I am fortunate to have lived substantial parts of my life in both the Chicago area and Southern Illinois. This has allowed me to have perspectives from both sides of state, and to see the “bigger picture” of Illinois. There really isn’t one region that I prefer over the other-both have their pros and cons. Currently, however, I reside in Southern Illinois, after growing tired of the traffic and other headaches associated with living in an urban area.

It never fails to amaze me, though, at how different Chicago is from the rest of the state. Chicago is a world in its own, and because of that, I find that Chicagoans often don’t realize that there is a world outside of their beloved city. Most seem aware of Springfield, but only because that’s where the governor lives (or at least, is supposed to!), but being that it’s three hours away-in another world. It’s not really Illinois-it’s just the second political seat in the state. The first is Chicago.

Then, there is Kankakee-which, according to Chicagoans, is “downstate.” That strikes me as funny, because the city of Kankakee is in northern Illinois-only an hour south of the city. One day I had a conversation with a lady from Chicago about where my parents lived, which was in Southeastern Illinois, about 60 miles north of the Kentucky border. This lady was astonished to find out that not only was there life south of the “downstate” Kankakee, but that Illinois also bordered Kentucky!

I frequently have discussions with Chicagoans about where I live, and I tell them that I live six hours south of Chicago. Most are surprised to learn there is that much driving distance south of Chicago remaining in Illinois. They are even more surprised to learn that it’s actually seven hours to exit the state-there is actually another hour to go between the I-57 exit to my house and the Kentucky state line.

While I could take offense to this, I usually find it humorous. The main drawback, however, is politically. The Chicago “machine” runs the entire state of Illinois, and has little regard for those outside of the metro area. This is a major area of contention for the “Southerners” in Illinois-from their point of view they have no voice, and can in no way compete with Chicago politicians. While there is no easy solution for this, there is something all Chicagoans can do-learn a little bit more about Illinois as a whole.

Before this gets ridiculously long, I’m going to leave it at that. In the coming months I will have posts about Southern Illinois-I hope the Chicago area folks will stay tuned for that.