5 ms·

Toronto is a larger city than Chicago, and has more construction. We hold international conferences.

quaquaqua1 7y ago
Additionally, who in their right mind wants to go to Chicago for literally any reason? Source: I am an American who has visited Chicago 3 times and hated it more and more each time due to prices, crime, horrible weather, and extreme lack of anything to do
- nkrisc 7y ago
  Funny. I grew up in the city and lived there for most of my adult life and never had any issues with any of those things. Source: someone's who's spent more time in Chicago than someone's who's visited a handful of times.
  - magduf 7y ago
    >Funny. I grew up in the city and lived there for most of my adult life and never had any issues with any of those things. >Source: someone's who's spent more time in Chicago than someone's who's visited a handful of times. Of course you'd like it, you're used to the place. The city is called "the windy city" for a reason, and is certainly not known to have weather resembling southern California. If you like it, that's fine, but not everyone likes cold, windy midwestern weather. For prices, your experiences are simply invalid. The OP was likely talking about prices he'd see as a visitor, the large part of which would include hotel rooms. Do you spend a lot of time in hotels near your home? Of course not. And if the OP is comparing various international cities, then I can see why he'd complain about Chicago: it's a large American city and would likely have extremely high hotel prices, because hotels in America are generally very expensive unless you want to stay in a roach motel. It's much cheaper, as a single traveler, to stay in most of western Europe (except probably Switzerland).
    - tptacek 7y ago
      Just don't visit between November and March. The "Windy City" thing has little to do with our weather; winds are empirically worse in New York and San Francisco. If you have almost no experience with the city, it's easy to project and extrapolate from its nickname.
      - mrep 7y ago
        Or visit then if you like some snow :) I'm currently in Seattle and I cannot wait to move back. Fortunately, my girlfriend gradates in 7 months and we are literally counting down the months until then so we can move back.
        tptacek 7y ago
        It's a great city. But there's lots not to like about living in a big city. I find NYC almost incredibly oppressive and confining and crazymaking, but I don't wonder why people love it; I also get why people move out to farms in Minnesota, even though I'd never do that myself. But you're not allowed to say that "the wind" is why you don't like Chicago. (Fair warning, I have our city's flag inked on my arm, so I may be a booster).
        quaquaqua1 7y ago
        Yeah I'm not referencing the wind in Chicago but rather the oppressive cold which is worse than most parts of the world with a population larger than x :)
        tptacek 7y ago
        It's about the same as Boston, marginally colder than NYC, and substantially warmer than Montreal. :)
        pvg 7y ago
        Of course, Chicago's flag is actually a windsock.
- turk73 7y ago
  I took my family to Chicago for the museums and such and we had no real problems, but yes, it's very expensive and troubled and I'm glad we don't live there. We enjoyed the food and my kids had their first big city experiences, mostly good, but lots of "why is that man peeing in the alley, dad?" We ran the gauntlet of window washers and dealt with awful traffic and narrow streets and got stranded on the subway because the cops had to get a body off of the tracks. And we didn't even venture to the sportier areas. All in all, a good trip, but no reason to ever go back, really. U Chicago is leading the charge in tuition rip-off insanity by setting the price at $100K a year. For $400-500K you can start a business publishing sports almanacs! Think McFly, think! But seriously, I think higher ed has its head so far up its own ass that it can't tell that the rest of us are just turning our backs.
- jointpdf 7y ago
  Strongly disagree with this. Chicago is one of the greatest cities (to visit or otherwise) not just in the US, but anywhere. I’ve been there over 30+ times since I was a kid and I’m going far out of my way to visit again tomorrow, it is that good. It’s the original skyscraper city with an absolutely wonderful skyline and architecture. Being in the city during a blizzard is magical, and the weather on a nice summer day. Tons of parks and pristine coastline. One of the best food and shopping scenes anywhere. World class museums. Also, it’s certainly cheaper than SF/LA/NYC. There is a lifetime of things to experience in Chicago.
excursionist 7y ago
It seems like most of the construction in Toronto is condos and road repairs. The subway system is an embarrassment.

