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Someone please fill me in. My soon to be husband and I will be moving to Chicago in July for his job. He is an academic and I have worked in Real Estate related industries for the past ten years.
What I want to know is this: what is the Chicagoland Culture like? What is the real estate job market like? What's the best way to fit in and make friends?
Googling, "chicago attitude" or "feel" "people" or "culture" gives me bupkis. Can't tell if this is a good sign or bad?! LOL!
Googling for Seattle and any of the above, of course, gives you lots of stuff about how Seattlites are anywhere from (the polite) "insular" to the down right rude "cold and standoffish"--all true depending on your perception. I understand all of these sentiments I suppose, though I've lived here all my life and "get" it. I've always been a little more on the outgoing side, as far as Seattlites go, but in all self awareness, I do find it difficult to take the next step and call people to go out or initiate contact, pro'lly a little more PC with acquentences than strictly necessary and have the strange overly protective "houseproud" sentiments about Seattle and Washington that seem indemic in our area.
But that aside, I've never lived anywhere else and am afraid to alienate myself from my new culture.
Thoughts? Productive input only please--I really do want an opinion on the Chicagoland vibe.
Chicagoans are generally good spirited people from what I've gathered. As a transplant 3 years ago, I have an outsider's perspective on the general populace.
You'll know right of the bat how most people feel about you. If your respectful and don't carry an attitude most people will warm up very quickly to you. You'll definately feel a difference in the pace of life if you choose to live within the city of Chicago. One of the good things about the pace though is that your able to get away from it by visiting many of the parks and beaches througout the city.
There is no set "culture" in the city. It's a huge city, with tons of different neighborhoods and you'll get a totally different "culture" depending on which neighborhood you choose. So if you have certain interest, or characteristics you like, I'm sure the Chicago poster can help guide you to the right neighborhood.
Having lived in Chicago and now living in Seattle/Bellevue, I would say Chicago people tend to be a little more open and talkative than Seattle. The Seattle people are more polite in public types but don't seem as willing to get to know you. Good, bad or indifferent - I prefer the Seattle culture.
While any comparisons are full of pitfalls (I totally agree with the admonition from "David A." to take everything here with a "grain of salt") I'd say Seattle is more socially oriented to recreation (skiing, swimming, sailing, boating, camping, etc.) than Chicago is. You used the term self-awareness and I smiled because Chicagoans would flinch when reading that. More importantly, they wouldn't know what the terms really means. (Oprah or no Oprah, haha). Just not their thing, if you know what I mean (and I think you will).
Chicago is about big families, Catholic parishes, spectator sports, roots, and people who are happy with where they are. You will meet people in the Chicago area who (even though they live in a big city) have never traveled (and certainly never moved!) outside of the Midwest. Most midwest kids attend college in the midwest, for example. IME, Seattleites see the world, often move around a bit before returning to settle down, and are much more exploration oriented (Again, another over-statement, but it's my cultural observation) and adventurous in virtually every aspect of life. Chicago, however, has an authenticity that seems to have left (or been watered down) in Seattle over the years. I was born in Seattle and lived there into my twenties. Just left Chicago after ten years and have also lived in a number of other states/regions.
Chicagoland is huge and spread out so real estate as a job market is varied.
I'm not sure about the downtown market, but I don't think you'll find Chicagoland overall is much different than metro Seattle except that there isn't that "huge premium"- "mecca-segment" of waterfront that Seattle has and it didn't have a huge migration of people from a neighboring state (California) that Seattle has had over the past couple of decades. Boeing only brought a couple hundred execs (I think?) and there hasn't been a big influx of incoming corporations with a significant corporate relo market. I think it's a more settled and stable market in that regard but this is purely anecdotal. I bought and sold three homes in different areas while there - but they were all in the Chicago suburbs.
Seattleites tend to eat healthier and exercise more than Chicagoans. Chicagoans dress better but with more conformity and less regional style. If boating is Seattle's obsession, then perhaps shopping is Chicago's.
Okay - there are a few things for people to bite on. Hope this helped - best of luck - and remember: grain of salt!
Seattle is much more techy, with a heavy dose of outdoorsy and recreational.
Chicago is much more working class and traditionally family oriented.
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