Seattle vs Chicago vs Nashville vs San Diego (amusement parks, college)

[mtestify]

I was born in Chicago, lived there until I was 10 and lived the rest of my life in Seattle. (I'm 23 btw).. My family and I are looking for a change so we're thinking about moving to a new city. I've always wanted to go back to Chicago; so, that would be my choice but there are still other options. If you all had a choice to move to any of these cities, which would you pick? Or if you were in my shoes, would you choose to stay in Seattle or would you leave.

Thanks!

[PosterExtraordinaire]

Originally Posted by mtestify

I was born in Chicago, lived there until I was 10 and lived the rest of my life in Seattle. (I'm 23 btw).. My family and I are looking for a change so we're thinking about moving to a new city. I've always wanted to go back to Chicago; so, that would be my choice but there are still other options. If you all had a choice to move to any of these cities, which would you pick? Or if you were in my shoes, would you choose to stay in Seattle or would you leave.

Thanks!

It's really hard to compare those cities as they are dramatically different. I'm leaving Nashville out of this discussion as I have no experience with her.

San Diego is my number 1 pick here. I'm choosing it based on climate, scenery, and natural amenities. As a city, it benefits from being in Southern California and somewhat near LA when it comes to nightlife, shopping, restaurants, and amenities it punches well above the 3 million metro mark. San Diego is also on the border with Mexico, a drive from Los Angeles and a nice road trip to Phoenix or Las Vegas.

Chicago: is my second pick. It is the biggest and most international city of the bunch. The most to do, the best shopping, city amenities, nightlife, restaurants etc. It is a bit isolated though. And being in the midwest means you have to put up with extreme winters but at the same time a lower cost of living (Chicago is the best bang for your buck here).

Seattle: Despite being the most beautiful and having the best economy, it just feels isolated. Yes, it's a drive to Vancouver and a road trip to Portland (but who'd drive to Portland when you live in Seattle?). Has a ocean (though a drive to get there) that's too cold to swim or sunbathe but makes for a scenic and romantic backdrop. The mountains are the true selling point of the city. Other than that, the weather doesn't help either as it's gray and drizzling 8 months of the year.

[Chicagoist123]

Originally Posted by PosterExtraordinaire

It's really hard to compare those cities as they are dramatically different. I'm leaving Nashville out of this discussion as I have no experience with her.

San Diego is my number 1 pick here. I'm choosing it based on climate, scenery, and natural amenities. As a city, it benefits from being in Southern California and somewhat near LA when it comes to nightlife, shopping, restaurants, and amenities it punches well above the 3 million metro mark. San Diego is also on the border with Mexico, a drive from Los Angeles and a nice road trip to Phoenix or Las Vegas.

Chicago: is my second pick. It is the biggest and most international city of the bunch. The most to do, the best shopping, city amenities, nightlife, restaurants etc. It is a bit isolated though. And being in the midwest means you have to put up with extreme winters but at the same time a lower cost of living (Chicago is the best bang for your buck here).

Seattle: Despite being the most beautiful and having the best economy, it just feels isolated. Yes, it's a drive to Vancouver and a road trip to Portland (but who'd drive to Portland when you live in Seattle?). Has a ocean (though a drive to get there) that's too cold to swim or sunbathe but makes for a scenic and romantic backdrop. The mountains are the true selling point of the city. Other than that, the weather doesn't help either as it's gray and drizzling 8 months of the year.

I agree with everything you say, but how is Chicago isolated? Milwaukee a place that has 1 Million + people is 90 minutes away. Indianapolis that has 1 Million + people is 2.5 hours away. St. Louis, Detroit and Minneapolis places that have 2 Million + are about 5 hours away. And I am being generious with those numbers they are actually higher.

I mean San Diego to me is more isolated Chicago. I mean ther is LA to the north and then Tijuana to the south but west of that it's nothing but desert really and then to the east it's nothing but the ocean. I am not saying San Diego is isolated, but I do think it is more isolated than Chicago.

