Tired of NYC - Move to Chicago? (Springfield, Evanston: apartment, condo)
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I've lived in NYC for three years now and love it but it is crazy expensive here. My partner and I made about 500k this year but believe me it doesn't seem like that much in Manhattan - we live in a run down 1bd 5th floor walkup - a new apt building down the street is selling for $1800/sq foot.....I don't want to work my whole life just to be able to buy a 2 bedroom apartment on the UES and am not in finance and don't want to compete with the bankers anymore for the limited housing here.
Has anyone made the transition from NYC to Chicago? I worry that being gay could be a much bigger deal in Chicago, but COL seems sooo much better and people seem friendly. Our salaries would be about the same there but I assume could buy so much more? I'm afraid I've been brainwashed by all the New Yorkers though to think Chicago is "uncultured" and there is nothing to do there and everyone is a crazy conservative but I think I need to get out of Manhattan......
I've lived in NYC for three years now and love it but it is crazy expensive here. My partner and I made about 500k this year but believe me it doesn't seem like that much in Manhattan - we live in a run down 1bd 5th floor walkup - a new apt building down the street is selling for $1800/sq foot.....I don't want to work my whole life just to be able to buy a 2 bedroom apartment on the UES and am not in finance and don't want to compete with the bankers anymore for the limited housing here.
Has anyone made the transition from NYC to Chicago? I worry that being gay could be a much bigger deal in Chicago, but COL seems sooo much better and people seem friendly. Our salaries would be about the same there but I assume could buy so much more?
$500,000 in the heart of Chicago would buy you a three bedroom, two bath luxury condo. In a brand-new hotel/apartment/highrise. With enough disposable income left over to look for your own beachhouse along the shores of Lake Michigan (in either Michigan or Wisconsin).
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I'm afraid I've been brainwashed by all the New Yorkers though to think Chicago is "uncultured" and there is nothing to do there and everyone is a crazy conservative but I think I need to get out of Manhattan......
Chicago isn't uncultured at all. That is to say, we have a more avid and forward-thinking theatre scene than NYC (Chicago doesn't have Broadway, praise be the gods), but it's still in the midwest. It isn't crazy-conservative. What there is, or possibly isn't, is a lack of media attention on anything. There is very definitely a lack of creativity and a drive to create. Most if not all college students who graduate in creative fields (fashion, photography, the various arts, media production, etc) move immediately to the west or east coasts because there simply isn't any sort of venue or creative outlet for them here.
The best way to sum it up is to say that Chicago basically has more educated people than the rest of the midwest, but most if not all of them have never been outside the USA. Or even outside of the midwest.
It's very sad to say but it's the truth: Chicago isn't a creative place. I'm moving back to Manhattan myself, because some things are worth paying a premium for. The suburbs are terrorizing the city and raiding it of mass transit to fund their highways, and in some ephemeral way the concerns of a large metropolitan city (Chicago isn't really cosmopolitan, I think that's the adjective you wanted) have been handed to ignorant hicks from the sticks (... Springfield). I too moved here from Manhattan, and I miss public transit 24-7. I miss real fashion shows. I miss having cinema that came to my city first, instead of only as an afterthought. I miss living in a city people actually want to live in. I miss living in a real city
Last edited by mdz; 12-08-2007 at 07:29 PM..
Reason: removed goddamned
I miss living in a city people actually want to live in. I miss living in a real city
I understood some of your points up to this point here (as everyone has his or her right to opinions). But I have a couple of questions for you. How is chicago not a real city? What do you mean by "I miss living in a city people actually want to live in."
I do have to say, as someone who is active in the Chicago arts scene (in a round about way making my living because it exists even though my duties on a day to day basis are more administrative in nature), we are not devoid of creativity in this town (as you yourself mentioned in discussing our theater scene). Perhaps it does not receive the attention it does in other cities, but to insinuate that there are not creative people here is a misnomer.
... and as a Midwesterner who has been out of the US numerous times (and not just to Western Europe either), and out of the Midwest on an annual basis (at least) since birth, I meet many people like me here too, I'm not an anomaly. I realize that right now you aren't too happy with your decision to move/live here, and that might be clouding your view some, but I do resent the notion that we are just a bunch of uncreative, uncultured hicks who have never left our hometown.
