Thinking of moving to Chicago (appointed, homes, neighborhood)

[ChiCity2010]

Is Chicago a good place to live?
I would like to live downtown. What's the best area downtown to live?

[Drover]

Whether it's a good place to live depends on what you want out of a city. The question is too broad to answer meaningfully.


I don't understand "what's the best area downtown to live." The best area to live in downtown is downtown.

[chirack]

Yeah it is next to impossible to give a good answer without a where do you plan to work and what do you expect out of a neighborhood. If you are expecting single family homes in downtown Chicago you would be disappointed and if you need to drive around or be in the far burbs downtown again might not be a good spot.

[looking4mee]

Could I have a few opinions on the winter season in Chicago please? I know that it gets cold, but I believe there is a difference between cool, crisp, and down right cold. I have been told everything from "the winter is 8 months long" to "the really cold months are only January and February". What are your opinions? Let me put it this way, last week (the week before Thanksgiving) I would not consider cold as the weather was the same as where I am now during that week.

[chitown85]

It was unseasonably warm for a few days before Thanksgiving. Chicago is cold period. It is far colder and more snowy than the East Coast. Usually 50 degree weather by October, 35 degree by Thanksgiving. December is about the same. January and February are the 2 coldest months. Starts to warm up by March. March will see 60 degree days on average. April 70 degree days.

By May maybe a few 90 degree days, usually low 80s. June, July, August can see triple digits. September starts to get into the 60s, maybe even 50s.

Nights are frigid from mid October to mid April.

[Drover]

Originally Posted by looking4mee

Could I have a few opinions on the winter season in Chicago please? I know that it gets cold, but I believe there is a difference between cool, crisp, and down right cold. I have been told everything from "the winter is 8 months long" to "the really cold months are only January and February". What are your opinions? Let me put it this way, last week (the week before Thanksgiving) I would not consider cold as the weather was the same as where I am now during that week.

Well, it's already been down in the teens this season, and it's in the 20s right now. The average high in winter is in the low to mid 30s. But weather can vary considerably. There will be some days in winter that hit the 50s and even the 60s, and there will be some days when it never gets above zero. The "8 months of winter" thing is nonsense unless you're one of those people who considers 50s and 60s to be winter weather. Around here, once it hits the mid-60s or so, people start wearing shorts.

"60 degrees on average" in March is very, very optimistic. The average March high is 45 degrees. We'll hit 60s occasionally toward the end of March. At the beginning, we may well still get a snowstorm or two. IMO March is the suckiest month because you're really tired of cold weather by then but it's still not "warm" yet.

[chirack]

Originally Posted by chitown85

By May maybe a few 90 degree days, usually low 80s. June, July, August can see triple digits. September starts to get into the 60s, maybe even 50s.

Nights are frigid from mid October to mid April.

My experince is nights are still nippy in May but not friged. You definatly want a windbreaker for May nights. June usually isn't triple diget. However July and August can be. May also rarely gets into the 90ies usually tops out in the high 80ies.

If is isn't rainy May can be nice in the day. June is the first totaly warm month both day and night. April can either be snow on the ground or people in shorts.

Cool and crisp is October maybe Novemeber. By late November/December it is cold. November is heavy jacket weather and late December is heavy coat weather.

It can and often does get as low as -3F(sometimes lower) in winter with windchills of -20. However Chicago's winter isn't constant cold more freeze/thaw but thoose freezes can last a week or two(sometimes more).

[tonythetuna]

November or December to March are the cold months. Anyone who thinks any of the months outside of those are cold or unbearable either did not grow up in this climate or is a wuss. Plain and simple.

[nana053]

Average Weather for Chicago, IL - Temperature and Precipitation

Chicago winters are variable, imo. In terms of snow, sometimes we got a lot and other times not much. The temps are in the above graph. Dec, Jan, Feb are the cold months. The rest are quite bearable, imo. And even the three months mentioned are not as bad as places further north like Minneapolis or Green Bay for example.