My Experience - 9/8/2015
I have lived in Chicago for 14 years and Chicago has been good to me, but I am now looking to move. It is a big city so my experience is all I can offer. I am a 34 year old single female who has lived on the north side. Why do I want to move? 1) I will never be able to afford to buy a house here. I have been renting and working hard to pay my rent for years. Buying a home here is very expensive and not an option for me even though I pay $1000/month for a one bedroom apartment. 2) There is hardly any nature or outdoor activities. Yes, there is the lake which is jam packed with people and some forest preserves if you drive a bit, but on a daily basis all I see is concrete. It is the concrete city. Outdoor activities are street festivals. 3) The people are superficially friendly if you are in a setting to talk to them, they are not friendly on the street and from my experience almost everything revolves around alcohol. In 14 years I have managed to make 2 friends who are Read More

weather - 7/14/2015
Winter is too long and too cold. Not as bad as Wisconsin (Milwaukee is usually about 5 degrees colder) - by a few degrees, or Michigan (Ann Arbor or Dexter) but in the Read More

High Cost of Living - 3/5/2015
I am a 26 year old black male who was born on the south side of Chicago, and raised in the south suburbs of Chicago. I went away to school in Michigan for my undergraduate degree, but moved back to Chicago for employment. I currently am studying to obtain my Master's degree, and will be graduating in June of 2016. I have known Chicago my whole life, and it's time for me to make a change. Don't get me wrong, I love Chicago but the time to move is approaching.

Chicago has become too expensive to live in a good neighborhood, and even then there is still too much crime for my liking. I currently live in the South Loop, which many would consider a "good neighborhood." The rent for a 1 bedroom in the South Loop is $1450 or above. That is ridiculous if you ask me. That's not including all of the extra utilities, such as electricity, heat, cable/internet, and parking. Jeez parking is so expensive here. I pay $125 a month just to park my car in a secure lot behind our Read More

Chicago - 1/17/2015
I have lived in Chicago for five and a half years. Here's my opinion of Chicago.
It is not the suburbs. It is a completely different place. It is the best of cities and the worse of cities. You can have a great time and have a terrible experience all in the same day or night. Example Have a great time going to a concert @ a small neighborhood bar, take the train home and have a terrible encounter or encounters with homeless trash all in the same night. You don't just live in Chicago, you experience Chicago. Boredom is never a problem here, the problem is There may be too much to do and also being able to afford it. Chicago is not a friendly city most of the time. it is amazing how most people act like stone cold introverts for the most part. It is a lot harder to connect with people in Chicago than it is in the suburbs or other places. To sum it up You have to open minded and a lot of times have an attitude to survive and thrive in Chicago. This city is not for everybody! You Read More

Chicago - 1/10/2015
Cost of living is high, if you're in the city. The suburbs are reasonable, but mostly for families and not well suited for a young urban hipster or Read More

Chicago vs Pittsburgh vs Boston - 8/31/2014
My wife and I are trying to choose the best city to live out of Chicago vs Pittsburgh vs Boston. We like European-style cities and urban life very much. We would love to be able to go about our daily life without needing a car. What can you guys tell us about the following topics:

- Walkability
- Public Transportation
- Crime (for us it’s of upmost importance to find a safe zone free of murders, guns, school shootings and drugs)
- Family friendliness
- Friendliness of its inhabitants
- Educated and cultured people
- Gentrification of the city
- Political moderation (the less polarized the better)
- Good schools
- Diversity (the more diverse the better)
- Cost of living
- Cultural scene (art, jazz music, classical music, pop music, theater, musicals, dance performances, restaurants, stand-up comedy, zoo, children’s museums)
- Parks and green areas
- Possibility of day and/or weekend trips (to Read More

Dangerous City - 7/29/2014
I've lived in Chicago over 25 years and now I can't wait to leave.
Chicago is broke and Mayor Emanuel has cut the police force, particularly in the nicer neighborhoods. The criminals know this and prowl the nicer neighborhoods looking for easy targets. The Mayor says crime is down, but what is actually happening (as reported in Chicago Magazine) is the police under report crime, sometimes just outright to right up reports. Also, the Mayor puts a lot of pressure on the newspapers and TV stations to not report crime that happens here. I live in a doorman building for safety and don't go out past 10pm.Read More

chicago - 7/23/2014
Chicago was and is a great city, True we have political coruption, we pay high taxes, we pay more then anyone else for gas, oil, electric, and now water, true we have great schools, Art, Theatre, And of course we have dramatic weather changes..but lets be honest..so does the Dekotas.... We have great parks, great food, and a sence of community.. But we are plagued by crime and coruption...But if you look at our history we always have been a corupted town.. Our Mayors, Police captains, union officials have always been corupt, at one time it was a joke we all use to laugh at, except now..it has gone to far...Maybe someday the normal working class of this town will wake up, and vote to help the people not the political party that runs this place..maybe someday the people will gather in front of city hall and demand change, maybe someday all races will try and live in peace after we kick out the drug lords, gangbangers, and corrupted city alderman who just want to use our money as there Read More

Crime - 5/6/2014
Open Read More

My Kind of Town - 4/10/2014
47 years ago, I came to Chicago for the first time to visit my aunt, and I never left! I immediately felt at home and absolutely loved this city! Chicago has a fantastic Planetarium on the Lake Front; the longest stretch of public lake front beach anywhere in the Country, first class museums, incredible cultural activities, first class universities, and in a nutshell, everything New York has to offer, but less expensive.

On the negative side, housing has gotten very expensive for what you get; state taxes have gone from 3% to 5%, and our mayor, Rahm Emanuel, wants to raise property taxes again. Our state is deeply in debt due to a pension crisis, and the winters are incredibly brutal from January through March. When I came here, jobs were extremely easy to get; not so today. Chicago has a heavy unemployment problem, and the jobs that open up are generally minimum wage jobs. So, if you're looking for a job, I would advise you NOT to come to Chicago to compete with Read More