6 ms·

Everyone forgets Chicago. In the US, it's the most important financial center outside of Manhattan and is the third place city in number of Michelin starred res

Everyone forgets Chicago. In the US, it's the most important financial center outside of Manhattan and is the third place city in number of Michelin starred restaurants (fewer than SF; Seattle has none). Boeing moved their corporate HQ there from Seattle because of its financial prominence. It has a world class university in U. Chicago and excellent bus/rail transit across the metro area. But the Chicago area is seriously undervalued as "flyover country" for most people from the coasts.

aioprisan 14y ago
from my experience there, it's simply too far from other places (vs Boston/NYC/DC area or) and weather is a lot harsher
- jmnickels 14y ago
  it's a 2 hour flight.
jseliger 14y ago
What's Chicago known for these days? When I think of Seattle, I think of music (grunge was big, and today there's still a lot of it), Amazon, Microsoft, tech stuff, and arts. When I think of SF I think of free-spirits, the 60s, and startups. When I think of New York I think of movies, finance, artists (especially writers), publishing, and fashion. When I think of Chicago, I think of. . . corruption? Commodities markets? I'm not saying this to be snarky or a coastal asshole or whatever. I'm saying it because I genuinely don't have much of an impression of Chicago from the popular culture, or from books, or from sites like HN.
- iradik 14y ago
  Architecture to name one of many. Some of the best American architects built many buildings, apartments, and skyscrapers in Chicago. The Chicago skyline is a wondrous thing. It can't be compared.
  - deleted 14y ago
    [deleted]
- bunderbunder 14y ago
  As a place to live, in my opinion the biggest thing that Chicago has over other cities I've spent significant time in is green space. The city's motto is Urbs in Horto, and it shows. Virtually the entire lake shore is one big park, outside of downtown most the area along the river is also park land, there are forest preserves within city limits, and other significantly-sized parks and playgrounds are scattered all across the city. I suspect that it be quite hard to find a spot in the city that isn't within walking distance of at least one public baseball diamond or soccer field. Even non-park areas are greener, on account of more (and bigger) trees lining the residential streets. Architecture would be another nice feature; the city has definitely benefited from being the home of many of the USA's most influential architects. In summer the city's absolutely rotten with street festivals, which is also pretty fantastic. So no, nothing that would be particularly notable to a non-resident. But you can't spend an afternoon outside reading a book under a social media startup or an up-and-coming fashion designer.
  - seanmcdirmid 14y ago
    I can't imagine any city in the US being greener than Seattle. It is called the emerald city for a reason! Of course, it helps that most of the trees in Seattle are conifers that don't lose their needles in the winter. Winters are absolutely brutal in the midwest, I would take rain over having to wear a heavy jacket.
  - koalalala 14y ago
    Lived in the Midwest for well over a decade. Drove 48 hours straight to GTFO of there with extreme prejudice at the earliest opportunity. There's a few top tier universities, some big transnationals like Monsanto, Boeing, Nestle - you know what great if that's your thing. Personally I didn't ever think "big money" was the best reason for living in the midwest while I was there for so long, but I digress. My caustic opinion is if you're not a farmer or self-sufficient type who is thrilled with the opportunity to live outside of a big city, then try for a city on the coast, like San Francisco. Big midwestern cities just aren't "all that" relative