How Can I Like Chicago? (Skokie, Lincoln: 2013, crime, homes)

[Drover]

So you basically spent an hour on the train looking at the backs of buildings and decided the city is decrepit?

Brilliant.

It goes without saying the built environment here is very different from any city in California. If it's not to your taste, then it's not to your taste. But riding on train lines that basically roll through the industrial parts of town and down alleyways is no way to judge a city.

[nikitakolata]

Originally Posted by Drover

So you basically spent an hour on the train looking at the backs of buildings and decided the city is decrepit?

Brilliant.

It goes without saying the built environment here is very different from any city in California. If it's not to your taste, then it's not to your taste. But riding on train lines that basically roll through the industrial parts of town and down alleyways is no way to judge a city.

Exactly the point I was trying to make, though Drover said it better.

OP, if you want to see well maintained yards and new roads and all that, then I really think the suburbs are a better fit. The architecture is less interesting by many standards, but it sounds like the cleanness is more important to you. I am somewhat the same way; while I appreciate the architectural beauty found in many Chicago neighborhoods, the unkempt yards really detract from things for me. I much prefer the downtown cores of the suburbs. If it wasn't so far from Chicago (my job) I would love to live in downtown Geneva. Downtown Naperville and Glen Ellyn (among many others) are also nice, IMO. You really should check some of the suburbs out, I think.

[Lookout Kid]

Skokie and the neighborhoods around Midway aren't exactly known for their physical beauty. Just sayin'!

Most people who compare Chicago to New York say that Chicago appears cleaner and better maintained. But no northern cold-climate city will have the lush landscaping and sunny look that California cities have. Though I find much of Los Angeles and cities like Fresno very depressing, so it's in the eye of the beholder, I guess.

[almost3am]

Originally Posted by MSchemist80

I felt the same way when I moved from N. Georgia back to Chicago and I lived here all my life except for 1 year. N. Georgia has beautiful forested hills and lovely farm lands, with well paved roads, and a much milder climate.

When I came back to Chicago all I saw was ugly broken up concrete roads, parking lots, and buildings with half dead grass. I wanted and really still do want to move back there but I am taking care of an ailing mother and there were no decent job prospects down there after I got laid off.

Yeah, I understand your point of view. My wife and I were driving on a recent trip in georgia and I said how beautiful it was and that it reminded me of parts of Wisconsin...she said she agreed (but more rolling) and we talked about how pretty things were...but then she said, "but I wouldn't want to live here." I agreed.

[almost3am]

Originally Posted by Lookout Kid

Skokie and the neighborhoods around Midway aren't exactly known for their physical beauty. Just sayin'!

Most people who compare Chicago to New York say that Chicago appears cleaner and better maintained. But no northern cold-climate city will have the lush landscaping and sunny look that California cities have. Though I find much of Los Angeles and cities like Fresno very depressing, so it's in the eye of the beholder, I guess.

I lived in SoCal for about a decade and loved my time there, but I personally don't find much beauty there unless I am at the ocean or in the mountains. The rest is visually pretty sad to me.

[AidanY]

Originally Posted by Lookout Kid

Skokie and the neighborhoods around Midway aren't exactly known for their physical beauty. Just sayin'!

Most people who compare Chicago to New York say that Chicago appears cleaner and better maintained. But no northern cold-climate city will have the lush landscaping and sunny look that California cities have. Though I find much of Los Angeles and cities like Fresno very depressing, so it's in the eye of the beholder, I guess.

I'm moving away from Socal, so no need to convince me LA is depressing. = ) Also, I don't really find Southern California very beautiful, but Northern certainly is.

[AidanY]

Originally Posted by Drover

So you basically spent an hour on the train looking at the backs of buildings and decided the city is decrepit?

Brilliant.

It goes without saying the built environment here is very different from any city in California. If it's not to your taste, then it's not to your taste. But riding on train lines that basically roll through the industrial parts of town and down alleyways is no way to judge a city.

Points taken, but I did spend a few days in Chicago and got around by train/bus and car. Granted not enough to make an accurate assessment, that's why I've taken to the forum so that people can fill in the gaps in my understanding of the city.

[Doglover5]

So your only real exposure to the city was walking around Navy Pier??

[Drover]

Originally Posted by Doglover5

So your only real exposure to the city was walking around Navy Pier??

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

Originally Posted by AidanY

Points taken, but I did spend a few days in Chicago and got around by train/bus and car. Granted not enough to make an accurate assessment, that's why I've taken to the forum so that people can fill in the gaps in my understanding of the city.

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.

[AidanY]

Originally Posted by Doglover5

So your only real exposure to the city was walking around Navy Pier??

You have very poor reading comprehension.