I've lived in NYC for three years now and love it but it is crazy expensive here. My partner and I made about 500k this year but believe me it doesn't seem like that much in Manhattan - we live in a run down 1bd 5th floor walkup - a new apt building down the street is selling for $1800/sq foot.....I don't want to work my whole life just to be able to buy a 2 bedroom apartment on the UES and am not in finance and don't want to compete with the bankers anymore for the limited housing here.
Has anyone made the transition from NYC to Chicago? I worry that being gay could be a much bigger deal in Chicago, but COL seems sooo much better and people seem friendly. Our salaries would be about the same there but I assume could buy so much more? I'm afraid I've been brainwashed by all the New Yorkers though to think Chicago is "uncultured" and there is nothing to do there and everyone is a crazy conservative but I think I need to get out of Manhattan......
You need to search this forum. There have been a TON of threads on the move from NYC to Chicago. That being said, I don't understand the posters comment about living in a city that people actually want to live in. People love Chicago. It's a great city. It is much cheaper than Manhattan and still has a lot going on. Also, being gay really isn't a big deal in Chicago. There are also two neighborhoods (Lakeview and Andersonville) that have a lot of gay bars, stores, etc. Chicago is also not conservative. That is why Illinois is always a "blue" state. Because of Chicago. Have you been here?
$500,000 in the heart of Chicago would buy you a three bedroom, two bath luxury condo. In a brand-new hotel/apartment/highrise. With enough disposable income left over to look for your own beachhouse along the shores of Lake Michigan (in either Michigan or Wisconsin).
Chicago isn't uncultured at all. That is to say, we have a more avid and forward-thinking theatre scene than NYC (Chicago doesn't have Broadway, praise be the gods), but it's still in the midwest. It isn't crazy-conservative. What there is, or possibly isn't, is a lack of media attention on anything. There is very definitely a lack of creativity and a drive to create. Most if not all college students who graduate in creative fields (fashion, photography, the various arts, media production, etc) move immediately to the west or east coasts because there simply isn't any sort of venue or creative outlet for them here.
The best way to sum it up is to say that Chicago basically has more educated people than the rest of the midwest, but most if not all of them have never been outside the USA. Or even outside of the midwest.
It's very sad to say but it's the truth: Chicago isn't a creative place. I'm moving back to Manhattan myself, because some things are worth paying a premium for. The suburbs are terrorizing the city and raiding it of mass transit to fund their goddamned highways, and in some ephemeral way the concerns of a large metropolitan city (Chicago isn't really cosmopolitan, I think that's the adjective you wanted) have been handed to ignorant hicks from the sticks (... Springfield). I too moved here from Manhattan, and I miss public transit 24-7. I miss real fashion shows. I miss having cinema that came to my city first, instead of only as an afterthought. I miss living in a city people actually want to live in. I miss living in a real city
Wow...while I agree with some of your statements, but I'm surprised you haven't heard of a lot of the things Chicago is doing to attract an maintain talent in the Fashion Industry.
You need to search this forum. There have been a TON of threads on the move from NYC to Chicago. That being said, I don't understand the posters comment about living in a city that people actually want to live in. People love Chicago. It's a great city. It is much cheaper than Manhattan and still has a lot going on. Also, being gay really isn't a big deal in Chicago. There are also two neighborhoods (Lakeview and Andersonville) that have a lot of gay bars, stores, etc. Chicago is also not conservative. That is why Illinois is always a "blue" state. Because of Chicago. Have you been here?
What coldwine really means is "I don't want to live in Chicago" and then assumes everyone feels the same way she does without regard to the manifest evidence to the contrary on these boards or in the numerous neighborhoods that have boomed over the last 10-15 years.
I grew up in New Jersey and New York City. I lived in New York City for three years and I've chosen to live here in Chicago. I find the cultural amenities here to be much more accessible than New York's. From opera stars in the grant park, to free music festivals all summer, to an incredible NPR station, to ridiculously good theatre (see it before it gets to Broadway), to amazing museums, to a highly educated workforce, a creative and vibrant restaurant scene, to the Epcot center of gay neighborhoods (there's something for every taste), the old town school of folk music, to high rise door man buildings with indoor and outdoor pools and other ridiculous amenities,to beautiful town homes and modern three flats, and awesome clean beaches (a gay beach too!), to creative retail, nightlife (both exclusive and down-home), easy access to the east coast and west coast and south for vacation or business, to clean streets, to a variety of neighborhoods, to the lack of phony elitism, to the quiet cozy winter nights with your friends and lovers, to the weekend jaunts to Galena or Saugatuck (unlike NY though Chicago is the place to be in the summer, the city fills up on weekends), to at least three-four years of urban exploration, to lack of name dropping wannabes, to being able to enjoy the luxuries in life because you're not paying ridiculous prices for housing, to being able to get out of the city without waiting for traffic to get through a tunnel, to not bumping into people in midtown, to friendly neighbors, to getting lost in one of the beautiful parks, to biking down the lakeshore path and stopping for drinks at Beachstro or North Avenue, to incredible hot eye candy on lake shore trail, to way too many fireworks, to boating with friends to see the fireworks, the University of Chicago and Northwestern, to the Music Box Theatre, to Gene Siskel Film Center, to OMG, I could go on and on....
