Chicago - the windy city? Do you recommend?

Question

I am thinking of taking a job in the USA, one place I have been offered is Chicago, what’s it like? Where are the best areas to live? Guess I am talking about safety, things to do, amenities such as stores/shops, Is it an expensive place to live in terms of housing and in general? Whats the weather like? Summers/Winters.
Just wondered if its a nice place to live I guess.

Answer 1

I have grown up around Chicago and moved into the City 4 years ago. It is by far one of the best cities in America! It is a big city but not too big like New York. It is much cleaner than New York and LA.
Some of the best places to live (while more pricey though) are the Loop (Downtown area), Wrigleyville, Lincoln Park, Lake View. All of these areas are very safe, have tons of shopping and places to eat. The loop is very busy and that is the main downtown area. Wrigleyville is kind of a younger crowd, usually 20 year olds take up most of this area. Lincoln Park has tons of college kids and new families. I live here and I find it one of the safest places in Chicago to live. Then there is Lakeview which is kind of in between Wrigleyville and Lincoln Park. It is a little cheaper to live in but has tons to do also.
Living in these ares can range from $600-2000 a month for a studio/one bedroom apartment depending on the location and size.
The weather goes from one extreme to another throughout the year. You get up to 100 F in the summer to below 0 F in the winter with wind chill. I like it though because you get all the seasons unlike more southern states where is is usually just warm all year.
I find Chicago to be a great place to live with things to do every day and there are always events going on somewhere in the city to keep you busy.

Answer 2

Chicago? Chicago is the greatest city in the world. There are activities to do no matter what your interests are. There are miles and miles of beautiful lakefront, world class museums (Field, Science and Industry, Art Institute), sporting events (White Sox, Cubs, Bulls, Bears, Blackhawks, Northwestern, De Paul, and many others;but, if you're going to be a true Chicagoan you cannot cheer for both the Sox and Cubs.) The largest free Blues Festival in the world and various other festivals throughout the summer. Live theater ( right now, The Phantom of the Opera, Jersey Boys and Wicked are playing downtown), live music (Chicago is, after all the home of the Blues) first class restaurants........it's all here.

How is our weather? In the winter you may experience wind chills of 30 below and in the summer the temperature may be in the 90s with dew points in the 60s.

Expensive? No more so than any other major city.

Crime? Of course every city has it;but, I have lived here my entire life and always feel safe.

Answer 3

Best areas to live are anywhere but the southside(stay away from Chicago Heights, Cicero, Riverside,etc) and certain suburbs(Crest Hill, Romeoville). Safety is not great but its not horrible, overall we arent a top twenty bad rated city. Shops and stores are everywhere and if you got the money go to the Mag Mile and spend away. Housing is pretty pricey. Generally a two bedroom goes for about $1200 and thats unfurnished without utilities and no parking. Again if you have the money Id live in the Gold Coast but your looking at 3k a month for a one bedroom. Suburbs are cheaper and safer but boring. There really isnt to many clubs and so forth in the burbs. The winters suck and it never gets above 30 usually and thats from November-March. It starts getting warm in April but rains alot in April and May. The winter is wonderful but can get hot and very humid very quick.

Answer 4

I grew up in Iowa, and lived in Chicago for 5 years. Then I moved to Omaha. The cost of housing was one factor in my leaving. It is tripple what it is here in Omaha. Food was only slightly higher. Still, housing is cheaper than in Los Angeles or Denver.

Chicago is by a very large lake (anywhere else it would be called a "sea"), and this impacts the weather. It takes a long time for the lake to cool down, so sometimes warm moist air comes off the lake, hits cold air, and it snows, just at the lake front, to maybe 10 miles inland. Once the lake finally gets cold, it takes a long time to warm up. So in the spring, it's generally cooler than some other places due to cold air coming off of the lake. It is windy (though Des Moines is more so).

There are many museums, shopping, and resturants. Chicago is definately a "food town".

Chicago tends to be divided up into "neighborhoods" - areas maybe 20-40 city blocks by 20-40 city blocks. Ethnicities tend to cluster together, so you may find a "Mexcian", next to a "Polish" neighborhood, next to a "Indian" neighborhood, etc. On the plus side, you can go to these ethnic neighborhoods and find imported foods not normally available in most U.S. cities. If you want to go to an Indian resturant, you just go to an Indian neighborhood.

In terms of safety, you have to watch out and be aware of your surroundings all the time. Seeings as you are not from the U.S.A., you may have a bit of a disadvantage in that the danger signs that you are now entering a bad neighborhood may not be the same where you come from, so be very careful until you are more aware. J.J. Bittenbider (a chicago policeman) used to run (maybe still does) a course on personal safety. Well worth going to. It may be available on video. I probably make it sound more dangerous than it really is, but mind you, I came from a town where almost nobody locked their doors.

Having said that, downtown is a bit safer during the day, but can get a little sketchy at night. The near west side has classically been a bad area in terms of crime. Most of your suburbs are pretty safe, as are parts of the city near the northern suburbs (that is where I lived). I'm not as familiar with the south side of Chicago.

A friend of mine moved to Chicago and found an apartment from newspaper advertisements. He moved in and the very first weekend, there was a parade in front of his building. He was excited! He ran downstairs to see the parade. Then he found out it was a gay pride parade. He is heterosexual, but moved right in the middle of a very gay neighborhood, popularly known as "boystown". There was a lot of very good theatre in that part of town, however.

For me, it was too far from my family in Iowa, and I wanted to buy a house. My company was not doing well and I realized I would have to find a new job to get a pay increase. If I had to get a new job, there was no reason that I couldn't get a job somewhere where the cost of housing was more affordable.

Answer 5

Chicago is one of the best cities. I live here, but have been to other cities... Hands down i LOVE my windy city!


It has everything you could be looking for, the weather in the winter is the only thing to get used to, it get's COLD!!!

None the less, I Looove Chicago!

Answer 6

We are very open and welcoming to people from all over the world living here. Most people live in the neighborhoods around downtown; it is just starting to be residential there. It is cold in the winter and hot and steamy in the summer. You have to have the proper clothes to survive a winter, and if you plan on driving, you need to be trained how to drive in snow and ice.

I think it's a nice place to live, but I've been here all my life!

Answer 7

no would desire to hire a automobile to get to attractions. automobile will fee you extra to park than to take cabs once you sense like it. component of the city adventure is taking public transportation. flow to the CTA internet website to get a bypass. CTA is going everywhere. additionally if staying downtown plenty is jogging distance.

Answer 8

The very best big city in America. Great lake front area, great dining & museums & entertainment. Safe & fun downtown. Wide range of areas that are commute distance to downtown. Cold winters but thanks to Al Gore & global warming they have been kinda nice lately. Down to earth people.

Answer 9

Levi is right on the money. I agree.

Answer 10

If you like congested traffic, high rates of crime, cold weather, rude people, then this is the city for you.