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The WFH is a huge part. Just moved from a tiny 1 bed near downtown LA to a 3 bed place in Chicago with lower rent. My girlfriend and I both get our own offices,

The WFH is a huge part. Just moved from a tiny 1 bed near downtown LA to a 3 bed place in Chicago with lower rent. My girlfriend and I both get our own offices, we have a yard, and enough places that are half open nearby that we're pretty happy.

bgorman 6y ago
Please report back in February after experiencing a -40 day :)
- coredog64 6y ago
  -40C or -40F?
  - jcranmer 6y ago
    -40°C = -40°F.
    - sokoloff 6y ago
      I’ll bet $20 that GP knows that.
- jcranmer 6y ago
  Chicago doesn't get -40°. When I was in Champaign (admittedly, that's ~100mi south) for 6 years, exactly once did we have windchill reach -40°. Your typical "coldest low" in Chicago will be single-digit degrees Fahrenheit. Per Wikipedia, Chicago's record extreme low is -25°F.
  - monksy 6y ago
    -40F is with windchill. We had a few days this past winter with it.
  - nsxwolf 6y ago
    It hit -23F in January 2019 and below -30F in some of the suburbs. It’s almost a meaningless distinction when it’s that cold.
- OldHand2018 6y ago
  Spend a few hundred dollars on some quality winter gear and don't worry about it. Wear layers. A scarf makes a huge difference. Probably larger than you would think. Chicago will probably get a "polar vortex" in February or March. It will be a week of really cold weather and then it will be over. You'll probably find that November and December are warmer than you expected. January is a bit dreary, but only because of the reduced daylight hours (compared to LA). Chicago is just a bit further north than NYC, but compared to Paris or London it gets a lot more winter daylight. The think I've noticed about winter since moving to Chicago is that the really sunny days are the coldest and the cloudy days are warmer. If you've got large south-facing windows, you might need to close the shades or even open the window slightly when it is really cold. That sun can be intense!
  - treis 6y ago
    >That sun can be intense! For the two hours a day it's out! Obviously an exaggeration but you can go to work in the dark and drive home in the dark on the shortest days of the year. Can be a real bummer for those that didn't grow up like that.
    - look_lookatme 6y ago
      I live in New England and a bunch of people have moved up here from all over. I'm most curious about how they handle it getting dark at 4pm and everything being closed by 9.
- colinmhayes 6y ago
  There are no -40 days in Chicago, but I'll agree the winter is unbearable. I don't mind the cold. I mind the never ending cold. December + January are fine, February is depressing, but March and April really are awful.
  - asdff 6y ago
    Even worse than the cold imo is the 'about to be cold' weather preceeding and following winter. Rain that freezes overnight and encases your car right when you have to run to work. Muck and mud everywhere the minute you step off a path. Everything green turns to brown. Coupled with the limited daylight and it's depressing, frankly.
  - Izkata 6y ago
    When the polar vortex dipped down in 2014 and 2019, wind chill did get that low in Chicago. I think it actually hit -50 F on the coldest day for one of them.
  - Pokepokalypse 6y ago
    I grew up there, and really the worst part was that stretch in February where it's overcast every single fucking day. Then there's the humidity with 100+F days in the summer. And mosquitoes. The other problem was I grew up in a reasonable, livable suburb, and now, when I go back there, I see that rents and housing are really extremely expensive compared to salaries. Jobs suck (there's no real tech industry anymore). And traffic in the suburbs is constant gridlock wherever you go. It's become a real horror show and I couldn't ever contemplate moving back. Weather/Climate is not even the consideration.
- 01100011 6y ago
  In the north central US, you have to stay indoors for a while because it's too cold. In the sunbelt, you have to stay indoors for a while because it's too hot. In CA, you have to stay indoors for a while because of the poor air quality. Take your pic. CA folks seem to think the rest of the world is an inhospitable wasteland. Sure, CA is a bit more mild, but it's not perfect.
  - scsilver 6y ago
    Summer in the north, winter in the south.
  - WillPostForFood 6y ago
    In CA, you have to stay indoors for a while because of the poor air quality. Maybe once or twice per decade is the AQ so bad in CA you have to stay indoors. As opposed to weeks or months every winter (depending on your tolerance - I hate cold).
    - ikiris 6y ago
      Sweet summer child.
    - kelnos 6y ago
      > Maybe once or twice per decade is the AQ so bad in CA you have to stay indoors We definitely had stay-inside days this year and last year, and I could have sworn we did the year before as well. That blew through your per-decade quota in recent consecutive years. I fully expect we'll have some stay-inside days next year too. But I do agree that the number of days the air quality is bad just does not come close to the number of days where it's really cold or really hot in other places.
    - bart_spoon 6y ago
      The entire Western US is in the midst of a climate change-induced super drought that is worst in at least 1400 years, probably longer. The air quality is degrading due to huge swaths of the area being engulfed is wildfire. Perhaps your statement was true for the past few decades, but certainly not now. Its not a fluke, its the new normal.
- servercobra 6y ago
  I grew up even further north, so I'll be fine ;) Plus, work from home! You just don't go outside!
- bart_spoon 6y ago
  The winter gets cold. Big deal. From the way people talk these days you would think that human beings will shrivel and die if the temperature dips below 50F.