to their coastal counterparts. In the midwest you get: - Higher crime rates and corruption - Miserable, MISERABLE prolonged winters - Salted roads --> depresses the value of any enthusiast (Porsche/BMW/Ferrari) type cars you might have on resale - Rampant backwards conservatism - Uncomfortably hot and humid summers - Tornados and severe weather - A severe lack of places to go and things to see After living there for so long, I have a really tough time understanding why you would want to stay there if the opportunity to leave arrived, unless you're involved with a major university or are a farmer / homesteader type person living in the country. Bottom line, if you could magically swap San Francisco with Chicago, social network and assets included at no cost for a day I bet 100% of my money a bunch of Chicagoans would reconsider their whereabouts, and most SFers would be PISSED. Also. And this is important: weed is legal or effectively legal for most of the west coast. This may not be a big deal to you but it's just amazingly energizing to live in an area with sane people who are not brainwashed as opposed to backwards conservatives so prevalent in the midwest. People are healthier and more active here, and I feel many are a bit more open minded. You can call it a negative that the startup scene is unavoidable, but really, isn't fluorishing innovation what you'd expect to see in any super happening big city? If you don't want to see innovation, maybe city life isn't for you, maybe dairy farming is for you. just my 2c :0 plz dont hate me
- eliasmacpherson 14y ago
  Still going, probably experiencing a revival: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_house https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_house World's biggest food fair: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taste_of_Chicago https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taste_of_Chicago If you don't like house: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_hip_hop https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_hip_hop For the amateur economist :) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_school_%28economics%29 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_school_%28economics%29
nostromo 14y ago
Michelin only provides "red guides" for 3 US cities: New York, San Francisco, and Chicago. (http://www.michelintravel.com/guides-cat/north-america-red-guides/ http://www.michelintravel.com/guides-cat/north-america-red-g...) It's not possible for any other city in the US to get a starred restaurant, no matter the quality of the food.
graue 14y ago
For me, SF and NYC have a huge advantage over Chicago and that is mild winters. New York gets cold, but not that cold and you can wait inside for the subway. I spent two years in Minneapolis insisting I could take it, but the simple fact is that long, bitterly cold winters mean you end up inactive, indoors, cooped up at home more often than not. At least I did. It felt like wasted time, and Chicago is only marginally better. It would take more than affordable rent and good restaurants to lure me back to a place with so many sub-20F days.
- wensing 14y ago
  I lived in Chicago for 6 years; being cooped up inside meant more time sipping hot beverages in front of my computer, which may be called sedentary but certainly not 'lost time' for a programmer.
  - graue 14y ago
    Ah, that's a difference between you and me. I need outdoor time to recharge, so that when I am back in front of my computer, I'm productive.
nhebb 14y ago
> Boeing moved their corporate HQ there from Seattle because of its financial prominence. I don't think the financial prominence had much influence on the decision. They needed a location that was centrally located to minimize travel: http://hbr.org/2001/10/inside-boeings-big-move/ar/1 http://hbr.org/2001/10/inside-boeings-big-move/ar/1

