chicago was called an expensive and miserable city. really? (Jacksonville: apartments, rental)

[movingsomewhere]

[SIZE=2]ok so I live here in Maryland. I was checking and comparing apartments between my state and Chicago. In MD, there aren't as much apartments for rent that are around $500 and under for a studio/1 bedroom (yeah I've seen prices like these in Chicago on many rental properties). Why are there exaggerations about Chicago being expensive along the lines of NYC and L.A. when it's actually more affordable and more world-class and diverse compared to a state that has almost nothing (Maryland). MD is only expensive because it's near the capital (D.C.) and that's about it. THERE IS NOTHING HERE!!!

I was reading on an AOL article about expensive cities and Chicago came up as being one as well as one of the most miserable cities in the country along with NYC and L.A. I guess no one should really believe what they read huh?
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[CarolinaBredChicagoan]

That article was in Forbes and employed questionable logic. NYC, LA, Philly, Charlotte, and Providence were also in the "top ten most miserable cities..." It wasn't just about expense.

Grain of salt.

[movingsomewhere]

Forbes should have added ****ty rural towns and cities in WVA or whereever else where jobs are scarce. There's some real misery!

[aragx6]

Do you know what they did base it on?
Charlotte's a little southern for my taste, but it's pretty inexpensive, the weather is pretty good and I thought it was a pretty place. NYC is painfully expensive, but a hell of a lot of fun

I'll admit I hate LA!

[Steve-o]

That article was laughable. NYC, L.A. and Chicago as "most miserable"??? Funny, they have the 3 largest populations in all of America. Yeah, theyre real "miserable" all right.

Forbes can take a hike, they dont know their arseholes from their elbows these days.

[NYrules]

Miserable in Chicago? Well Chicago is no Detroit, but its not Orlando either.

Our plusses are first there is good $$$ to be made here, good chances for career advancement, pretty good people overall, nice strong unique homes to live in, good strong neighborhood values for EVERYONE here (ie, black, white, gay, straight, etc), great food, among the best universities in the world, good schools in the burbs, plenty for kids to do and be safe doing.

Minuses; terrible changey weather patterns (0 one day, 60 the next, hot/humid summers, cold cloudy and yes this winter snowy winters), no spring what-so-ever thanks to the lake's icy winds blowing over 30 degree water until about May 1, but we do have pleasant falls), horrible 19th century roads to drive on loaded with pot holes everywhere and the best part is is that the big roads are pretty much all toll-roads, so you have to pay to drive on crap!, taxes are very high in IL overall compared to other states and getting worse all the time, crime in Chicago is pretty bad (we were the murder capitol of the world a few years back YIPPIE!), gas is among the highest in the nation for some weird reason , and the politicians are always screaming for more money by raising more taxes... yet there is never any money to fix anything... HMMMMM???? (scratching my head)

[dragoro]

I've lived in orlando (winter park) before and you couldn't pay me to go back there. One of the most boring places to live in the US. No night life, nothing but tourists and people that live there for a few years and leave. Unbearable heat and humidity in the summer and chock full of illegals. Not to mention the job market sucks there. Heck even half the buildings on church street are empty.

[aragx6]

Dragoro I couldn't agree more! Orlando, Tampa, Jacksonville- seriously among the worst places on Earth! Yuck.
Wages are awful and the economy is crap.

I think it's weird to say there's no spring here. It can be a tempestuous season, no doubt, but the beautiful days are like heaven on Earth!

[Drover]

Did you actually examine the methodology of the study that declared Chicago one of America's most miserable cities? I'll give you a clue: not one of the criteria had anything to do with finding out if the people here are actually miserable, or what they think of living here, or what they think about anything at all. They just put together a list along the lines of, "well, the traffic sucks... winters are kind of long... the sunsets aren't as pretty as they could be... gosh, the people there must be miserable!" without actually asking us if we're miserable.

[CarolinaBredChicagoan]

Originally Posted by NYrules

Miserable in Chicago? Well Chicago is no Detroit, but its not Orlando either.

Our plusses are first there is good $$$ to be made here, good chances for career advancement, pretty good people overall, nice strong unique homes to live in, good strong neighborhood values for EVERYONE here (ie, black, white, gay, straight, etc), great food, among the best universities in the world, good schools in the burbs, plenty for kids to do and be safe doing.

Minuses; terrible changey weather patterns (0 one day, 60 the next, hot/humid summers, cold cloudy and yes this winter snowy winters), no spring what-so-ever thanks to the lake's icy winds blowing over 30 degree water until about May 1, but we do have pleasant falls), horrible 19th century roads to drive on loaded with pot holes everywhere and the best part is is that the big roads are pretty much all toll-roads, so you have to pay to drive on crap!, taxes are very high in IL overall compared to other states and getting worse all the time, crime in Chicago is pretty bad (we were the murder capitol of the world a few years back YIPPIE!), gas is among the highest in the nation for some weird reason , and the politicians are always screaming for more money by raising more taxes... yet there is never any money to fix anything... HMMMMM???? (scratching my head)

Here's the thing, though: If you can list that many positive things, it's pretty far fetched to assume that we could possibly be one of the top ten most miserable cities in America. Think about that! The list doesn't include Camden, NJ or Gary, IN Youngstown, OH or the like, but includes NYC, CHI, LA, and Charlotte? Silliness. What a ridiculous list.