How Can I Like Chicago?

[AidanY]

Originally Posted by Drover

And staring at industrial areas and the backs of buildings from the L.



I don't know what to tell you. If you expect a tidy, sanitized environment, you're never going to find it in a weathered, old-school legacy city like Chicago. Which, by the way, is generally considered freakishly clean compared to east coast cities like NYC (which curiously you found more aesthetically pleasant), Philly, Baltimore, etc. If you think Chicago's decrepit, you'd probably think Philly or Baltimore were landfills with buildings sticking out of them.

You want lush green hills and bountiful forests? You're not going to find them around here. This place got scraped flat by glaciers the last time they came down this way. They also deposited lots of minerals as they retreated that made this some of the best farmland on planet Earth, so what forests there were (much of this was prairie/grassland anyway) got cleared away to feed people. Then some of that farmland turned into homes to house people. To use a tired phrase, "it is what it is." Take it or leave it.

33,005 posts on City-data! Do you ever wish you could get that time back?

[Drover]

Sometimes I do wonder why I bother with time-wasting morons.

Other than that... nope. It doesn't take much time to type out a few lines now and again while I have down time at school/work.

Since you came here looking for input, here's mine: stay in California. Looks like Chicago experienced a net benefit when your parents decided to move you away.

[nana053]

Originally Posted by AidanY

Hello Everyone,

I know that's a funny title, but it's essentially what I'm trying to find out.
I was born in Chicago, but we moved to California when I was really young.
I want to live in Chicago but for some reason I haven't seen what I'm looking
for when I visit. Am I looking in the wrong place? Most recently we took the
subway from Midway to Skokie. Nothing looked agreeable the whole way.
The views I saw was one of large aging buildings. There was a decrepitness
to everything that I saw. When I got out an about I just got the sense that
there was a roughness to the city. My wife felt the same way. We went to
the Navy Pier and walked around that general part of the city and we just
weren't feeling it.

Should I be looking elsewhere? I hate to compare, but I've been to downtown
San Diego and loved it, I've been to downtown San Francisco and loved it.
I've been to Raleigh and loved it. New York and loved it. Was I just in the
wrong part of the city when I visited? So many people love Chicago. I was born
there. I must have been doing something wrong.

I think for me, I'm looking for some aesthetics, and a clean, modern, well-designed,
centralized neighborhood that's walkable, where there's a buoyancy to my surroundings.

Any comments?

Aidan

Navy Pier is tourist heaven. It's not like the neighborhoods and it's not downtown Chicago. There is nothing decrepit about downtown really. Did you go to the Loop? Michigan Avenue?

Now the loop and michigan avenue would not be my choice of a place to live, but there are plenty of really nice places to live.

Where do you live currently? Do you love your town? If so, then you probably should not move. As for me, I would love to be back in Chicago. I am currently in the Houston area - hate the heat and humidity and lack of seasons and the lack of the lakefront (we are around an hour from the gulf and the gulf here is not pretty beaches). I also miss the public transportation.

As for aesthetics, I don't think you can beat Chicago's architecture and the museums and art and music are wonderful.

[Bluefox]

Also would encourage the OP to take a look at the photo thread in the Chicago subforum. Some excellent examples of not just Chicago's downtown but its residential neighborhoods as well.

[cubssoxfan]

Aidan, are you in New Zealand or San Francisco? Can you articulate what you like(d) about the places you have been? I know when I considered Texas in 2008, my happiness with a prospective city involved looking at neighborhoods from a strictly, what kind of house and what kind of immediate neighborhood do I want? Trees, a bit of space, sensible zoning and proximity to cycling infrastructure and good school districts were a priority. I also gravitated towards existing neighborhoods instead of new construction. So what will make you happy?

I remember visiting San Francisco about 11 years ago for business. Instead of staying strictly downtown and getting turned off by the pan handlers and litter, we explored quite a bit and I formed a positive impression. We also did a fair amount of walking instead of just seeing things from a bus/taxi/streetcar.

And the half dead grass? During the winter and during extended dry/hot periods of summer, grass goes dormant and does brown. Once cooler weather and rain return it greens up again. The grass everywhere around here is plenty green. You make it sound like we are in the high desert or something.

[Sunduri]

I grew up in Baltimore and spent most of my adult life in the Philly area. The little bit that I've seen of Chicago since moving here in Feb 2013 seems much cleaner than "home". I currently live in the Northern suburbs of Chicago and think that the area is very pretty. Nothing wrong with liking or not liking an area--its really a matter of preference and that's highly subjective. Good luck with your search. At this stage in my life, my moves are based on the quality of the job I can get, but I fully intend on retiring someplace where it never snows. :-)

[reppin_the_847]

Chicago's not a perfect city. No city is. But this would be kind of like taking a train through the Bronx and saying you're not digging NYC and its grit.

Originally Posted by AidanY

Hello Everyone,

I know that's a funny title, but it's essentially what I'm trying to find out.
I was born in Chicago, but we moved to California when I was really young.
I want to live in Chicago but for some reason I haven't seen what I'm looking
for when I visit. Am I looking in the wrong place? Most recently we took the
subway from Midway to Skokie. Nothing looked agreeable the whole way.
The views I saw was one of large aging buildings. There was a decrepitness
to everything that I saw. When I got out an about I just got the sense that
there was a roughness to the city. My wife felt the same way. We went to
the Navy Pier and walked around that general part of the city and we just
weren't feeling it.

Should I be looking elsewhere? I hate to compare, but I've been to downtown
San Diego and loved it, I've been to downtown San Francisco and loved it.
I've been to Raleigh and loved it. New York and loved it. Was I just in the
wrong part of the city when I visited? So many people love Chicago. I was born
there. I must have been doing something wrong.

I think for me, I'm looking for some aesthetics, and a clean, modern, well-designed,
centralized neighborhood that's walkable, where there's a buoyancy to my surroundings.

Any comments?

Aidan

[wideworld]

Originally Posted by PerspicaciousE

Why Chicago?

I was born and raised there and although I was lucky enough to be raised in the desirable areas of Old Town and Lincoln Park, I moved to NYC.

Chicago has some of the highest crime rates, high property taxes, and once you go west of Lake Michigan the city is boring looking and segregated. There is next to no access to nature or national parks.

Then there is the weather sub-zero winters and summers where there are heat alerts because the temperature hits 105 and is humid.

So as a former Chicagoan myself, I personally cannot think of a reason to move back there. If you have to convince yourself than it is not the city for you. But since you asked about neighborhoods the near south side has been transformed in the last 15 years, new townhouse complexes and very modern and upscale.

x2 to both of these sentences. Born and raised in Chicago, think it's a beautiful city, but I moved away for a reason. The only thing I wish, is that I could take my family and friends with me. That part I miss like hell.

[vanilla123]

Originally Posted by wideworld

x2 to both of these sentences. Born and raised in Chicago, think it's a beautiful city, but I moved away for a reason. The only thing I wish, is that I could take my family and friends with me. That part I miss like hell.

I would also like to take the food with me. I really miss the food.