minneapolis vs. chicago (St. Paul, Grant, Lauderdale: find a job, theatre, high school)

[sar-bear]

Originally Posted by BankerChex

Lived in Chicago for 10 years, now moving to MSP in mid-July. I can definitely say Chicago is my favorite city in the US (grew up in Miami, and have lived in CA and NYC). Starting from the outside-in, definitely an awesome skyline and diverse architecture. Each neighborhood has its own cultural "feel" from Ukranian Village (artsy bars/music) to Roscoe Village (brownstones, single family homes, with more of a neighborhood feel to the bars and restaurants). Singles scene is, surprisingly, more akin to what I've learned about MSP: better to have connections in place. Well, not too different from anywhere really (you generally meet people from friends and family). Chicago is like a big small town, with all the culture, nightlife, and buzz of NYC, combined with the neighborhood feel (depending on your neighborhood) of Grovers Corners.

For a family, however, definitely more of a contrast. The public school system here, well, sucks (period). The slush fund generated from our property taxes as been used by Daley to build a $200M bean and help keep corporate HQs located in the city, rather than spend it on textbooks and development programs for kids. You'll definitely look towards suburbs like Naperville, Downers Grove, or Wilmette for the best schools (and, correspondingly higher home prices).

If you're looking toward private education, however (Latin School, Univ. of Chicago Lab Schools), then living in the city offers a cultural, culinary, and lifestyle option second to none. Season tickets to the Joffrey Ballet is around $200, and tickets to the symphony (CSO) are relatively inexpensive. Lyric opera is pricer, but certainly worth it. Not to mention the countless venues for underground alt rock, punk, jazz, funk, blues, int'l artists, etc. available. Check out Metro (rock, punk), HotHouse (latin), Elbo room (alt rock/punk), Vic (bigger acts), Green Mill (best jazz), Checkerboard Lounge (old school Chicago blues, south side--don't worry, you'll be safe)...just for starters.

Metromix for reviews of any restaurant, venue, club, you name it. Hope this helps.

Thanks for sharing; we'd probably aim for settling in Naperville, Wheaton...even though we'd consider private school if it was affordable at the time. Sounds like you'll miss Chicago!

[sar-bear]

Originally Posted by Ben Around

The main difference I see between the Chicago burbs and the TC burbs is the variety. TC burbs are mostly sprawly, post WW-II, auto-dependent places. You can find the same thing in Chicago, but you can also find more compact, less auto-dependent burbs (pre-WW-II) where you can easliy commute by train and your kids can walk places.

YES; I initially got very excited about living in Chicago's burbs because of Metra (taking kids to museums on the weekend, etc). That, and I'm not a huge fan of car culture! But it's hard to get away from, especially in the 50 nifty united states.

[rcsteiner]

Originally Posted by sar-bear

Helpful info; I'll have to search this board for further descriptions of the Twin City burbs.

But not that much snow, eh? I read elsewhere that Chicago city proper gets more snow than the burbs, for good reason. Just want to be fully prepared for what nature throws at us...

Michigan, parts of New York, and other parts east get a lot of snow because of the "lake effect" precipitation from the great lakes. Minnesota is west of Lake Superior and far away from the others, so they don't effect the climate much if at all (unless you live in/around Duluth or the North Shore).

[BreaOC]

Both cities are amazing. They both have things the other doesn't and each is diverse and full of culture. Chicago's MSA is over twice that of Minneapolis, yet the nice part is that Minneapolis is big enough to have everything larger cities have both in regards to shopping, restaurants and entertainment. The suburbs in Minneapolis do seem to sprawl more than Chicago's, mostly I'm sure due to the age of the cities. Minneapolis' suburbs are newer and newer cities do tend to have that wonderful urban sprawl! I suggest to spend time in both cities and taking in what each has to offer. Best of Luck!!!

[nick is rulz]

Minneapolis probably has the worst sprawl of any city Ive been to.

[rcsteiner]

Originally Posted by nick is rulz

Minneapolis probably has the worst sprawl of any city Ive been to.

It's pretty bad. Atlanta is very similar, but 20%-30% larger, and with a much worse road infrastructure.

[Whome?]

Mpls isn't that bad, sprawl wise.

Places like atlanta, los angeles, dallas, bay area are much worse.

[Lillietta]

Mpls sprawl is not bad at all.

[K-Luv]

Originally Posted by nick is rulz

Minneapolis probably has the worst sprawl of any city Ive been to.

Sacramento is far worse.

[BreaOC]

Ok, lets put the sprawl question to rest with the results of a study (based on census data, land-area growth in urban areas and traffic congestion data) of cities with the worst urban sprawl according to the Sierra Club:

1. Atlanta
2. St. Louis
3. Washington, D.C.
4. Cincinnati
5. Kansas City, Mo.
6. Denver
7. Seattle
8. Minneapolis-St. Paul
9. Fort Lauderdale
10. Chicago