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Nice! But why do you keep mentioning the Hudson and NOT the East River? That's pretty strange considering the Hudson only covers the West side of Manhattan (and if you're looking from that side your view is Jersey lol!).
Your Lake is pretty cool though.
… which is not a bad view because IMO Jersey City has one of the best skylines for a smaller city in the whole country. There's also a trendy city (Hoboken) and a park (Liberty State Park) across the Hudson from NYC so I don't know what you're talking about.
I have to go with NYC for being most beautiful. Chicago is up there architecture wise, but the Empire State and Chrysler Buildings are my favorite buildings ever, anywhere. I love their styles and heights, their spires, and the way the Empire State is lit up at night, in ever changing colors combinations. I also love 30 Rockefeller Plaza (the GE Building) and One World Trade Center. I am always struck by its beauty; it's one of my favorites to photograph. I love brownstones (Brooklyn is full of them), the amazingly quiet streets on the East and West sides (many of which lined with small trees and some Brownstones as well), I love Central Park and looking up at the buildings form the park. The Hudson IS beautiful, and also quite peaceful. One of my favorite parts of the city is Battery Park, sitting there on the riverfront. The bridges all over the city are beautiful, too - Brooklyn, Verazzano, George Washington, I personally also like the look of the Goethals Bridge as well. The Hudson, East River, and harbor have multiple bridges crossing them, placing each body of water right in the center of the city action. The Brooklyn Bridge is probably one of the most famous and nicest looking bridges in the country, especially historically speaking.
Also, have you ever heard of Manhattanhenge? It happens only twice a year I believe, the sun lines up perfectly with Manhattan's streets, so the setting sun is perfectly in line with each street and perfectly between buildings. Look it up, it's very beautiful and pretty unique. NYC's size and architectural diversity (in buildings and bridges) and use of parks gives it an edge IMO. This of course isn't to say Chicago isn't beautiful, but as others have said neither are really all that beautiful anyway. Plenty of other cities in the country look much nicer than these two, which are much more urban in look and feel. Also, as others have said, NYC is dirtier than Chicago because of its density.
You keep going on about the lake, the lake, and while I've said it is a nice feature, it rests at the edge of the city. Only a small portion of Chicago is really lake oriented and you can see the lake from only close range unless you're in a high building. In NYC, water is everywhere. 4 of the 5 boroughs are an individual island or on one, and there are multiple rivers, a harbor, and an ocean within the city. Queens and Brooklyn have oceanfront homes, businesses, boardwalks, and amusement. Manhattan has riverfront parks with ferry access to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. Staten Island has beaches, too, and a decent waterfront area near the Staten Island Ferry. The lake may be a pretty color, but you can do more with NYC's waterways and ocean, making it more diverse and prettier IMO. Nothing beats the beauty of an ocean, not even a blue lake
Last edited by JerseyGirl415; 06-22-2013 at 09:57 PM..
I see a lot of dirty comparisons. NYC is far more densely populated so there is more activity going on. I saw Istanbul and Tokyo being mentioned as not being as NYC. Istanbul's dense areas are VERY dirty. It would only pass for less dirty if you included the it's whole area which is a lot less dense. And Tokyo is very much dirty as well.
Saw the Chicago and San Francisco being brought up as well. San Francisco is more densely populated than Chicago. More densely populated does usually mean more dirty.
Plus people forget the Chicago South Side compromises 60% of it's land area I think, a lot of which is constantly called dirty.
My mom has had dozens of international students. About half of them made visits to NYC during their stay. They have all unanimously like Chicago better and said Chicago is more beautiful. I was actually surprised as I would think half would think NYC the other Chicago. However, not here to argue which city is your favorite or which one you like better, rather which one you think is more BEAUTIFUL?
For me it's Chicago (obviously ). I think there are three things IMO that detract from NYC's beauty:
1. It's pretty dirty. And if one spent a good amount of time in Chicago and then traveled to NYC they would really notice it than vice versa.
2. NYC has a lot of beautiful buildings and then a lot of ugly ones. The mish mash leaves detracts from the beauty. I think in Chicago you have a lot of beautiful buildings and then a lot of bland/mediocre buildings, but you don't find a lot of ugly ones. I think the mix of beautiful and ugly is worse than mix of beautiful and mediocre/bland.
