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1. Dissimilarity index of blacks & whites in city of Chicago: 87.3
Washington, D.C.: 81.5
Yes, both are highly segregated, but Chicago is numerically more so.
3. Umm, that little NPR story could have been told about
West Lincoln Park
West Lakeview
Roscoe Village
Wicker Park
Bucktown
Logan Square
East Pilsen
Pilsen
Humboldt Park
Noble Square
East Village
West Town
Avondale
University Village
Uptown
Albany Park
much of Rogers Park
and probably a bunch of suburbs of Chicago as well, like Berwyn or Forest Park.
Almost half of the "nice" parts of Chicago were
4. I survived 13 years of Chicago winters, bike commuting at least once a week every single week, and I'm glad I did: builds character. However, you absolutely cannot compare winter here to there. I used to wear two pairs of socks and then two pairs of shoes over them, just to get to work, for 2-3 months out of the year. I'm looking at a box filled with fleece & wool socks right now, which I haven't even opened in three winters. Hey, perhaps you want them?
Citing information about Gini coefficients for metropolitan areas does not really address a poster's comment about income disparities within DC itself. The comparatively low Gini coefficient for the region reflects the fact that most of the region's population lies outside DC proper, and that the bulk of the region's population has solid, well-paying jobs.
Chicago > DC by a mile -- all except for jobs. There is no comparison, the architecture -- the people, the food, everything is better.
Chicago is very good. But just the fact that Washington, D.C. is close to New York City/New Jersey/Philadelphia makes living here preferable to me. I identify with the east coast much more than any other region in the United States and I know a lot more people all over here.
And yes, the plentiful high-paying jobs are a nice perk of the D.C. area too. I enjoy living in the highest income region in the nation.
Overreacting. This summer for example with the exception of on really hot week, it's been in the high 70's and low 80's almost everyday. Chicago has one of the best summer's. Also the winter's are not that brutal either. Yeah it can get cold, but it's not bad. I mean almost 10 million people live in the area, if it was THAT bad and that horrible like you are making it out to be I don't think as many people would be living in the area. You make it seem like Chicago is in Alaska in the winter and Texas in the summer!
Yes they would. Some people don't mind the cold. 34 Million people live above it in Canada which is even colder. I would never want to live in a place as cold as Chicago. Some people like the cold though.
Overreacting. This summer for example with the exception of on really hot week, it's been in the high 70's and low 80's almost everyday. Chicago has one of the best summer's. Also the winter's are not that brutal either. Yeah it can get cold, but it's not bad. I mean almost 10 million people live in the area, if it was THAT bad and that horrible like you are making it out to be I don't think as many people would be living in the area. You make it seem like Chicago is in Alaska in the winter and Texas in the summer!
I was in Chicago during winter. When you are not use to that weather, it can be brutal.
I'm not going to debate observations of/opinions about segregation and oppression here on this forum. But to clarify my statement above, in my experience, while DC (proper) definitely is not one big happy family and definitely is segregated in spots (and definitely has been segregated historically), in my experience, the current DC segregation does not compare to the current situation in midwestern cities such as Chicago (or Detroit or St. Louis). It just doesn't. That's a GOOD thing for DC. Do we have room for improvement? Absolutely. But Chi-town has got some hard core segregation that has been going on for many generations, which doesn't seem to be changing anytime soon. It goes neighborhood by neighborhood. Same thing goes on in Detroit and St. Louis; the situation is probably more acute in those cities.
And while it does get cold in DC, and we do have the occasional blizzard, once again, our winters -- year by year -- do not compare to those in Chicago. And, Chicago has had some very oppressive summers too. Again, I'm speaking from personal experience. I think most folks who are from the DMV would not be able to tolerate living in a Chicago-type of climate year after year. Definitely something you have to suck up and get used to (as well as driving in the snow all of the time)!
I don't think I've heard anyone say Chicago of all places has oppressive summers. Maybe someone from Sweden? It has heat waves every once in awhile, but otherwise the average high is low to mid 80's.
Winter sucks, but you just get use to it. I actually love cold weather, so I don't mind the winter. I think it's a big shock for people who never lived with winter, but I've noticed anyone in Chicago who grew up in the Midwest doesn't really notice it as much. It can be 10 degrees outside and I take the train into work and then walk a few blocks and only 4-5 days a year do I REALLY notice it. You just dress for the weather. It's hell on earth outside but no one at work mentions anything because it's Chicago. It's winter. Complaining does no good except to get look from people "well what the hell were you expecting!?". Can't do anything about it. People say things like "weeks on end below zero". The city averages 1 day or so a year below zero.
