I agree with most of what you said about Chicago  In fact Ive always said that Chicago was more conservative than a lot of smaller cities in the Great Lakes region namely Cleveland Detroit and Milwaukee if for no other reason than a larger percentage of people who fit into one or more of the categories you named person of color union worker lakefront liberal and I would add bohemiancounterculturist to the list as well    However I dont think thats enough to say it couldnt count as a third coast New York has a republican mayor and California has a republican governor so its pretty obvious that the first and second coasts have their conservative segments as well  As far as Chicago culture being bland compared to the East and West coasts youre probably right about that too  But its not as if people on the east or west coast dont have their criticism about the other coasts culture as well  East Coast people tend to think West Coast culture is too fluffy and superficial and West Coast people think the East Coast is too uptight and highstrung  So I dont think how ChicagoGreat Lakes culture is viewed by people on the coasts shoould really have any bearing on whether or not its a coast  Besides I dont think the purpose is to compare the Great Lakes to the Eastern or Western seaboards  I think its purpose is more to differentiate the major urban centers of the Great Lakes from the Midwest at large which is seen as mostly smalltown and conservative  And I dont think you can disagree that when compared to the rest of their states that places like Chicago Detroit and Milwaukee do seem like ultraurban and ultraliberal oasises