The heck with that - I love the cold weather. Gives you reason to appreciate the summer. Plus, I find that I’m generally more alert when the air is clear and cold than I am in the summer when it’s hot and humid.
Also, the average temperature figures further up in thread might be a bad example, as my recollection is that last winter was unusually mild. I can remember many days/weeks in other winters when the temperature hovered around zero (F). There have been a good number of individual days (and nights, obviously) in years past when the temperature fell to -20F, with wind chills thirty degrees below that. Not kidding.
When I was in school as a youngster, I never had a snow day, but I had a few “cold days,” where school was cancelled because they couldn’t guarantee that the buildings would remain warm enough (and this was in a fairly affluent suburb), and because there was real danger of frostbite/hypothermia for the kids who walked to school.
And this has all been relatively recently, as I’m only 26. These aren’t Great Depression stories, at any rate. I love Chicago.
One is living in Santa Barbara, CA. The other is in Everett, WA. She is well aware of how much Everett sucks though, but since she’s nostagic for Boston I think it’d be for the best to compare Boston-Chicago for her particular case.
I don’t think you can convince someone to leave Santa Barbara for Chicago. I’m a native Chicagoan, and I love the city, and it isn’t the cold that gets to me, its the gray! NO FRICKIN SUN for 8 months out of the year, and then it is 95+ all summer. (Actually this last summer wasn’t too bad, but there are times when it just sucks all summer long).
Having said that, I think Chicago has a lot to offer, great airports in the sense that you can get anywhere, usually on a direct flight. Great business centers, I love the loop, used to work down there and it kicks ass!! Great neighborhoods as well.
You are going to try and convince someone to move from Santa Barbara to Chicago? And you think you have a shot at this being sucessful?
BWAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!
So can I get some of those drugs you using, they are way better than anything I have.
The last time I was in Chicago in Jan there was only a 100 degree difference between the temp at my house in LA and the temp in Chicago. (+75 at home -25 in Chicago)
ccwaterback, I lived in Boston for two miserable years (I’m a native Chicagoan). And while I agree with just about everything on your list I think the biggest distinction between Chicago and Boston is you’re considered a lowlife in Boston not only if you didn’t/don’t go to law school, but if you weren’t raised on the East Coast.
The Berghof tavern in the loop is another good reason.
Good bike paths on the north side. When I was there last time we took a long bike ride from Deerfield to (name forgotten) where there was a famous hot dog called (name forgotten) that had a giant hot-dog mascot on the roof with red glowing eyes. It must be unique, are there any locals who can refresh my memory?
I can’t belive no one’s said this yet: The home of the Straight Dope, and presumably, The Master himself.
Though the weather does mostly suck. I’ve never experienced winter there, but my last visit was in July and I’ve never forgotten how the heat and humidity hits you like a fist when you walk off the plane. And this is true even if you walk through the jetway into the terminal without actually having to go outside.
I missed that remark from ccwaterback, re: safe neighborhoods. Yeah…I’ve never lived in that section of the city (mostly Lincoln Park) because it’s yuppies galore. Ick. But every neighborhood I’ve lived in has been perfectly safe-- Logan Square, Old Irving Park, and now St. Ben’s/Roscoe Village.
I lived in (and around) Chicago a long time. I know the city is a lot different than the suburbs. Hard core city folk have an attitude against people from the suburbs, but I suppose that might be true in other cities too. There are tons of good things about the city, I loved living there, for awhile, then the negatives finally overpowered the positives.
I think the weather was probably the worst thing, very erratic, and bad most of the time. I know there was always some big show or big concert coming to town, but nine times out of ten it was sold out and the only way to get tickets was through “legal” scalpers. It also got to the point where I was about to go vigilantly on the annoying panhandlers. It seemed like every day there was some minor catastrophe to deal with. It all just got on my nerves eventually.
I think I’m coming back home for a visit next summer, I’m sure I will have a good time, but then it’s back to palm trees and sandy beaches for me.
