Gay professional might move to Chicago from San Francisco...will I like it? (Highland: hotel, safe area)

[coldwine]

Chicago is much, much larger than San Francisco. Orders of magnitude. It's like... a mega corporation vs. a mom'n'pop grocery store.

But the cost of living on all fronts is substantially lower, you do not have to deal with people from San Francisco, and by comparison only Chicago will look like the Emerald City. You can go entire days in Chicago without encountering someone defecating in public, an otherwise far more frequent experience in San Fran.

People do leave Chicago in droves. They also arrive in droves. It's just part of the national wave of economics, demographics and the like.

The weather is really bad, but you don't have to deal with earthquakes or forest fires decimating your power and water supplies.

Oh, one thing I wanted to add: There is always something to do in Chicago. Always. Especially if you really enjoy finer arts and music No matter where I am living at the moment, I always set aside two weeks for the lyric opera.

[emathias]

Originally Posted by Lorielicious

I typically don't skip over whole threads before responding, but considering I guarantee you precisely 0% of the people who have responded until now have actually lived in California, the Bay Area or otherwise, I feel fine skipping ahead.
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I grew up on the West Coast and have family in LA who I do visit regularly. I have only visited SF.

Originally Posted by Bluefox

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Boystown is not appreciably different for me than West Hollywood (other than less plastic looking gays in tank tops with 0.5% body fat and obvious work done), and while the weather is obviously a negative, Boystown I've found is extremely walkable, is fun all year round, and boasts a wide range of bars and clubs that suit all sorts of gay guys and girls.

I agree. I lived in Boystown for a year, and almost bought a place there before deciding I'd rather be in River North, but East Lakeview/Boystown is an excellent neighborhood with easy access to the Lake, decent access to the Red and Brown Lines, and excellent access to express buses to North Michigan Ave.

Originally Posted by coldwine

Chicago is much, much larger than San Francisco. Orders of magnitude. It's like... a mega corporation vs. a mom'n'pop grocery store.
...

The City of San Francisco is much smaller than the City of Chicago, but let's be real here: The Bay Area conglomeration is big enough that the difference in overall scale isn't that significant.

Originally Posted by coldwine

You can go entire days in Chicago without encountering someone defecating in public
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Years, even.

[downtownnola]

Originally Posted by destroycreate

It seems that there are only threads for people LEAVING Chicago. I don't get why this is, but the city doesn't seem to attract people from the coasts, it only seems that people are fleeing which concerns me.

Here's the deal, I am 26 years old, have grown up the majority of my life in California, but have spent 7 years in Denmark and 2 in Rhode Island, so I know winters. I'm sick of people instantly telling me when I'm interested in Chicago that I'll "HATE THE WINTER ZOMG". It's like, people, half of the world deal with winters. Have some pride in your city and don't scare people off! It's not really a deciding factor for me.

What is a deciding factor is the quality of life, urban experience, how fun the city is, and COL.

I'm frankly tired of the Bay Area because it's gotten prohibitively expensive. I really want my own studio/apartment with my partner and I'm sick of having to have roommates and live in cramped conditions. It's also become impossible to save due to high rents. My 2 best friends have moved to Chicago from CA and love it, and I can't get over how cheap their rents are! My partner and I want to try something completely new and different, and expand our horizons a bit more. Chicago seems attractive to me because it's a major city that is traditionally urban, but doesn't have the hype/pretension as does NYC/SF/LA.

Here are my questions:
- How is city life different from SF? Is it exciting? Does it feel bustling, compact and lively the same way SF does? Does the city shut down in the winter or is it thriving?
- How gay friendly is the city overall? Will I be able to be myself freely without frequently running into douchebags and homophobes?
- How is the job market currently for someone looking into advertising/marketing?
- Do you think someone coming from CA will enjoy the lifestyle/people out there
- Does Chicago have that dynamic, worldly city feel that I crave?
- For those of you that are gay, how is the Boystown scene vs Castro/west Hollywood?

Thanks!

I am moving from Denver to Chicago next month. I'm really excited for the move. I am also gay and have spent quite a bit of time in both Chicago and San Francisco, so I think I can chime in.

In my opinion, Chicago feels bustling. Chicago seems a little more fast paced than San Francisco (Chicago always felt like it belongs in the northeast as opposed to the midwest to me). Chicago is very gay friendly. As others have mentioned, Boystown is the traditional center of gay life in Chicago, but there are gays all around the city. There is even a "gay beach" called Hollywood Beach in the Edgewater neighborhood where many gay (and straight) people gather during the summer to enjoy the warm weather. You can encounter homophobic people anywhere, but the general vibe in Chicago seems progressive and very accepting of gays.

I also work in marketing. I'm moving out to Chicago with a friend and am going to stay with him for a little while until I find a job. I've been applying for jobs from out of state for 3 weeks. I already have 1 phone interview set up and have another possible lead which I will know more about next week, so there are definitely plenty of opportunities. I feel like the job search will be a lot easier once I actually arrive in Chicago. The cost of living in Chicago is very reasonable, but jobs there pay much better than the jobs in Denver, so I feel like it will be much easier to get ahead there, much in the same way it is for you coming from the bay area.

