Take this item by the MG Group, for example:
"Sometimes called Chicago’s answer to Venice Beach, California, East Rogers Park is an artsy enclave with studious undertones," they wrote (link here).
That's dumb because anybody who's ever been to Venice Beach, CA knows that it's not a studious atmosphere. It's hedonistic anti-intellectualism, if anything, with rampant alcohol and drug consumption. And the writer and MG Group seems oblivious to the fact that every large city in America has at least one "artsy enclave" within it. That's not unique to Rogers Park, and Rogers Park is not the only "artsy enclave" in Chicago.
Take, for example, two other neighborhoods in the Windy City. "The twin neighborhoods of Wicker Park and Bucktown are home to some of Chicago’s most popular haunts for artists, thanks to their abundance of theaters, live music venues, and gallery spaces," notes Baird & Warner. "Wicker Park and Bucktown are committed to furthering Chicago’s legacy of elevating and promoting new artists, in many different ways."
The unnamed writer at MG Group continued. "Home to the Loyola University campus, vegetarian cafes and incense-scented bookstores, the lakefront neighborhood has many residential streets that end at the beach."
Again, a dumb comparison. A campus? Vegetarians? Incense-scented bookstores and a lakefront neighborhood? Sounds like Madison, Wisconsin. Or dozens of other places. Last time I checked, Venice Beach is on an ocean, not a lake, and the nearest university campus is miles away.
But MG Group thinks a handful of weak similarities somehow makes Rogers Park similar to Venice Beach, CA.
Rogers Park is like East Berlin,
with a wall that divides it east-and-west and a Marx-friendly government.
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| A wall divides Rogers Park |
Again, a dumb comparison. A campus? Vegetarians? Incense-scented bookstores and a lakefront neighborhood? Sounds like Madison, Wisconsin. Or dozens of other places. Last time I checked, Venice Beach is on an ocean, not a lake, and the nearest university campus is miles away.
But MG Group thinks a handful of weak similarities somehow makes Rogers Park similar to Venice Beach, CA.
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| "Iron" Joe Moore, Ruler of Rogers Park |
with a wall that divides it east-and-west and a Marx-friendly government.
Actually, Rogers Park is more similar to the East Berlin of the Cold War era than it is to anything in California. I spent a week in Berlin in 1974 and went in and out of the Soviet Sector, aka "East Berlin," several times.
Let me tell you from first hand observation: The old East Berlin is more like Rogers Park than Venice Beach is like Rogers Park. I lived in L.A. for ten years and often went down to Venice Beach, so I speak from first-hand observation on that point too.
There are many similarities between the old East Berlin and Rogers Park. Here are just a few:
There are many similarities between the old East Berlin and Rogers Park. Here are just a few:
- There are trees in Rogers Park. I saw trees in East Berlin.
- I had a good steak dinner in East Berlin. I've had good steak dinners in Rogers Park.
- There are street vendors and artists in Rogers Park, and also in East Berlin.
- There were people in East Berlin who hated the United States. Most residents of Rogers Park hate the United States.
- East Berlin was ruled over by a totalitarian communist dictator. Rogers Park is too, and his name is Alderman Joe Moore, Obergruppenführer of the 49th Ward.
- Some people in Rogers Park have nice apartments. Even in old East Berlin, there were nice apartments to be found. Unfortunately, the best apartments in East Berlin were generally reserved for the Communist Party elite, much as in Rogers Park.
- East Berlin was part of East Germany, and so was ruled by communist authoritarians. Rogers Park is part of Chicago, and so is ruled by communist authoritarians.
- West Berlin and East Berliners had a wall dividing them. Rogers Park has the CTA elevated train wall dividing it. Both walls caused problems for people attempting to travel. People have died on both walls.
