Relo to Chicago?

[Anonymous]

If you go, always plan an annual trip somewhere warm in January

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:God I must be the only Chicago native in this board who hated it growing up. I guess it's because I grew up in a very blue-collar SW suburb. Bet if I grew up comfortably in the North Shore bubble things would be much different.
The summers were just awful especially summer 1995 (remember?) when all those people perished from the heat. Winters are miserable with long days of little sun and black ice on the roads. Food is indeed good but NOT HEALTHY overall. Like Jennifer Hudson said, it's culturally acceptable to be fat there. People are sports-obsessed and the museums and cultural offerings are costly unlike DC.
City of Chicago schools are crappy unless you end up at a magnet like Payton or somewhere or pay for private like Latin. Best public schools are in the New Trier pyramid as PP mentioned. Highland Park HS, GB North HS, & Stevenson HS are good as well. Naperville is very nice as well as Oak Brook is you wanted to look down there. Cost of living will be much less there but sales tax is through the roof. Unemployment is high so be sure of your career situation!

LOL, I have visited Chicago a couple of times, once during summer and the whole 3-4 days we were there, it was 90+ degrees and humid, very unpleasant, it must have been a heat wave. I think DC is just hitting new crazy levels over the recent summers having multiple 100+ degree days.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DH and I moved here from Chicago, he was there 8 years, I was there 4 years. While we enjoyed it there we like DC much better.

Anyhow, what I really miss about Chicago is the food. The restaurants were much better there. For instance, it's really hard to find a cute brunch place here but Chicago has tons of them in every neighborhood. We lived right downtown and I enjoyed being so close to everything.

What I didn't like was being landlocked in the midwest--there wasn't a whole lot to drive to if you wanted to do a weekend trip or day trip, compared to here. Here, I love being just a few hours from the Atlantic beaches.

I also much prefer DC's weather. I like long falls and springs, and I don't mind a long, hot summer either. I'm not a big fan of winter, and Chicago's winters were harsh.

If we were to move out of DC, I would choose San Francisco.

This is basically us, too (except we were both in Chicago for 6 years). Why is brunch not done well here??

Like PP, we really love being in DC. It's the best place for both of us professionally (fed/nonprofit), but we also find it really family-friendly. That said, we'd consider a move back to Chicago or SF but are probably parked here for life.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Grew up in Chicago, went to school in Evanston, went to grad school downtown, spend my time trying to move back.

Chicago is just a great city. Just do it!

Dude. We need to be friends. I went to NU for undergrad, University of Chicago for my MBA.

NU Grad too. So sorry for your time at UofC.

Hah. We both went to UofC and were miserable. But if you love a good farmer's market, OP, there's simply nothing to compare with the Green City Market!

[Anonymous]

There is no better city to live than Chicago. NONE.

1. Chicago is CLEAN. OMG is it clean - as a metro city in the US, not only will you be impressed by how clean it is, it's also green (not the color). Daley is all over the whole progressiveness thing.
2. Chicago is BEAUTIFUL. SF is beautiful and of course so can NYC be but the architecture is something else. It's also a quaint place - it's just big enough but just small enough to enjoy. You don't get lonely there. Chicago land consists of various neighborhoods so you don't truly need to be "downtown" to be in the city mix.
3. Chicago has the BEST FUCKING FOOD. EVER. diversity in cuisine, prices, choice. The neighborhoods are real - and you will find all kinds of ethnic foods. They say DC is all international and what not - um - I can't find good Cuban. I can't find good Mandarin/Hunan Chinese. I can't find Hungarian. All I get is Thai and pizza everywhere! Do not get me started on brunch!
4. Chicago is an international city with culture, flair and most importantly, NICE people. There is something about MW - OMG people here in DC are the most narcisstic, type A crazies. I do a lot of business nationally and internationally and let me tell you, ONLY IN DC do I get bumped off someone's calendar. In Chicago, you make a business appt, you go. People are slower paced but not to the extent they are passive. They are just not psycho. Here in DC, people will use you 100x/day if they can. It's a city of lawyers, lobbyists and defense contractors and then you have govt which is a joke. The Smithsonian may be free but the museums in Chicago are amazing. Their aquarium and planetarium far outshine DCs. I have 2 kids and Chicago is WAY more fun in that scene. Chicago has always been known as a marketing/ad city. They have Board of Trade and Merc there - who's more fun - govt or ad people?
5. Chicago's value beats DC value - in food, housing and everything else. The quality is higher in many ways. Also, you have choices. In DC you have uber expensive and ghetto inexpensive - it's hard to find a true neighborhood restaurant or a $750k house that really is worth that price. The architecture of houses in Chicago is great - here in DC you have boring floor plans galore even for a upper middle class neighborhood. The neighborhoods and houses are beau-ti-ful in most of Chicago land. Entertainment is better too.

In short, Chicago has one major drawback and that's weather but you'll notice weather patterns are changing these days. Go in a heartbeat. You will fall in love.

[Anonymous]

I thought the schools in Chicago sucked.
I also thought crime was pretty high there also as compared with DC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There is no better city to live than Chicago. NONE.