I think you'll like Chicago, but it never hurts to visit for a few days to get a feel of the city, which neighborhoods you like, etc, before moving.

[Chicago60614]

Originally Posted by destroycreate

Very exciting, and thanks to you all for the helpful feedback. Anybody else's is also appreciated!

I just spoke to me partner about this and be both are starting to plan for a move. If we both land decent jobs, we could actually start putting money away for savings living in Chicago, unlike here where we're paycheck to paycheck. We pay $1,500 to rent a BEDROOM with 2 other roommates. How insane is that? It's an OK house, but not worth that sort of money. Luckily between us both we split the cost, but still. I LOVE the idea of having my own space with nobody else hovering in the background.

One other question, is it easy to meet people for newcomers? We're super social and into the gay nightlife, and always meet great people whereever we go. But I'm not sure if the Midwestern mentality will be very different here. One great aspect about SF is that it's so full of transplants and a very energetic, youthful population, so there's always stuff going on and people wanting to make new friends. Chicago seems from what I've been told, to be much more of a "locals" town where you'll find a lot of people there who have roots and established friend circles. So that's the only thing I wonder about, if it will be harder to break in.

The L looks so much better than MUNI. I can't complain too much about MUNI, as it's better than what most US cities have, but it's painfully slow and has limited rail coverage. BART is OK but I live in the city so I don't need it. Love that the L has 24/7 lines!

You just described Chicago from the downtown area up through much of the north side lakefront (boystown/lakeview included). It seems people in the heart of the dense north side areas are more transplants than people from the area, and certainly not from the city itself.

[tollfree]

The OP would probably prefer Minneapolis, they don't have to use the term "gay friendly", it's not needed there. More liberal as well and has a Pacific Northwest vibe for being in the midwest.

[Link N. Parker]

Most of the comments here are correct, but there is one thing I want to point out: Boystown, at night, has become VERY dangerous, with muggings, beatings, and stabbings every night. It is actually the most dangerous part of the city now for robberies:

Crime In Wrigleyville & Boystown

Crime has been going UP in Boystown, for the past 2 to 3 years, and you can see it very visibly everynight along Halsted Street.

[emathias]

Originally Posted by RonnieJonez

The OP would probably prefer Minneapolis, they don't have to use the term "gay friendly", it's not needed there. More liberal as well and has a Pacific Northwest vibe for being in the midwest.

Not if he wants it to feel vibrant and like a global city, he wouldn't. Minneapolis is a nice mid-sized city, but it doesn't have anywhere near the lively feel of Chicago or San Francisco. And your quip about not needing the term "gay friendly" is just silly to the point of being stupid.

Originally Posted by Link N. Parker

Most of the comments here are correct, but there is one thing I want to point out: Boystown, at night, has become VERY dangerous, with muggings, beatings, and stabbings every night. It is actually the most dangerous part of the city now for robberies:

Crime In Wrigleyville & Boystown

Crime has been going UP in Boystown, for the past 2 to 3 years, and you can see it very visibly everynight along Halsted Street.

Boystown has become a destination for more than just gay people over the past few years, meaning that it attracts more people and is even livelier than it was a few years ago. This increase in activity has led to a modest increase in petty crime. It is in no way "VERY dangerous," and statistically is not a place to worry about being. Link N. Parker has established his or her self as being one-minded and not open to rational discussions on the matter, though, so I would advise destroycreate to safely ignore him/her. When he/she says "you can see it very visibly on the street every night" what he/she really means is that you can see black people on the street.

[tollfree]

Sort of feel like I'm taking a page from Marothisu's playbook, but I've known people from Chicago who visited Minneapolis and experienced some culture shock from seeing so many gays (it's at that point no one cares or notices). LGBT is simply more integrated there, while in Chicago they have Boystown and that's really it.

[Vlajos]

Originally Posted by RonnieJonez

Sort of feel like I'm taking a page from Marothisu's playbook, but I've known people from Chicago who visited Minneapolis and experienced some culture shock from seeing so many gays (it's at that point no one cares or notices). LGBT is simply more integrated there, while in Chicago they have Boystown and that's really it.

Not really

[emathias]

Originally Posted by RonnieJonez

Sort of feel like I'm taking a page from Marothisu's playbook, but I've known people from Chicago who visited Minneapolis and experienced some culture shock from seeing so many gays (it's at that point no one cares or notices). LGBT is simply more integrated there, while in Chicago they have Boystown and that's really it.

Originally Posted by Vlajos

Not really

No, "not at all" is more like it.

I see gay couples everywhere I go in Chicago. I see far more gay couples in Chicago than I noticed in Minneapolis in general, although Uptown and the Loring Park areas in Minneapolis certainly have a density of gay people comparable to Boystown.