I wrote this in response to someone else's comment expressing a love for Chicago and a disdain for midwestern suburbia that has since been deleted, so I'll leav

I wrote this in response to someone else's comment expressing a love for Chicago and a disdain for midwestern suburbia that has since been deleted, so I'll leave it here (because I spent time writing it, and I'm vain). -- The neat thing about Chicago (and parts of NYC and probably at least one or two other American metros) is you can still somewhat affordably* buy or rent a house or flat with a yard in the city proper and have access to reliable public transit, architecture and historical landmarks, waterfronts, excellent dining and entertainment options, good public schools, amazing parks—urbs in horto!, etc. We even have a few near-suburbs that meet most or all of those criteria—although they are rapidly becoming unaffordable—like Evanston, Park Ridge, and Oak Park. Some neighborhoods and near-suburbs feel almost European. Sure, you might end up in Rogers Park or Logan Square and that might not be your cup of tea, but it's doable. As long as you can tolerate the weather, politics, and lack of topography... So it's not the "city" vs "suburbs" dichotomy that I've found in most other American metros; there's actually a bit of a gradient where you can kind of find your best fit. Now head a bit further out to Schaumburg or Naperville where—although you can get a lot more land and house for your money—it starts to become a homogenous, car-necessitating, boring nightmare (and, like you, that's coming from someone who grew up there). Even the part of the city where we live now is testing the limits of "walkable" and "interesting", but it was a compromise my wife and I made to be closer to family when we decided to have kids. Fortunately it's still overall very good here, and we're a short Blue Line or Metra ride away from all the fun stuff. Just between us Chicagoans, I lived on the north side for about 14 years and it was everything you've described and more. Why anybody would graduate college and move directly to the suburbs is absolutely unfathomable to me. I miss Lincoln Square and Uptown every day and I'm plotting to get us back there by the time my kids are ready to start high school. And I also think I did myself a disservice by never living on the south side, so that's another possibility... -- * – My neighborhood affordability and safety knowledge is about six or seven years out of date, but based on what I've heard from friends I think this is still true? Feel free to correct me.