一品探花论坛

CHICAGO 鈥� Some of Chicago鈥檚 residents and regular visitors saw the Democratic National Convention as a good reason to leave the city for a few days.

Concerns about shutting down the city or potential violence have proven unfounded, said three travelers making their way from Wisconsin to Chicago on Thursday. But the four-day event has made it more expensive for everything from hotel rooms to the Amtrak train from Milwaukee, they said.

Jason Jagielski of West Bend said the convention is making it more expensive to stay in Chicago. A monthly visitor to the Windy City, he likes to take in shows and see other attractions, but he could go to the city this month only during the DNC.

He said Chicago was a good place to hold it because there is so much to do, but so was Milwaukee for the Republican National Convention.

"It鈥檚 the Midwest 鈥� it鈥檚 a good place," Jagielski said at the Amtrak station at the Mitchell Airport in Milwaukee.

Jagielski, who says he leans Democrat, has been watching the DNC.

"There鈥檚 a lot of enthusiasm than before Biden dropped out. It鈥檚 a good contrast between the two," he said of Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, the Democratic and Republican presidential choices.

Matt Wilson, from 一品探花论坛 who now lives in Chicago, stayed in Wisconsin with family during the DNC before heading back Thursday by Amtrak train.

"I decided to stay a couple days extra because things were busy," said the 2017 Catholic Memorial High School graduate of the DNC impact on Chicago.

He decided to work remotely when his financial service company in Chicago gave him the option. He hasn鈥檛 been watching the DNC.

"If something shows up on Twitter, I check it out," Wilson said.

With the logistics involved in holding a large convention, he said Chicago has been a logical place and good choice for it.

Sean Sheridan of Chicago, who spent a day in Milwaukee visiting tourism attractions, said he has mixed feelings about the DNC in Chicago.

"I was 5 years old for the 1968 convention. That鈥檚 what I was afraid of," Sheridan said of the confrontations between protesters and police in Chicago 56 years ago. "We had looting downtown in 2020," he said of the nationwide protests after the death of George Floyd.

"I was excited about it coming because of all the crowds. I was slightly nervous because of the protesters, but I haven鈥檛 seen anything bad," he said at a bus stop on Austin Avenue in the heart of Chicago.

His company in The Loop, which he was told not to name, shut down because of potential problems.

But hopefully the 2024 DNC will prove beneficial, the Chicago native said.

"Chicago has put on a good convention," Sheridan said.

"Maybe people will see us in a positive light."

CHICAGO 鈥� For several minutes on Thursday afternoon, all attention and cellphones turned to Pink singing during a sound check before her performance to the Democratic delegates and a national audience.