minneapolis vs. chicago (safe neighborhoods, school, living in)

[Gtownoe]

Originally Posted by beenhereandthere

On my observations and from what I've heard, Chicago has certainly more racial tension than MSP. Granted, even though I have visited often and spent 3 weeks there at one point, I have never lived in Chicago, where I have lived almost 6 years 1 hour or less from MSP.

I'm a black male who lived on the northside of Chicago and I never faced any racial biased. I lived on the Uptown/Lakeview border and I found my neighborhood to be very diverse and welcoming. I think a lot of perceptions from the past give Chicago a bad name in that regard. However I feel those days are long...long gone.

[Mistacoolio20]

Originally Posted by M2N

For families with young children: Minneapolis

For young singles: Chicago

Minneapolis/St Paul (suburbs of) have excellent public schools... loads of parks...and many other families for your kids to find friendships.

Chicago has the downtown nightlife (MN is good but CHI is better)... different ethnic areas that add culture and interest (again MN is good, CHI better)... and the "art" scene is by far loads better in CHI. Not to mention flying out of CHI is usually cheaper and WAY more options than MN has (No West has a strangle hold).

Both places are colder than... well... are seriously cold. MN is colder... but CHI isn't exactly FLA in comparison.

To be honest, Chicago's downtown is actually quite quiet at night. Minneapolis's nightlife is centralized in downtown, but the nightlife in Chicago is actually in the neighborhood of Linkin Park.

[brenty]

Chicago is a world class city. Chicago is home to one of the worlds bussiest airports. Chicago is the birthplace of many of the most influential styles of architecture including Prairie School, Chicago Style, Chicago Traditional, Stone-Cedar-Shake, and the Skyscraper. Chicago is a very large sprawling city. It has a very homey atmosphere. People here are dedicated to their jobs and families. Chicago is extremely conservative. The City of Chicago is able to sway state, county, and national politics to the democratic side, but most of the suburbs and wealthy sections of the city like the Gold Coast, Beverly, and parts of Lincoln Park are very republican. There are not any suburbs that can compare to the North Shore suburbs of Chicago. These uber-swank communities are among the wealthiest in the country and boast stunning homes. There are many nationally recognized public high schools like New Trier High School, Evanston Township High School, Lincoln Park High School, Northside College Prep, Hinsdale Central, Glenbrook North, and Lake Forest High School. Downtown Chicago is very quiet at night. Chicago has virtually no nightlife after several night club accidents such as the E2 Night Club fire. Minneapolis has nothing on Chicago, it does not have the lake, parks, schools, or anything like Chicago.

[rcsteiner]

Originally Posted by brenty

There are many nationally recognized public high schools like New Trier High School, Evanston Township High School, Lincoln Park High School, Northside College Prep, Hinsdale Central, Glenbrook North, and Lake Forest High School.

Do you really want to compare Chicago suburban schools with Twin Cities suburban schools? Man, I'd absolutely LOVE to see an objective comparison, if such were possible, but I sure wouldn't be putting my money on Chicago winning.

I'd love to see Minnesota schools compared to other supposedly good states like Massachusetts, for that matter. Or Georgia.

Minneapolis has nothing on Chicago, it does not have the lake, parks, schools, or anything like Chicago.

Minneapolis doesn't have a Lake Michigan, but it does have a very nice chain of lakes inside the city, an excellent park system (there are over 150 parks in the Minneapolis city limits alone), one of the best bike and walking path systems in the entire country, and more theatres per capita than Chicago or any other city in the US except New York City.

I don't think the Twin Cities pretends to be Chicago, but it doesn't have to, since it already dominates the state it which it resides.

[Mistacoolio20]

Originally Posted by brenty

Chicago is a world class city. Chicago is home to one of the worlds bussiest airports. Chicago is the birthplace of many of the most influential styles of architecture including Prairie School, Chicago Style, Chicago Traditional, Stone-Cedar-Shake, and the Skyscraper. Chicago is a very large sprawling city. It has a very homey atmosphere. People here are dedicated to their jobs and families. Chicago is extremely conservative. The City of Chicago is able to sway state, county, and national politics to the democratic side, but most of the suburbs and wealthy sections of the city like the Gold Coast, Beverly, and parts of Lincoln Park are very republican. There are not any suburbs that can compare to the North Shore suburbs of Chicago. These uber-swank communities are among the wealthiest in the country and boast stunning homes. There are many nationally recognized public high schools like New Trier High School, Evanston Township High School, Lincoln Park High School, Northside College Prep, Hinsdale Central, Glenbrook North, and Lake Forest High School. Downtown Chicago is very quiet at night. Chicago has virtually no nightlife after several night club accidents such as the E2 Night Club fire. Minneapolis has nothing on Chicago, it does not have the lake, parks, schools, or anything like Chicago.

