I've never even been to Chicago, but I'm moving there!

[Melaniefl]

I can't remember who asked the question about the difference between Lincoln Park and Wicker Park. Huge difference there. Wicker Park is full of hipsters and hipper places. Lincoln P. is more family-oriented, monied, and yes, yuppy-ish. By yuppyish, I guess I mean people with a ton of cash who are more either cheesy-ish, or square-ish --more ex frat boy-ish perhaps you would say- than Wicker P. which is more geared toward a cool music-loving, artsier crowd. I personally would choose Wicker P. any day but it still has its posers. LIke someone said, every neighborhood has its annoyances just like every city overall does! Whoever said Chicago doesn't have attractive women must have been rejected a lot and has a bitter attitude b/c there are tons of hot chicks there --more so than here in Seattle for sure.

[Ilovejazz]

Originally Posted by redboar

The midwest is a joke,

How can you base your opinion about a broad region when you've only lived in a tiny slice of it?


Fortunately, your experiences do not reflect those of everyone.

[lkmy]

I am a Chicago native now living in Florida. I live in Central Florida near Orlando. Florida is nice but not Orlando, I am enviuous that you are going to Chicago. It is a huge metropolitan area but you are used to that living in Ft. lauderdale and south Florida. I think you will like Chicago. There are many nice neighborhoods. Wrigleyville is in the city, it is the area around Wrigley Field. It is on the near northside. It is a very nice and lively area. I lived in as neighborhood just a short distance east of Wrigleyville. I was in Lincoln Park which is right by the lake. Lincoln Park has a lot of highrises whereas Wrigleyville is a lot of single family detached houses. Both areas tend to be pretty expensive. There are some really nice areas that are not as expensive. if you go farther north the Rogers park neighborhood is very nice.
it is at the northern edge of the city just before entering the town of Evanston, home of Northwestern University. Rogers park still offers a great urban feel. It is not subrurban living. All areas I have mentioned have easy access to el and subways, including Evanston. The el's do go to a few
suburbs like Evanston, Wilmette north, Oak Park west; famous as the home of Ernest hemingway and Frank Lloyd Wright. Oak Park has many of Wrights prairie style houses.

I hope you are going to live in the city, Chicago has an urban lifestyle that in my opinion only New York tops. But if you are planning on living the suburbs Chicago has what seeems like endless suburbs similar to South Florida.

Wherever you move in Chicago you will have access to either el's, subways, or commuter trains from all suburban areas into the city.

As you already know Chicago has endless entertainment and cultural attractions.

There is really too much to cover in this format but enjoy your reasearch and good luck in Chicago, as for me right now I an stuck in boring central Florida.

[Catherina]

Wow reading al these posts has almost made me think that my life in Chicago will just depend on what I make of it and my general outlook on life. I guess negative people usually have negative expriences and happy or content peope seem to see the brighter side of things in every situation.
I will keep reading though, its always interesting, but it will be hard to corroborate anything all the way from Madrid!

[POCKET1959]

Stay away from the south side of Chicago, anything south of downtown basically. The northern suburbs are nicer, for example Glenview. Des Plaines is a dive, Park Ridge is way over priced, Skokie is only ho-hum. I live in Morton Grove, the schools are excellent, the houses are nice, BUT the police suck! We have a psychotic next door neighbor and the police refuse to help us as she terrorizes my family. She even hit my son with her car and they told us to ignore her! If you want nice schools and houses, Morton Grove is the place for you, but if you want protection...don't even think about our town!

[Drover]

Originally Posted by POCKET1959

"Stay away from the south side of Chicago, anything south of downtown basically. . ."

. . . he says, as people stampede past him to snatch up condos and houses in the South Loop, Little Italy, Bridgeport, McKinley Park, Bronzeville, Hyde Park/Kenwood...

[j33]

... and I can see myself joining them in a few years as I'm sure the lovely arrangement I have in the obscenely overpriced neighborhood I live in now cannot last forever.