Not to be totally crass, but are you on a date right now?

Not really. I mean, not officially.

I mean, we wanted to meet each other first before we won't go on an official date, so...

What do you think? Are you on a date right now?

I'm not sure.

Um... That's Rodrigo and Jessica. They met on Tinder. I'm not sure.

That's Rodrigo and Jessica.

They met on Tinder.

And I'm Saragice, reporting for Curious City.

So how did I get here, spending my Saturday night interrupting first dates at a bar with a microphone?

Well, it all started when listener Yvette Ambert asked us, quote, how is the dating scene in Chicago? Now, we weren't able to get a hold of Yvette, but this question

of what Chicago is like for romance, it's a question that people think about a lot, and sometimes

even choose their place to live based on it.

We wanted to find specific qualities of dating in Chicago that feel, well, particularly

Chicago-y. And we started with the data. But by the numbers, Chicago dating demographics are

pretty on par with most large U.S. cities.

So to try and find these Chicago-e characteristics,

Curious City opened a hotline to take your calls, and I went to bars on the north and south sides. We heard from men, women, straight people, gay people, and two themes definitely

stood out.

Theme number one, lend me some sugar, I am your neighbor. Let's begin with a classic Chicago story

of star-crossed love. Here's Lakshmi Rangarajan.

I met this guy through friends. And Lakshmi really liked him, But there was an issue. I was living off the

...