33 ms·

Oddly enough, Chicago (or, rather, Evanston,) already has "a first-rate university in a place where rich people want to live." (At least, for some definition o

by jibiki 18y ago

Oddly enough, Chicago (or, rather, Evanston,) already has "a first-rate university in a place where rich people want to live." (At least, for some definition of first-rate.)

sachinag 18y ago
There's also the University of Chicago (clearly world class) and a raft of other institutions - DePaul, UIC, Loyola, Chicago State, and IIT. And everyone who went to a Big Ten school ends up here for a short period of time. (Plus, we have a bar for pretty much every Division I-A school in the country.) Chicago has no trouble being attractive to young talent, and it's cheap, too.
- noonespecial 18y ago
  Chicago has no "space in the margins". http://www.paulgraham.com/marginal.html http://www.paulgraham.com/marginal.html All of the space that could be in this category is rendered unusable 9 months per year by the winters there. When you're on the ramen budget, I think climate is more important than most people realize. Enclosed temperature controlled space is brutally expensive even in the "cheapest" cities. I find that even when the space is afforded, being trapped in cars and buildings many months per year because it literally hurts to go outside has a huge impact on my productivity.
  - Agathos 18y ago
    Compared to California, not so good. But heating is a lot cheaper in Chicago than in Boston, because the housing stock is newer and has some insulation.
  - RobGR 18y ago
    Thanks for posting the link to that essay, it's one of PG's that I missed and I enjoyed it. I like the observation that marginal space matters. That is one of the reasons why I left the Boston area, after staying there a while after school. I would add that other factors include "marginal time" and "marginal income" -- places where people work 80 hours a week, and places where rent is half your income and no one saves any money, are also unlikely to produce revolutionary startups. You can heat a leaky garage in Chicago for less than it takes to rent a garage in balmy California. You will probably have to spend $100 on insulation -- get the rolls encased in plastic by Johns Manfield so you don't fill your workspace with itchy fibers -- and you will still have to wear a sweater in there. The garage door itself will basically be a seive, but there is this blue colored, flexible foam sheet product, that they use as a house wrap like Tyvek, that you can staple over it on the inside. If you really want to do a startup, a Chicago garage can be made "good enough". Or better yet, if your startup does not involve hardware assembly, just rent a 3 bedroom house in some other part of the country for the cost of renting a garage California, and work inside.
  - pivo 18y ago
    I'm actually am much more productive in cooler environments, and I really enjoy fall and winter here in Boston. Heat drains my energy and makes me lazy. My 2100 sq. ft. condo in Boston costs about $40/month to heat in the winter, but $350/month to cool in the summer. I look forward to the cool seasons.
    - randallsquared 18y ago
      You bother to cool your condo? The highs in Boston, per wikipedia, average 82F in the hottest month. That's room temperature. I have my thermostat set on 76F right now, and I wake up shivering many mornings. I guess I don't really have any content for this post except my surprise.
      - modoc 18y ago
        Typical comfortable room temperature is usually between 65 and 72 degrees. If it was 76F in here I'd be sweating and very uncomfortable. Anything over 74F-ish makes me physically uncomfortable and anything over 78F makes me feel drained of energy. Pretty much EVERYONE in Boston has A/C. In the summer it often gets over 90F and has very high humidity.

by jibiki 18y ago

Oddly enough, Chicago (or, rather, Evanston,) already has "a first-rate university in a place where rich people want to live." (At least, for some definition of first-rate.)

sachinag 18y ago

There's also the University of Chicago (clearly world class) and a raft of other institutions - DePaul, UIC, Loyola, Chicago State, and IIT. And everyone who went to a Big Ten school ends up here for a short period of time. (Plus, we have a bar for pretty much every Division I-A school in the country.) Chicago has no trouble being attractive to young talent, and it's cheap, too.

noonespecial 18y ago
Chicago has no "space in the margins". http://www.paulgraham.com/marginal.html http://www.paulgraham.com/marginal.html All of the space that could be in this category is rendered unusable 9 months per year by the winters there. When you're on the ramen budget, I think climate is more important than most people realize. Enclosed temperature controlled space is brutally expensive even in the "cheapest" cities. I find that even when the space is afforded, being trapped in cars and buildings many months per year because it literally hurts to go outside has a huge impact on my productivity.
- Agathos 18y ago
  Compared to California, not so good. But heating is a lot cheaper in Chicago than in Boston, because the housing stock is newer and has some insulation.
- RobGR 18y ago
  Thanks for posting the link to that essay, it's one of PG's that I missed and I enjoyed it. I like the observation that marginal space matters. That is one of the reasons why I left the Boston area, after staying there a while after school. I would add that other factors include "marginal time" and "marginal income" -- places where people work 80 hours a week, and places where rent is half your income and no one saves any money, are also unlikely to produce revolutionary startups. You can heat a leaky garage in Chicago for less than it takes to rent a garage in balmy California. You will probably have to spend $100 on insulation -- get the rolls encased in plastic by Johns Manfield so you don't fill your workspace with itchy fibers -- and you will still have to wear a sweater in there. The garage door itself will basically be a seive, but there is this blue colored, flexible foam sheet product, that they use as a house wrap like Tyvek, that you can staple over it on the inside. If you really want to do a startup, a Chicago garage can be made "good enough". Or better yet, if your startup does not involve hardware assembly, just rent a 3 bedroom house in some other part of the country for the cost of renting a garage California, and work inside.
- pivo 18y ago
  I'm actually am much more productive in cooler environments, and I really enjoy fall and winter here in Boston. Heat drains my energy and makes me lazy. My 2100 sq. ft. condo in Boston costs about $40/month to heat in the winter, but $350/month to cool in the summer. I look forward to the cool seasons.
  - randallsquared 18y ago
    You bother to cool your condo? The highs in Boston, per wikipedia, average 82F in the hottest month. That's room temperature. I have my thermostat set on 76F right now, and I wake up shivering many mornings. I guess I don't really have any content for this post except my surprise.
    - modoc 18y ago
      Typical comfortable room temperature is usually between 65 and 72 degrees. If it was 76F in here I'd be sweating and very uncomfortable. Anything over 74F-ish makes me physically uncomfortable and anything over 78F makes me feel drained of energy. Pretty much EVERYONE in Boston has A/C. In the summer it often gets over 90F and has very high humidity.