Chicago: Closer in stature to Boston or New York? (cost, live, state)

[thedirtypirate]

Originally Posted by mwj119

I just realized the OP specifically said metro level.

Chicagoland is - in every single possible way - More comparable to Greater Boston than NYC Metro. That’s in size, output, IP. You name it.

I’d assume most have been comparing cities alone, and although I still think Chicago skews more towards Boston than NYC, I understand the difference of opinion. Metro level? Come on now.

But Chicagoland is twice the size of Boston's MSA

[Bicala]

Originally Posted by thedirtypirate

But Chicagoland is twice the size of Boston's MSA

It's not a perfect comparison, by any means. Just because someone chose these cities to "compare", doesn't mean it has to make sense.

[Boston Shudra]

Originally Posted by thedirtypirate

But Chicagoland is twice the size of Boston's MSA

But still only a third of the way across the gap between Boston’s and NYC’s MSA.

And of course the metros are even closer/farther by CSA.

[btownboss4]

Originally Posted by mwj119

I just realized the OP specifically said metro level.

Chicagoland is - in every single possible way - More comparable to Greater Boston than NYC Metro. That’s in size, output, IP. You name it.

I’d assume most have been comparing cities alone, and although I still think Chicago skews more towards Boston than NYC, I understand the difference of opinion. Metro level? Come on now.

I think It’s peoples perception of cities are stuck in maybe 1997. (Lots of rust belt cities ride this wave) Where in the intervening 25 years Boston has made progress against pretty much every Northern city. In 1997 maybe you could make the argument. But since then Boston has grown faster and gained ground on Chicago, while Chicago has also lost ground relative to New York.

Today it’s a pretty hard argument Chicago is more like New York. Like in 2019 for all the talk about how the CTA is massive compared to the T. The L carried like 35,000 more people than the MBTA subway+Green Line

[mwj119]

Originally Posted by Boston Shudra

But still only a third of the way across the gap between Boston’s and NYC’s MSA.

And of course the metros are even closer/farther by CSA.

Bingo.

[missionhill]

Originally Posted by btownboss4

Plus Chicago’s core ~30 sq miles feels like a grand city. Newbury Street is quaint while Michigan Ave is Grand. The Boston Common is quaint. Grant Park feels Grand. I feel like in no point does Boston really feel like a massive world city, while Chicago does in places.

No question about that! Boston is intimate, Chicago is grand, metropolitan, awesome...

[mwj119]

Originally Posted by missionhill

No question about that! Boston is intimate, Chicago is grand, metropolitan, awesome...

Agreed. If we concentrated simply in the downtown areas of the three cities, I’d easily say downtown Chicago and surrounding neighborhoods are more similar to Manhattan, or even the bordering areas of Brooklyn. It’s not particularly close.

[Northeasterner1970]

Tough, I think numbers wise, Chicago is closer to Boston but in terms of actual feel, Chicago feels a lot more in the middle or perhaps close to NYC.

[odurandina]

^^yup,
for what the eye can see in a given moment, absolutely.

[jpdivola]

Originally Posted by Northeasterner1970

Tough, I think numbers wise, Chicago is closer to Boston but in terms of actual feel, Chicago feels a lot more in the middle or perhaps close to NYC.

Yes, in an abstract statistical sense Boston and Chicago are closer than NYC. But in practice, Chicago feels dramatically larger than Boston. They are clearly in different tiers.