How do you explain the pull of Chicago?

This is such a basic topic, I'm really surprised we never got to it. Every home town has people in it who call it home, who are drawn to it as such and have special feelings for it. That's a given. But there is something special about the way that so many Chicagoans feel about their city, how they are drawn to it, and how they would never consider living elsewhere. Outsiders know it about us and think, at times, on the negative side we truly are the Windy City. We know it here on this board, how we are drawn to discuss our city. We have passion for it, and know that passion is shared by so many other Chicagoans who don't post here. So what's the reason? What accounts for the draw, the pull Chicago has on us? I don't mean just downtown, I don't mean just the city, I mean the whole area, Chicago and suburbs. What are those special factors that gives us the feeling there is no place like Chicago, like Chicagoland, and why we wouldn't consider living elsewhere?>