1. Chicago is CLEAN. OMG is it clean - as a metro city in the US, not only will you be impressed by how clean it is, it's also green (not the color). Daley is all over the whole progressiveness thing.
2. Chicago is BEAUTIFUL. SF is beautiful and of course so can NYC be but the architecture is something else. It's also a quaint place - it's just big enough but just small enough to enjoy. You don't get lonely there. Chicago land consists of various neighborhoods so you don't truly need to be "downtown" to be in the city mix.
3. Chicago has the BEST FUCKING FOOD. EVER. diversity in cuisine, prices, choice. The neighborhoods are real - and you will find all kinds of ethnic foods. They say DC is all international and what not - um - I can't find good Cuban. I can't find good Mandarin/Hunan Chinese. I can't find Hungarian. All I get is Thai and pizza everywhere! Do not get me started on brunch!
4. Chicago is an international city with culture, flair and most importantly, NICE people. There is something about MW - OMG people here in DC are the most narcisstic, type A crazies. I do a lot of business nationally and internationally and let me tell you, ONLY IN DC do I get bumped off someone's calendar. In Chicago, you make a business appt, you go. People are slower paced but not to the extent they are passive. They are just not psycho. Here in DC, people will use you 100x/day if they can. It's a city of lawyers, lobbyists and defense contractors and then you have govt which is a joke. The Smithsonian may be free but the museums in Chicago are amazing. Their aquarium and planetarium far outshine DCs. I have 2 kids and Chicago is WAY more fun in that scene. Chicago has always been known as a marketing/ad city. They have Board of Trade and Merc there - who's more fun - govt or ad people?
5. Chicago's value beats DC value - in food, housing and everything else. The quality is higher in many ways. Also, you have choices. In DC you have uber expensive and ghetto inexpensive - it's hard to find a true neighborhood restaurant or a $750k house that really is worth that price. The architecture of houses in Chicago is great - here in DC you have boring floor plans galore even for a upper middle class neighborhood. The neighborhoods and houses are beau-ti-ful in most of Chicago land. Entertainment is better too.

In short, Chicago has one major drawback and that's weather but you'll notice weather patterns are changing these days. Go in a heartbeat. You will fall in love.

Chicago is an isolated great city in the Midwest, nobody would argue with it's great points you are listing. But, there isn't really that much around, you must get on the plane to go to places with more interesting nature or other interesting big cities. DC provides easy access to NYC, and great nature escapes for weekend drives.

I would live in Chicago, but only if I have a flexible job arrangement and have a second home somewhere warm, oh, and also money to travel by plane with 2 kids, should I have a desire for anything more diverse geographically.

[Anonymous]

I was raised in Chicago, lived in DC, and have since relocated back to Chicago. DCUM kicks NPN's ass every day of the week--great job, Jeff!

Chicago is much less expensive than DC. You will be stunned by what your money can get you in rent, and I recommend renting because property taxes are quite high in the city. Housing stock is varied and mostly brick. In some neighborhoods there will be all bungalows, many of which are deceivingly large (especially the yellow brick ones). Most of Lincoln Park is town homes or two and three flats. There are some apartment buildings but they are usually 6 or 8 flats. Most everything is 4 stories or less. There are many Victorians in Lakeview, these are sprinkled in with two story Germanic-style greystones and apartment buildings. The Victorians carry on north to Rogers Park, where they are scattered among bungalows and apartment buildings. There is new construction everywhere. High rises tend to border the lake or dominate Streeterville, the Loop, River North, etc.

Chicago is very walkable, and has more consistency of wonderful neighborhoods than DC. You could walk from the Loop straight north 40-50 blocks before you encounter any truly questionable neighborhoods. There is more crime, but honestly it is condensed in the southern and western portions of the city. Usually far more south or west than most people venture on a daily basis. You aren't really going to be walking along and find yourself on a "bad block" like in DC.

We may not have the Shenandoah mountains but we have Kettle Moraine. We don't have OBX but we have New Buffalo, Harbert, all the other towns on Lake Michigan as well as Green Lake, Lake Geneva and Door County. Our "beach vacations" are far more quaint and woodsy. Luckily, flights aren't all that expensive out of Chicago. I have seen $77 tickets to Denver for the past month, skiing anyone? Flights can be equally inexpensive to NYC and Miami.

Museums are expensive but if you go enough, you just join one... Or them all with a Chicago Pass! Memberships are not prohibitively expensive for most people and well worth it if consistently visiting museums is that important. There are also a ton of amazing parks all over the city and the zoo is free! I don't think Chicago lacks for outdoor recreational space, and while it may not be quite Rock Creek, there are forest preserves within a few miles of the city that DO rival Rock Creek.

The cold isn't THAT bad. It's been 35 degrees lately but it is manageable and we have had some days in the 40s, 50s, and even 60s sprinkled in. We haven't dipped below zero yet this year, and I don't think that we will.

The good Chicago publics are really great. Most are located in the closest downtown areas like Lincoln Park or Streeterville. The good privates are expensive but on average less than DC unless you are talking Lab/Parker/Latin. One thing that Chicago has that DC lacks is a large number of excellent (and affordable) Catholic schools. All over the city.

The people are far nicer. We have such great friends here and I don't feel like the friendships are fickle because most people seem to have very similar values.

I love the quality of life my family has in Chicago!