I want to hear your first hand commentary about Chicago life.
Although I don’t neccessarily believe Michael Douglas’ quote “Hollywood is hype, New York is talk, Chicago is work.” that is how I romanticize the differences between the cities. I love the character of the city, they have a strong design (my career) community and I want to come to live someday. I don’t know when, maybe in a few years or once the economy improves, whichever comes first.
The one black mark that gets me is the commute (I drive as little as possible, and currently live 5 blocks from my work by design). I am against the time commuting sucks out of my day and hate the amount of gasoline I use to move myself between work and home every day. So any comments, suggestions or feedback about that point would be welcome. But mainly just write about what you want to write about.
Well, I live in a suburb of Chicago, and don’t get downtown as much as I like, but I used to work on the near north side and went to college on Michigan Av. If you’re into museums, architecture, or theater I think Chicago is the place to be (obviously, I may be biased). Also, I think Chicagoans are both friendly and easy-going on the whole. If you already are used to Midwest weather, you shouldn’t be too surprised by the unpredictable nature of Chicago’s climate. For me, the gloriousness of autumn here more than makes up for the occasionally wretched winters and sweltering summers (I don’t think it’s really as bad as some people make out).
Where I live now and what I’m used to are two different things. Let me give you a quick summary…
1971-1986: Mondovi, WI
Small town, hometown, rural dairy farming community. Kinda near Eau Claire.
Final anaysis: a fine town to grow up in and move from.
1986-1997. Milwaukee, WI
Real people, little to no conceit. Lakefront!! Easy to find way around; Small market arts & entertainment, but not absent. Maybe just a skosh more conservative than I’d like. Rivers through downtown. Has a decent degree of green areas. Relatively short commute.
Final anaysis: Feels the most like home.
1997-2001: Minneapolis, MN
Fucked-up road system. Great arts and entertainment scene downtown. Have choice of Minneapolis or the quieter Saint Paul. Mississippi River. Uptown is hip, sometimes tragically hip. Lake Calhoun / Lake of the Isles is great biking and blading. Arts scene is strong. A bit too white-bread / somehow lacking in character (for me). Kind of fragmented. People are nice, but standoffish.
Final anaysis: An awesome place to visit, but it didn’t feel like home.
2001- present: Kansas City, MO
Struggling. There’s no water (lakes, rivers). Downtown is decaying / suburban sprawl is horrible. Decent arts scene, underrated. The Plaza is pretty nice, if just a bit ostentatious. No real winter, just ice storms. Definitely more conservative than I prefer. Great for families, less so for singles. Almost southern.
Final anaysis: I’m still giving it an honest chance.
Chicago is absolutely nothing like what you’re used to. For me, thats a very good thing. Its very important that you don’t get “Chicago” confused with the “Suburbs of Chicago”.
I’ve never lived in the cities you’ve mentioned, but I’ve been to all of them multiple times, and with the exception of Minneapolis, feel comfortable speaking with a sliver of confidence.
Milwaukee and Chicago share the same lakefront, but they are nothing alike in my book. And frankly, Chicago’s is vastly superior. So many mles of pathes and beaches, tons of grassy parkland along side. So easy to enjoy. You’ll be very pleased if you enjoyed Milwaukee’s, presuming you’re willing to tolerate crowds on weekends.
The cities of Milwuakee and Kansas City are very much like the large suburbs of Chicago, slightly less conservative, with slightly less culture, but all in all, quite alike in day to day hassles and ammenities.
You’ll love Chicago if you crave all the art scene and hate a commute. The public trasit system is quite good, as long as you’re intelligent about where you live. However, if you work in the city and live in a cheaper suburb, you’ll hate life. I promise.
Chicago is conservative my most large cities standards, thinking of New York, LA, and San Fransisco, but compared to what you’re used to it’ll be like sodom and gammorah.
Good luck, I’m biased of course, but I think you’d be very happy with it.
Well, you don’t necessarily have to drive, Hey You. I live in the NW suburbs and I almost always use the el to go into the city, whether during the day, in the evening or on the weekends. I don’t work in the city, so I don’t ofen ride in during the day, but I had to do so when I had jury duty and it wasn’t much of a hassle, just make sure you’re happy with your driving distance to the el station.
