapping and on-board sensors with visibility equivalent to three football fields. The technology is proven across millions of miles. Having ridden Waymo in four cities, I look forward for its Chicago debut.
There is also an environmental case. Waymo’s fully electric fleet has already cut over 6 million kg of CO2 emissions. Since Illinois leads in nuclear power, generating 90% of its electricity from it, these vehicles would run on low-carbon energy, a major benefit for a climate-conscious city.
As the “City of the Big Shoulders,” Chicago is built on progress. Passing this legislation is the logical next step. I urge lawmakers to approve this bill during the fall veto session, ensuring safe, reliable and accessible transportation for everyone.
Landon Campbell, venture capital investor, River West
Inflation in action
As a scholar of rhetoric for more than four decades, I frequently observed the significant difference been “seeing” and “feeling” the news. There is no better example of this than the current state of our economy and its potential political impact.
Case in point: Last week, we learned that the nation’s rate of inflation rose to 4.2%. This, however, is more than a statistic. Recently, the woman in front of me at the store checkout counter had only $80 to pay for her groceries. As a result, she was forced to remove several items from her cart to get the price reduced to what she could afford.
I offered to pay the remaining amount of her groceries, but she declined. I understand how embarrassed she must have felt. In retrospect, I wonder if my gesture to help her made the situation worse. Perhaps.
But the bottom line is this: Inflation is a real and visceral problem. Americans are hurting, and we have a president who doesn’t care. Indeed, there is a real rhetorical difference between “seeing” and “feeling.”
Richard Cherwitz, professor emeritus, University of Texas at Austin