Chicago: The best all-around U.S. city
Recently, as I contemplate my life in this soulless dystopian tech city, I cannot help but fantasize about Chicago and how awesome that city really is. So underrated. The only true negative is the winters. Consider the following:
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Very cheap for a major city, especially rent. There are amazing luxury highrise apartments everywhere, but the rent is still below not just NYC and SF but also Seattle, LA, Boston, DC. The city is super affordable on all aspects.
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Only U.S. city aside from NYC where you really don't need a car to get around. Yes, other cities have public transportation systems, but they are not as well developed and comprehensive. Chicago is truly urban in this regard.
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Amazing restaurant and nightlife scene. It's world class, just below NYC. You have everything from upscale lounges in River North to Big 10 sports bars in Lincoln Park and hipster dive bars in Wicker Park and everything in between. The restaurant scene is massive, with enough diversity to keep you engaged for years.
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Urban beauty and aesthetics. The downtown core and the surrounding area is stunning, as it straddles pristine Lake Michigan, with Lincoln, Grant, and Millennium parks nearby. One can go jogging or biking on the trail right next to the lake, a trail that extends more than 10 miles. You also have North Avenue and Oak street beaches, where you can play beach volleyball, grab drinks, and hang out. The city is very walkable and clean, as there are no garbage bags lying on the streets.
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Incredible summers. Best summer city in the country. It's plenty warm but not too humid (far less so than NYC and obviously the South), and the social scene is out of control, as everyone is out and enjoying the summer: Cubs games, outdoor festivals, rooftop parties, daydrinking at outdoor bars, lounging by the pool, and so much more. Words cannot describe how awesome Chicago summers are.
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Dating scene. I have to admit that it's not as good as NYC but a close second. Plenty of beautiful fit women and a vibrant singles scene.
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Midwestern humility and culture. Despite being a world-class city, it lacks the elitism of NYC, the superficiality of L.A., and the obnoxious ultra-liberal sanctimony of Seattle and SF. For the most part, the people are nice and down to earth. Although the city is liberal, the people don't obsess over politics; very rarely will you meet a woman who asks about your political views on a first date. The city is quintessentially All-American.
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Fantastic work-life balance. People here just don't work crazy hours. Even in finance, 80+ hours are virtually unheard of. People are out of the office by 7 PM for the most part. This allows ample time to actually do stuff on weekday evenings.
Agree with all of the above, would also mention that work opportunities are fantastic, while there is more of a focus on industrials/manufacturing, there is also pharma/healthcare, good amount of financial services, and a growing startup scene
8) Hundreds of BYOB restaurants
Great call. Totally forgot about that.
I brought a bottle of sake to Sushi Taka last week and they wanted a $15 corkage fee. It was an $8 bottle of sake. I just ordered their house sake and drank my bottle when I left.
Cmon man, should've just named this thread "I hate Seattle". It's what this is really about.
p.s. we had a week of roughly 15-25 degree temperature here in Texas and it might have been the most miserable thing I've ever experienced.
Sounds like you are a pussy?
The intraday temperature swings really bug me too. Especially on the lower end when its below 60 in the morning and then 85 in the afternoon.
Chicago's the shit.
AMEN, brother. I cannot imagine living anywhere long-term aside from Chicago and NYC.
London is pretty close to NYC/Chicago if you don't mind a bit of a British culture.
FTFY
Spent a week in Chicago earlier this year and I walked away with the exact same thoughts. Much cleaner than I ever would have expected considering the narrative about crime. Felt like a more manageable sized, cleaner, NYC.
Happy to trade in CHI's winters for our "superficiality" here in LA.
Chicago's America's best looking city (really stunning) but ultimately very boring. Girls are very good looking though (generally are in the midwest).
best looking? Idk man San Francisco is a beautiful city, same with Seattle and Denver
San Francisco, Seattle, and Denver should not be used in the same sentence as "good looking".
You've struck out a couple times in this thread huh
Chicago is boring? Lol. That's nuts, man.
