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I recently escaped to Chicago after two years in Boston. Boston is essentially Scranton with rich people. DC's even more depressing. If you're going to be on the East Coast, you might as well be in New York. Everywhere else, you're just paying a lot of money to live nowhere special.
Of all the things I've heard about Boston, I've never heard that...
I recently escaped to Chicago after two years in Boston. Boston is essentially Scranton with rich people. DC's even more depressing. If you're going to be on the East Coast, you might as well be in New York. Everywhere else, you're just paying a lot of money to live nowhere special.
oh please! . no offense to the lovely folks from Scranton, but it's a dying city that is mostly known for being the location for a certain fictional paper company. maybe if Boston's ONLY claim to fame was Cheers, and had few economies to fall back on, then the similarities would would true, but that is hardly the case
Chicago is an almost unlimited space for architecture. I've already made my living here, and am now going back to college to get a degree in architecture simply because of the opportunity in that field here. Plus, it's THE city of architecture, the first skyscraper ever was built here in 1885, and it is home to lots of different styles of architecture.
I was born in the outskirts of the city, and moved into the CBD when I grew up, and I was intimidated by the city too, but once you start making your way here it is, in my opinion, the best city to live in. There is lots to do here as well. Pick Chicago and you won't regret it.
I used to live in DC area and happened to live in Arlington. there are two reasons IMO y ppl tend to live in either VA or MD:
1. DC has the rep of taxation without representation.
2. Northern VA is a lot more urban than DC. Most highrises are in Northern Virginia, mostly in Arlington (rosslyn, clarendon, and VA square) and some in southern MD such as silver spring, because by DC law, no buildings in DC can be taller than the capitol or the washington monument.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lookout Kid
D.C. living is really focussed on suburbs more than New York, Boston, or Chicago. Everyone lives in Virginia or Maryland, it seems.
Yes. H and MIT are the best architecture programs in the world for graduate degrees.
Top three graduate programs ranked by ARCHITECTURE magzine in 2008:
Harvard
MIT
COlumbia-Cornell
However, if you look at the undergrad level, the three programs ranked by the same source are:
VA Tech
Cornell
Syracuse
[quote=Lookout Kid;4997093]
Harvard and MIT are two of the best architecture programs in the world, and a lot of those grads want to stay in Boston. I've heard from Boston architects that there are so many Ivy Leaguers vying for jobs that you have to be REALLY good to get a mediocre job in the Boston architectcure scene. And most of the established Boston firms are mediocre.
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thanks a lot everyone, didn't expect getting so many responses from this forum.
I've kept sending my resume for about a month to NY, but didn't find a good small firm that wants to hire me and also does more than residential and interior work. there're a couple of small firms in Chicago actually looks in good shape and is hiring. so I guess I'll have to send application and see.
I know cities have cultures. is Chicago a transplant city? the people there are friendly? conservative? How's the safety in the city? I heard you can't even ride subway to UIC or UC? I don't drive, can I still have a good time in the city? also, I was wondering whether the odds of finding well-educated single in Chicago is good...thanks.
Chicago is full of people from everywhere. People are friendly, but they wont put up with your bs. some parts of the city are certainly more conservative or liberal than others, but in general its a pretty open minded city. safety is really neighborhood by neighborhood, but generally speaking use common sense, you will be fine. I wouldnt advise a single female walking home at midnight in some shade parts of the city. its not called the subway, which is found in manhattan. its called the L. Yes. you can have a good time in Chicago.
Quick word on public transit - you can ride the L to UIC, I think. You can't directly to U of C, but it's a pretty short bus ride from the nearest station. However, I don't really see why you'd need to go to those areas unless you're in college. Chicago is a huge city, and the interesting stuff, the well-educated people, all that....it's not centered around the colleges, if that's what you're thinking.
I don't have a car (though I do drive) and I get along just fine. The public transit here is no worse than that of Boston, if anything, I'd say it's slightly better.
As far as your other questions....there's lots of transplants, though not as many as you'd find in DC (where everyone is a transplant), or even NY. Plenty of well-educated single people. I'd say it's the friendliest city of your three choices. In terms of politics, I agree with lincolnparker - it depends on the part of town, but it's generally a pretty open-minded city.
Chicago is different from the Northeast (I'm originally from that part of the country), but not that different. It's also smaller than NYC, obviously, but it's much bigger than Boston.
In the last primary election, a friend of mine was an election judge in Lincoln Square. He said that the Democratic turnout was high, but that they handed out six Republican ballots all day long! That should tell you something about the political climate in this city.
I don't drive here and I couldn't be happier about it. The el or a bus or the combo of the two gets me anywhere in the city I would ever need to go.
I love Chicago. There are a lot of transplants, though you'll find a lot of them to be from neighboring states (Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin, Missouri, Iowa, Kansas, Ohio etc) but you'll find it's mostly the post college crowd who moved here for the vibrant city, job opportunities and often because they are more left-leaning than their upbringing might otherwise indicate.
My knowledge of Boston is limited as I've never lived there, but from what I can tell Chicago is less cerebral (but not entirely), and I think you're more likely to happen upon a conversation between friends on baseball than Sarte (though Bostonians heart their baseball too!) but you'll find the nightlife to be similar -- lots of bars, not as many clubs, unlike places like LA and Miami.
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. no offense to the lovely folks from Scranton, but it's a dying city that is mostly known for being the location for a certain fictional paper company. maybe if Boston's ONLY claim to fame was Cheers, and had few economies to fall back on, then the similarities would would true, but that is hardly the case
everyone lives in virginia or maryland