aioprisan 14y ago

from my experience there, it's simply too far from other places (vs Boston/NYC/DC area or) and weather is a lot harsher

jmnickels 14y ago
it's a 2 hour flight.

jseliger 14y ago

What's Chicago known for these days? When I think of Seattle, I think of music (grunge was big, and today there's still a lot of it), Amazon, Microsoft, tech stuff, and arts. When I think of SF I think of free-spirits, the 60s, and startups. When I think of New York I think of movies, finance, artists (especially writers), publishing, and fashion. When I think of Chicago, I think of. . . corruption? Commodities markets? I'm not saying this to be snarky or a coastal asshole or whatever. I'm saying it because I genuinely don't have much of an impression of Chicago from the popular culture, or from books, or from sites like HN.

iradik 14y ago
Architecture to name one of many. Some of the best American architects built many buildings, apartments, and skyscrapers in Chicago. The Chicago skyline is a wondrous thing. It can't be compared.
- deleted 14y ago
  [deleted]
bunderbunder 14y ago
As a place to live, in my opinion the biggest thing that Chicago has over other cities I've spent significant time in is green space. The city's motto is Urbs in Horto, and it shows. Virtually the entire lake shore is one big park, outside of downtown most the area along the river is also park land, there are forest preserves within city limits, and other significantly-sized parks and playgrounds are scattered all across the city. I suspect that it be quite hard to find a spot in the city that isn't within walking distance of at least one public baseball diamond or soccer field. Even non-park areas are greener, on account of more (and bigger) trees lining the residential streets. Architecture would be another nice feature; the city has definitely benefited from being the home of many of the USA's most influential architects. In summer the city's absolutely rotten with street festivals, which is also pretty fantastic. So no, nothing that would be particularly notable to a non-resident. But you can't spend an afternoon outside reading a book under a social media startup or an up-and-coming fashion designer.
- seanmcdirmid 14y ago
  I can't imagine any city in the US being greener than Seattle. It is called the emerald city for a reason! Of course, it helps that most of the trees in Seattle are conifers that don't lose their needles in the winter. Winters are absolutely brutal in the midwest, I would take rain over having to wear a heavy jacket.
- koalalala 14y ago
  Lived in the Midwest for well over a decade. Drove 48 hours straight to GTFO of there with extreme prejudice at the earliest opportunity. There's a few top tier universities, some big transnationals like Monsanto, Boeing, Nestle - you know what great if that's your thing. Personally I didn't ever think "big money" was the best reason for living in the midwest while I was there for so long, but I digress. My caustic opinion is if you're not a farmer or self-sufficient type who is thrilled with the opportunity to live outside of a big city, then try for a city on the coast, like San Francisco. Big midwestern cities just aren't "all that" relative to their coastal counterparts. In the midwest you get: - Higher crime rates and corruption - Miserable, MISERABLE prolonged winters - Salted roads --> depresses the value of any enthusiast (Porsche/BMW/Ferrari) type cars you might have on resale - Rampant backwards conservatism - Uncomfortably hot and humid summers - Tornados and severe weather - A severe lack of places to go and things to see After living there for so long, I have a really tough time understanding why you would want to stay there if the opportunity to leave arrived, unless you're involved with a major university or are a farmer / homesteader type person living in the country. Bottom line, if you could magically swap San Francisco with Chicago, social network and assets included at no cost for a day I bet 100% of my money a bunch of Chicagoans would reconsider their whereabouts, and most SFers would be PISSED. Also. And this is important: weed is legal or effectively legal for most of the west coast. This may not be a big deal to you but it's just amazingly energizing to live in an area with sane people who are not brainwashed as opposed to backwards conservatives so prevalent in the midwest. People are healthier and more active here, and I feel many are a bit more open minded. You can call it a negative that the startup scene is unavoidable, but really, isn't fluorishing innovation what you'd expect to see in any super happening big city? If you don't want to see innovation, maybe city life isn't for you, maybe dairy farming is for you. just my 2c :0 plz dont hate me
eliasmacpherson 14y ago
Still going, probably experiencing a revival: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_house https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_house World's biggest food fair: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taste_of_Chicago https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taste_of_Chicago If you don't like house: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_hip_hop https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_hip_hop For the amateur economist :) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_school_%28economics%29 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_school_%28economics%29

nostromo 14y ago

Michelin only provides "red guides" for 3 US cities: New York, San Francisco, and Chicago. (http://www.michelintravel.com/guides-cat/north-america-red-guides/ http://www.michelintravel.com/guides-cat/north-america-red-g...) It's not possible for any other city in the US to get a starred restaurant, no matter the quality of the food.

graue 14y ago

For me, SF and NYC have a huge advantage over Chicago and that is mild winters. New York gets cold, but not that cold and you can wait inside for the subway. I spent two years in Minneapolis insisting I could take it, but the simple fact is that long, bitterly cold winters mean you end up inactive, indoors, cooped up at home more often than not. At least I did. It felt like wasted time, and Chicago is only marginally better. It would take more than affordable rent and good restaurants to lure me back to a place with so many sub-20F days.

wensing 14y ago
I lived in Chicago for 6 years; being cooped up inside meant more time sipping hot beverages in front of my computer, which may be called sedentary but certainly not 'lost time' for a programmer.
- graue 14y ago
  Ah, that's a difference between you and me. I need outdoor time to recharge, so that when I am back in front of my computer, I'm productive.

nhebb 14y ago

> Boeing moved their corporate HQ there from Seattle because of its financial prominence. I don't think the financial prominence had much influence on the decision. They needed a location that was centrally located to minimize travel: http://hbr.org/2001/10/inside-boeings-big-move/ar/1 http://hbr.org/2001/10/inside-boeings-big-move/ar/1