I wouldn't say driving in the snow "all the time". It snows 10" or more once every 10 years or so on average, and I think the numbers were a 4" snow 3-4 times a year. The snow gets overblown, because the big storms get the news, but on average it will only snow once every few weeks in the city where you actually have to pay any attention to it. Then it's all cleaned up within hours.
Segregation tends to be much much more pronouced in the black neighborhoods on the west/south sides than the north side/dense areas of the city. Lakeview and Lincoln Park are each only around 20% minority in regards to residents, but as they're some of the densest areas with tons of ammenities and transit, retail, services, etc. you see all walks at all times. I totally agree the city is segregated, but just because people tend to live in certain areas means nothing about people traveling around the city all the time, workers, shoppers, utility people, retail clerks, etc. Downtown is a huge mesh of everyone as well as most of the dense and stable areas of the city. Areas I see with the most overall segregation are the quiet areas to the northwest/southwest sides of the city, and the most impoverished/black/hispanic areas to the west and south. Anyway, rambling, just saying it's definitely segregated, but it's not like you're going to walk around and only see ONE race around you as you go about your life. The neighborhoods are right up against each other and there aren't any walls or fences keep people from mixing.
hey, Chicago in the 70s and 80s had some brutal winters. There were some hot summers (in old buildings with no air conditioning) too. I stand by my posts. Have fun in Chicago!
The evidence suggests that you're wrong. DC consistently ranks among the happiest metro areas in the country in polls. You might not like living here, but in general people do.
This is a broad brush statement. Most people move to DC for work. DC is not like NYC, SF, L.A. or Miami where people actually dream of moving there. Never forget that. I can't imagine why someone would want to move to DC for any other reason than work. People move to NYC because of the excitement and endless cultural offerings of NYC. NYC is the fashion capital. The streets of NYC are paved with beautiful women. There are endless amounts of wining, dining and entertainment options for every type of person in NYC. SF has year round mild to cool weather, easy access to some of the best weed on the planet and some of the most beautiful scenery in the world. L.A. is where budding actresses, actors, entertainers and models go to barely scrape by just to have a shot of their dream of making it big in show business. Miami is the ultimate party town known for its drop dead gorgeous curvy women, year round warm weather and beach scene. DC? DC is frumpy boring middle class folks who act like they are millionaires with stank uptight pretentious attitudes. DC is bad traffic and a high cost of living with no exciting culture to back it up. Despite gentrification, DC also is more ghetto as a whole and has more violent crime per capita than NYC, SF, L.A. and Miami.
And no, DC has also made the most miserable cities lists in recent years:
Cohesively, DC has been called one of America's ugliest cities in terms of people. A huge percentage of people who live and work in DC look ten years older than their actual age because the soulless work-hard, play-hard, judge everybody at all-times and be a "professional" robot culture in DC wears people down:
DC also is abysmal for dating because frumpy women think they are God's gift to men because of their college degrees and boring stable middle class jobs. Most men and women have nothing nice to say about the dating scene in DC. Every other thread on the DC forum is about how DC dating sucks and it is always defended by the same handful of default boosters. DC dating is only good if you are rich privileged trustfund baby white guy or an extremely ghetto black guy who dates within his own race. DC has been rated as one of the worst cities to start a relationship. The extremely transient nature of DC doesn't help:
The DC area is also one of the most strictly socially stratified and segregated metro areas of the country. In DC, you will always know your place based on your skin color, education level and income:
Last edited by LunaticVillage; 01-10-2015 at 11:34 PM..
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Maybe someone from Sweden? It has heat waves every once in awhile, but otherwise the average high is low to mid 80's.
I can't imagine why someone would want to move to DC for any other reason than work. 
People move to NYC because of the excitement and endless cultural offerings of NYC. NYC is the fashion capital. The streets of NYC are paved with beautiful women. There are endless amounts of wining, dining and entertainment options for every type of person in NYC. SF has year round mild to cool weather, easy access to some of the best weed on the planet and some of the most beautiful scenery in the world. L.A. is where budding actresses, actors, entertainers and models go to barely scrape by just to have a shot of their dream of making it big in show business. Miami is the ultimate party town known for its drop dead gorgeous curvy women, year round warm weather and beach scene. DC? DC is frumpy boring middle class folks who act like they are millionaires with stank uptight pretentious attitudes. DC is bad traffic and a high cost of living with no exciting culture to back it up. Despite gentrification, DC also is more ghetto as a whole and has more violent crime per capita than NYC, SF, L.A. and Miami.
