Foo - Chicago, whats it like?

I have never been to Chicago, but it looks like I'll be accepting a graduate position there. Any impressions of the city would be awesome. Explain why you like/dislike it.

Never been, but a friend of mine is from their and has major raves for the place. Besides, someplace known for their pizza can't be bad.

The place is huge. Not just big, but freaking huge.

And very flat. I also hear the weather is pretty harsh both in the summer and the winter, but it's always been pretty moderate when I've been in town.

The people I've met seem decent enough though.

And very flat. I also hear the weather is pretty harsh both in the summer and the winter, but it's always been pretty moderate when I've been in town.


Summers in Chicago are awesome. If you live near Lake Michigan, it's always about 5-10 degrees cooler in the summertime.

If you can live through a Chicago winter, the summers make it all worth while. Everyone is out and about, there are street festivals somewhere in a neighborhood throughout the summer, and it's just a wonderful time to live in the city.

I lived in the city for 5 years and the sheer availability of concerts, shows, restaurants, bars, museums, sporting events, etc., made it worth the extra rent and hassles with parking a car. I'd have ditched the car, had I not worked out in the 'burbs.

If you have a bike, Chicago is very ridable, given it's flat as a pancake, traffic goes about as fast as a bike anyway, and the lakefront path is there.

Summers in Chicago are awesome. If you live near Lake Michigan, it's always about 5-10 degrees cooler in the summertime.

If you can live through a Chicago winter, the summers make it all worth while. Everyone is out and about, there are street festivals somewhere in a neighborhood throughout the summer, and it's just a wonderful time to live in the city.

I lived in the city for 5 years and the sheer availability of concerts, shows, restaurants, bars, museums, sporting events, etc., made it worth the extra rent and hassles with parking a car. I'd have ditched the car, had I not worked out in the 'burbs.

If you have a bike, Chicago is very ridable, given it's flat as a pancake, traffic goes about as fast as a bike anyway, and the lakefront path is there.

What are the winters like? I grew up in Maine where winter starts at the end of October and ends around April with lots of snow and ice storms and it is never above freezing. Is Chicago much better than that?

Chicago , been there 2-3 times. It's the home of the nation's comedy school . A major theater town. Home of America's major cuisine schools. Great museums. Yet, I'd hate to be there in january.

If you can handle Maine, Chicago will be a piece of cake. Maybe two or three big snows in a winter in Chicago. It's cold from November until April, for sure, but nothing as bad as the Northeast.

People head up to Wisconsin and the upper peninsula of Michigan to do their snowmobiling and ice fishing.

I've been there a few times as a teenager and really liked the architecture downtown. The cultural life was a lot richer than Portland's (museums, concerts, operas, festivals, plays, you name it) and I very much enjoyed lake Michigan.
One thing that irritated me considerably was the traffic. If you travel from the suburbs, it can take forever! to get anywhere, and by the time we got there, all my enthusiasm had evaporated. That's just me, though, and as a graduate student I doubt you'll live too far from school.
I've never been there in winter but I have heard it's brutal. Still, if you're from Maine, you could probably handle it :)

Btw, out of curiosity, where would you be accepting a position, and in what field?

One thing that irritated me considerably was the traffic. If you travel from the suburbs, it can take forever! to get anywhere, and by the time we got there, all my enthusiasm had evaporated.

Yes. Traffic can be obnoxious, especially getting stuck on an expressway or tollway when it's not even rush hour.

Live as close to your work/school as you possibly can to preserve your sanity and get 2-3 hours a day of your life back.

Almost forgot the most important thing about Chicago: The Chicago-style Hot Dog. Check out this thread (http://bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=310997) in the Great Lake sub-forum.

It's vital to know this information!

I've been there a few times as a teenager and really liked the architecture downtown. The cultural life was a lot richer than Portland's (museums, concerts, operas, festivals, plays, you name it) and I very much enjoyed lake Michigan.
One thing that irritated me considerably was the traffic. If you travel from the suburbs, it can take forever! to get anywhere, and by the time we got there, all my enthusiasm had evaporated. That's just me, though, and as a graduate student I doubt you'll live too far from school.
I've never been there in winter but I have heard it's brutal. Still, if you're from Maine, you could probably handle it :)

Btw, out of curiosity, where would you be accepting a position, and in what field?

Economics at U of Chicago. Im not sure if I want to jump right into grad school after getting my bach. The other option is a stint in the Peace Corps then grad school.

i just got back from chicago last week. i went for a weekend with my wife. we hung out at the beach all day sunday, and it was incredible. i probably saw at least 100 triathletes training, and hundreds and hundreds of cyclists. don't know if i could stand the winter weather, but i will definitely go next summer! i loved it!