For the past few years, I’ve been living in downtown converted warehouse loft-style apartments (not true lofts). This was do-able in St. Paul and even more affordable in K.C. Is there anything like this available in any downtown areas of Chicago?
I’m not holding my breath, but if anyone has any resources, please share.
I lived in the Chicago 'burbs (Arlington Heights-ish area) for 25 years.
Chicago is much like your description of Minneapolis/St. Paul – major sprawl. The ‘Chicago Area’ is second only to LA for sprawl, and probably just behind in Bad Roads.
If you want to have a liveable commute to work, you’ll need to do some major research where your job is v. trains. Some of the Chicago area has excellent commutor lines: The El, which goes to the Loop and elsewhere is pretty damned convenient (although I’d give Boston a nod for the T, which is way better), the old northwestern line and IC, etc.
From your comments, I’d recommend living in an ‘in-city’ neighborhood you find comfortable/funky/trendy enough for your needs, with a livable commute to your job, probably something near the El. Jumping on the El for a <20 minute commute to work every day can be a darned nice lifestyle.
Born & raised in Chicago; never lived anywhere else except for the four years I was in college (Quincy IL). I can second the convenience of the public transit system, as I don’t drive and have always been able to manage quite well. Check out www.transitchicago.com for maps & other info on the train & bus system; there are also links there to the suburban bus lines and commuter trains.
Chicago has a lot of museums and theaters, most of them easily accessible. Also plenty of restaurants of just about every variety scattered throughout the city.
There are residential areas in and near downtown, some of them fairly recently built. I don’t know what rents/prices are like around downtown. You might want to check (of all places) the Chicago Reader website; the classified section Spacefinder would probably have the info you’re looking for about downtown living. IIRC Printer’s Row, River West & River North are downtown residential areas.
Chicago is also full of interesting neighborhoods just outside the downtown area. Bucktown, Uptown, Wrigleyville, Andersonville, Hyde Park, River West and River North are just a few. A lot of them are quite artsy, not too expensive, and within reasonable distance of the loop.
I’ve been here 3 years now and really enjoy it (although as I get older it grates on my nerves a bit more). It’s a very easy city to learn your way around (CTA system is very efficient for the most part). It’s a diverse city with lots of things to do on any given day… and you’ve got to love all of the different restaurants, bars, theatres, museums, etc. The things that stink about it are: cabbies always trying to run me over, getting groceries being an all-day affair, not having a yard, VERY expensive, and living in an apt. the size of my parents bathroom, but paying the same. It’s a great place I’ve found, for a “transition” period in life… I’m outta here in a couple years to settle down a bit more.
Chicago’s a fine place to live, if you want to live in a huge city.
IME, a lot more people TALK about the wonderful cultural opportunities, than actually take advantage of them. For example, I wonder what percentage of Chicago residents have been to one of the major museums over the past year?
The lakefront is really nice. Heck, I just got back from running about 6 miles on it over lunch. But you realize that is about it for natural beauty. The land is pretty darn flat. You have to travel 20-25 miles in any direction from downtown (other than east!) to get out of continuous city, and then you get your choice of corn or beans.
Traffic can be lousy any time of any day, as opposed to - say - Milwaukee which has specific rush hours you can avoid. You can live in Chi very well depending mostly if not entirely on public transp. Say off an el-line on the N side, where you have access to the lake as well.
I suspect cost of living in Chi is at least marginally higher than any of the other cities you mention, tho I’m not very familiar with Minn. Just spoke to a guy who is closing on a 2 bedroom a block from the lake and a block from the el for $240G. Which struck me as very reasonable - if that gives you an idea of housing prices. I know nothing about rents.
The streets and sidewalks can be crowded. Again, you can’t compare lunchtime in downtown Chi with downtown Milw. If you like that kind of hustle and bustle, great! And in many areas, parking is a bitch.
Having lived and worked in and around Chi for the past 4 decades +, I wouldn’t mind moving somewhere smaller. Maybe along the lines of Milwaukee or Cincy, or a college town. Where you still have the “big market” aspects of sports and culture, but not as many hassles (or at least different hassles).
