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i'd take chicago over phoenix any day of the week, but it certainly won't be because of the weather. I'd much rather be hot than have to see snow. Nothing is worse than snow in the city. There's no where to put it, it just piles up, turns all dirty, you can't walk as fast because there is ice everywhere. I'm getting depressed just thinking about it. I really hope it doesn't snow in philly this year.
If it were settled in the 1950s, fine, but the 1800s is a long time. Los Angeles was settled after Chicago, look at the population.
Maybe, but they are mainly older people who need a constant temperature.
Shouldn't you be looking at when these cities' populations grew the most? In 1870, Chicago had almost 300,000 people while Phoenix had 240 people. I'm not sure why you threw LA into the mix. Oil production, Hollywood/film industry, the Port of Los Angeles and having hosted the 1932 Olympics were just a few things that would have helped propel it into a different status than what one would find in Phoenix.
(City, not metro population)
1890 - Chicago, 1,099,850 - Phoenix 3,152
1950 - Chicago (peak) 3,620,962 - Phoenix 106,818
2010 - Chicago 2,695,598 - Phoenix 1,445,632
Despite its reputation for attracting retirees, the Phoenix metro is actually quite younger (average age) than people give it credit for being and is actually younger than many other metros.
No, no, no, 14 degrees for a low is ridiculous (Chicago's projected overnight low this Thursday). With a winds that will make feel much colder than that.
You guys are really arguing that lows in the 80s and 90s are worse than freezing temperatures? Seriously?
Shouldn't you be looking at when these cities' populations grew the most? In 1870, Chicago had almost 300,000 people while Phoenix had 240 people. I'm not sure why you threw LA into the mix. Oil production, Hollywood/film industry, the Port of Los Angeles and having hosted the 1932 Olympics were just a few things that would have helped propel it into a different status than what one would find in Phoenix.
(City, not metro population)
1890 - Chicago, 1,099,850 - Phoenix 3,152
1950 - Chicago (peak) 3,620,962 - Phoenix 106,818
2010 - Chicago 2,695,598 - Phoenix 1,445,632
Despite its reputation for attracting retirees, the Phoenix metro is actually quite younger (average age) than people give it credit for being and is actually younger than many other metros.
It does not matter when they grew most, Phoenix could have passed up Chicago.
Chicago passed up Philadelphia and it is a large city, their main growth periods were not at the same time.
I brought in Los Angeles to show that a once smaller city, is now larger than Chicago.
And actually, your numbers of growth correlate well with the wide-spread use of air conditioning units.
Phoenix is surprisingly young, but it is still a haven for retirees.
Quote:
Originally Posted by RaymondChandlerLives
Not to mention, Chicago's status as a world city has very little to do with their less than ideal winter temperatures. If anything, Chicago grew despite them.
Miami is a smaller, yet internationally known city, there are a lot of cities larger that are not as well known.
No, no, no, 14 degrees for a low is ridiculous (Chicago's projected overnight low this Thursday). With a winds that will make feel much colder than that.
You guys are really arguing that lows in the 80s and 90s are worse than freezing temperatures? Seriously?
14 isn't ridiculous (for Chicago). ... 15 is actually the average low for Chicago in January and 31/29 is the average high depending on where in the city, it gets much colder. -14 it will start hurting for sure, at least me.
there has been at least once where they had to shut down sky harbor because it was too hot to land planes
i've also had a flight cancelled and was stuck in vegas doing a vegas to phx flight in august - although that was more storm related
the "average summer low" doesn't exist at anytime where you would actually be outside ....... it's fairly typical for it to be 90+ well past midnight with the heat climbing back up to 90+ by 6am
I had a big surprise birthday party a few years back and had a lot of people come in from out of town ..... sitting in my backyard at 2am in the middle of july was not refreshing
I remember my first summer living here, the sun went down and we were coming back from the grocery store at around 11pm ........ was growing tired of the AC and figured we should roll down the windows, let some fresh air in and we would be cooled ........ yeah, not so much ........ blast of dry hot air ended that notion fairly quickly
That's not to say that some people don't enjoy it, aren't adept to it and don't prefer it .... I see cars in the summer during the day rolling with their windows down ... some people out running, etc.
You can't really argue with preference & what people can tolerate ......... I'm actually built more for the extreme cold (fine norwegian roots & all.........), but find the extreme heat easier to live in
I just think it's misinformed to state that you get some great reprieve from the heat in the summer when the sun goes down ....... it's still very hot and very warm by any measurement ... some find it great though
i'd take chicago over phoenix any day of the week, but it certainly won't be because of the weather. I'd much rather be hot than have to see snow. Nothing is worse than snow in the city. There's no where to put it, it just piles up, turns all dirty, you can't walk as fast because there is ice everywhere. I'm getting depressed just thinking about it. I really hope it doesn't snow in philly this year.
Kind of disagree ......... but we are definitely on the same page.
When I was living in Philly I usually wished that it would actually snow ..... what I hated even more were the days when it would be in the high 30s/low 40s and a storm would come through with sideways rain and heavy winds
I'd rather it was 20 degrees cooler and snowing - at least that way a heavy jacket would suffice and I could just brush the snow off .......... absolutely miserable getting drenched by rain and then having that cold wind just rip through you
90 degrees at night qualifies as a massive reprieve compared to Chicago's mind-numbingly cold winter nights. -14?! 90 isn't even that bad during the day, at night it's more than tolerable. Is it ideal? No, but it's tolerable. It's the triple digit weather that kills you in Phoenix--that I'll admit is awful. I can also say with great certainty that severe winter conditions have caused far more delays/accidents than extreme heat.
90 degrees at night qualifies as a massive reprieve compared to Chicago's mind-numbingly cold winter nights. -14?! 90 isn't even that bad during the day, at night it's more than tolerable. Is it ideal? No, but it's tolerable. It's the triple digit weather that kills you in Phoenix--that I'll admit is awful. I can also say with great certainty that severe winter conditions have caused far more delays/accidents than extreme heat.
Do some research.
1. Chicago's lows are at night, most people do things during the day.
2. Phoenix's highs are during the day, when people are up and out.
3. Chicago has not had will get -14 not yearly, not even every decade, but multiple decades will pass to hit that mark.
4. Phoenix hits the 110s yearly.
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