Are Chicago winters survivable? (Shannon: house, art, move)

[nanannie]

If your a winter-weinie,dont move to a 4 season area

[hobari]

I have to say that winters didn't bother me a bit when I was in my 20s, but in my 50s I found last winter especially troublesome. As a train commuter there is nothing I like less than standing on a platform at 7 am with temps of zero to ten degrees in January. Unfortunately, last winter had a harsh reprise in March that really got to me. And unfortunately, there are not a lot of wonderful winter sports available in Chicago to compensate. Survivable? Yes, Enjoyable? No.

[2blessed2stress]

I grew up in Chicago and have been in Mpls for 12 years. People in MN hear I'm from chicago and figure I should be "used to" the weather. But...we routinely drop to -20 or -30 below, and that is AIR TEMP. Not windchills! We saw -60 windchills this past winter! Mid March we got 18 inches of snow! Our winters are literally 6 months long. October - April and I have seen snow mid May.

So, to me, Chicago is far milder than *some* midwestern areas. It gets cold, yes, but Chicago is closer to having *true* seasons that other areas.

[Drover]

Winter/Spring in MPLS would kill me. Any place where you can still walk across a lake in APRIL is too bloody cold.

[Chi2NYC?]

Originally Posted by preppyboyofIL

If you are from the south, then our winters will probably be tough. For those of us that have had to grow up dealing with snow begining to fall sometime shortly after Halloween or weeks on end of cloudy weather with freezing mist or drizzle, well we have just learned to deal with the weather or even ignore it...

When you really sit down and think about it, how often are you really outside anyways? Seriously think about this... You sleep indoors, then go out to your car, which if you are smart you will find youself somewhere with a garage, then drive to work in your heated car only to walk into your heated office building where you will be most of the day. Then at 4 or 5 you leave to sit back in your heated car to drive back to your heated house where you then can warm up a nice hot cup of tea and nestle up in front of a nice fire (provided you have a fireplace) and maybe watch a movie like "Weekend at Bernies II" so you can see the beach or something of that nature. If you are the more athletic type then join one of the thousands of gyms around the area to fill your need of hittin the gym. Good news is that most of the gyms in Chicago have filled the void of swimming between the months of Oct-May by installing indoor pools and even in some cases waterparks! (Lifetime Fitness)

Really, it's not that bad. Don't let people scare you away. If our winters really were that bad like they are for our northern neighbors, would Chicago have a metropolitan population of 9 million people?

i live in a studio and previously had to share multibedroom apartments. that's not much living space. there are plenty others here in the same situation. i do agree, though, that if you can afford a house or large apartment then the winter becomes more bearable.

i like to run and cycle. the latter is poorly simulated in a gym (no turning or scenery), and the former is a real pain to have to travel to a gym to do when in other times of the year or environments one can just go outside and start running.

so to me all this is like claiming it's not that bad to live without a leg. i mean, we spend so much of our lives sitting down that how often would you really use that leg anyway? and when you do have to walk somewhere, just deal with hit by using crutches and it's not that bad. i'll take two legs, please.

[Chi2NYC?]

Originally Posted by nanannie

If your a winter-weinie,dont move to a 4 season area

i completely agree with this, but i'm confused in that i thought this thread is specifically about the two-season area of chicago???

[preppyboyofIL]

Thank YOU!!! FINALLY! Someone who is not what one person called "a winter weinie" LOL, good one to whomever made that one up!

To the person from Minneapolis/St. Paul thank you, you are right on! Chicago's winters are no where near as harsh as people make them out to be. People here are spoiled is what it is. In the winter months people travel to nice warm spots for vacation like Miami, Orlando, and cruise the Atlantic around the Bahamas and then come home and go "Oh my God, this is awful its 28!!!" Well DUUUUHHHH! That's how it is supposed to be in February in the midwest. Don't compare Chicago to places like Atlanta or Houston, we are more on the same level of places like Cincinatti or Washington DC.

See for me, I travel all over; for instance NYC, Boston, WI, OH, MI and let me tell you, those areas have REAL winters. Harsh ones at that! Not NYC so much, but areas to the north of there a little like north of White Plains or New Rochelle... Now with those are winters, it is not uncommon for 2 feet of snow to fall out of one storm! In Chicago people think 4-6 inches is hell!

