How is Chicago for singles? (high school, college, suburbs)

[FAReastcoast]

Originally Posted by RLCMA

I did some research on Chicago as I may move there for a job and I've seen several articles that it's not a good city for singles. Is that true? I'm a single 38 year old guy and don't want to move to a city that doesn't have a good amount of singles.

Anyone who refers to single people as "singles" should stay put where they are.

[quigboto]

The single's scene here is awesome. Let me tell you, I am a very average looking guy in his 40s and I get approached all of the time, whether its to chat or to suss out my availability. I think the fact that I'm making no effort is actually appealing to them. I am married but don't wear a ring, so sometimes the conversation ends pretty quickly when I tell them that, but sometimes they hang out and want to talk anyways. I am not a philanderer but I do enjoy the company of women, so this is not a problem for me. I have many female friends, and I'm sure if I was available, I would be dating some of them. Again, I am very average looking, and don't dress sharp of anything like that. If you ave ok looking and confident without being cocky (and don't approach women aggressively) you will do just fine here in Chicago.

Neal, your heart is in the right place, but you should never ever ever dispense advice about meeting women. Ever.

[personone]

Originally Posted by RLCMA

I did some research on Chicago as I may move there for a job and I've seen several articles that it's not a good city for singles. Is that true? I'm a single 38 year old guy and don't want to move to a city that doesn't have a good amount of singles.

I am orginally from the DC area, and have lived in several other places. I'm in my mid 30s and Chicago has been, by far, the best city I've ever lived in for meeting women. I have a girlfriend now, but when I would go out before I would always meet women. When I did online dating, there were so many women on there, that you would definitely meet someone. Chicago is a very social city, which I think helps make it such a great city to meet women.

[LeotheOrangeCat]

Don't be short.

[green apple]

I'm a single woman and never want for dates. However I'm not yet 30, so I'm not sure what the dating scene is like in your age cohort. For me I can pretty much bank on meeting someone new any night of the week if I choose to go out alone. Except Wednesdays. Trial and error have shown Wednesday to be a dead zone. For the record, I'm not white, so I have that not going for me as well.

[UrbanCheetah]

Originally Posted by green apple

I'm a single woman and never want for dates. However I'm not yet 30, so I'm not sure what the dating scene is like in your age cohort. For me I can pretty much bank on meeting someone new any night of the week if I choose to go out alone. Except Wednesdays. Trial and error have shown Wednesday to be a dead zone. For the record, I'm not white, so I have that not going for me as well.

What's your ethinicity/race if you don't me asking? While Chicago is a great place to date overall, it's a little weak when it comes to Latino and Black professionals.

[green apple]

Originally Posted by UrbanCheetah

What's your ethinicity/race if you don't me asking? While Chicago is a great place to date overall, it's a little weak when it comes to Latino and Black professionals.

I'm black, but I also fit into that small population of minority professionals you mentioned earlier. Not to get too off the subject, but along similar lines, I would never move to Atlanta or Miami if I knew I would have to look for a partner there. Atlanta is suffering a serious shortage of men compared to women, and are having a hard time with a very inclusive gay scene, which means there is a good chance you'll end up sharing your man not only with several other women, but men as well. And the STD rates in Miami are too high for my liking.

I live in Lakeview so my dating pool is rounded out with quite a few white men, yes, but I think it's a different thing compared to other WOC. There is a VERY real numerical shortage in available black males for every black female, and when you factor in differences in professional/educational levels it shrinks even further. For me it's not an issue of whether or not I can hold out for a preference, it's that I would be unreasonably shrinking my options pool if I insisted only on a black partner because the numbers simply aren't there. It is not really a viable option. Additionally as part of the only 4 to around 11% of Americans who hold a post grad degree, that tends to work against me as well - I can either play in THAT small pool, or put myself in a position to potentially be the breadwinner if I "date down."

I am just really not in a position to limit my options across the board, from more than one angle. I more or less chose to pick one area in which to limit my choices, and for the most part I try to date post grads (which may seem silly, compared to the premium some put on race, but I value education more) or college grads at minimum. That has been a workable pool for me.

[beaniemac]

Originally Posted by green apple

I'm black, but I also fit into that small population of minority professionals you mentioned earlier. Not to get too off the subject, but along similar lines, I would never move to Atlanta or Miami if I knew I would have to look for a partner there. Atlanta is suffering a serious shortage of men compared to women, and are having a hard time with a very inclusive gay scene, which means there is a good chance you'll end up sharing your man not only with several other women, but men as well. And the STD rates in Miami are too high for my liking.

I live in Lakeview so my dating pool is rounded out with quite a few white men, yes, but I think it's a different thing compared to other WOC. There is a VERY real numerical shortage in available black males for every black female, and when you factor in differences in professional/educational levels it shrinks even further. For me it's not an issue of whether or not I can hold out for a preference, it's that I would be unreasonably shrinking my options pool if I insisted only on a black partner because the numbers simply aren't there. It is not really a viable option. Additionally as part of the only 4 to around 11% of Americans who hold a post grad degree, that tends to work against me as well - I can either play in THAT small pool, or put myself in a position to potentially be the breadwinner if I "date down."

I am just really not in a position to limit my options across the board, from more than one angle. I more or less chose to pick one area in which to limit my choices, and for the most part I try to date post grads (which may seem silly, compared to the premium some put on race, but I value education more) or college grads at minimum. That has been a workable pool for me.

I have noticed this as well. I'm black and a lot of my wife's friends ended up marrying white men and my sister did the same thing as well.

as for available educated black men. at least the types that you're talking about, I work in health care. and before I started working from home full time, I worked in a number of hospitals and health centers. these offices always had a whole lot more women than men. I mean it wasn't even close. and when it comes to black men in a office setting, there are virtually none.

my job is technically headquartered in arizona, and I'm going down there next week. including me, there's maybe only 4 black men in the entire company outta like 300 people.

[JenieSD]

Chicago has shortage of men and commitment shortage from those men. There are way more single females statistically speaking. Depending on what you are looking for, I don't think you'd have an issue in the city.
Suburbs may be different.

[NealIRC]

Originally Posted by FAReastcoast

Anyone who refers to single people as "singles" should stay put where they are.

What would you refer to them as...?

Originally Posted by EffortPoaster

Serious question, have you been diagnosed with autism or Asperger's?

Yes.