To those born and/or living on the coasts, do you perceive Chicago to be "unsophisticated"?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m from the east coast (Fairfield county) and I’ve lived in chicago for 6 years. I cried moving here but I’m never leaving now. Why? Because it’s such a livable city. The economy is good and housing is so cheap in comparison to where I’m from. People tend to have more kids here because they can. I’ll take my 400k HHI with mg 550k 5 bedroom home any day. Plus the public schools are decent here! Even if I’m around mostly ppl who grew up in unsophisticated Ohio, Michigan and Wisconsin lol.

Yeah, Chicago is great.

But people in Chicago get really bent out of shape about whether everyone else also feels it. Take your HHI and your nice neighborhood and be happy (not you, you sound like you're doing it) and stop worrying about what people in Boston and NYC think of you.

I live in the Chicago area with high HHI and the lower COL and it’s fine, like most other ok to well off suburbs in the country. It’s cheap to live here because most people here don’t make as much and let’s be real, most people wouldn’t want to live here. Even people FROM here question why I moved here and many people insist on knowing my connection to Illinois (family? Grew up here?), because people don’t just move to Chicago, according to the locals.

It's a great city and beats living in Cleveland. Or Omaha.

But yeah, it's not a global elite city like NYC or DC or LA. And, like it or not, Boston is one of the cities. People anywhere in the world know about it. It's half white-trash American, and half-European in nature. Chicago is just white-bread American normalcy with a nasty urban violence problem.

[Anonymous]

There is a lot of big money sloshing around Chicago, so it’s not like your kid can’t make a great living there. But it’s very provincial. And feels isolated if you’re used to living on a coast. Plus the weather is grey and cold half the year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m from the east coast (Fairfield county) and I’ve lived in chicago for 6 years. I cried moving here but I’m never leaving now. Why? Because it’s such a livable city. The economy is good and housing is so cheap in comparison to where I’m from. People tend to have more kids here because they can. I’ll take my 400k HHI with mg 550k 5 bedroom home any day. Plus the public schools are decent here! Even if I’m around mostly ppl who grew up in unsophisticated Ohio, Michigan and Wisconsin lol.

Yeah, Chicago is great.

But people in Chicago get really bent out of shape about whether everyone else also feels it. Take your HHI and your nice neighborhood and be happy (not you, you sound like you're doing it) and stop worrying about what people in Boston and NYC think of you.

I live in the Chicago area with high HHI and the lower COL and it’s fine, like most other ok to well off suburbs in the country. It’s cheap to live here because most people here don’t make as much and let’s be real, most people wouldn’t want to live here. Even people FROM here question why I moved here and many people insist on knowing my connection to Illinois (family? Grew up here?), because people don’t just move to Chicago, according to the locals.

It's a great city and beats living in Cleveland. Or Omaha.

But yeah, it's not a global elite city like NYC or DC or LA. And, like it or not, Boston is one of the cities. People anywhere in the world know about it. It's half white-trash American, and half-European in nature. Chicago is just white-bread American normalcy with a nasty urban violence problem.

Boston is only a very large university town.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m from the east coast (Fairfield county) and I’ve lived in chicago for 6 years. I cried moving here but I’m never leaving now. Why? Because it’s such a livable city. The economy is good and housing is so cheap in comparison to where I’m from. People tend to have more kids here because they can. I’ll take my 400k HHI with mg 550k 5 bedroom home any day. Plus the public schools are decent here! Even if I’m around mostly ppl who grew up in unsophisticated Ohio, Michigan and Wisconsin lol.

Yeah, Chicago is great.

But people in Chicago get really bent out of shape about whether everyone else also feels it. Take your HHI and your nice neighborhood and be happy (not you, you sound like you're doing it) and stop worrying about what people in Boston and NYC think of you.

I live in the Chicago area with high HHI and the lower COL and it’s fine, like most other ok to well off suburbs in the country. It’s cheap to live here because most people here don’t make as much and let’s be real, most people wouldn’t want to live here. Even people FROM here question why I moved here and many people insist on knowing my connection to Illinois (family? Grew up here?), because people don’t just move to Chicago, according to the locals.

It's a great city and beats living in Cleveland. Or Omaha.