Let's just say, people who find Chicago unsophisticated and boring are, well, unsophisticated and boring. But don't expect New York, Chicago is a city unto itself and I'm so happy that I found out the truth. Chicago is a very special place to live.
Last edited by bigjersey; 12-09-2007 at 12:58 AM..
The more I read your post the more I feel I have to say. First of all, it's amazing how some New Yorkers don't get Chicago at all. That's because when they visit they expect New York II. I remember when I first moved here I stood at the intersection of Clark and Belmont (I thought that was ground zero of Chicago for some reason) and I was like... where's the city? Over time I learned that Chicago is a totally unique and amazing place. It has almost everything New York has, but its has something New York doesn't; quality of life. Like New York, Chicago is huge (not as huge, but plenty huge) It takes a couple of years to find all your favorite places. Chicagoans live in their neighborhoods, but its not unusual to live downtown and go have brunch in Wicker Park, shop in Lincoln Park, go to the beach, and see a concert in Uptown all in one day off. I think people here work really hard in the winter to make money and then let loose in the summer. I honestly feel like I live in an vacation resort in the summer. New York is definitely exciting a unique way, but Chicago is a city full of surprising adventures and interesting people. Downtown, River North, and Gold Coast will give you the most New York experience, but the other neighborhoods offer something totally different. Take a stroll through Lakeview or Lincoln Park on a summer or autumn night and you'll get it. Anyway, good luck...
Also, the comments about Chicago's lack of creativity are sort of a joke. Chicago churns out tons of creative talent, the best of which usually is sucked up by the coasts. The reason this happens is because the National Media is headquartered in NYC. Chicago is really a national creative incubator in music theatre and the visual and literary arts. It's a very "I saw them when" sort of scene, but there are still some local favorites committed to living and working from Chicago. Chicago is very supportive of homegrown talent, and the metro area has about 8 million potential audience members + visitors. Fall Out Boy, Andrew Bird, This American Life, and half the cast of SNL are just a few that come to mind as as having Chicago roots if not an ongoing Chicago connection.
Last edited by bigjersey; 12-09-2007 at 12:57 AM..
I think the major difference between Chicago and New York in terms of creativity is that New Yorkers tend to think of themselves as leading the way, setting the trend. Whereas in Chicago, people are no less creative, they are just more subtle about it and focus on their music, art, theater, instead of building their ego and their legend.
And "Boystown" (which is the ONLY nationally recognized and city promoted gay district in the country) is one of many gay friendly areas of town. I think just like most places in the country, conservatives tend to live in the burbs and the liberals want to or actually do live in the city or closer to the city (i.e. Evanston, Oak Park, etc.).
The way I see Chicago (vs. New York) is that the average (maybe more middle class) Chicagoan will go grab breakfast at a smaller but friendly Midwestern breakfast shop or cafe, then take a walk through the park and into the zoo or Conservatory, go to the beach (or the Cubs game) and have a beer or two, relax and take in the sun and stare at the beautiful architecture that surrounds you, then grab some deep dish pizza, hop on the train to downtown and catch a free concern in Millennium Park, stroll down State Street to the Theater District, catch a show, and head on over to a piano and cigar lounge in River North. That's how I see Chicago...spontaneous, but relaxed, eclectic, but genuine, and adventurous, but predictable, all of these qualities without being overly pretentious.
The thing that makes so many flock to New York is that they love the idea that there's nowhere else in the world like New York and I'd totally agree. But I think with Chicago's size, amenities, and availability to people from all around, there is also a very unique Chicago experience as well...something you can't find anywhere else.
I just want to say that I made my comments and I'm not going to change them, but I respect others' opinions and do not plan on refuting those, either. It would turn into yet another Vs thread, and we've seen just too many of those.
That was my opinion, this is others', and I say we leave it at that.
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