Whats the city like? (Chicago, Bismarck: living, assessments, suburbs)

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by stateofnature

I think Chicago gets undue attention for being a cold city (which might lead people to think it is colder than it is) simply because of its size. Other than Moscow, I don't think there is a city on the plant larger than Chicago that is also colder.

Yeah, it's up there, but there are actually larger cities in China with colder winter weather (by a bit), believe it or not.

* Harbin, China, population 5+ million and 10 million in its metro area. Avg Jan High = 10 F. Avg Low = -11 F
* Changchun, China, population 3+ million and 7+ million in its metro area. Avg Jan High = 15 F
* Urumqi, China, population ~3 million. Avg Jan High = 19 F
* Shenyang, China, population ~6 million and 8+ million in its metro area. Avg Jan High = 23 F
* Qiqihar, China, population 1.5 million and 5 million in the area. Avg Jan High = 10F

etc.


Then you have a bunch of smaller cities population 500,000 - 1.5 million in Russia, China, Kazakhstan, etc who average weather at like 5-20 degrees F in January or less (like Omsk, Russia at over 1 million people with an avg high of 10 F in January). The coldest city on earth is Yakutsk, Russia (~300K people) with an average January high of -31 F

Pyongyang, North Korea has 2.5 million people and its average Jan high is 30 F, so historically just taking temperatures and size, that's similar to what Chicago historically is. Moscow's average high is 25 F in January.

[Drover]

Originally Posted by marothisu

I never said it wasn't cold. I said it's not as bad as some media makes it out to be. It's not that ****ing complicated.

True, it's not ****ing complicated. It doesn't matter if people from Florida or Guam or where-the-****-ever manage survive here. It doesn't matter if Minnesota is even colder. It doesn't matter what people told you or whether you believed them what the media makes it out to be (or what you perceive the media makes it out to be). It's really, really simple:

Winters are cold here. Period.

See how un-***ing-complicated it can be?

[marothisu]

You're right, winters are cold here, period. I never said otherwise. All I was saying is that it's not negatives every day like some people make everyone else believe. It's not that ****ing complicated. We're talking about two separate things here. And no, it doesn't 100% matter because you can't change the weather, but what does matter is that some people legitimately don't move to Chicago just because of what they've heard about the weather (see my ex girlfriend from Hawaii and my Uncle from Los Angeles for examples. My ex girlfriend's only reason for not moving to Chicago while living in Iowa was because she thought the temperatures were way worse and she opted to stay in Iowa instead).

Whatever though, it's not important.

[stephei2000]

Originally Posted by marothisu

It was infact a hyperbole, but the media when I grew up made it sound like Chicago had THE worst winters of any city (major or minor) in the entire country. All the time. Even when I told people from Chicago that I was moving there, from Minnesota, they would act as if their winters were worse and I was "in for it."

Yes, Chicago winters are cold, but it could be worse is the point and sometimes it's exaggerated by some media into making you believe the weather is actually worse off than it is. I tried to get my ex girlfriend, who is from Hawaii, to move here. I met her while in college in Iowa. She basically said she couldn't handle the cold. Then I showed her weather data between Chicago and this city in Iowa we both lived in, which is roughly the same winter weather, but Chicago gets less snow. She was shocked because she'd been made to believe that Chicago was much, much worse by the media.

It's the wind or as some people call it "the hawk". My dad was afraid for me to move to Chicago saying the winters are so bad there. Btw, I am from Michigan which was funny to me, but I think it is the wind that makes the people and media exaggerate if it is out there.

I will admit it can feel warmer sometimes in Detroit because the lack of wind sometimes in the winter, but there have been times like last year when I was colder when I when home for Christmas than Detroit.

Overall I think it has to do with lake. For example when I did indepedent contract jobs in the South Suburbs it felt a lot warmer during Thanksgiving time and than being near the lake in the city. I know in the mornings in the winter it is warmest by the lake, but I am talking about daytime highs and feel.

I also notice the draft effect all year because of the lake and being surrounded in the plains meaning no barriers to block weather systems, This breeze/draft effect can be annoying unless it is hot. So 50s and 60s always feel drafty vs when I was in Seattle last year I was out in 60 degrees almost sweating because lack of draft. My sinues starting dripping the minute I came back to Chicago because I notice the draft even though the temperature was warmer.

Basically temperature wise in the winter might be the same as other cities, but there is always that lake effect and draft feel.