[PosterExtraordinaire]

Originally Posted by Chicagoist123

I agree with everything you say, but how is Chicago isolated? Milwaukee a place that has 1 Million + people is 90 minutes away. Indianapolis that has 1 Million + people is 2.5 hours away. St. Louis, Detroit and Minneapolis places that have 2 Million + are about 5 hours away. And I am being generious with those numbers they are actually higher.

I mean San Diego to me is more isolated Chicago. I mean ther is LA to the north and then Tijuana to the south but west of that it's nothing but desert really and then to the east it's nothing but the ocean. I am not saying San Diego is isolated, but I do think it is more isolated than Chicago.

Los Angeles is about 2 hours away, no traffic.
Tijuana is right across the border.
Orange County (Disney world, several amusement parks) is about 1 hour away.
Las Vegas is about 4-5 hours away.
Phoenix (another major city) is about 5-6 hours away.
San Francisco (bay area) is about 8 hours away.
Then there are an assortment of natural parks with 3 to 4 hours I won't mention.

Milwaukee is a small to mid-sized city. But I guess it's about 1.5 hours away.
Chicago to St. Louis is about 5 hours away.
Chicago to Detroit is also about 5 hours away.
Chicago to Minneapolis is about 7 hours away.

But really, can you see any resident of Chicago bothering with a 5 hour road trip to any of these cities? Chicago has several smaller/mid sized cities around it but the problem is they don't have a pull for the average Chicagoan. However, Los Angeles and Las Vegas are major road trips for the people of San Diego.

Now, which would you rather do? 8 hours to San Francisco or 7 hours to the twin cities?

[mtestify]

Thank you for replying! Yeah, these 4 cities are very different from each other. I guess that would make it an easy pick, but I just wanted to know what others thought.

I've actually never been to Portland and it's like 3 hours away. Vancouver is closer so I've been there about a dozen times. The annoying thing about Seattle is that it's always gloomy. I doesn't even really rain. It's just this heavy gray blanket that's almost feels like it's weighing you down. Saying all of that I do still love Seattle.

I've never been to Nashville either. I've been to the other 3 and their each special in their own way. Ugh, this is hard.

[Maintainschaos]

Originally Posted by PosterExtraordinaire

Los Angeles is about 2 hours away, no traffic.
Tijuana is right across the border.
Orange County (Disney world, several amusement parks) is about 1 hour away.
Las Vegas is about 4-5 hours away.
Phoenix (another major city) is about 5-6 hours away.
San Francisco (bay area) is about 8 hours away.
Then there are an assortment of natural parks with 3 to 4 hours I won't mention.

Milwaukee is a small to mid-sized city. But I guess it's about 1.5 hours away.
Chicago to St. Louis is about 5 hours away.
Chicago to Detroit is also about 5 hours away.
Chicago to Minneapolis is about 7 hours away.

But really, can you see any resident of Chicago bothering with a 5 hour road trip to any of these cities? Chicago has several smaller/mid sized cities around it but the problem is they don't have a pull for the average Chicagoan. However, Los Angeles and Las Vegas are major road trips for the people of San Diego.

Now, which would you rather do? 8 hours to San Francisco or 7 hours to the twin cities?

My partner and I take the train to Milwaukee and Saint Louis pretty frequently. I don't think of either as "small" cities...St. Louis and Mke are both only slightly smaller metro areas than San Diego and Las Vegas, respectively.

[fightforlove]

Chicago is not that far removed from other interesting/cultural/hip cities. You have to realize, most midwestern cities are very underrated on these forums, people on here are under the media impression that the entire midwest is one giant farm. Milwaukee is sort of becoming the Portland of the midwest, plus you have Madison, one of the great college towns. Both are just a few hours away. Chicago to Detroit, MSP or STL is like going from L.A. to S.F. You also have some quirky smaller cities like Racine, Wisconsin and Ann Arbor, Michigan just 1-2 hours by car from Chicago.