This is attested to even in the city of his residence, Chicago. If he were in LA or New York or Mexico City you could accuse him of trend-chasing, clout-chasing, being another lightweight 20-something. Chicago is a serious person city. A city with a midwestern protestant backbone. It has the infrastructure, culture, arts, universities, population of a big city, but lacks the flash of its coastal peers. You have to be able to survive hellish windy winters, it doesn't have the shallow hedonism of southern California or the sunbelt.