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I like good Mexican and Asian cuisine, of which SF excels. Chicago does as well. Mexican and other Hispanic/Latino food in Chicago is definitely better than NYC. Not even close really. I also like good Italian, Greek, Lebanese.
Chicago just pretty much has everything youd want. Great restaurants, great dives, local staples, BBQ, American, you name it. Foodie paradise.
I Agree. IMO NYC, Chicago, LA, SF, NOLA, Miami and Houston all have significantly better food than Boston. Boston makes my top 10 but BARELY.
I put Boston with places like Seattle, San Diego, DC etc. Cities that have a solid food scene but certainly not the best.
The part of Old Town south of North Avenue both blows and sucks. The part of Old Town north of North Avenue (the "Old Town Triangle") is one of the best preserved and oldest residential neighborhoods in the city, and reminds me a little of Beacon Hill (although not quite as spectacular). Two entirely different places.
I think Old Town is a pretty interesting place, and the restaurants are just fine.( Don't really care about the bars, though). I love the Fireplace Inn for meals ( the "quiet" side, that is), and the neighborhood north of North Avenue is pretty nice, too...
The part of Old Town south of North Avenue both blows and sucks. The part of Old Town north of North Avenue (the "Old Town Triangle") is one of the best preserved and oldest residential neighborhoods in the city, and reminds me a little of Beacon Hill (although not quite as spectacular). Two entirely different places.
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medicalguy30, you really shouldnt be worried about any major crime or shootings, since most of those you hear about dont take place in the Northside. Its strictly limited to certain parts of the West and South side that nobody here I would think has any reason to go to unless youre into gangs or drugs.
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For what it's worth, I don't really agree that nobody here "has any reason" to go to the West Side or South Side—including some of the neighborhoods that have been in the news for recent shootings—unless they're into gangs or drugs. There are a lot of really cool and interesting places on the West and South Sides, and there's no reason not to visit, although it's certainly wise to approach doing so with a certain amount of caution and prudence. Even a neighborhood as troubled as Englewood has some noteworthy history and architecture, and a distinctive personality that isn't all negative, despite the prevailing portrayal in the media. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that some Chicago neighborhoods don't have serious, terrible problems, and I'm not suggesting that the OP or anyone else with other options should live in Englewood or Chicago's other toughest neighborhoods in their current condition. But one absolutely can visit, and I hope that medicalguy30 does, even if he ends up living in Old Town or Lincoln Park or someplace.
In fact, moreover, I think it's healthy for Chicagoans specifically to not sequester themselves away on the Near North Side or any other one part of town, but to get out and see and explore and visit places and meet people in all parts of the city. Clearly one of Chicago's longstanding problems has been deep-seated segregation, traditionally along ethnic and racial lines, although today's it's almost as much cultural and socioeconomic segregation as well. There's not much that one individual person can do about that larger pattern, but one can at least broaden one's horizons as much as possible. That way, also, when something happens somewhere in the city, it's easier to relate to it a little more directly, rather than just dismissing it as merely something that happens "over there" somewhere else to some other kind of people. While Chicago can sometimes feel like two (or more) separate cities, it is in fact all one big interconnected community, and I think it's smart to keep that in mind, rather than writing-off entire sectors of the city as places that nobody goes to. Simply disregarding or avoiding or ignoring the parts of the city with the most violence problems doesn't benefit those neighborhoods, nor the neighborhood where you are living, nor the city as a whole, and I would argue that it may even make things worse.
For what it's worth, I don't really agree that nobody here "has any reason" to go to the West Side or South Side—including some of the neighborhoods that have been in the news for recent shootings—unless they're into gangs or drugs. There are a lot of really cool and interesting places on the West and South Sides, and there's no reason not to visit, although it's certainly wise to approach doing so with a certain amount of caution and prudence. Even a neighborhood as troubled as Englewood has some noteworthy history and architecture, and a distinctive personality that isn't all negative, despite the prevailing portrayal in the media. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that some Chicago neighborhoods don't have serious, terrible problems, and I'm not suggesting that the OP or anyone else with other options should live in Englewood or Chicago's other toughest neighborhoods in their current condition. But one absolutely can visit, and I hope that medicalguy30 does, even if he ends up living in Old Town or Lincoln Park or someplace.
