Comparing NYC Neighborhoods and Chicago Neighborhoods (Kansas, Brooklyn: college, to live in, bus)

[SoxCub Fan]

Originally Posted by MannheimMadman

This is absolutely true. I'm sure it's been said time and time again, but you could do far, far worse than both of these cities. Gentlemen! I have seen the end of the Earth! They call it Nebraska!

LMAO!!!I couldnt imagine life in Nebraska.....I think I would cry everyday until I was rescued by a Transformer robot version of The Willis Tower and The Statue of Liberty to fly me back to either state.

At least you get warm weather all year in Houston....right about now Houston sounds like a great idea.

[Drover]

Originally Posted by SoxCub Fan

LMAO!!!I couldnt imagine life in Nebraska.....I think I would cry everyday until I was rescued by a Transformer robot version of The Willis Tower and The Statue of Liberty to fly me back to either state.

At least you get warm weather all year in Houston....right about now Houston sounds like a great idea.

Ask again in July if Houston sounds like a great idea.

[Tex?Il?]

Originally Posted by Drover

Ask again in July if Houston sounds like a great idea.

I agree. Outside California, sunbelt summers can be just as brutal.

I'm not necessarily crazy about Chicago/midwestern winters, but summers that are that much warmer than ours is too much.

[tonythetuna]

Originally Posted by Chi-town Native

well then make some comparisons and don't make a post that makes you sound whiny and defensive. there's really nothing more futile complaining about free forums that veer off-topic. it's the friggin' internet.

What I would say has already been said.

I have no desire to feed Chicago hating trolls.

[orienteering]

You're question has probably already been answered, but I'm going to ignore the pages of Chicago vs. New York debate (silly) and make my own suggestions.

You won't find many neighborhoods in New York like Andersonville or Lincoln Square. I love those areas too (my parents currently live in Lincoln Square) and I don't think that there is, here, really any comparison. A couple of beautiful, quiet neighborhoods to consider are Inwood (in Manhattan) and Kensington/Ditmas Park.

Inwood is lovely, with nice parks all around, great river views, a nice farmer's market. However, resources are a bit sparse up there, and the actual nice part of the area is only a few blocks long. I would not in any circumstance recommend Washington Heights unless you're broke. I currently live there and it's pretty awful--loud, dirty, and way too crowded (as is much of Manhattan). Inwood is also really far from just about everything.

Brooklyn reminds me of Chicago much more, and I think it's a much nicer borough to choose. For a while I lived in Ditmas Park, and while it feels quiet and isolated there are so many great businesses there, and it's on a quite quick subway line (the B/Q). Kensington/Ditmas Park is, I think, one of the most diverse places in the city, with kosher grocery, halal butchers, polish and ukrainian restaurants galore, etc. Yet there's very little animosity. The area is quiet, filled with trees, has great supermarkets and restaurants, and depending on where you live is a short walk to beautiful Prospect Park. I lived there for 6 months and miss it dearly.

There are other quiet neighborhoods out there, but they're pretty far from everything, so if you commute it's probably not great to move so far.

[prelude91]

Originally Posted by orienteering

You won't find many neighborhoods in New York like Andersonville or Lincoln Square.

FWIW, Forest Hills, Queens reminds me of Lincoln Square and Andersonville.

[tonythetuna]

Originally Posted by orienteering

You won't find many neighborhoods in New York like Andersonville or Lincoln Square.

Brooklyn reminds me of Chicago much more

I thought Brooklyn was in New York.

[paytonc]

Re: the OP. Are you sure that you have to move to NYC? It's difficult to find low-key neighborhoods like Hyde Park in, well, the self-proclaimed Capital Of The Universe!!!!! Those that exist are rather more distant from the core than their equivalents here. You might be happier in a city that's slower-paced overall -- enough people have left NYC for Philadelphia, Providence, Baltimore, and other northeastern cities that still offer great access to NYC without being quite so showy.

Also, gentrification and broader neighborhood change are both incredibly complex phenomena, with lots of aspects and perspectives that you're not considering. If you think it runs roughshod in Chicago, then I can't wait to see what you'll think of Brooklyn.

