In an opinion column dated July 6, self-proclaimed conservative Kim McGahey asks new residents coming into Summit County from cities to “check your liberal socialism at the door.” First, he is throwing the word socialism around like a Fox News commentator. The definition of socialism is where the government owns all the means of production. No one is recommending that. Secondly, how dare any Republican call themselves a conservative when U.S. debt has gone from $15 trillion pre-Trump to $28 trillion today while conservative Republican’s have given multitrillion-dollar tax breaks to the superrich.

For the past 20 years, my wife and I have had residences in Chicago and Silverthorne, with Chicago being our primary residence. In Chicago, we are within walking (or public transportation) distance of The Chicago Symphony, The Art Institute, The Lyric Opera, The Field Museum, the Children’s Museum, the Goodman Theater (there are 99 other theater venues), 500 parks and 20 miles of lakefront parks and paths. We love our mountain and urban life.

But McGahey is right: A lot of people are leaving the city for places like “our mountain paradise.” Generally speaking, those who are moving out of Chicago are older and, like McGahey, less tolerant of a city that is bursting with the energy of a multicultural and multiracial society. Those moving into the city are generally younger, better educated, wealthier and are more multicultural and multiracial than those who are leaving for a more monochromatic and suburban atmosphere. I am not surprised that McGahey sees cities as “dirty, diseased and dangerous” and instead prefers his conservative silo.