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I'm curious. What type of areas were you hanging out in NYC or what type of areas do you like? Trying to see what the parallels in Chicago would be for that.
I hung out in Park Slope, Bushwick, Williamsburg, Carroll Gardens, Lower East Side and East Village. But mainly the ones in Brooklyn. The closest I came to making friends was in Williamsburg and Park Slope (met people from New Jersey, Long Island, Rhode Island), but even those were to no avail.
I hung out in Park Slope, Bushwick, Williamsburg, Carroll Gardens, Lower East Side and East Village. But mainly the ones in Brooklyn. The closest I came to making friends was in Williamsburg and Park Slope (met people from New Jersey, Long Island, Rhode Island), but even those were to no avail.
The closest parallels to those areas in Chicago would be ones like Wicker Park, Logan Square, Pilsen, parts of Avondale, parts of Ukrainian Village, parts of West Loop, and maybe even parts of areas like Rogers Park or Uptown.
Areas in both of these places will attract kind of similar minded people to an extent. I never lived in these areas in Chicago but hung out in them a lot. I like these areas in both these cities a bit. You'll get elitists for sure in both, though just my own personal experience I'd say Chicago has more down to earth people on average in both but not too some shocking difference.
It's of course hard to say for me which place is easier or hard to make friends in, but I totally understand where you are coming from.
Well, I worry that Chicago will be too much of a stressful hard city and chew me up and spit me out, BUT I don't see Portland being like that.
Your criteria, as you have laid most them out, are markedly in Chicago’s favor. And keep in mind that Portland isn’t all hippy dippy granola as it’s made out to be in something like Portlandia. Housing market there can be brutal, summers are trending to hotter, it’s becoming less unique and more glass high rise, etc. But again, most of your criteria would lean towards Chicago, which is definitely more cosmopolitan and way better on the public transit front and arguably less expensive despite being the much more major metro area.
I've lived in both NYC and Chicago. Chicago for me was much more relaxed. There are aspects that could be less relaxed than Portland of course, but for a big city Chicago is more relaxed than most people realize. It's a nice in between and utterly depends on your lifestyle IMO. i miss the summers especially as most everyday I felt like I was on vacation while living in Chicago. Can't say that about here in NYC or even close. If you work in a faster paced industry, then maybe you'll feel it more. Otherwise, I wouldn't worry a ton. It's less relaxed than the West coast, but definitely more relaxed than NYC.
Chicago for the most part is pretty down to earth. I find the people for the most part pretty nice. However, it's also honest, so if you can't handle honesty then you may have troubles sometimes with that aspect. I have a friend who lived in LA before Chicagoand he couldn't get over the fact that people didn't bend over backwards for him in Chicago like tell him how attractive he is everyday like they did in LA (no joke).
Holy **** for real?! Lmao I'm from Chicago and I would have talked mad **** to him on a regular lol
Holy **** for real?! Lmao I'm from Chicago and I would have talked mad **** to him on a regular lol
For real. The funny thing is that his opinions of LA were based on a weird, small scene he was part of for a few years there that was not at all normal. He didn't realize this and it's funny as a lot of my family is born and raised LA and thought he was insane when I told them his thoughts about LA, LOL. He would tell me that his friends in LA would tell him he was beautiful multiple times a day, but he didn't get it a lot in Chicago. The guy would complain to me about the smallest things in Chicago like how he just expected to know about secret events, parties, etc in the city but at the time he didn't know many people - certainly nobody that would be in on these types of things. When I told him he's going to have to look for them himself instead, he'd just complain "Well in LA I'd just have people tell me every single day!" LOL
Eventually though he realized it was kind of a weird reality he was expecting, and started to realize he became too dependent on other peoples' opinions about him. I'd say Chicago changed him for the better, but it took awhile....felt like his psychiatrist for a bit every once in awhile.
For real. The funny thing is that his opinions of LA were based on a weird, small scene he was part of for a few years there that was not at all normal. He didn't realize this and it's funny as a lot of my family is born and raised LA and thought he was insane when I told them his thoughts about LA, LOL. He would tell me that his friends in LA would tell him he was beautiful multiple times a day, but he didn't get it a lot in Chicago. The guy would complain to me about the smallest things in Chicago like how he just expected to know about secret events, parties, etc in the city but at the time he didn't know many people - certainly nobody that would be in on these types of things. When I told him he's going to have to look for them himself instead, he'd just complain "Well in LA I'd just have people tell me every single day!" LOL
Eventually though he realized it was kind of a weird reality he was expecting, and started to realize he became too dependent on other peoples' opinions about him. I'd say Chicago changed him for the better, but it took awhile....felt like his psychiatrist for a bit every once in awhile.
How bizzare lol but yes I bet people here in Chicago wasn't feeling attitude and brought him down to earth really quick lmao
So people in LA are nicer than people in Chicago? I would think it's the opposite. Also, easiness to make friends in the city is a big factor to me, so if people in Chicago aren't nice then eh I don't know.
I grew up in the LA area (OC) and now live in Chicago. LA certainly has nice people, but the people in Chicago are more real in my opinion. No problem making friends in Chicago for me, although I am fairly extroverted.
When I went to Portland, I just was less impressed than I thought I would be. I don't know what I was picturing, but maybe my expectations were just out of wack. I liked the hills and the park (Washington Park?) but downtown was underwhelming, except for all the bikes on the road.
How bizzare lol but yes I bet people here in Chicago wasn't feeling attitude and brought him down to earth really quick lmao
They weren't mean to him about it, but they didn't give into his crap either and also tried to tell him how things in the real world work. The funny thing is that one of his friends from LA came to visit and was shocked that the person helping at Bloomingdales only offered water, because in LA he would have also been offered champagne and food (before buying anything). My friend actually changed so much that he told his friend that it's not normal and LA is weird.
I grew up in the LA area (OC) and now live in Chicago. LA certainly has nice people, but the people in Chicago are more real in my opinion. No problem making friends in Chicago for me, although I am fairly extroverted.
When I went to Portland, I just was less impressed than I thought I would be. I don't know what I was picturing, but maybe my expectations were just out of wack. I liked the hills and the park (Washington Park?) but downtown was underwhelming, except for all the bikes on the road.
LA is nice to your face, but friendships are shallow. Chicago is more like the Northeast. If you're out of line or annoying or just being a terrible person, you'll be told you are. LA will just tell everyone else how you're acting and they'll be nice to your face but they won't be your true friend. So it's up to you. If you'd rather have someone tell you you're beautiful every day (LOL), LA and the West Coast as a whole is better for that. If you'd rather have someone tell you to stop being annoying and fix your face because they like you want to stay friends, Chicago is better for that. I prefer people being honest with me and telling me what's wrong with me over people just trying to make me feel good when they don't actually like me.
^ well someone telling you to fix your face would be a bit rude, but in my friends case it was me and another one of my friends telling him to stop expecting people to tell him he's beautiful everyday lol. I don't think most in Chicago would have told him to fix his face, but I think my reaction in telling him to stop expecting it is more of the realness you'd get in Chicago.
It is more like the NE in that it doesn't put up with fake people. People who are full of crap do not make it as far, similar to NYC in that regard.
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