Originally Posted by Chi-town Native

just out of curiosity, in NYC how many people are native New Yorkers as opposed to transplants?

I once saw a paper that figured this out using 1990 Census figures, and my analysis is quoted below. I could calculate it with 2000 Census, but at this point why bother?

"a similar proportion of New York and Chicago region residents were born within their respective tri-state areas. 57.6% of New Yorkers were born in New York, New Jersey, or Connecticut; 60.5% of Chicagoans were born in Illinois, Indiana, or Wisconsin. For all its claims to be a national draw, only 18% of New Yorkers moved from other states/territories, while 24.8% of Chicagoans moved from outside its region (but within the country)."

The key difference is that NYC has more international immigration than Chicago. The other two metros analyzed were LA and DC, both of which are faster growing metros and thus have more migrants and fewer natives than either Chicago or NYC.

[orienteering]

Originally Posted by tonythetuna

I thought Brooklyn was in New York.

Indeed, though some people still treat it like it's not. In the previous line though I'd talked specifically about Manhattan and Inwood, not NYC in general.

I've never been to Forest Hills, though I've passed through it. I feel like that would fall under that category of more inaccessible neighborhoods though...is that true?

I didn't want to be too pessimistic, but I agree with paytonc--if you don't have to move to NYC, I wouldn't really suggest it. Rent prices are still just so high--honestly I haven't seen anything decent under $1,600 lately--it's overcrowded, pretty dirty, most people are angry and on edge (including me), and the MTA just goes to shambles on the weekend. I don't think I will move back to Chicago in the near future but as soon as I get out of my current lease I am leaving the city.

[orienteering]

Originally Posted by SoxCub Fan

Dude dont get offended...New Yorkers are just more advanced than Chicagoans I have lived in both place so trust me on this...there are many reasons for this:

a. The northeast coast is the education hub of the US with schools like Harvard, Princeton, Yale, NYU, etc. and when these people graduate they usually head to NY for careers.

b. NYC is a more worldly and ethnically diverse city than Chicago so the life education provided by the environment creates a broader perspective, and people are more embracing and open to communicating and dealing with people of different cultures. Chicagoans pretty much stick to their race and are absolutely clueless when it comes to any ethnic groups other than their own.

c. New York is more of a limitless culture...where Chicago is more of "play by the rules" kind of city

d. New York's overcrowded population creates intense competition, so education wise and professionally everyone brings their "A" game.

e. NY'ers are very proud people


Even the derelicts in New York have some type of enterprising tactic (wash a window, shine your shoe, bottle recycling) unlike our bums who just beg with a disgusting sense of entitlement.

New York Housing Projects even turns out very successful people which speaks volumes about their education system. And these people aim to leave the projects, where as Chicago families live in housing projects for generations while milking the government for welfare and assistance.

And to answer your question YES parts of the Bronx are sophisticated...its the home of Fordham University which is a damn good school.

Uck. I feel like I shouldn't bother. But...most of this is so completely off. I have lived in both cities too, and I can see the good and bad in both. But New York is not "better" and I'm so sick of hearing people here go on and on about that. Life here is in the end pretty miserable, and if you take a look around at people anywhere you go in NYC you may realize that.

The "derelicts" and the poor in NYC are not at all enterprising. Living in a poor neighborhood and tutoring kids from failing schools has been a real eye opener for me. To make that claim is simply naive. Also, New York is such a ridiculously stratified city, both in ethnicity and socioeconomic background. There are few places I've seen any interaction (Kensington being one exception).

New York is becoming so expensive to survive in that it is driving out all of its bohemians and others who are in between rich and very poor. I think that, sadly, despite the amazing resources on offer here, the number of true artists and freethinkers residing here is rapidly decreasing as people find more opportunity in neighboring east coast cities, and places like Portland or, yes, Chicago.


...Gah. Sorry for the rant. People who say these things with seemingly so little knowledge of the quality of life here are just driving me mad.