Perfect Chicago

I spent my fall break in Chicago, visiting my sister who goes to DePaul University. This was my second visit to Chicago. I now notice how different my two visit are. Last Easter my sister and I went to Chicago to visit Depaul, and of course we went to all the touristy places: Millennium Park, The Art Institute, Navy Pier, Michigan Ave. I came to the conclusion that I love this city and I would definitely go back again. However this time I realized that Chicago was not my favorite city after all. As I was reading Gilbert on the bus back to Minneapolis, I wondered what has changed. Being a tourist and living in a city are different. Like Gilbert says in his book, the dreams of the leaders in Chicago are the generation of a uniform middle-class culture that is surround by different ethnic and religions diversity. Chicago is America's "second city". Leaders envisioned a uniform city that guides the new middle class professionals and businessmen. The connection I found between the chapter we read on Chicago and the previous work we have done is the connection to Ragtime. Ragtime, the novel of American social activism and reform in the Progressive Era, is the result of what was going on the cities in America. Unlike New York, Chicago is more diverse in terms of ethnicity and religion, and it is also more middle class oriented and more cosmopolitan. I found it interesting that Gilbert writes society is the frozen culture and culture is liquid society. I always thought society and culture are interchangeable. Now I find a relationship between the two. Culture is more versatile and society is more definite.