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View Poll Results: Which city is more beautiful?
Chicago 97 62.58%
NYC 58 37.42%
Voters: 155. You may not vote on this poll

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Old 06-22-2013, 10:40 AM
 
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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.

 
Old 06-22-2013, 10:49 AM
 
Location: roaming gnome
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Chicago definitely but, part of that is it's 3x smaller packed in with way less people creating that "dirt." That doesn't mean I like Chicago better though. Chicago is an easier life. NYC is far more intense. They really aren't that comparable, Chicago is just the next city in line. Paris is the only place I've been that reminds me of NYC street level activity and high end things to do. Maybe London, but I felt Paris more so. Of course in a dif way... but Paris has 2.3 million people packed in to it's core 40 square miles. NYC is similar, Chicago is like 1/4 of that. Both cities have more than Chicago's entire population in a mere 50 sq central cohesive core. Paris core and NYC Manhattan NW BK. It's really a way different experience.

Last edited by grapico; 06-22-2013 at 10:57 AM..
 
Old 06-22-2013, 11:01 AM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by grapico View Post
Chicago definitely but, part of that is it's 3x smaller packed in with way less people creating that "dirt." That doesn't mean I like Chicago better though. Chicago is an easier life. NYC is far more intense. They really aren't that comparable, Chicago is just the next city in line. Paris is the only place I've been that reminds me of NYC street level activity and high end things to do. Maybe London, but I felt Paris more so. Of course in a dif way... but Paris has 2.3 million people packed in to it's core 40 square miles. NYC is similar, Chicago is like 1/4 of that. Both cities have more than Chicago's entire population in a mere 50 sq central cohesive core. Paris core and NYC Manhattan NW BK. It's really a way different experience.
AGAIN not asking which one you like better, which one has a more urban experience. JUST WHICH ONE IS MORE BEAUTIFUL. Please don't to get this off topic as there are plenty of threads that have NYC vs. Chicago in regards to which people like better, prefer, etc. I am only talking about which one is more beautiful.
 
Old 06-22-2013, 11:39 AM
 
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Tough. I really like street scenery.

I'd go with New York City. Dirty is part of what makes New York what it is. When you look at skylines, they're really 1 and 2 to me in the U.S. -- I think I like NYC's in terms of sheer massiveness, while I think Chicago's is aesthetically pleasing. I think both waterfronts are great.
 
Old 06-22-2013, 11:43 AM
 
Location: roaming gnome
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Chicagoist123 View Post
AGAIN not asking which one you like better, which one has a more urban experience. JUST WHICH ONE IS MORE BEAUTIFUL. Please don't to get this off topic as there are plenty of threads that have NYC vs. Chicago in regards to which people like better, prefer, etc. I am only talking about which one is more beautiful.
I said which is more beautiful, and I explained why Chicago is that way. I can talk about anything I want, you aren't the thought police. Why not just have a poll then have everybody shut their mouths then?

That being said the outside of NYC is more beautiful the cliffs and greenery are better than plains and stuff to me. I'll post a few in a second of both.
 
Old 06-22-2013, 11:57 AM
 
Location: Austell, Georgia
2,217 posts, read 3,874,797 times
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This will turn into a fight for sure!
 
Old 06-22-2013, 11:58 AM
 
Location: Providence, RI
12,549 posts, read 21,718,207 times
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Chicago, in my opinion, has a handful of more "beautiful" vistas. The view down the Chicago River, the view of the city from the Adler Planetarium, and the view of Buckinham Fountain with the city in the background beat (again, in my opinion) most of what I've seen in New York City (though Central Park surrounded by a wall of towers is on par with Buckingham).

That said, I still consider NYC to be more "beautiful" overall. The OP said to ignore the "urban experience," but that's impossible when debating beauty. I think that walking past the opulent old buildings on the Upper East Side, the gorgeous brownstones of Brooklyn, the grounds of the Cloisters, the gold flecked towers and spires visible from Bryant Park, etc, etc, etc. provide a more constant stream of "beauty" than what I've come across in Chicago.

The metro area is where there's no question, in my opinion. Metro NYC has rolling hills, quaint villages, a mighty river, and gorgeous coastline. Chicago has a great lakefront and Chicagoland is beautiful in its own right, but I prefer metro New York's varied terrain.

Still, "Beauty" is not a term I'd really apply to either city on a sweeping basis. Chicago and New York are masculine cities in my opinion. "Awe inspiring," "hulking," "towering," "massive," etc. are words that I'd use to describe both of those cities. When I think of "beautiful" cities, I think of places like San Francisco, Florence, Paris, Lisbon, Venice, etc. Obviously there's plenty of beauty in both Chicago and NYC, but I wouldn't use the word "beautiful" in a generalized description of either city as a whole.
 
Old 06-22-2013, 12:08 PM
 
Location: roaming gnome
12,385 posts, read 28,372,317 times
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There is nothing in Chicago like the Cloisters area and views. I agree metro area it is no contest, NYC. I got the chance to explore around last summer more than being in the boroughs and was pretty impressed with the natural surroundings, cliffs, lush green forests, etc. The really only beautiful part of Chicago I think is the lakefront including the north shore burbs, smaller rolling hills and DT aesthetics, which is way nicer than the one in NYC I think. But Chicago on the other hand doesn't really have anything like the aesthetics of Central Park either.

Does Chicago *really* have the better skyline views? Maybe from planetarium or some of the elongated beach areas. It's hard to say. I think the view from the Brooklyn Heights Promenade area is pretty impressive. The skyline seems to go on forever. The Chicago building front from Roosevelt to Navy Pier panorama is probably the more aesthetically pleasing stretch of buildings though.

Last edited by grapico; 06-22-2013 at 12:22 PM..
 
Old 06-22-2013, 01:24 PM
 
178 posts, read 282,483 times
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NYC, by far. Not even a reasonable competition.

NYC is far hillier, far greener, far more historic, the ocean, the great rivers, the great bridges, the skyline, the cliffs of the Palisades, the rocky outcrops, etc.

And I think the forum starter is a pretty obvious homer. Lake Michigan better than the Atlantic Ocean? Chicago River better than the Hudson? Have you ever traveled the Hudson?

And Chicago's buildings are beautiful and NYC's are medicore/bland? LOL. I hear Gary and the South Side are especially gorgeous. Chicago is actually a great city, and arguably beautiful, but this is a bad comparison thread.

SF, by far, is the most beautiful major American city, though.
 
Old 06-22-2013, 02:00 PM
 
2,423 posts, read 4,293,506 times
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Just so everyone knows I am talking about city propers not metro.
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