But yeah, it's not a global elite city like NYC or DC or LA. And, like it or not, Boston is one of the cities. People anywhere in the world know about it. It's half white-trash American, and half-European in nature. Chicago is just white-bread American normalcy with a nasty urban violence problem.

Boston is only a very large university town.

Who thinks it is all that of the New England.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There is a lot of big money sloshing around Chicago, so it’s not like your kid can’t make a great living there. But it’s very provincial. And feels isolated if you’re used to living on a coast. Plus the weather is grey and cold half the year.

My kids are at one of the well known private schools and there are multiple billionaire families. This is definitely true. I will also say that we have met very few people that are actually from Chicago or the suburbs. We don't hear people talking poorly about other cities or trying to defend Chicago in any sort of way. Lots of international families and a lot of New Yorkers. And the previous point of feeling isolated, definitely does not feel that way. We can hop on a plane the same way any other major city does. We don't have interest in taking road trips so can't speak to that. Having the massive lake and river really does make a difference, though. Might not be an ocean but it is gorgeous and accessible waterfront. No complaints here.

[Anonymous]

Chicago is where middle class kids in Ohio, Indiana, Wisconsin, Iowa and Michigan dream of moving after college.

Once in Chicago for a few years, many ambitious yuppies seek a move to a coast, or Denver, Nashville, Austin, or Florida.

Chicago wears on you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m from the east coast (Fairfield county) and I’ve lived in chicago for 6 years. I cried moving here but I’m never leaving now. Why? Because it’s such a livable city. The economy is good and housing is so cheap in comparison to where I’m from. People tend to have more kids here because they can. I’ll take my 400k HHI with mg 550k 5 bedroom home any day. Plus the public schools are decent here! Even if I’m around mostly ppl who grew up in unsophisticated Ohio, Michigan and Wisconsin lol.

Yeah, Chicago is great.

But people in Chicago get really bent out of shape about whether everyone else also feels it. Take your HHI and your nice neighborhood and be happy (not you, you sound like you're doing it) and stop worrying about what people in Boston and NYC think of you.

I live in the Chicago area with high HHI and the lower COL and it’s fine, like most other ok to well off suburbs in the country. It’s cheap to live here because most people here don’t make as much and let’s be real, most people wouldn’t want to live here. Even people FROM here question why I moved here and many people insist on knowing my connection to Illinois (family? Grew up here?), because people don’t just move to Chicago, according to the locals.

It's a great city and beats living in Cleveland. Or Omaha.

But yeah, it's not a global elite city like NYC or DC or LA. And, like it or not, Boston is one of the cities. People anywhere in the world know about it. It's half white-trash American, and half-European in nature. Chicago is just white-bread American normalcy with a nasty urban violence problem.

Wait, you think DC is a global elite city. Are you serious?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m from the east coast (Fairfield county) and I’ve lived in chicago for 6 years. I cried moving here but I’m never leaving now. Why? Because it’s such a livable city. The economy is good and housing is so cheap in comparison to where I’m from. People tend to have more kids here because they can. I’ll take my 400k HHI with mg 550k 5 bedroom home any day. Plus the public schools are decent here! Even if I’m around mostly ppl who grew up in unsophisticated Ohio, Michigan and Wisconsin lol.

Yeah, Chicago is great.

But people in Chicago get really bent out of shape about whether everyone else also feels it. Take your HHI and your nice neighborhood and be happy (not you, you sound like you're doing it) and stop worrying about what people in Boston and NYC think of you.

I live in the Chicago area with high HHI and the lower COL and it’s fine, like most other ok to well off suburbs in the country. It’s cheap to live here because most people here don’t make as much and let’s be real, most people wouldn’t want to live here. Even people FROM here question why I moved here and many people insist on knowing my connection to Illinois (family? Grew up here?), because people don’t just move to Chicago, according to the locals.

It's a great city and beats living in Cleveland. Or Omaha.

But yeah, it's not a global elite city like NYC or DC or LA. And, like it or not, Boston is one of the cities. People anywhere in the world know about it. It's half white-trash American, and half-European in nature. Chicago is just white-bread American normalcy with a nasty urban violence problem.