I like Chicago, for the most part....

There are some areas I don't, but that's life in the big city!;)

Fun town - and you don't have to drop major cash to have fun.
1. Excellent blues bars.
2. Bars stay open to 4 or 5am.
3. Outstanding restaurant scene both for haute cuisine and joe sixpack stuff.
4. Lake Michigan is perfect for sailing.
5. Living in town won't break the bank / you don't need a car.
6. Laughing at Cubs fans.
7. Diverse economy (good for getting jobs once you're out of school)

What SpongeDad said +1000. Chicago, Chicago... it's a great city.

How could I not love my city.

Chicago:
the best pizza on the planet.
beautiful lake.
beautiful skyline.
the supreme melting pot of cultures.

For tourists:
Great museum campus especially the Art Institute and the Shedd Aquarium
Millennium/Grant Park
Zoos (Lincoln Park and Brookfield)
Awesome lake front path
The Sears Tower and Hancock Observatory
North Ave. beach
Blues clubs on the north side such as the Green Mill
Music Venues
Water Tower
The Magnificent Mile (Michigan Ave.)
A great bike friendly city
Not one but two ball parks.
Summer and Winter Festivals

What can I say, Chicago is an amazing city. I would recommend anyone to come to Chicago.

I would recommend anyone to come to Chicago.I'll have to think about doing that one of these days...

:p

How could I not love my city.

Chicago:
the best pizza on the planet.
beautiful lake.
beautiful skyline.
the supreme melting pot of cultures.

For tourists:
Great museum campus especially the Art Institute and the Shedd Aquarium
Millennium/Grant Park
Zoos (Lincoln Park and Brookfield)
Awesome lake front path
The Sears Tower and Hancock Observatory
North Ave. beach
Blues clubs on the north side such as the Green Mill
Music Venues
Water Tower
The Magnificent Mile (Michigan Ave.)
A great bike friendly city
Not one but two ball parks.
Summer ad Winter Festivals

What can I say, Chicago is an amazing city. I would recommend anyone to come to Chicago.

You forgot one MAJOR excellent thing that Chicago has.........

Ms. Gio

Economics at U of Chicago. Im not sure if I want to jump right into grad school after getting my bach. The other option is a stint in the Peace Corps then grad school.

This is not first-hand knowledge, but just what I have heard: U of C and the immediately surrounding few blocks is a very pleasant oasis in the middle of a sea of sh*t, as in a pretty nasty area in all directions. If what I heard was true, there are two viable housing options in terms of safety: live right in Hyde Park (I thinks that's the name of the U of C neighborhood) or live a pretty good distance away and run the gauntlet to and from campus.

Can anyone out there confirm/refute this for the OP? I'd be delighted to be proven wrong about this, but it seems to me this is pretty important info to have.

Not one but two ball parks.
This is the first time I have ever heard a Chicagoan acknowledge that there are two ballparks, let alone two actual teams, in Chicagoland. More so even than Yankee and Met fans, Cub and White Sox fans I have known detest each other's team and would no more set foot willingly in each other's home park (except in the last few years for ChiN vs. ChiA inter-league games) than they would shove a red hot poker up their bungholes. In fact, I've known one or two who would go for the poker over the enemy's stadium without a second thought.

Fun town - and you don't have to drop major cash to have fun.

6. Laughing at Cubs fans.


if anything theyre laughing at you

Agree with CyLowe97 and ms. gio 100% ...I adore Chicago! I'm living 130 miles south of there now and get to the city as often as possible, but man o man do I miss living there!!

This is not first-hand knowledge, but just what I have heard: U of C and the immediately surrounding few blocks is a very pleasant oasis in the middle of a sea of sh*t, as in a pretty nasty area in all directions. If what I heard was true, there are two viable housing options in terms of safety: live right in Hyde Park (I thinks that's the name of the U of C neighborhood) or live a pretty good distance away and run the gauntlet to and from campus.

Can anyone out there confirm/refute this for the OP? I'd be delighted to be proven wrong about this, but it seems to me this is pretty important info to have.

Certainly true through the late '90s. Hyde Park (said oasis) has improved in recent years and the livable housing stock is broader but you're still surrounded by some pretty grinding poverty and crime on 3 sides (lake is on the 4th). I lived on the border back in '92 (goyz in the hood, as it were) and my downstairs neighbor was murdered while we slept.

I love Chicago, to visit... not sure I'd want to live there, though.

Economics at U of Chicago. Im not sure if I want to jump right into grad school after getting my bach. The other option is a stint in the Peace Corps then grad school.

Things have changed. Never would have expected a UofC econ grad to also think of the peace corp.

