Stop crying about Chicago weather!!!(Rant) (quality of life, area, quality)

[K-os]

I visited Chicago last January and it wasn't so bad. honestly the weather was like i never left home

[ekrz44]

It's really a matter of preference with weather.
However.
Its more than miserable weather. Its the lack of sun, gray skies, and bare trees.
Its depressing visually, that's something that really can't be contested. It's mid April and the trees are bare since October. The sun has only been out a small handful of times all year.

The last weekend was the first "mild" day of weather in 6 months. Mild being sunny and above 60.

I'm an outdoor person, I golf and hit the trails to walk. I can't golf in the winter, and walking is just painful in the cold weather. So I'm not sure how one dresses for -20 windchill in January and February for a walk. Everything is muddy and wet, cause it seems when it does get above freezing it starts raining.

I'll take heat and humidity all year long. To me, heat and humidity is uncomfortable at best, something I can deal with and do many things in, especially in the morning and evenings.

However winter and cold is painful, not to mention dreary. I've been here my entire life, and never "got used to it".

But instead of complaining, I am moving. I was always under the impression that no one lives here by choice, instead they are here for family or work. So I have my first opportunity to relocate, and I'm taking it.
But kudos to you if you don't mind Chicago weather, I wish I didn't mind, it would save me a ton of energy and strife!

[randomguymike]

I'll be out Friday for another interview and have a quick question. Obviously, there is winter in Chicago. I'm from Ann Arbor and realize that a four hour move west isn't going to change that. What I'm curious about, though, is ice on the sidewalks. It seems there's a lot of drainage issues and lots of issues with people not salting where I am right now. I wiped out several times this winter while walking my dog. It was so bad, he even wipedout a few times. As he & I both get older I'm worried that one of us is going to suffer a serious injury. So, in your opinion, does it get particularly icy there or is it just cold & snowy? Do the residents do a good job at maintaining the sidewalks? I would think with a higher density population this would be the case, but just want to make sure.

Thanks for any help you can provide.

[Drover]

Residents do an OK job but it can be spotty. You can always get yourself a pair of YakTrax. They work wonders.

[Steve-o]

Originally Posted by ekrz44

The sun has only been out a small handful of times all year.

Its out between 40-50% of the time in winter and 60-70% in summer.

Originally Posted by ekrz44

So I'm not sure how one dresses for -20 windchill in January and February for a walk.

I think it was that temp maybe 3-4 times this year, late at night when noone is walking anyways. I believe I counted only 4 days with negative temps, and those were at night.

[ekrz44]

I consider wind chills. I don't care if its 15 degrees, if it feels like -5 degrees, then to me it's -5 degrees.
Honestly, there's very little difference between -5 and 15 degrees, both are too cold be outside doing anything in my opinion.

Nonetheless. 40-50% of sun in the winter to me is a handful of times, if those are even accurate stats. Considering if the whole day is sunny or just for a few moments is also an issue.

I prefer 360 days of sunshine myself.

[UnderTheLiveOaks]

Originally Posted by ekrz44

I was always under the impression that no one lives here by choice, instead they are here for family or work. So I have my first opportunity to relocate, and I'm taking it.
But kudos to you if you don't mind Chicago weather, I wish I didn't mind, it would save me a ton of energy and strife!

I can totally see where you are coming from, and respect that you're moving to somewhere with better weather. I will submit, however, that you impression is wrong. I, like many people I know, moved here by choice. I grew up in an area that was warmer, cheaper, and sunnier. The summers were brutal, though, and all that "give me all the heat and humidity you want! I can take it!" doesn't mean a whole lot until you're saying it after two or three weeks of 100+ (with the heat index, which clearly counts if windchill does...) temps with humidity so ridiculous that it makes "humid Chicago" seem like Tucson.

Every place has pros and cons. The winters here suck, sure. The summers are great. I have access to anything I'd generally need or want to do. I love the city. Granted, I'd pass on the suburbs, but the city's a great spot, even if it gets a little chilly and grey.

[Steve-o]

Originally Posted by CarolinaBredChicagoan

I can totally see where you are coming from, and respect that you're moving to somewhere with better weather. I will submit, however, that you impression is wrong. I, like many people I know, moved here by choice. I grew up in an area that was warmer, cheaper, and sunnier. The summers were brutal, though, and all that "give me all the heat and humidity you want! I can take it!" doesn't mean a whole lot until you're saying it after two or three weeks of 100+ (with the heat index, which clearly counts if windchill does...) temps with humidity so ridiculous that it makes "humid Chicago" seem like Tucson.

Every place has pros and cons. The winters here suck, sure. The summers are great. I have access to anything I'd generally need or want to do. I love the city. Granted, I'd pass on the suburbs, but the city's a great spot, even if it gets a little chilly and grey.

Well said, well said.

[aragx6]

Originally Posted by CarolinaBredChicagoan

I can totally see where you are coming from, and respect that you're moving to somewhere with better weather. I will submit, however, that you impression is wrong. I, like many people I know, moved here by choice. I grew up in an area that was warmer, cheaper, and sunnier. The summers were brutal, though, and all that "give me all the heat and humidity you want! I can take it!" doesn't mean a whole lot until you're saying it after two or three weeks of 100+ (with the heat index, which clearly counts if windchill does...) temps with humidity so ridiculous that it makes "humid Chicago" seem like Tucson.

Every place has pros and cons. The winters here suck, sure. The summers are great. I have access to anything I'd generally need or want to do. I love the city. Granted, I'd pass on the suburbs, but the city's a great spot, even if it gets a little chilly and grey.

I too am definitely here because I want to be. I actually decided I wanted to live in Chicago before I'd ever been here, and after finally visiting (and the weather was pretty rotten) I knew I was right on. I grew up in a much cheaper, less winter-harsh environment too. Nowhere is like Chicago, and I mean nowhere.

[ekrz44]

It's all about what you expect or want.
I consider Chicago too expensive for what you get. I myself am not a city guy. I've been here my whole life and most family and friends my age have left. The "city" is for a certain age group, and I no longer am of that group.

I don't mind the heat or humidity of the south, and I don't mind at all the mild winters of the south.
I do mind the Chicago winters however. 37 years of it has taken its toll on me.
The summers here are great, but about as short as they are doesn't make the winters worth it.

Saying the city gets a little grey and chilly in the winter is like saying the food in Chicago is "ehh". The only thing I'll miss about this place is the food.

Let me rephrase something I said before. Locals who are born here, stay here for jobs and family in my opinion.
To each his own I suppose.