This is silly. DC and Boston are not "global elite" cities either. If the criterion is that "people anywhere in the world know about it" then Chicago is probably more well-known than Boston. If the criterion is that it should be half European (WTF?) then none of the cities you listed qualify.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Google hit for 'Chicago unsophisticated' got this juicy story. A billionaire and his now ex wife had an allegedly violent argument when discussing their pre-nup because she wanted the freedom to move to San Francisco or New York City in the event of a divorce because she found the Windy City “unsophisticated,” according to a court filing: https://www.chicagotribune.com/2015/02/20/ken-griffin-wife-found-chicago-unsophisticated/

The ex wife's bio: Born in France, undergrad at Georgetown, MBA from Harvard: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_Dias-Griffin

She sounds like a nasty, ungrateful piece of work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Chicago is where middle class kids in Ohio, Indiana, Wisconsin, Iowa and Michigan dream of moving after college.

Once in Chicago for a few years, many ambitious yuppies seek a move to a coast, or Denver, Nashville, Austin, or Florida.

Chicago wears on you.

This is spot on.

I grew up in SW Michigan and moved to Chicago the minute I had the chance at 19. It is my favorite city to this day, but after living there for 10 years -- it wore on me. That is a very good way to put it. The long winters; the cold and also how well into spring I'd be walking up and down State St or Mich Ave dodging the high piles of iced over snow (for those unfamiliar those piles are from the plows) now black-gray with exhaust and yellow with dog urine. The crime. At 29 I went law school in the South, and then after graduating I moved here to take a job as an HP attorney.

Now I'm sick enough of it here -- the stupid hcol and the boring strivers that don't understand they are on top of the bell -- that I could consider moving back to Chicago. But my DH hates the cold, so that is out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is a lot of big money sloshing around Chicago, so it’s not like your kid can’t make a great living there. But it’s very provincial. And feels isolated if you’re used to living on a coast. Plus the weather is grey and cold half the year.

My kids are at one of the well known private schools and there are multiple billionaire families. This is definitely true. I will also say that we have met very few people that are actually from Chicago or the suburbs. We don't hear people talking poorly about other cities or trying to defend Chicago in any sort of way. Lots of international families and a lot of New Yorkers. And the previous point of feeling isolated, definitely does not feel that way. We can hop on a plane the same way any other major city does. We don't have interest in taking road trips so can't speak to that. Having the massive lake and river really does make a difference, though. Might not be an ocean but it is gorgeous and accessible waterfront. No complaints here.

Having known my share of billionaires in Chicago I'll guess Francis W Parker?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m from the east coast (Fairfield county) and I’ve lived in chicago for 6 years. I cried moving here but I’m never leaving now. Why? Because it’s such a livable city. The economy is good and housing is so cheap in comparison to where I’m from. People tend to have more kids here because they can. I’ll take my 400k HHI with mg 550k 5 bedroom home any day. Plus the public schools are decent here! Even if I’m around mostly ppl who grew up in unsophisticated Ohio, Michigan and Wisconsin lol.

Yeah, Chicago is great.

But people in Chicago get really bent out of shape about whether everyone else also feels it. Take your HHI and your nice neighborhood and be happy (not you, you sound like you're doing it) and stop worrying about what people in Boston and NYC think of you.

I live in the Chicago area with high HHI and the lower COL and it’s fine, like most other ok to well off suburbs in the country. It’s cheap to live here because most people here don’t make as much and let’s be real, most people wouldn’t want to live here. Even people FROM here question why I moved here and many people insist on knowing my connection to Illinois (family? Grew up here?), because people don’t just move to Chicago, according to the locals.

It's a great city and beats living in Cleveland. Or Omaha.

But yeah, it's not a global elite city like NYC or DC or LA. And, like it or not, Boston is one of the cities. People anywhere in the world know about it. It's half white-trash American, and half-European in nature. Chicago is just white-bread American normalcy with a nasty urban violence problem.

This is silly. DC and Boston are not "global elite" cities either. If the criterion is that "people anywhere in the world know about it" then Chicago is probably more well-known than Boston. If the criterion is that it should be half European (WTF?) then none of the cities you listed qualify.

Yeah I laughed out loud at DC or Boston being Tier 1 globally. NYC for sure, and probably LA but DC, Boston, and Chicago firmly sit together in Tier 2.

