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The only reason why anyone would say LA is better than Chicago is the fact that it doesn't have a winter. Honestly though, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Baltimore seem like bigger and better cities than LA. When put in comparison to Chicago, LA looks like just another sprawling sunbelt city, Even though it's no where near as bad Charlotte or Phoenix.
- (Economy) The nearly 5 million strong work force produces an annual GDP of 700+ billion dollars of production. Chicago is the third most important economical city in the USA and the Fifth greatest globally. Over 30+ companies in the Forbes 500 are located in the Chicagoland area.
- (Education) The university of Chicago is often considered the third best university globally. Northwestern university is regularly ranked in the top ten Globally. Saint Xavier University has the best RN Nursing school in the country. Loyola University is regularly ranked in the top 100 best universities in the nation. The University of Illinois-Chicago is regularly ranked in the top 100 universities in the nation, and is classified as a "Highest Research" institution. DePaul university is the largest Private Catholic university in the nation, and is nationally ranked in the top 150 best universities in the country. Northern Illinois university (NIU) has an excellent Athletics Department, and competes at the highest level of football (FBS) and regularly plays in bowl games. At the high school level Mount Carmel on the Southside of Chicago is one of the most storied in the nation. Mount Carmel high school has Alumni that have won all four of the major league championships, (Super Bowl, World Series, Stanley Cup, and the NBA World Title) Mount Carmel has also had several Olympic athletes.
- (Medical) Chicago has some of the most world renowned Hospitals. Both Northwestern hospital and the University of Chicago Medical Center are ranked in the top ten globally and have the best "Trauma & Critical Care" treatment worldwide. Loyola Hospital is also highly regarded as leading an excellent teaching hospital.
- (Politics) The City of Chicago is a stronghold of the Democratic Party and has earned some nicknames such as the "Chicago Machine" and the " Windy City" due to this fact. Politicians such as Barack Obama, Rahm Emmanuel, Bernie Sanders, and David Axelrod owe the beginning of their political careers to Chicago.
- (Entertainment) Even-though most of the Entertainment Industry is based in LA and NYC, the city of Chicago was once where Playboy Magazines & Media were produced. A near endless list of icons and celeberties got their start in Chicago. A lot of famous bands come from Chicago, like the Smashing Pumpkins, the band has sold over 40 million records.
- (Architecture) Chicago is the birthplace of the modern Skyscraper. Downtown Chicago has some of the tallest buildings in the world. Chicago has over 1,300 high-rises and only NYC has more in the USA with some 6,000 high-rises. Chicago still rivals NYC, Seattle, Toronto, Shanghai, Tokyo, and even Hong Kong in splendor, beauty, and size. Also, some of the most unique art can be found in Chicago in its Museums and on the street in public street level art.
- (Religion) Chicagoland has a large Catholic population, but their are also a lot Protestants and Jews in the area as well. When the Iraq war turmoil boiled over the Assyrian Church of the East relocated its patriarch to Chicago, but now it has relocated back to Iraq due to growing dissatisfaction in the Church that it left Iraq. Their are also a lot of Muslims and Hindus in the Chicago area.
So, what do you think?
So economically, the city is on the brink of bankruptcy. The public sector is an absolute nightmare. As for your assertion regarding the private sector, major corporations have stunted Chicago growth IMO. There has been zero investment or idea generation, and it' caused the private sector to go stale. No tech, no biopharma, etc., industries that have been the biggest draw for the new-age workforce in the 21st century. To add to that, I don't expect that the Fortune 500 companies are thrilled with the current climate of Chicago, and fully expect the major corporation migration south to (continue to) hit Chicago.
As for education- Yes, some great Universities in Chicago, but no different than any other city, especially per capita. There are some great public school districts in Chicagoland, but the improper and lopsided funding to the top performing programs in the state leaves such a large % of districts scrambling. That's why you will continue to see Illinois as a second-tier public education state. Don't even get e started on the Chicago proper public schools.. They can't even keep the doors open because of the funding issues.
