Is there a catch with Chicago? (Oak Park, Lincoln: apartments, condo, townhome)

[Attrill]

Originally Posted by marothisu

True, but what I meant was based on perception.

Agreed about the perception. I thought the winters would be worse when I moved here from Boston, but there's just less snow.

I do think weather doesn't necessarily play that big a role in the cost of living - pretty much every Sun Belt city is cheaper than Chicago. SoCal is the only area I can think of with warmer weather that is more expensive.

[OleSchoolFool]

Originally Posted by marothisu

I think a lot of it has to do with perception and some has to do with location.

1. Crime. People think the city is one of the most dangerous cities EVERYWHERE. Yeah it can be dangerous obviously but many areas of Chicago are relatively safe.

2. Cold weather. The media has you believe it's the coldest city on earth. It's cold, but not even the coldest in the US. Many people live in Chicago from around the world originally from areas that are hotter than say...Florida, Arizona, or New Mexico (or just as hot).

3. Proximity to other cities. Chicago is close to Minneapolis, Milwaukee, Indianapolis, Madison, Detroit, Columbus, and Cleveland. NYC is close to Philadelphia, Boston, Baltimore, DC, Providence, Pittsburgh, etc. The cities NYC is close to are perceived as "cooler" than the ones Chicago is close to.

and possibly
4. Multicultural. I have run into people who actually think Chicago is not that multicultural. It is, as we all know.


I think a lot has to do with bad PR and stuff like that, honestly.

Good points. For me, I dont care bout neither crime, coming dirty jerzey, nor bout the cold, comin from russia. Other cities is wateva and kinda overrated cuz its good to jus live in yo own adequate city that offers enuff cuz unless ur a bonafide traveler, u not gon vist them all dat much. I mean, I kinda kno cuz I live here. I visited DC and Philly not long ago for the first time jus to check em out, and its all good, but its wateva, cuz Im not gon visit em for yrs now, and thats pretty typical for people who live here so when its that rare, u might as well fly, if u need to. I don kno anyone here that takes frequent trips to those other "cool" cities, unless its for work.
In regards to crime, I agree its taken outta proportion. I was lookin at a buncha lists and not one mentioned Chicago as one of the top dangerous cities, and many big cities have worse crime. I don't kno how accurate is this one, but it mentions Indy lol someone needs to call dat broad guy The 25 Most Dangerous Cities In America - Business Insider

[knitgirl]

Originally Posted by Attrill

Agreed about the perception. I thought the winters would be worse when I moved here from Boston, but there's just less snow.

I do think weather doesn't necessarily play that big a role in the cost of living - pretty much every Sun Belt city is cheaper than Chicago. SoCal is the only area I can think of with warmer weather that is more expensive.

And San Francisco, San Diego...

[OleSchoolFool]

Originally Posted by Attrill

I think prices are lower in Chicago for a few reasons. One is that there isn't a large high paying industry to drive the top end of the market - i.e. finance in NYC, lobbyist/government in DC, tech in SF, and entertainment in LA. There's also just more land available, the highest priced cities all have some geographical feature that limits them. I don't think it has much to do with weather, otherwise cities like NYC, London, Moscow, Oslo and others wouldn't be among the priciest in the world.

u mean theres less rich people so the prices are lower cuz less people can afford expensive housing?

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by Attrill

I do think weather doesn't necessarily play that big a role in the cost of living - pretty much every Sun Belt city is cheaper than Chicago. SoCal is the only area I can think of with warmer weather that is more expensive.

You do have a point with this. For cities at least, I think part of it has to do with the cost of owning a car, which depending on if you own it or not, can be not cheap every month. Yeah sure, Houston's rent is cheaper than Chicago's, but when you figure in day to day transportation costs, they're much more equal than people think.

But yes, you do have a valid point.

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by FAReastcoast

I guess I just see that as reporting the weather, nothing out of the ordinary. I found winters in Chicago to be pretty damn cold but the summers are great.

Sure, but you are smart with that. A lot of people, when they see anything, will just make assumptions. I even ran into some people from Connecticut last month who basically told me they thought snow was a normal thing to see in Minnesota even in June. Even though there's almost never been any snow in June in Minnesota, people see what they want to see and make wild assumptions.

I think for people adverse to cold weather, they stay away from the midwest and much of the northeast.

