Could I get some pros and cons about Chicago!?

Question

I'd like to hear some pros and cons about chicago, as I've been thinkin of visiting sometime!
It could be pretty much anything! like : 'Great cheap places to get food. Its expensive to stay there as visitor', for example!
and offcourse, I'd want answers from ppl that have been there obviously!^^ thankx!

Answer 1

Pros:

Great public transportation

Great nightlife-bars/restaurants open late

Great live music venues-literally dozens every night

A lot of culture - great museums, art shows, opera stuff

Great food - all kinds of cuisine from cheap to expensive

Sports, sports, sports

Pretty safe after hours unless you are the South Side. Nothing worth seeing in the South Side past Comiskey/35th anyways

Taxis are EVERYWHERE and run all hours. Pretty reasonably priced too.

Shopping on Michigan is second only to New York City.

People are friendly if you have a laidback "mid-western" attitude. Don't like a New York or LA pompous attitude.

Cons:

Weather and tourists. Hot as hell in summer and lots of tourists. Cold as ice in winter but no tourists.

Notwithstanding the above, most people are not very friendly to tourists. Try to blend in.

Expensive - hotels are expensive and drinks are costly at the main hangouts ($4-5 pint), I went to cheap out of the way places.

TAXES- Everything is taxed up the wazoo - 15% hotel 20% rental car 10% city/county/state etc etc

Ghetto pockets - You can be walking in a nice area one block and then BAM you are in a ghetto zone. Learn the areas.

Chicago is great, but I didn't like living there because it is crowded and housing is jampacked together. However, I will always visit for a long weekend.

Answer 2

Pros:
1. Incredibly beautiful lakefront.
2. World-class museums.
3. In the top 3 world-wide in (live) theater, along with the cities of London and New York.
4. The blues, man! Head up to the North Lincoln Ave./Halsted St. area.
5. Chicago pizza and the Chicago hot dog. Unlike anything you may have heard of or tasted elsewhere.
6. Wrigley Field, even though now occupied by a minor-league club. Football season? Bearsss. BB season? Bulls.
7. The Skydeck on the 110th floor of the Sears Tower. During the daytime, you can see Wrigley Field, the White Sox' stadium, the Bull's stadium, great views of the lakefront all the way to Indiana and Wisconsin. At night--awesome.

Cons:
1. Wind. It is the Windy City and the label fits. Figure in the wind chill factor when planning your wardrobe. The wind-tunnel effect downtown can knock you over or give you frostbite in the winter if you're not careful.
2. Unless you're from St. Louis (the world record holder in this category), you'll probably find that Chicago is "too hot in the summer and too cold in the winter." Right now is a fine time to visit!
3. Parking downtown. Bring plenty of $20 bills with you for your visit, or better yet, use public transportation whenever possible.

Answer 3

It is a great city there is a lot to do. You do not need a car. Most things are accesable by bus or rail. The night life does not seem to end. Things are expensive of course. Rents are high and usually have a years lease. Finding an apartment or house that is affordable is sometimes very hard that is why most people live in the suburbs. The jobs are available are usually professional. Very few entry level positions except in fast food . Most companies have their corporate offices in chicago. It is cold in the winter. If the weather is not what you want wait five minutes and it will change.. Everything is available. I lived their 30years

Answer 4

Pros. Cubs games. If you can handle it: good hot dogs. A nice bar scene with live blues. Friendly folks for the most part. Over all a nice city to walk around in. Wouldn't really swim in it, but the lake front is nice, particularly in the summer. Really decent theatre scene with lots of great productions year round. And, a big plus, just North of Chicago by the lake, the Ba Hai temple, Taj Mahal of the western world --unquestionably one of the most beautiful spiritual buildings on earth.

Cons. Nasty cold winters. Crazy hot summers.
Quite a bit of pollution, some of it fairly serious (I'm thinking north Chicago...)

On the whole I think the pros have it. It's a city I've actually considered living in.

Answer 5

Chicago is a 'things to do' place, a place to experience different varities of cultures and festivals etc. it is not much of a sightseeing place, best time to be here is Spring/Summer/Fall Winters get brutal and not much happening.

For Food go to China town, India Town, if u go to fancy places you'll pay! stay away from downtown and take a train into the city to get good deals on loding.

Answer 6

All of the above plus you can find someone to speak your first language...no matter what it is. This is a real multi-cultural city with whole neighborhoods from many parts of the world.

This is one of the reasons we have a wide variety of great food and good shopping.

Answer 7

To keep it short and simple, Chicago is fun. There is always something to do, beautiful areas. On the other hand, it has some bonified SLUMS, so be careful where you go.

Answer 8

Great food, the best shopping, great Blues. Cons; high crime rate, bad weather.