bgorman 6y ago

Please report back in February after experiencing a -40 day :)

coredog64 6y ago
-40C or -40F?
- jcranmer 6y ago
  -40°C = -40°F.
  - sokoloff 6y ago
    I’ll bet $20 that GP knows that.
jcranmer 6y ago
Chicago doesn't get -40°. When I was in Champaign (admittedly, that's ~100mi south) for 6 years, exactly once did we have windchill reach -40°. Your typical "coldest low" in Chicago will be single-digit degrees Fahrenheit. Per Wikipedia, Chicago's record extreme low is -25°F.
- monksy 6y ago
  -40F is with windchill. We had a few days this past winter with it.
- nsxwolf 6y ago
  It hit -23F in January 2019 and below -30F in some of the suburbs. It’s almost a meaningless distinction when it’s that cold.
OldHand2018 6y ago
Spend a few hundred dollars on some quality winter gear and don't worry about it. Wear layers. A scarf makes a huge difference. Probably larger than you would think. Chicago will probably get a "polar vortex" in February or March. It will be a week of really cold weather and then it will be over. You'll probably find that November and December are warmer than you expected. January is a bit dreary, but only because of the reduced daylight hours (compared to LA). Chicago is just a bit further north than NYC, but compared to Paris or London it gets a lot more winter daylight. The think I've noticed about winter since moving to Chicago is that the really sunny days are the coldest and the cloudy days are warmer. If you've got large south-facing windows, you might need to close the shades or even open the window slightly when it is really cold. That sun can be intense!
- treis 6y ago
  >That sun can be intense! For the two hours a day it's out! Obviously an exaggeration but you can go to work in the dark and drive home in the dark on the shortest days of the year. Can be a real bummer for those that didn't grow up like that.
  - look_lookatme 6y ago
    I live in New England and a bunch of people have moved up here from all over. I'm most curious about how they handle it getting dark at 4pm and everything being closed by 9.
colinmhayes 6y ago
There are no -40 days in Chicago, but I'll agree the winter is unbearable. I don't mind the cold. I mind the never ending cold. December + January are fine, February is depressing, but March and April really are awful.
- asdff 6y ago
  Even worse than the cold imo is the 'about to be cold' weather preceeding and following winter. Rain that freezes overnight and encases your car right when you have to run to work. Muck and mud everywhere the minute you step off a path. Everything green turns to brown. Coupled with the limited daylight and it's depressing, frankly.
- Izkata 6y ago
  When the polar vortex dipped down in 2014 and 2019, wind chill did get that low in Chicago. I think it actually hit -50 F on the coldest day for one of them.
- Pokepokalypse 6y ago
  I grew up there, and really the worst part was that stretch in February where it's overcast every single fucking day. Then there's the humidity with 100+F days in the summer. And mosquitoes. The other problem was I grew up in a reasonable, livable suburb, and now, when I go back there, I see that rents and housing are really extremely expensive compared to salaries. Jobs suck (there's no real tech industry anymore). And traffic in the suburbs is constant gridlock wherever you go. It's become a real horror show and I couldn't ever contemplate moving back. Weather/Climate is not even the consideration.
01100011 6y ago
In the north central US, you have to stay indoors for a while because it's too cold. In the sunbelt, you have to stay indoors for a while because it's too hot. In CA, you have to stay indoors for a while because of the poor air quality. Take your pic. CA folks seem to think the rest of the world is an inhospitable wasteland. Sure, CA is a bit more mild, but it's not perfect.
- scsilver 6y ago
  Summer in the north, winter in the south.
- WillPostForFood 6y ago
  In CA, you have to stay indoors for a while because of the poor air quality. Maybe once or twice per decade is the AQ so bad in CA you have to stay indoors. As opposed to weeks or months every winter (depending on your tolerance - I hate cold).
  - ikiris 6y ago
    Sweet summer child.
  - kelnos 6y ago
    > Maybe once or twice per decade is the AQ so bad in CA you have to stay indoors We definitely had stay-inside days this year and last year, and I could have sworn we did the year before as well. That blew through your per-decade quota in recent consecutive years. I fully expect we'll have some stay-inside days next year too. But I do agree that the number of days the air quality is bad just does not come close to the number of days where it's really cold or really hot in other places.
  - bart_spoon 6y ago
    The entire Western US is in the midst of a climate change-induced super drought that is worst in at least 1400 years, probably longer. The air quality is degrading due to huge swaths of the area being engulfed is wildfire. Perhaps your statement was true for the past few decades, but certainly not now. Its not a fluke, its the new normal.
servercobra 6y ago
I grew up even further north, so I'll be fine ;) Plus, work from home! You just don't go outside!
bart_spoon 6y ago
The winter gets cold. Big deal. From the way people talk these days you would think that human beings will shrivel and die if the temperature dips below 50F.