FYI- the doctoral program is really tough - not fake tough like professional school (JD,MD,MBA). The program is extremely focused on turning out the very best, prize winning young economists. Decades long PhD projects aren't rare and no one will care if you drop out. I wish I could show you pictures of the econ grads at the ceremony - they looked like they had been beaten on. But if you want to say you're the best of the best, it's a place where you can prove that claim against tough competition.

The terminal masters program is survivable if that's what you're interested in. Also, if you've got a poverty bent, the school of social work is pretty good on policy matters, so you might be able to take courses over there as well.

Not one but two ball parks.

Here's how to sound like a local regarding the ball park housing the White Sox.

Don't call it Comiskey. Don't call it US Cellular. Don't even call it The Cell.

Call it "Sox Park" and people will think you grew up loving the South Side Hitmen.


This is the first time I have ever heard a Chicagoan acknowledge that there are two ballparks, let alone two actual teams, in Chicagoland. More so even than Yankee and Met fans, Cub and White Sox fans I have known detest each other's team and would no more set foot willingly in each other's home park (except in the last few years for ChiN vs. ChiA inter-league games) than they would shove a red hot poker up their bungholes. In fact, I've known one or two who would go for the poker over the enemy's stadium without a second thought.
I have found this to be pretty much bunk. Sox fans and Cubs fans co-exist peacefully for the most part. There is a small minority of Sox fans who are just as tough on loving their team as they are on hating the Cubs. Cubs fans are pitied by everyone for the most part, so it's hard to fight with them too much.

However, it would seem that growing up in the area you'd better prefer one over the other. That's why I'm letting my wife teach our girls to be Sox fans, even though I'm dyed in the wool Cardinal fan in the area.

The downstate Cub/Cards feuds are worse than the intra-city Sox/Cubs feuds.

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Certainly true through the late '90s. Hyde Park (said oasis) has improved in recent years and the livable housing stock is broader but you're still surrounded by some pretty grinding poverty and crime on 3 sides (lake is on the 4th). I lived on the border back in '92 (goyz in the hood, as it were) and my downstairs neighbor was murdered while we slept.

I've lived in Hyde Park for the last 5 years, and the neighborhood itself is really fine these days. Like everyone else has said, 3 of the 4 sides aren't so great, but the "oasis" isn't too small. You should feel pretty comfortable living anywhere between 47th and 60th streets, Cottage Grove and the lake. Some pockets within that are better than others, but students are everywhere in those boundaries. (And that isn't to say that stepping beyond those is going to somehow get you automatically mugged -- I've biked from Hyde Park to US Cellular field, on 35th street, many times without a problem -- just that it's not the best neighborhood.)

Of course, if you're a biker, you might want to live as close as possible to the lake. The south side parts of the lake shore path can be really quite good. (But if you're in the Econ department, you might never have a chance to get out! ;))

I don't know if i'd call it heaven on earth but it's the closest option on the board. Chicago is truly an awesome place that is vastly underrated.

Here's a photo I took yesterday when I was standing on the corner, eating and people watching.

http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j295/myownfanclub/DSC_0070.jpg

Then I went to Border's and saw a couple looking at "my book." I photographed a book of Chicago a few years ago and there was a couple from Italy looking at it. :bragging: That made my whole day.

I love Chicago. If I'm lucky, I'll die here. If I'm really lucky, it won't be very soon.

Thanks for all the wonderful information guys. Definitly makes me feel a little bit better about leaving the North East.



Things have changed. Never would have expected a UofC econ grad to also think of the peace corp.

FYI- the doctoral program is really tough - not fake tough like professional school (JD,MD,MBA). The program is extremely focused on turning out the very best, prize winning young economists. Decades long PhD projects aren't rare and no one will care if you drop out. I wish I could show you pictures of the econ grads at the ceremony - they looked like they had been beaten on. But if you want to say you're the best of the best, it's a place where you can prove that claim against tough competition.

The terminal masters program is survivable if that's what you're interested in. Also, if you've got a poverty bent, the school of social work is pretty good on policy matters, so you might be able to take courses over there as well.

Yeah I dont think I am going to get my PhD. From an economic view point, the opportunity cost is just too high :rolleyes: I probably will be doing the peace corps after my undergrad to unwind.

I honestly didn't read the original post fully. At your age, (assuming your in your mid 20's)...you should love the place.

i hate illinisians theyre all stuck up bit**es

It's like a habenero enema.

Reminds me of an ex. So, I'm not crazy about the place.

How can you not like Chicago?
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i hate illinisians theyre all stuck up bit**es

:rolleyes:

i hate illinisians theyre all stuck up bit**es:rolleyes: Thanks Foo Rat.