This could be an oversimplification, but my perspective having lived in both NYC and Chicago: New York is dirty. It's very dense for the US and the trash colle

This could be an oversimplification, but my perspective having lived in both NYC and Chicago: New York is dirty. It's very dense for the US and the trash collection is on the sidewalk in front of businesses, meaning you are walking around trash on a daily basis. Chicago is one of the cleanest cities in the US, largely because of the alley system built after the Great Chicago Fire.