Additionally, who in their right mind wants to go to Chicago for literally any reason? Source: I am an American who has visited Chicago 3 times and hated it more and more each time due to prices, crime, horrible weather, and extreme lack of anything to do

nkrisc 7y ago
Funny. I grew up in the city and lived there for most of my adult life and never had any issues with any of those things. Source: someone's who's spent more time in Chicago than someone's who's visited a handful of times.
- magduf 7y ago
  >Funny. I grew up in the city and lived there for most of my adult life and never had any issues with any of those things. >Source: someone's who's spent more time in Chicago than someone's who's visited a handful of times. Of course you'd like it, you're used to the place. The city is called "the windy city" for a reason, and is certainly not known to have weather resembling southern California. If you like it, that's fine, but not everyone likes cold, windy midwestern weather. For prices, your experiences are simply invalid. The OP was likely talking about prices he'd see as a visitor, the large part of which would include hotel rooms. Do you spend a lot of time in hotels near your home? Of course not. And if the OP is comparing various international cities, then I can see why he'd complain about Chicago: it's a large American city and would likely have extremely high hotel prices, because hotels in America are generally very expensive unless you want to stay in a roach motel. It's much cheaper, as a single traveler, to stay in most of western Europe (except probably Switzerland).
  - tptacek 7y ago
    Just don't visit between November and March. The "Windy City" thing has little to do with our weather; winds are empirically worse in New York and San Francisco. If you have almost no experience with the city, it's easy to project and extrapolate from its nickname.
    - mrep 7y ago
      Or visit then if you like some snow :) I'm currently in Seattle and I cannot wait to move back. Fortunately, my girlfriend gradates in 7 months and we are literally counting down the months until then so we can move back.
      - tptacek 7y ago
        It's a great city. But there's lots not to like about living in a big city. I find NYC almost incredibly oppressive and confining and crazymaking, but I don't wonder why people love it; I also get why people move out to farms in Minnesota, even though I'd never do that myself. But you're not allowed to say that "the wind" is why you don't like Chicago. (Fair warning, I have our city's flag inked on my arm, so I may be a booster).
        quaquaqua1 7y ago
        Yeah I'm not referencing the wind in Chicago but rather the oppressive cold which is worse than most parts of the world with a population larger than x :)
        tptacek 7y ago
        It's about the same as Boston, marginally colder than NYC, and substantially warmer than Montreal. :)
        pvg 7y ago
        Of course, Chicago's flag is actually a windsock.
turk73 7y ago
I took my family to Chicago for the museums and such and we had no real problems, but yes, it's very expensive and troubled and I'm glad we don't live there. We enjoyed the food and my kids had their first big city experiences, mostly good, but lots of "why is that man peeing in the alley, dad?" We ran the gauntlet of window washers and dealt with awful traffic and narrow streets and got stranded on the subway because the cops had to get a body off of the tracks. And we didn't even venture to the sportier areas. All in all, a good trip, but no reason to ever go back, really. U Chicago is leading the charge in tuition rip-off insanity by setting the price at $100K a year. For $400-500K you can start a business publishing sports almanacs! Think McFly, think! But seriously, I think higher ed has its head so far up its own ass that it can't tell that the rest of us are just turning our backs.
jointpdf 7y ago
Strongly disagree with this. Chicago is one of the greatest cities (to visit or otherwise) not just in the US, but anywhere. I’ve been there over 30+ times since I was a kid and I’m going far out of my way to visit again tomorrow, it is that good. It’s the original skyscraper city with an absolutely wonderful skyline and architecture. Being in the city during a blizzard is magical, and the weather on a nice summer day. Tons of parks and pristine coastline. One of the best food and shopping scenes anywhere. World class museums. Also, it’s certainly cheaper than SF/LA/NYC. There is a lifetime of things to experience in Chicago.

excursionist 7y ago

It seems like most of the construction in Toronto is condos and road repairs. The subway system is an embarrassment.