In fact, moreover, I think it's healthy for Chicagoans specifically to not sequester themselves away on the Near North Side or any other one part of town, but to get out and see and explore and visit places and meet people in all parts of the city. Clearly one of Chicago's longstanding problems has been deep-seated segregation, traditionally along ethnic and racial lines, although today's it's almost as much cultural and socioeconomic segregation as well. There's not much that one individual person can do about that larger pattern, but one can at least broaden one's horizons as much as possible. That way, also, when something happens somewhere in the city, it's easier to relate to it a little more directly, rather than just dismissing it as merely something that happens "over there" somewhere else to some other kind of people. While Chicago can sometimes feel like two (or more) separate cities, it is in fact all one big interconnected community, and I think it's smart to keep that in mind, rather than writing-off entire sectors of the city as places that nobody goes to. Simply disregarding or avoiding or ignoring the parts of the city with the most violence problems doesn't benefit those neighborhoods, nor the neighborhood where you are living, nor the city as a whole, and I would argue that it may even make things worse.
I agree to an extent but not completely. That fact is that the southside and west really just don't have as much to offer as the northside does. Yes there are some cool neighborhoods and spots on the southside, but not that many when compared to the northside. I venture to southside a few times a year only. Why? Strictly for two reasons:
1. It takes me a while to get there via CTA.
2. There just isn't enough to do for me to keep me going on a regular basis.
I don't go to the southside not because I am "scared" but because in reality there as not THAT much to do down there and it's not as easy to get around as the northside.
The northside and the southside are each the size of a major city. The northside is like the size of San Francisco, and the southside probably even larger. I think it's understandable why people who live in one don't venture into the other one that often. Chicago is a BIG city.
Now for people who live in Lincoln Park and only stay in LP, LV, the Near North and the Loop and never venture elsewhere that to me is bad. But when it comes to northside and southside I understand why.
I think we're talking more about the areas like North Lawndale, Austin, Englewood, South Shore, Greater Grand Crossing, etc. I think in each there's a few reasons to go, at least for me, but overall eh. I mean each of these places have some good food (some good Mexican food in South Lawndale), some good southern food in Austin, there's actually supposed to be a good place in Englewood near one of the colleges/culinary schools there too I've heard, good BBQ in both GGC and South Shore. I've been to South Shore for charity work too a few times, but it's really not like I'm there all the time.
On average though, someone who lives in say Lakeview won't have that much of a reason to actually travel deep into Austin except a few reasons, but if it's not their job, then I doubt they'd be going there much for most types of people.
Im definitely not saying dont go to the West or South side at all, just those specific areas.
I really hope that a long time from now, those will be areas that you can go to without having to worry about crime. Chicago is such a large city, and all areas need to be utilized. Theres so much potential for downtrodden areas to be turned around, esp on the South side.
Im definitely not saying dont go to the West or South side at all, just those specific areas.
I really hope that a long time from now, those will be areas that you can go to without having to worry about crime. Chicago is such a large city, and all areas need to be utilized. Theres so much potential for downtrodden areas to be turned around, esp on the South side.
Yep. And they used to be. Bronzeville and North Lawndale for example come to mind. North Lawndale used to have 4X the population it does today. I think Bronzeville was 2.5-3 times the population at one point. I saw the PBS documentary on hidden Chicago and it talked about a place in Bronzeville that was a world famous jazz club people like Louis Armstrong played at. He even wrote a song about it. It's a hardware store now and some older musicians from all around the world actually make a pilgrimage here sometimes to play again there...the stage is in the manager's office in back hidden from view. The documentary was from a handful of years ago but i wish I could have seen some of these areas at their heyday.
West Town used to also be the biggest neighborhood in town. with almost 190,000 residents at one point. Now it's 80,000 which is big, but it was still over double at one point. Then you know, suburbs and stuff happened..
Last edited by SOON2BNSURPRISE; 02-02-2013 at 09:18 AM..