[Anonymous]

I went to college in DC and I have lived in or near Chicago, New York and San Francisco. One thing that nobody has mentioned is that Chicago has the most spectacular architecture of any of those cities. It started with Daniel Burnham in 1900 and continues today. The only sore thumb is Trump Tower mostly due to the obnoxious signage. The city was also laid out with wide avenues, beautiful parks and the lake front has been well protected from development so it is wide open to the people with many miles of beaches. While NYC has Central Park it is really a concrete jungle. DCs beauty is its low building profile and monuments. SFs are the hills and the views which are hard to beat. If you are raising a family the Chicago area is hard to beat except for the winters. It has a much lower COL than the other cities and many of the suburban school districts are outstanding. SF area schools are way underfunded. If you define sophisticated by the number of billionaires and $20 million condos then it’s hard to beat New York. In terms of quality of life I like Chicago and I’d move back if I could as I’m currently stuck in Dallas. Don’t get me started!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m from the east coast (Fairfield county) and I’ve lived in chicago for 6 years. I cried moving here but I’m never leaving now. Why? Because it’s such a livable city. The economy is good and housing is so cheap in comparison to where I’m from. People tend to have more kids here because they can. I’ll take my 400k HHI with mg 550k 5 bedroom home any day. Plus the public schools are decent here! Even if I’m around mostly ppl who grew up in unsophisticated Ohio, Michigan and Wisconsin lol.

Yeah, Chicago is great.

But people in Chicago get really bent out of shape about whether everyone else also feels it. Take your HHI and your nice neighborhood and be happy (not you, you sound like you're doing it) and stop worrying about what people in Boston and NYC think of you.

I live in the Chicago area with high HHI and the lower COL and it’s fine, like most other ok to well off suburbs in the country. It’s cheap to live here because most people here don’t make as much and let’s be real, most people wouldn’t want to live here. Even people FROM here question why I moved here and many people insist on knowing my connection to Illinois (family? Grew up here?), because people don’t just move to Chicago, according to the locals.

It's a great city and beats living in Cleveland. Or Omaha.

But yeah, it's not a global elite city like NYC or DC or LA. And, like it or not, Boston is one of the cities. People anywhere in the world know about it. It's half white-trash American, and half-European in nature. Chicago is just white-bread American normalcy with a nasty urban violence problem.

Wait, you think DC is a global elite city. Are you serious?

Are you insane?? DC is the center of the world. We are literally housed in the corridors of power.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m from the east coast (Fairfield county) and I’ve lived in chicago for 6 years. I cried moving here but I’m never leaving now. Why? Because it’s such a livable city. The economy is good and housing is so cheap in comparison to where I’m from. People tend to have more kids here because they can. I’ll take my 400k HHI with mg 550k 5 bedroom home any day. Plus the public schools are decent here! Even if I’m around mostly ppl who grew up in unsophisticated Ohio, Michigan and Wisconsin lol.

Yeah, Chicago is great.

But people in Chicago get really bent out of shape about whether everyone else also feels it. Take your HHI and your nice neighborhood and be happy (not you, you sound like you're doing it) and stop worrying about what people in Boston and NYC think of you.

I live in the Chicago area with high HHI and the lower COL and it’s fine, like most other ok to well off suburbs in the country. It’s cheap to live here because most people here don’t make as much and let’s be real, most people wouldn’t want to live here. Even people FROM here question why I moved here and many people insist on knowing my connection to Illinois (family? Grew up here?), because people don’t just move to Chicago, according to the locals.

It's a great city and beats living in Cleveland. Or Omaha.

But yeah, it's not a global elite city like NYC or DC or LA. And, like it or not, Boston is one of the cities. People anywhere in the world know about it. It's half white-trash American, and half-European in nature. Chicago is just white-bread American normalcy with a nasty urban violence problem.

This is silly. DC and Boston are not "global elite" cities either. If the criterion is that "people anywhere in the world know about it" then Chicago is probably more well-known than Boston. If the criterion is that it should be half European (WTF?) then none of the cities you listed qualify.

Yeah I laughed out loud at DC or Boston being Tier 1 globally. NYC for sure, and probably LA but DC, Boston, and Chicago firmly sit together in Tier 2.

LA tier 1? It has a few nice areas but it is just a sprawling mass of freeways. As I’ve been watching the Olympics and how the French have brilliantly used the Seine, Eiffel Tower, Versailles and other sites as back drops to events I couldn’t help but think what LA will do in 2028. Equestrian events in beautiful downtown Burbank?