The girls are very attractive, especially if you are into the healthy All-American blonde types.
I love Chicago.
The downtown is the only skyline that even looks like a legit skyscraper filled city center in the country, outside of NYC. Nobody mentioned the pizza yet....I love NY style pizza, but deep dish Chicago Style is my favorite. The winters suck in Chicago, but they are only a little bit less worse in New York. Museums are better in New York, but how often do you go there? Rarely more than you would visit as a tourist. The Broadway scene is obviously better in New York, but I don’t really care about that.
The cost of living is appealing, but ultimately I can’t move there because I need an offer that would bring me there. When I retire, I’ll probably stay here because of the ease of getting around and the income tax won’t mean much then. Ultimately, both are awesome towns and you should be happy in either place. If not, it’s your fault. That being said, as great as Chicago is, it’s the Second City for a reason.
Also, thanks for staying Brady4MVP with the All-American blonde reference.
WTF??? the girls are in no way more attractive than Cali, NYC (and probably Arizona and TX chicks). Go on Tinder right now and tell me Chicago chicks and Midwest chicks are the hottest with a straight face
Girls are usually from some kind of European ancestry (Polish/Ukrainian) or straight up from eastern Europe. Food scene is great for a budget of cheap eats to fancy dinning. Cheap eats (~$15) like Japan quality-like ramen (Oiistar, Wasabi), Puerto Rican (La Central), Cuban (Cafecito), Korean Fried Chicken Wings (Crisp), Mexican (any Rick Bayless restaurants), Ice Cream (Jeni's) are really good. West Loop (upcoming tech, Google, and Fancy dinning - Au Cheval, Girl&Goat, Monte Verde, Publican). Neighborhoods are very well delineated yet close to each other - Gold Coast/Old Town (posh restaurant and bars/rich ppl scene), Streeterville (Retail/restaurant/Roof top bars/ closest to NYC feel), Loop (Work place), Greektown, Chinatown, Argyle (Vietnamese) Ukrainian Town, Lincoln Park (Cubs, Sports Bars, Family Life, College Town), Bucktown/Wicker (Hipster). Cost of living is great and work hours are great though property taxes sucks. Overall, still best bang for buck. If winter sucks, go ski, do restaurant week, or fly out internationally from O'hare. Easily accessible by Uber and train (~35min).
I just got so hungry reading this list. Would stab a motherfucker for some Korean chicken wings or Japanese ramen right now.
I was waiting for someone to mention having international airport access.
cool story bro
Just the right amount of Italian women without the jersey shore guidos
Second most annoying sound in the world behind a moaning walrus is a Long Island accent.
Try a Valley accent. Sounds like a crossing between a chihuahua that accidentally swallowed a straw and a stressed-out teacher in a sub-urban high school.
Yup. Chicago is easily my favorite city in the USA. Echo everything you said.
I'm really thinking about moving here at some point in the future. In 2016 I visited some family there in the summer (I want to say June or July) for a weekend, and it was insanely humid, as bad as DC. I'm trying to escape humidity but I'll deal with it if it's just for a weekend or week. How bad does it normally get? I remember the food and social scene being great, so I'm sold on that, and the affordability is the cherry on top.
I lived in Chicago for a long time, and there were only 2 summers where we had humidity stretches that were unbearable. Chicago does not get "hot" (defining "hot" as consistent 80+ degrees) until July. Even then, if you are anywhere close to the lake (most of the nice neighborhoods aren't too far from the lake), it will feel fairly mild.
Alright I'm sold, where do I sign up?
LMAO Shitcago or Chiraq is a joke. From political corruptness to gangbanging you can't go right in this town.
NYC has the Hamptons. Chicago has? Milwaukee? Enough said.
I would never want to go to Hamptons, but I think that's what separates me from the guys here who love NYC, maybe I'm too Midwest. The Michigan side of Lake Michigan in the summer gives me the same experience.