Remember, Chicago has a true 4 season climate sometimes of which all occur in one day, so get used to it, or don't move here.

[Chi2NYC?]

Originally Posted by preppyboyofIL

Thank YOU!!! FINALLY! Someone who is not what one person called "a winter weinie" LOL, good one to whomever made that one up!

To the person from Minneapolis/St. Paul thank you, you are right on! Chicago's winters are no where near as harsh as people make them out to be. People here are spoiled is what it is. In the winter months people travel to nice warm spots for vacation like Miami, Orlando, and cruise the Atlantic around the Bahamas and then come home and go "Oh my God, this is awful its 28!!!" Well DUUUUHHHH! That's how it is supposed to be in February in the midwest. Don't compare Chicago to places like Atlanta or Houston, we are more on the same level of places like Cincinatti or Washington DC.

See for me, I travel all over; for instance NYC, Boston, WI, OH, MI and let me tell you, those areas have REAL winters. Harsh ones at that! Not NYC so much, but areas to the north of there a little like north of White Plains or New Rochelle... Now with those are winters, it is not uncommon for 2 feet of snow to fall out of one storm! In Chicago people think 4-6 inches is hell!

Remember, Chicago has a true 4 season climate sometimes of which all occur in one day, so get used to it, or don't move here.

are you suggesting that chicago's winter isn't *bad* because minneapolis and other cities in the extreme midwest/northeast have it worse? that just sounds like wishful thinking, in that chicago's winter is still objectively *bad* no matter how much worse it is in minneapolis, anchorage, or the north pole.

and it makes a lot of sense to compare chicago's winters with those in cities in other parts of the country. in fact, that very comparison is the original purpose of this thread! and chicago's winter is most definitely worse than d.c.'s. no dispute.

i realize this one can be personal preference, but i define "harsh winter" more by the temps than the snowfall. in chicago winters, before i leave my apartment i *hope* that when i look out my window i will see an overcast sky with snow falling, because this indicates that it's *warm enough to bear being outside* (i.e. *not below about 25 frickin degrees*). hooray! the sky looks like crap and there's mushy snow everywhere, but it doesn't hurt to breathe and my face actually has sensation in it!!! getting enthusiastic about that is just messed up.

[preppyboyofIL]

Chicago's winters are less than pleasurable to people who don't like snow and cold. I hate commenting on weather related topics because they are always opinionated topics. Some people hate weather that is below 30 degrees, while others think that 30 isn't that bad and more like 0 is bad.

So here's the facts of life, Chicago averages something like 176 days a year of cloudy weather, most of them occuring between the months of Nov-March and January the average high temps are somewhere around 28-32 degrees. Chicago's average winter snowfall is about 36 inches a year, and averages about 2.5 inches of precipitation per month during this time period. Here's a link to prove my point about temps. www.weather.com - In A Nutshell WOW!!! HOW THAT IS SO MUCH DIFFERENT THAN WHAT I ORIGIANALLY SAID... NOT!

If those stats are totally awful to you, then, NO Chicago is not a city for you. If you can deal with it or cope with it, then you will have no problem with living here as winters though awful to some, springs here are rather pleasant if you live away from the lake and summers and falls here are great. Again though that is my opinion. Some people will probably come on here now and start saying how awful summers here are and how they hate hot weather. You can never make everyone happy.

[Chi2NYC?]

Originally Posted by preppyboyofIL

Chicago's winters are less than pleasurable to people who don't like snow and cold. I hate commenting on weather related topics because they are always opinionated topics. Some people hate weather that is below 30 degrees, while others think that 30 isn't that bad and more like 0 is bad.

So here's the facts of life, Chicago averages something like 176 days a year of cloudy weather, most of them occuring between the months of Nov-March and January the average high temps are somewhere around 28-32 degrees. Chicago's average winter snowfall is about 36 inches a year, and averages about 2.5 inches of precipitation per month during this time period. Here's a link to prove my point about temps. Moderator cut: link removed

If those stats are totally awful to you, then, NO Chicago is not a city for you. If you can deal with it or cope with it, then you will have no problem with living here as winters though awful to some, springs here are rather pleasant and summers and falls here are great. Again though that is my opinion. Some people will probably come on here now and start saying how awful summers here are and how they hate hot weather. You can never make everyone happy.

agree, but i honestly have yet to meet someone who truly *enjoys* sub-30 temps more than above-30 temps.