Chicago's my home town. I was born in Park Ridge, a NW suburb, moved around as a kid to Syracuse NY and Minneapolis, but back to Lake Bluff, a northern suburb by age 13, and then into "the city" at 18 for college, and never left. I love my home, and I think it would be a beautiful city to visit. We don't have the natural beauty that so many of you live in, and I envy that. But...there's no place like home, right?

CrazyCanuck asked if it's windy all around Chicago...it's the prairie--only thing that stops the wind is the lake, and when it blows off the lake--WHOA! What gets me is that sometimes it seems to blow from all directions at once. In those times, my feeling is: Surrender Dorothy. You're not going to overcome it, so hunker down and let it blow!
About Oak Park--I agree with Betagirl. It's a lovely town. My sister lives there. My grandma was born and raised there. Her dad was a building contractor that worked with Frank Lloyd Wright, and they grew up in a house designed by Wright, "The Balch House". The Hemmingway family lived close by, and Ernest's younger sister, Carol, was close friends with my grandma. My aunt is named for her, and my middle name is Carol, for my aunt. Hence...(six degrees of separation)...my connection to Ernest Hemmingway!