I love the ethnic diversity, and the wacky grocery shopping! Within a mile of my place (in north Uptown/Andersonville), I can buy Chinese, various Southeast Asian, Middle Eastern, Mexican, and Swedish groceries. The public transport runs 24/7, and the people are much friendlier than, say, NY, where I lived for 3 years and visit frequently.
Yep, if you want to live downtown, housing is insanely expensive comapred to smaller cities. Same if you want to buy, especially new construction, unless you’re willing to be rather flexible about your neighborhoods and the physical condition of what you buy.
I’ve lived in the area most of my life, with shorter stints in NYC, Bloomington, IN, Leningrad, Novosibirsk, and Madrid. I like the balance of diversity/culture vs. liveability here, which is why I’m still here (or back here, depending on how you look at it).
Commuting and parking can suck and be very expensive and time-consuming, but again, a little flexibility can really pay off. If you’re willing to take a short hop on the Metra or the El to get to work, it will save you a bundle in rent. Plus you can read or sleep on the train. And I LOVE the lakefront! and don’t forget all the city festivals and music clubs! But no, it’s not as safe and open as a small farming community, or even a medium-sized university town. I’d go nuts from boredom living in one of those, though.
IRRC, it’s on Irving Park Rd, just around the corner from the Music Box (current Chidopers - please help me on this).
If, in Eisteins’ words “the living will envy the dead,” this place will leave the living glowing green. Graceland is where many of the great robber barons of the 19th century laid out big bucks to be remembered in style. One created an artificial lake, with an island with its own mausoleum for each of his kids.
Its been so long since I was last in Chicago. Do the 49’rs still paint the scrotum of General Sheridan’s horse orange every time they’re in town?
I grew up in Chicago proper, and have lived the rest of my life within 40 miles thereof. Downtown Chicago is a snarl of traffic, but, as others mentioned, public transportation is pretty good. Real estate is pricey as compared to the 'burbs, but compared to other cities I’d say it’s comparable (example - 3BR house in the burbs with a large yard = $250K, same house in the city, without the yard = $400K) - I don’t know much about rents, though.
New York has its buroughs, Chicago has “neighborhoods” and the concept is pretty similar. Living in the Ravenswood area is very different from living in the Pullman area, for example. Ethnically, I think Chicago has a great mix, and there are all kinds of festivals in the summer. If you’re into cultural things, Chicago has them all lined up in a row for easy access (well, most of them anyway.)
If I worked in the city, I would still live in the suburbs. The Metra has a pretty good record of reliability, and I personally prefer to have a little space around me. However, there are “suburbs” that are practically IN the city - Elmwood Park, Oak Park, Norridge, to name a few right near where I grew up – where you get all the benefits of both city and suburb living.
All these are great posts, I hope you all can keep 'em coming…
The suburb thing… I don’t know if I can go there. The times I’ve done that in the past, It’s left me feeling kind of…empty; it felt like I’m neither “here” nor “there.” Residential areas within the cities are a different matter. Moreover, I am not in house-buying mode and won’t be for quite some time. So I think it’s a given that I would rent.
Currenty, I have a 7-minute bike ride to work. 10 minutes if I take my car. I cannot convey in words how much I enjoy the absence of both traffic and the concept of a commute.
LoW - where and when did you grow up? I lived near Belmont/Central from 1960-80ish.
HY - as far as that commute goes, what kind of work do you do? The only way you’ll get a commute like that is - say if you work retail or for a small firm that is located in a neighborhood. No way downtown, unless you have big bucks for housing.
Exception, a couple of the downtown colleges are rehabbing neat old buildings for dorms - including right on State St and Michigan Ave.
Generally, the studies I’ve seen have had Chi commuting times exceeding the national avg. But the flipside is, if you want, it can be on pretty cheap and convenient public transp.
I strongly suggest looking at neighborhoods along el lines. Going North along the Howard or Ravenswood (Red or Brown) lines, takes you through various widely different but interesting neighborhoods. Some very reasonable, some whith different ethnic majorities, and some that are popular with tons of action and increasing prices.
You’ll probably find more reasonable housing going NW along the Jeff Pk/blue line, but that takes you further from the lake.
As far as suburbs go, Oak Park is an option you might want to consider. Very nice downtown, and a really short ride on the Metra or the el to downtown.