Chicago is a pretty cool city, but not does not have quite as much class/high standards as Minneapolis does. Minneapolis is a much better kept, well run city. Chicago is commonly ranked as the dirtiest city in America. Minneapolis has many more lakes,trees, clean air and more nature in general. Chicago has it's history and all, but in general I think Minneapolis is a much more well run city then Chicago.

- 50 Cleanest (Dirtiest) Cities in America | The Environment | Reader's Digest (http://www.rd.com/special-reports/the-environment/50-cleanest-dirtiest-cities-in-america/article.html - broken link)

- Top Tech City: Minneapolis, MN | Popular Science

- Minneapolis #1 in Literacy (http://minneapolis.about.com/b/2003/07/12/minneapolis-1-in-literacy.htm - broken link)

[nolangal]

The growing suburbs are definitely on the south west side. If you like cookie cutter town houses and cheaply built new homes look to shakopee and chaska. I think the best suburbs are the west side of Bloomington (lots of lakes and nicer houses), Eden Prairie (considered up here to be where the "new money" lives, Edina ("old money"), Chanhassen (more of a small town feel). Bloomington and Edina are about 10 minutes (without traffic) away from downtown, whereas Eden Prairie and Chanhassen are more like 15-20. These are suburbs to go if you want to raise your family. I just moved to West Bloomington (I'm a newlywed without kids) and I absolutely love my neighborhood. I am also an experienced teacher (subbing until I find a real job) and the west Bloomington school system is very nice. (Olson Elementary, Olson Middle, and Jefferson High) Hope this helps.

[nolangal]

Minneapolis is sprawling, but it is still very easy to get from one place to another. Charlotte, NC is another story.

[Mistacoolio20]

Originally Posted by nolangal

The growing suburbs are definitely on the south west side. If you like cookie cutter town houses and cheaply built new homes look to shakopee and chaska. I think the best suburbs are the west side of Bloomington (lots of lakes and nicer houses), Eden Prairie (considered up here to be where the "new money" lives, Edina ("old money"), Chanhassen (more of a small town feel). Bloomington and Edina are about 10 minutes (without traffic) away from downtown, whereas Eden Prairie and Chanhassen are more like 15-20. These are suburbs to go if you want to raise your family. I just moved to West Bloomington (I'm a newlywed without kids) and I absolutely love my neighborhood. I am also an experienced teacher (subbing until I find a real job) and the west Bloomington school system is very nice. (Olson Elementary, Olson Middle, and Jefferson High) Hope this helps.

The City or country is the only place to raise a kid with any sense of real culture.

[youngurbanprofessional]

Originally Posted by Mistacoolio20

Chicago is a pretty cool city, but not does not have quite as much class/high standards as Minneapolis does. Minneapolis is a much better kept, well run city. Chicago is commonly ranked as the dirtiest city in America. Minneapolis has many more lakes,trees, clean air and more nature in general. Chicago has it's history and all, but in general I think Minneapolis is a much more well run city then Chicago.

- 50 Cleanest (Dirtiest) Cities in America | The Environment | Reader's Digest (http://www.rd.com/special-reports/the-environment/50-cleanest-dirtiest-cities-in-america/article.html - broken link)

- Top Tech City: Minneapolis, MN | Popular Science

- Minneapolis #1 in Literacy (http://minneapolis.about.com/b/2003/07/12/minneapolis-1-in-literacy.htm - broken link)

This is so wrong I shouldn't even really be paying attention to it. Chicago is one of the cleanest cities and well kept in the country, especially for its size.

Most people I've talked to who live in Chicago and came from New York said the FIRST thing they noticed about Chicago was how clean the street were.

I've lived most of my life in Minneapolis and now live in Chicago. Minneapolis doesn't hold a candle to anything Chicago has.

[Mistacoolio20]

Originally Posted by youngurbanprofessional

This is so wrong I shouldn't even really be paying attention to it. Chicago is one of the cleanest cities and well kept in the country, especially for its size.

Most people I've talked to who live in Chicago and came from New York said the FIRST thing they noticed about Chicago was how clean the street were.

I've lived most of my life in Minneapolis and now live in Chicago. Minneapolis doesn't hold a candle to anything Chicago has.

Mind being a bit more specific?
Chicago may have it's history and architecture, but Minneapolis is a much more well run city then Chicago.