[Otter74]

I've been in Chicago for twelve years now and that's enough to be "local" by many peoples' definition, but it depends on neighborhood. In Avondale (where I live) or Lgan Square, say, that's plenty local. If you're in some south side neighborhoods like Beverly or Hegewisch, twelve years and you're probably still considered like you just showed up.

I've always found the "where are you from" question to be problematic, as I'm not entirely from any one place and it really depends on who's asking and why. I'm from Venezuela, but I haven't lived there since the early 80s. Half of my family is from Colombia, but I'm not and despite that many USians think I'm "Colombian". I grew up after that in Atlanta, but I'm not sure I feel like I'm from there. I spend ten years in Detroit and I love it to death but I'm not from there. I've been in Chicago got twelve and I do feel like it's also where I'm "from" because it's where I live and where I've lived for a long time.