[chet everett]

If you have a job Chicago is a very pleasant place to live. The weather is of course nothing like that in a Sunbelt city and tends to be exaggerated comically even by local weather reporters who seem to foster some "apocalyptic" view of winter storms. Perhaps they are jealosu of collegaues that lash themselves to the roof of the stationn in the face of a hurricane or park the mobile cam van in the middle of a wildfire...

There are much more pleasant climates in cities not much north / south that are moderated by their seaside location -- Vancouver and NYC are prime examples of that...

The negative effects of the unresolved state and local financial issues remain a drag on job creation, and likely will hamper wage growth even if some "fix" is cooked up by lawmakers who will likely NOT shortchange themselves in creating thier own pension payout and instead will stick it to regular tax payers and the firms that employ them.

The long term effects of not addressing failing urban schools has also created a level of violence and dysfunction that creates deep divides between the haves and have nots -- probably the worst of any such gulf in so large a modern city. The corrosive effects of continuing to allow this problems to fester will have negative spill overs in the rising costs of crime and resultng negative press coverage that the region suffers from...

[OleSchoolFool]

Originally Posted by chet everett

If you have a job Chicago is a very pleasant place to live. The weather is of course nothing like that in a Sunbelt city and tends to be exaggerated comically even by local weather reporters who seem to foster some "apocalyptic" view of winter storms. Perhaps they are jealosu of collegaues that lash themselves to the roof of the stationn in the face of a hurricane or park the mobile cam van in the middle of a wildfire...

There are much more pleasant climates in cities not much north / south that are moderated by their seaside location -- Vancouver and NYC are prime examples of that...

The negative effects of the unresolved state and local financial issues remain a drag on job creation, and likely will hamper wage growth even if some "fix" is cooked up by lawmakers who will likely NOT shortchange themselves in creating thier own pension payout and instead will stick it to regular tax payers and the firms that employ them.

The long term effects of not addressing failing urban schools has also created a level of violence and dysfunction that creates deep divides between the haves and have nots -- probably the worst of any such gulf in so large a modern city. The corrosive effects of continuing to allow this problems to fester will have negative spill overs in the rising costs of crime and resultng negative press coverage that the region suffers from...

but thas pretty much in ery big city, including nyc

[linicx]

Snow in the SW mountains and snow in Chicago is worlds apart. It can be the same ambient air temperature yet the mountain air is drier and feels warmer. Illinois winters generally feel colder due to humidity.

Illinois is a heavily populated humid state nearly surrounded by water, divided by the longest and larger river in the state, and has miles upon boring miles of humidity producing corn. It's home to about 13,000 acres of wetlands wildlife refuge plus many ponds, streams. lakes and small rivers located throughout the state. As near as I can tell every one of them flooded. If nothing else, (more rain is predicted for tomorrow and Tuesday) unless it is a cool summer, Illinois will be a natural sauna - which is more rare than common.

[chet everett]

Originally Posted by OleSchoolFool

but thas pretty much in ery big city, including nyc

The structure of everything from the freeways, rail lines, commercial zones, parks, entertainment areas and business districts of Chicago is decidedly different in Chicago because of historic association with one part of town or another getting a raw deal. No doubt parts of NYC were shaped by such forces but the degree to which the geography itself shaped some of those things seems at least a little more logical than the more poltically motivated choices that Chicago has been saddled with.

Some of the poltical balance that exisits in NYC is also due to its structure of at least having the various borough organizations have some say in overall policy and some give and take that happens with political units that are designed to share power (like the Port Authority). In Chicago the concentration of power is far more extreme with the state's perverse constitution allowing for nearly unlimited ability of "home rule" communities to "write their own laws" and thus when the leadership in Chicago acts it answers to no one. So it is written so shall it be...

The lack of any oversight allows the mayor great latitude as important institutions like CTA, Park Distruct and Chicago Public Schools have no elected boards / leaders, merely appointees that serve at the perogative of the mayor. Himself...

The relative level of control might lead one to believe that some greater degree of responsbility would also follow however histroy shows that Illinois uniquely opague campaign laws make it especially easy for politicians to raise and spend such funds even in support /against others in lower office that would otherwise be tempted to mount a challenge to them. With no limits on their ability to use these war chests to create an image that pleases low information voters and no term limitis it is nearly impossible for such elected leaders to ever be turned out.