Medical is going to be the same as education. Minnesota, Massachusetts, Texas, D.C. all come to mind before Ilinois. Some great access to solid hospitals, but it's certainly not a tier 1 area.
Politics. They've produced some politicians, but the city is a mess. It's laughable.
Pound for pound, I think Chicago is the North American leader in entertainment. Such a good use of public space, waterfront, bars, restaraunts comedy clubs, music venues. Top flight.
^Same for architecture. It's kind of the hub, and to me, offers the nicest cityscape.
And i'm no sure what religion means. Most diverse? No, definitely not that.
All in all, Chicago is an American gem. If it can battle through the tough road ahead- population decline, public sector debacle, crime- it will most certainly stay that way. But, i'd never put it ahead of NYC, or even San Fran at this point. Maybe in a prior decade.
The only reason why anyone would say LA is better than Chicago is the fact that it doesn't have a winter. Honestly though, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Baltimore seem like bigger and better cities than LA. When put in comparison to Chicago, LA looks like just another sprawling sunbelt city, Even though it's no where near as bad Charlotte or Phoenix.
If you're talking about downtown urban cores, then your statement isn't completely true. LA looks and functions a bit differently from most other sunbelt cities because its downtown was actually quite large pre WWII suburbanization. While a lot of that was destroyed in the following decades, some of it was left intact (which is why LA has so many high-rise art deco structures) and the massive population boom and high housing prices have made infilling development very attractive so the urban core has gotten quite dense. By sunbelt standards, even LA's suburbs are quite dense in comparison though they often fall along that unhappy medium where it's too dense to be spacious and too sprawled to be convenient.
In fact, its urban core has the kind of population density that Philadelphia, SF, and Chicago has though a good deal of that urban form is still more car-oriented and the transit options are quite as good. Its urban core right now is at this point more bustling than Baltimore's at this point and it's arguably in the the tier of the other three mentioned.
That being said, my vote is for Chicago or Philadelphia.
The only reason why anyone would say LA is better than Chicago is the fact that it doesn't have a winter. Honestly though, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Baltimore seem like bigger and better cities than LA. When put in comparison to Chicago, LA looks like just another sprawling sunbelt city, Even though it's no where near as bad Charlotte or Phoenix.
The only reason why anyone would say LA is better than Chicago is the fact that it doesn't have a winter. Honestly though, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Baltimore seem like bigger and better cities than LA. When put in comparison to Chicago, LA looks like just another sprawling sunbelt city, Even though it's no where near as bad Charlotte or Phoenix.
Chicagoan here. Love my city and (though I plead prejudice here and unbridled bias) think it is the greatest US city . But "when put in comparison to Chicago, LA looks like just another sprawling sunbelt city", I say: NO WAY!!! LA comes across as the truly great, world class city that it is.
So economically, the city is on the brink of bankruptcy. The public sector is an absolute nightmare. As for your assertion regarding the private sector, major corporations have stunted Chicago growth IMO. There has been zero investment or idea generation, and it' caused the private sector to go stale. No tech, no biopharma, etc., industries that have been the biggest draw for the new-age workforce in the 21st century. To add to that, I don't expect that the Fortune 500 companies are thrilled with the current climate of Chicago, and fully expect the major corporation migration south to (continue to) hit Chicago.
As for education- Yes, some great Universities in Chicago, but no different than any other city, especially per capita. There are some great public school districts in Chicagoland, but the improper and lopsided funding to the top performing programs in the state leaves such a large % of districts scrambling. That's why you will continue to see Illinois as a second-tier public education state. Don't even get e started on the Chicago proper public schools.. They can't even keep the doors open because of the funding issues.
Medical is going to be the same as education. Minnesota, Massachusetts, Texas, D.C. all come to mind before Ilinois. Some great access to solid hospitals, but it's certainly not a tier 1 area.
Politics. They've produced some politicians, but the city is a mess. It's laughable.
Pound for pound, I think Chicago is the North American leader in entertainment. Such a good use of public space, waterfront, bars, restaraunts comedy clubs, music venues. Top flight.