If you don't sell drugs on the South or Westside and don't make YouTube diss tracks against other local "rappers" it's a safe place to live. Yes it's corrupt, but Daley and now Rahm have made a clean downtown and keep the riff raff in check, I'm okay with that.
I've been to the Hamptons; it's fine but overrated. Yeah if you are super rich and can buy a home there, different story.
Chicago is a very segregated city. The crime is on the far south and far west sides. It has no impact on the quality of life for those in the nice areas of the city. Daley did a great job of gentrifying the city and bringing in business capital.
Dude, the real crime is the corruption in the form of being raped by taxes, fees and various legalized extortion ($) to live there. Every illiterate crony who held a fake no-show job in Cook County has a bulletproof pension all the yuppies are on the hook for. Not to mention the zionist mayor (who served in IDF and holds an Israeli passport) is a globalist open-borders shill who proudly declares it an illegal immigrant sanctuary city – hence heroin, stickups, violent crime, worthless public schools, and EVERYONE who's ever lived in the city has had a bike stolen and car broken into.
Love Chicago. If it weren’t for the horrible winters I’d never consider living elsewhere. If I could live in Chicago from May-September and in LA the rest of the year, I’d do it in a second.
Met a retired PE partner who does exactly this. God did he seem happy
This is misleading. You may not need a car, but it can be fairly inconvenient without one. A lot of Chicago is more similar to the residential parts of Brooklyn and Queens (in terms of how spread apart things are), vs Manhattan
I guess my point is, NYC has no real comparison. Chicago is great in its own way
You tout the CoL, and it's true, Chicago is much cheaper than other big cities in the U.S. At the same time, to one in a smaller metro, the property taxes seem comparatively horrendous. Plus with Illinois's financial issues, taxes in general seem likely to go up.
From the mid-West and starting in Chicago this summer. Love everything about the city... but is anyone else really not that into Chicago-style pizza? I like thinner stuff, I feel like Chicago-style is not really pizza, it's almost like lasagna.
The city is inundated with all kinds of pizzas. There's a bunch of Neapolitan pizza joints here too. Google search.
Yeah I knew there was non-CS pizzas in Chicago I was just talking about how everyone seems to trumpet that as one of the reasons Chicago is cool, but I think that is very far down on the list
Going to go out on a limb and know i'm going to get monkey shit for it but Chicago is the best city in the world. Biased because I was born and raised here but echoing everything OP said gives me pride in my city.
I gave you a bananna. The only city in the world I would even consider taking over Chicago is NYC but only at the right income level. Aside from that, it's not close for me. Chicago dominates London, Paris, Hong Kong, LA, SF.
Sweet Home Chicago.
Where do you live now? SF or Seattle? Both of those places are nice to visit for a couple days, but blow hard to live in.
Amen on Chicago being awesome - haven't lived there but have visited and love the city. Fantastic vibe, great culture, awesome downtown, and not prohibitively expensive.
I do live in one of those cities, working for a FAANG tech firm.
Nothing says 'I'm an upper middle class schmuck of average intelligence from the Midwest who couldn't compete in a real global city' like being obsessed with Chicago. We get it, real cities intimidate you, you're too scared to move too far away from home, and you'd get eaten alive in NYC LA SF. You feel so comfortable rooming with the 10 smallminded bros you've known since 4th grade. Does your mom still do your laundry on weekends?
Chicago is a corrupt dump where Big Ten coke trash perpetual sorority girls go party for 3-4 years until they get fat and settle down with a balding low-status slob they knew from hometown or undergrad.
Nothing says "I'm terribly unhappy with my life so I need to justify my current living situation and pretend other people are unhappy too" like this post.
Someone is very jelly about the great life style here. Simple, no need to come if you don't like. Probably never even visited before.
I love Chitown, but your first sentence nearly made me shi tmyself. Sb'd
Lol did you not get a bid from a fraternity? Tell me more why you hate Chicago.
Remain-Anony is spot on.
How is it that Chicago real estate is so cheap in relative terms vs other major cities in the US? Is there a lot of supply?