Holland and Chicago: Great Living in Sister Cities

  

HS #108 2024.7.11

 

Holland and Chicago: Great Living in Sister Cities

 

Do you remember Paul Harvey, the popular conservative radio personality who broadcast “The Rest of the Story” from Chicago?

 

Once, well into his 70s, he was asked, “Why stay in Chicago instead of broadcasting from some warm southern city?” His answer: “NYC with Wall Street thinks it’s the center of things. So does Washington DC, and L.A. struts its importance as entertainment capital. But when I’m inside the Loop of Chicago, I’m at the productive heart of our nation and I can feel its pulse.”  

 

I agree. Once I spent a day in Chicago sitting by Buckingham Fountain and the Bean, taking a tour of the Chicago River, and strolling the shoreline and Navy Pier. Riding back to Holland on Amtrack, I wrote Chicago’s Chamber of Commerce, “A great city is one after which spending a day touring, one leaves refreshed and energized. By that measure, Chicago is a great city.” 

 

And that is why Holland, Chicago’s little sister, is also a great city on a smaller scale.  

 

These cities lying on the shore of Lake Michigan have much in common. Historically, on October 8, 1871, after a dry, windy stretch of weather, they both burned to the ground.  And as a phoenix from the ashes, they both rose to new prominence. 

 

They both are abounding in the arts. Chicago has its theatres and symphony, and The Bean. Holland has the world class Jack Miller Music Center, and the Kruizenga Art Museum surrounded by the Nyenhuis Sculpture Garden, not to mention Kollen Park’s outdoor shell at which hundreds gather on Tuesday evenings for the American Legion Band. 

 

Both are also grounded in heavy industry giving foundation and backbone to their existence. When I ride my bike past Padnos, I find myself proud that Holland’s heavy industry has the  mission of recycling earth’s resources.

 

Chicago has its outstanding University of Chicago. Prominently engraved at the front of its John D. Rockefeller Chapel one finds his words, “As the spirit of religion should penetrate and control the University,so that building which represents religion ought to be the central and
dominant feature of the University group. Thus, it will be proclaimed that the University in its ideal isdominated by the spirit of religion, all its departments are inspired by religious feeling, and its work isdirected to the highest ends.” Holland’s Hope College embodies that in structure (Dimnent Chapel) and in spirit. 

 

Both cities have their own newspapers which inform and well-serve their citizenry. 

 

But mostly, Chicago and Holland are similar in offering great living. 

 

What other small Midwest city offers a vibrant heated-sidewalk downtown with local eateries, a cheese-lover’s Mario’s Pizza, one of the best Aquatic Centers in the nation, an Outdoor Discovery Center with innovative educational opportunities, a Farmers Market that attracts folk even from Indiana, Evergreen Commons for seniors, an abundance of pickleball courts for enthusiasts of all ages, a first-rate library and city hall, a beautiful central park (albeit with a less-than-impressive fountain) and two weeks of hosting the nation to Tulip Time, our nation’s third largest city celebration. Impressive list. 

 

More?  Bountiful beaches. Holland’s flat topography perfect for riding bikes around town. Even the nearby cities of Grand Rapids and Kalamazoo are filled with hills. Also, being on the extreme western side of a time zone. The sun goes down at about the same time in Chicago, but there it’s 8:30 p.m., while here it’s 9:30 p.m. giving us an extra hour of sunlight in the evening. 

 

I recently returned from a hiking-camping-hosteling trip to Maine and the Canadian Maritime provinces. Granted, they have a richer history - if you haven’t seen FDR’s retreat home on Campobello Island, the only jointly managed national park in the world, or the Titanic gravestones in Halifax, put those on a future vacation list. But the street performers on Halifax’s oceanfront were no better than Holland’s Thursday evening 8^th Street performers. The forests and ocean views of Acadia were reminiscent of the beauty of forest and water in West Michigan (without the salt and jellyfish). And with Maine’s median home price at $395,000, Canadian gas at $5/gallon, and high-priced groceries, living the good life in Holland is easier on the wallet. 

 

Finally, as the many booths at the recent annual PRIDE celebration in Centennial Park demonstrated, Holland is filled with organizations and churches which are available to help its residents live life to the fullest. Holland – a good city, a good home.