what are the unwritten rules of getting around in Chicago?

I just posted a question in Ask New York about getting from borough to borough, and was surprised how many people basically said “just plug it into Google Maps.” I feel like Chicago has all kinds of advice or norms around getting around, which got me thinking: What advice would you give an out-of-towner looking to get around the city, that might not be obvious from looking at a map?

Off the top of my head, people don’t hang out downtown the way they do in other cities, so even if downtown is the midway point between two people, you’ll usually pick somewhere else to meet.

North Side/South Side divide. Even if it’s not that far, some people just don’t want to go south of Roosevelt, and if they do, will act like it’s a huge trek.

I say this as a South Sider, while I take the green line and red line regularly, I probably wouldn’t advise an out-of-towner to do so past a certain point at night.

How “close” something is revolves around the El. I love the bus, but I’ve found (especially among transplants) a lot of folks vastly prefer the train. The question when picking a location often isn’t “how quickly can I get there?” it’s “can I take the blue/red/whatever line?”.

Anything else you’ve noticed?