Is Chicago getting a bad rap? (Manhattan, Phoenix: best city, real estate, insurance)

[JPprivate]

Hi,

I've moved here about 12 years ago (from Germany), and probably like many at this forum, I believe Chicago is the best city to live in the US.

I think Chicago got the perfect mix, it's large, but not too large, it's not as expensive as CA or NY, it has all the culture, nightlife, restaurants etc anybody could ever want. I wouldn't want to live anywhere else.

I do wonder, however, if Chicago doesn't get a bad rap especially from people at either coast. Some people, who don't know any better seem to think of Chicago just as another Detroit or oversized Midwestern small town.

If I hear (especially in the media) people mention attractive national cities you hear places mentioned like NYC, San Francisco, Boston, Seattle, Miami, San Diego... (or some combination of those cities). Chicago is always mentioned (if at all) way down on lists like that. Now, I have been to all those cities, and while obviously NYC is a class by itself, and San Francisco is quite charming, I don't think Chicago needs to hide at all... it can compete with any of those places in a heartbeat.

I just wanted to hear if you agree or disagree. Maybe I am just a little to defensive, or if you noticed the same...

Thanks for any comments, thoughts...

[Steve-o]

I agree 100%. In my most honest opinion, Chicago is the best city in the US. Sure it has its problems, but for what its worth, its an amazing city. The cost of living is not horrendous, the cuisine is the best, great public transportation, wonderful diversity, the sports venues are incredible, the nightlife is 2nd to none, the lakefront is beautiful, the downtown is the best (beside NYCs), the arts/sciences/etc are phenomonal, most suburbs are wonderful, the schools/education are top notch, etc, etc. I like Chicago's location, makes it a good jump-off point for any travels. All in all I give Chicago an A- grade.

NYC is wonderful but too large and too expensive. San Fran is ok, but a little small for my tastes and insanely expensive. Miami is too stifling in summer and I wouldnt want to pay their outrageous hurricane insurance costs. Boston is awesome, but a little too small for my tastes also. If Boston were Chicago's size, Id have to pack up and head there. I love Boston, its so unique, just needs to be bigger.

[NYrules]

No doubt you are right on! Chicago in the past 10 years has progressed by leaps and bounds all across the board. Skyscrapers are popping up all over the place making Chicago\\\'s downtown area more like a mini-Manhattan where certain spots now are becoming more of a 24 hour type NY style atmosphere which may or may not be welcome depending on who you ask.

Chicago\\\'s culture is VERY diverse in not only race, religion, and sexuality, but also in what sports teams we prefer or music we listen, to to even the food we eat.

Southsiders are comedically known for being rough, rugged, often foul mouthed, sox fans, who love to stuff their face with food every chance they get; while northsiders are known for being more \\\"gentlemanly\\\" (if thats a word? ), tamer, light weighted, cubbie fans who love to drink their beer at places like the Cubbie Bear.

Now of course these are only Chicago legends which may or may not be true, but jokingly soutsiders love to rip on northside Cub fans saying things like, \\\"Cubs suck\\\" and vice versa for the Northsiders with the southsider\\\'s White Sox making Chicago just that much more of a fun place to live as it\\\'s own rivalry of north verses south can get humorous at times, however in the end come Oct. the whole city seems to band together to support their Bears.

All in all Chicago doesn\\\'t neccessarily get a bad rap from other cities, it just gets no rap at all and is often forgotten about as NYC is poured down the world\\\'s throat by appearing in nearly all movies and mentioning in contemporary music while LA comes into our living rooms over our television sets in just about every television show we watch often making it seem as if those are the only two cities in the world that matter.

[Chi2NYC?]

Originally Posted by NYrules

No doubt you are right on! Chicago in the past 10 years has progressed by leaps and bounds all across the board. Skyscrapers are popping up all over the place making Chicago\\\'s downtown area more like a mini-Manhattan where certain spots now are becoming more of a 24 hour type NY style atmosphere which may or may not be welcome depending on who you ask.

Chicago\\\'s culture is VERY diverse in not only race, religion, and sexuality, but also in what sports teams we prefer or music we listen, to to even the food we eat.

Southsiders are comedically known for being rough, rugged, often foul mouthed, sox fans, who love to stuff their face with food every chance they get; while northsiders are known for being more \\\"gentlemanly\\\" (if thats a word? ), tamer, light weighted, cubbie fans who love to drink their beer at places like the Cubbie Bear.

Now of course these are only Chicago legends which may or may not be true, but jokingly soutsiders love to rip on northside Cub fans saying things like, \\\"Cubs suck\\\" and vice versa for the Northsiders with the southsider\\\'s White Sox making Chicago just that much more of a fun place to live as it\\\'s own rivalry of north verses south can get humorous at times, however in the end come Oct. the whole city seems to band together to support their Bears.

All in all Chicago doesn\\\'t neccessarily get a bad rap from other cities, it just gets no rap at all and is often forgotten about as NYC is poured down the world\\\'s throat by appearing in nearly all movies and mentioning in contemporary music while LA comes into our living rooms over our television sets in just about every television show we watch often making it seem as if those are the only two cities in the world that matter.

haha, but not so diverse in terms of preferring sports at all.

[JPprivate]

All in all Chicago doesn\\\'t neccessarily get a bad rap from other cities, it just gets no rap at all and is often forgotten about as NYC is poured down the world\\\'s throat by appearing in nearly all movies and mentioning in contemporary music while LA comes into our living rooms over our television sets in just about every television show we watch often making it seem as if those are the only two cities in the world that matter.

I think you're on to something here!

The going joke (regarding job related relocation) with some friends of mine is "What is harder then getting a NYC professional to move to Chicago". - "Having him move back to NYC".... :-)

[Drover]

My honest answer is, "I don't give a crap." The self-absorbed coastal pinheads who think Chicago is nothing but a giant cattle farm with a skyline can keep their ridiculously overpriced cities. Those of us who live here know how good we have it, and that's the important part.

[Scribbler]

I don't know, my ex is from the San Francisco Bay area, and he endlessly raved about Chicago every time he was there. I've known west coasters to dig Chicago, overall.

I have noticed, though, especially interacting with them online...many east coasters tend to make blanket statement type assumptions about the midwest and beyond even when they've never even BEEN anywhere off the Eastern seaboard. Smirkworthy.

[NYLATINQT]

Ssshhh......keep it a secret. If everybody knew how great it was, it would suddenly get super crowded, real estate would go sky high, and then the whole city would be messed up. So i wouldn't go around spreading the good news. Keep talking about the horrible winters and Chicago will continue to be USA's hidden jewel.

[cvatasoiu]

Originally Posted by NYLATINQT

Ssshhh......keep it a secret. If everybody knew how great it was, it would suddenly get super crowded, real estate would go sky high, and then the whole city would be messed up. So i wouldn't go around spreading the good news. Keep talking about the horrible winters and Chicago will continue to be USA's hidden jewel.

it's funny though that our winters weren't even so bad the last few years NY definitely had it worse than us

[CTownNative]

If I had to rank top 5 cities for me it would look like this #1Cleveland #2Chicago #3New York City #4Detroit #5Las Vegas.I picked Cleveland at #1 cause I was born and raised most of my life there and I love it.But I think Chicago definetly beats out L.A.The first 4 cities on the list have way better architecture than L.A.All L.A. is is an oversized Phoenix,with a little more character.Chicago is great at night and that skyline is poppin.