WILL MISS
Family.
Friends.
In the neighborhood:
The view out my windows and the sun and moonlight that streams back through them.
Gold Star popcorn.
Le Club du Foot.
Being able to walk just about anywhere I want to go.
RR#1.
Tecalitlan on Chicago Avenue.
Linoleum Mart on Chicago Avenue.
Caesar's.
The rundown produce market at Augusta and Damen that smells like camping to me. (Don't ask.)
Pizza Metro. *sniff*
Elsewhere in the city and environs:
Rosehill Cemetery Mauseoleum.
The kickass record store on the southwest side that I can't remember the name of, dammit.
Abbey Pub.
Kankakee.
Elgin. (If you've never been there, take a drive. It is a beauty of an old industrial town, also has a beautiful cemetery and a cool old abandoned amusement park that's easy to break into.)
Chinatown.
Robie House.
Meyer's Tavern in Wilmette.
The crazy rock shop in Evanston that has a dinosaur museum in the basement.
Grounds of the old Manteno mental hospital. (Also easy to break into but very, very spooky.)
...and tons more.
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WON'T MISS
The accent.
Shitty postal service (If any of you Chi-lites want to read a scary story, pick up Jonathan Franzen's book of essays entitled "How to Be Alone" and check out his expose of the Chicago P.O.)
Segregation.
Streetwise vendors, M&M's for Jesus guys, windshield dudes, the asshole who is always at the top of the stairs at Division and Ashland screaming "RED EYE! RED EYE!"
Traffic.
Louis "Nutty Lou" Farrakhan.
Residential parking permits/zones.
Creepy sports fans.