Chicagoans: how secure are we?

What I love about this board is that it lets you know (among other things) how residents feel about their own home town. And, of course, for the Chicagoans here, how we feel about the good ol' Windy City. As I've read opinions of people across the country about their home towns, I've picked up how competitive most are about where their city fits in the greater scheme of things (well, duh!?!). A lot of that pecking order crap stems from a helluva lot of insecurity that many people have about the place they call home. What I find is, the more I read, the more I think about cities, the less inclined I am to put Chicago into that competitive mode in my own mind. And, more and more, this becomes my paradigm: CHICAGO IS AN UTLERLY FANTASTIC CITY IN-AND-OF-ITSELF. IT DOESN'T NEED COMPARISONS TO ANY OTHER CITY. CHICAGO STANDS ON ITS OWN TWO FEET. In other words, take a train downtown to Union Station. Walk across the Loop and through Grant Park. Do the Museum Campus. Continue on up the lakefront to Navy Pier. Stroll through Streterville up to the Mag Mile. At the north end, cut through the Gold Coast up to North Avenue and Lincoln Park. Head south through Old Town. Head over to all the residential construction along the river when you get to Chicago Avenue. Head south, back to the west Loop. Return to Union Station. If you aren't convinced at that point that you are in one of the world's greatest cities, nothing will help you. So, Chicagoans, where are we on this one: do we need the comparisons, do we care what other cities think of us, or are we secure enough to say, Who Cares!: questioning Chicago's merit is just plain ludacrous.>