Chicago vs. Boston (better, largest, compare, population)

[Turnerbro]

Boston has a nicer surrounding area but Chicago has a better food scene. I do like the architecture in Boston but Chicago has more of a big city feel. I think I would pick Boston but barely.

[mwj119]

Originally Posted by Turnerbro

Boston has a nicer surrounding area but Chicago has a better food scene. I do like the architecture in Boston but Chicago has more of a big city feel. I think I would pick Boston but barely.

Chicago is the more complete city.

Massachusetts is the more complete State.

Why'd you bring this one back up Turnerbro? This was already a gloves off contest in 2019 that turned into a marathon debate.

[masssachoicetts]

My two favorite big cities. I love them both.

[lrfox]

I looked at my initial post from 3 years ago and I stand by it. Chicago is objectively the better city (especially based on the OP's criteria, but I think it is in a broader sense too), but I personally prefer Boston for my own wants/needs (proximity to the ocean/mountains, close to family/friends, Goldilocks size as far as I'm concerned, etc.). Chicago remains on the short list of cities I'd consider for voluntary relocation.

[CamThomas]

I didn't vote because I couldn't. Too hard of a choice.

[personone]

Agree with the other posters that it was a little weird that this thread was resurrected. Both are awesome cities in their respective regions that do what they do well.

[Turnerbro]

Originally Posted by mwj119

Chicago is the more complete city.

Massachusetts is the more complete State.

Why'd you bring this one back up Turnerbro? This was already a gloves off contest in 2019 that turned into a marathon debate.

I thought about making a poll for these two cities but I figured one already existed.

[lair8]

Good parts of Chicago > Good parts of Boston


Bad parts of Boston > Bad parts of Chicago

[columbusboy8]

Originally Posted by Turnerbro

Boston has a nicer surrounding area but Chicago has a better food scene. I do like the architecture in Boston but Chicago has more of a big city feel. I think I would pick Boston but barely.

Boston has better baked beans, creme pies, and lobster dishes. Chicago has better pizza.

[odurandina]

Originally Posted by masssachoicetts

My two favorite big cities. I love them both.

i'm a huge advocate for highrise residential construction to produce a high number
of affordable/ reduced income housing supply.

Every neighborhood in every city has a magic number that produces the largest net
profit for the developer while acting in the interest of the Greater Good
for producing the most affordable units at the outset +
tax revenue to produce X number of units in some number of years.

1 fine example, Seattle: seems to be knocking it out of the park.
Seattle seems to find the correct number to be somewhere between 30 and 44 floors,
*as a common range of height for one distant observer.

Chicago has been a star for decades.
i haven't taken a deep dive into the numbers in a few years.
But, the Boston metro inside of 128 compares favorably to the Windy City in class a/b office/lab.

However, Boston is badly underserved on highrises and, especially residential highrise construction,
and with about 3 score labs and academic lab/hybrids going up,
the office/lab: residential highrise distortion continues to get worse.
The future looks morbid. And no City planners seem keen to address this woeful situation.

i tend to think of Chicago and Philly as being similar insofar as [high population vs total office space]. but Chicago is insanely well-served in residential highrises in the Miracle Mile +++ and Lakeshore.
and.... like NYC, Miami, SF & Seattle--is vastly outpacing Boston,
and it's getting worse every year (for Boston).