[tollfree]

I never understood why some in Chicago got so upset when the cold was brought up.

Depending where you are in Iowa, there is a difference. The southern half of Iowa is closer to Kansas City/St Louis in terms of "cold" on average than it is to Chicago/Minneapolis/Milwaukee. I'd imagine Mason City to be possibly even colder than Chicago.

There are some very cold days too that get below zero, but it also gets above 40 quite a bit and sometimes even 50 in the southern half of Iowa. Summer is also hotter in Iowa, and the days are longer in winter (gets longer the further west you go into Iowa).

[Chicago60614]

I think it's more that people get this idea in their head that it's cold, then they push it that it's 10 degrees every day during winter and it snows from September to June. It's DEFINITELY cold, but many times people only hear about the cold and forget it can be 30s and 40s in winter (like...half of winter) and assume it's always sub-zero at night and if it breaks freezing once every few weeks people celebrate.

I've been to southern California multiple times around memorial day and people ask how much snow is still on the ground in Chicago and how much I must be loving the 70 degree temps. I mention it was in the 80's when I left and hasn't snowed in months and people give the two second "oh, really....huh".

There was a guy on some thread this spring who had visited the city during June about 7-8 years ago and was DETERMINED that it was really cold in Chicago until around the last week in June and in July it was fairly common to see lows in the 40's. People were telling him he was wrong, but he just KNEW it was that cold because that's what he remembered. Highs in the 50's and 60's during June and then it got hot in July but nights were still in the 40's with the chilly weather of the 50's and 60's back by September. Then the sun shut off and everyone died from late September through mid June.

[It'sAutomatic]

Hell yeah Chicago winters are cold. Winter gear is a good investment and it rarely gets full-on arctic. I bike year-round and dress appropriately for winter. The main thing that makes riding annoying isn't feeling cold but the persistent runny nose I get.

Pilsen might be up your alley. It's cool and close to downtown.

Studios are great but having a roommate is a nice way to have some company and meet people. You can also either save $ on rent or live in almost any neighborhood if you want to pay $800. Maybe your school has a way to arrange rooming situations. If anything, ask around your first few days in class.

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by Chicago60614

I've been to southern California multiple times around memorial day and people ask how much snow is still on the ground in Chicago and how much I must be loving the 70 degree temps. I mention it was in the 80's when I left and hasn't snowed in months and people give the two second "oh, really....huh".

I've run into that too. When I came back to the US from a trip overseas in mid April, I shared one of those airport shuttles with a few women from Connecticut who were shocked that there was no snow on the ground. Then they proceeded to tell me how they heard about a story from Duluth, MN about there being snow in June. Then they asked me, seriously, if it's common for Chicago to not see snow in May or June. I mean they honestly thought that there was snow in May and June normally. One of the women in the group grew up in Niles or something so she kind of let them have it.

There was a guy on some thread this spring who had visited the city during June about 7-8 years ago and was DETERMINED that it was really cold in Chicago until around the last week in June and in July it was fairly common to see lows in the 40's. People were telling him he was wrong, but he just KNEW it was that cold because that's what he remembered. Highs in the 50's and 60's during June and then it got hot in July but nights were still in the 40's with the chilly weather of the 50's and 60's back by September. Then the sun shut off and everyone died from late September through mid June.

I remember that LOL. That guy was a severe idiot. Even with official NOAA data presented to him, he wouldn't budge. Sure, that can happen every once in awhile in these months (we've seen it this year), but the guy wouldn't budge because he experienced it one time in Chicago. He wouldn't believe that it was an anomaly.

[chet everett]

I think the number of flights that get screwed up due to weather contributes to the perception -- it is not just the occiasional TV news footage of the rare holiday snow storm that shuts down O'Hare (and non-stop of video of people sleeping on the crummy airport seating taken by every young reporter that is dying for a network gig...) but the domino effect of slow downs here cascading through the air traffic system...

It is sort of funny to be out of town and get to watch this through the eyes of some TV anchor in Houston or Jacksonville who will start going on about COOOLD it is in "the Windy City"...

[Ace Rothstein]

Originally Posted by Chicago60614

I've been to southern California multiple times around memorial day and people ask how much snow is still on the ground in Chicago and how much I must be loving the 70 degree temps. I mention it was in the 80's when I left and hasn't snowed in months and people give the two second "oh, really....huh".

I remember being at Disneyland on NYE many years ago and it was in the 50's. There were people walking around with scarves and gloves on.