3. Waterfront. Sorry's NYC's waterfront is no that nice. The Hudson is eh. Lake MIchigan went it gets it Carribbean color is amazing.
So yeah I am a little biased but just curious what people thought here.
+1 for Chicago, and I agree with your three points.
Istanbul's dense areas are VERY dirty. It would only pass for less dirty if you included the it's whole area which is a lot less dense.
Simply not true. I'll leave it at that, and I've been to many areas of one of these cities numerous times. Population != dirt. It's a layman's argument. Culture and the city planning has more to do with dirt than how many people are there. One of the reasons NYC is dirtier on average than Chicago is because NYC doesn't really have alleyways for trash while Chicago does.
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Saw the Chicago and San Francisco being brought up as well. San Francisco is more densely populated than Chicago. More densely populated does usually mean more dirty.
Actually, the north side of Chicago is more dense than San Fran for the same area as the city of SF. Overall Chicago is less dense, but Chicago is also MUCH bigger than San Francisco in both population and land area. It's kind of hard to compare a city of 800K people and 47 sq miles to a city of 2.7 million and 227 sq miles.
Versus NYC, no Chicago is not more dense. There's a few small, small areas where Chicago is very dense, mainly Gold Coast. The difference between NYC and Chicago though is that Chicago has alleyways and NYC doesn't, making it dirtier as trash may actually be "on the street" in NYC, whereas in Chicago it is not because often times it can be stored in an alleyway.
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Plus people forget the Chicago South Side compromises 60% of it's land area I think, a lot of which is constantly called dirty.
Except people are not that familiar with the South Side on here in reality other than that in some areas there's a number of homicides. Yes, some areas are dirty, but in reality there's a lot of very clean areas of the South Side, even in community areas with high crime. I know this because I've been there, which is saying more than probably 99% of people on here. I've been to very clean areas of Englewood, South Shore, Auburn Gresham, etc. Most people just assume that because there's high crime there's high amounts of dirt. This was cleaned up awhile ago in most areas. Obviously there's still some dirty areas and a few bombed out areas, but people not familiar with Chicago would be pleasantly surprised how clean some of these neighborhoods actually are. I'm not claiming it's all good because there's definitely some bad looking areas, but the south side is not as bad looking all over as you or others think.
Last edited by marothisu; 06-23-2013 at 10:21 PM..
Chicago is way more beautiful. The lake, the high rise downtown area, the clean neighborhoods and the grid system which is laid out are all making it more pleasing! Also, the last mayor had planted hundreds of thousands of trees so the city is more green than ever!
The population density thing is true ^ but on the street level SF (intensity/vibrancy) in the neighborhoods whatever you want to call it is more packed than Chicago by quite a bit usually b/c the streets and sidewalks are narrower and other factors (population spike from burbs? more seamless flow from DT into neighborhoods?). SF overall is much smaller than Chicago though. Chicago on a whole feels way bigger and the skyline is not even a contest but a trouncing and there is definitely more going on in Chicago, but SF I think beats it at a micro level of intensity in terms of what you see. I'm sure at any one time there are more people in Chicago but they are spread out.
yes it's quite picturesque, greener, harbors and beaches all down the lake but not the same.
it's just maybe 2-3 deep max in high rises and no high rise wall. then quickly goes back to 3 flats/sfh behind it.
IMO NYC isn't dirtier than Chicago. This claim keeps being made, but it isn't true. Chicago is generally dirtier, I would say, if we're talking 2013. Back in 1980, or something, no way. But now, probably yes.
Now if we're talking city center compared to city center, I agree Chicago is somewhat cleaner. But comparing city overall, no way. The West and South Sides of Chicago (70% of the city) are mostly pretty dirty and decayed compared to anything in NYC. Even North Side, beyond the yuppie areas (see Uptown, Albany Park, etc.) are fairly dirty.
But I don't think the "relative dirtiness" is really relevant. I mean, Paris and Rome are two of the dirtiest European cities. They're also arguably the two most beautiful European cities. German cities are generally clean, but ugly. So what's more beautiful, clean Frankfurt or dirty Paris?
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). I think there are three things IMO that detract from NYC's beauty: 