^Same for architecture. It's kind of the hub, and to me, offers the nicest cityscape.
And i'm no sure what religion means. Most diverse? No, definitely not that.
All in all, Chicago is an American gem. If it can battle through the tough road ahead- population decline, public sector debacle, crime- it will most certainly stay that way. But, i'd never put it ahead of NYC, or even San Fran at this point. Maybe in a prior decade.
What corporations have migrated south? Chicago has been the top draw for corporate expansion in the last four years in America. Some great universities but not better than any other city? No 3 ranked U of Chicago, No. 12 ranked Northwestern and DePaul, IIT, Loyola, Coumbia, Roosevelt etc. Very few cities can match Chicago in this regard. Chicago's finances are better than they have been for a while. There is a building boom currently happening that fortifies public confidence in Chicago, and the city looks better than ever. Chicago has produced some politicians? I would take Chicago's production over New York's any day of the week.
What corporations have migrated south? Chicago has been the top draw for corporate expansion in the last four years in America.
It was a generic statement predicated around the idea that corporations are leaving north/west cities for southern sun and tax breaks. To be fair, it hasn't really hit Chicago like it has, say, California. But what major corporations are migrating to Chicago outside of the corporations that already lived in the Illinois suburbs?
The exodus specific to Chicago is actually in it's populations. While I do believe if you peel those numbers back, the exodus applies less to white collar and affluent folks, and more to those looking for more opportunity.. I'd say it's a direct reflection on the economic stand still.
Either way, where's the tech? Biopharma? It's a stale private sector, one that's been documented all over the place. Do you not agree that it's a problem?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Justabystander
Some great universities but not better than any other city? No 3 ranked U of Chicago, No. 12 ranked Northwestern and DePaul, IIT, Loyola, Coumbia, Roosevelt etc. Very few cities can match Chicago in this regard.
Boston has Harvard, MIT, BC, BU, Northeastern, Berklee, Bentley, Babson, Emerson, Suffolk.. And, well, a lot more.
How about greater DC? Johns Hopkins, Georgetown, University of Maryland come to mind.
How about New York? NYU, Columbia, Fordham, St. Johns, Hofstra.
LA? San Francisco Bay area?
Not sure I think of Chicago as a higher ed mecca compared to any other of equal or lesser size, but I do agree that there are some great universities. I certainly don't think the public education quality is doing very well with the exception of the New Triers/Hinsdales of the world, and I'd venture to say that the Illinois test scores would agree.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Justabystander
Chicago's finances are better than they have been for a while. There is a building boom currently happening that fortifies public confidence in Chicago, and the city looks better than ever.
I'm glad it's getting a vote of confidence from Chicagoans, but the city was on the verge of bankruptcy. Doing better than it has in a while doesn't really mean it's doing well. As of 2016, the MEABF reported a 5/15 assets to actuarially accrued liabilities ratio. Holy hell. How about the school closures and funding issues within the cities walls? Surely that tells a story about how uniquely screwed up the cities financials have become.
A building boom is happening in every single major city in the country. It's a familiarity complex that everyone seems to have about their respective cities when they see change. Compare the building boom to Dallas, Houston, New York.. No different anywhere.
Might I add, when we were getting ready to purchase in the suburbs north of Chicago, do you know what we realized? Housing prices had not yet reached their pre-crisis values. Where we purchased in Boston, that is simply not the case. They've sky rocketed well past their previous high. Nor is it the case in Seattle. Or San Fran. Or Houston, Dallas, Austin. Or any other localized economy offering a more diverse portfolio of verticals outside of Law and Finance.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Justabystander
Chicago has produced some politicians? I would take Chicago's production over New York's any day of the week.
What? How? Why?
Without doing a side by side list, NY has 7 presidents to Illinois 3. Illinois is influential, sure.. More than other cities? Not that I'm aware of.
Hopefully all of that political production and power can figure out their own city.
^This is all written by someone from Chicago, who loves the city^
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