I'm running the risk of getting really off topic here, so some relevant advice first: Boston and Chicago are both great, though for something like residency, I'd recommend Chicago. I'm guessing it pays about the same no matter which city you choose, and the fact is that your money will go a lot further in Chicago. And you won't be sacrificing much in amenities either. You'd be giving up proximity to family, but really, the Chicago-New York flight route is so popular that prices remain low, and you have lots of options.
Anyway, about population density on the south and west sides: Those neighborhoods were actually really crowded before WWII. This was the major reason that Polish immigrants moved further northwest along Milwaukee. The housing was better, and there was actually enough space for everyone.
Bronzeville in particular had some massive overcrowding issues. That area was dominated by apartments called "kitchenettes." Landlords carved up their buildings into tiny apartments, most of which didn't have kitchens or their own bathrooms. The apartments got their name because the landlord usually provided only a hotplate for cooking. Moreover, due to restrictive housing rules, many blacks were more or less forced to rent in Bronzeville and nowhere else, so prices were just as high as they were in the white neighborhoods.
While it's easy to look at the numbers and say that Chicago's neighborhoods are depopulated, historical accounts tell a much different story. The fact is that even if those neighborhoods were completely built up again, they'd probably never reach their former population levels. It's just that people no longer accept those living conditions that enabled such high densities in the past.
Hi all... I hope no one who patrols the Boston and Nashville forums thinks I'm trolling... I'm not! Just trying to get a feel of some different cities that I'm strongly considering moving to.
Quick background... Wife and I are early 30's, lived in the NYC area our whole life. Both in the medical field, and I'm looking to start residency training this year. I've interviewed at some awesome programs around the country, and it's decision time. Chicago is up there as one of my favorites.
We have made 2 recent trips there to look around and get a feel for the city, and we loved it. Our favorite areas were Lincoln Park and Old Town. We'd really like to be in an area with a good neighborhoody/walkable feel. We were also told to check out South Loop (good commute for me to Hyde Park), and West Loop, but they seemed kinda quiet to us, not much foot traffic. For our presumed budget, it seems like we could be comfortable in either of those places, and still manage to hang onto one or two cars.
My questions for you guys, if you please...
1. Anyone on here live in the NYC/metro area and move out to Chicago? How did you find the transition? We live in Westchester now, but would be happy to try an actual city for a few years.
2. We're also strongly considering Boston, which has a real appeal because it's driveable to our families in NY, and we have more friends in that area. Other than that though, Boston seems a lot more difficult than Boston. It looks more expensive to me, harder to get around, harder to keep a car, harder to have a big dog in (which we do)... Generally... harder. I'm still trying to work that out on the Boston forum. Does anyone have any good life experiences with both cities and can make a comparison?
3. The cold sucks, but I think we could deal with it. Not much I need to clarify on that.
4. Is the gang violence thing a problem in the more "civilized" areas of the city? It really makes me nervous hearing about the myriad shooting deaths in the city. I need my wife to be safe while I'm working odd hours.
5. On a similar note, I see Chicago lifted the ban on guns, and I'm kinda interested. This is just a curiosity. Is it feasible/straightforward to get a concealed carry permit? For example, in NYC, it's technically legal, but you'd have to be sleeping with the mayor to actually get one.
Thanks all... I welcome any other thoughts on your city! I really did like it a lot while I was there, and the program was easily one of my favorites!
1.) I've never lived in NYC but I'm sure it will be better than Westchester.
2.) I'm sure Boston's cool but Chicago is a much bigger city, hard to even compare.
3.) It's not that much colder here than the East Coast. I ride a bike, but if you're just walking/driving around you're going to bundle the hell up in winter regardless.
4.) No. Even many areas with active gangs are fine to live in. It's easy enough to say that they're bad, but living among gangs is more complicated than you'd think and there's a fair chance that you would not even notice their presence. Chicago's not a whole lot more dangerous than NYC in reality, it's more like there are some neighborhoods that are REALLY hopeless, and these are where a lot of the crime occurs. Sometimes people from these bad areas go to another part of town to cause trouble and they make the news, but it's more common in consciousness than in reality if you know what I mean.
5.) Apparently it's not that easy, but good luck.
Last edited by SOON2BNSURPRISE; 02-02-2013 at 09:22 AM..
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