6 ms·

Chicago's a great city, and I've spent a lot of time there. But.... - It's cold. - The academic environment itself is better in general business. Two top MB

Chicago's a great city, and I've spent a lot of time there. But.... - It's cold. - The academic environment itself is better in general business. Two top MBA programs, but the best engineering school is far down state. - It has winter. - The ecosystem supports growth, but not hypergrowth. Companies like BaseCRM do well starting there, but move to Silicon Valley when it's time to explode. - Snow without mountains - Not as socially, ethnically or culturally diverse as many other tech hubs. - Did I mention that it's cold? All that said, I love to visit in the summer.

peterevans 12y ago
> The ecosystem supports growth, but not hypergrowth. Companies like BaseCRM do well starting there, but move to Silicon Valley when it's time to explode. You could probably rewrite that as "not Silicon Valley". Or is there some other location you have in mind that could also support "hypergrowth"?
drcode 12y ago
You forgot to mention how the January wind sucks all the breath out of your lungs.
- graupel 12y ago
  Hey, summer in Chicago is a great month. :)
  - xasos 12y ago
    also when construction starts :)
ingenieros 12y ago
"Not as socially, ethnically or culturally diverse as many other tech hubs." Chicago has world class museums, music venues, restaurants and ethnic enclaves like Ukrainian Village, Maxwell St., Devon, Pilsen.. and you mean to tell me there's more diversity up in the bay area? LOL
- mathattack 12y ago
  Your chances of seeing multi-ethnic couples, kids and neighborhoods is 10X in the Bay Area than Chicago. (And yes, I've lived in both)
  - kasey_junk 12y ago
    I'd be very curious to see actual statistics around that. This is a belief that is highly subject to selection bias. I myself don't like the Bay Area for my own perception of the lack of diversity there, but again I would not be surprised if that is my bias showing through. (and for instance I live in a neighborhood that has a history of multi-ethnic families that goes back to before that was socially acceptable nearly anywhere else in America)
    - xasos 12y ago
      Chicago is pretty segregated as whole. The North side is predominantly Caucasian and the south side (save for a few neighborhoods) is predominantly African-American and Latino.
      - kasey_junk 12y ago
        Sure Chicago is segregated (though I find the North/South boundary, like all generalizations misses a considerable amount of complexity) but this is true of all US cities. San Francisco for instance is segregated pretty dramatically with the Asian population (and a mixture of Latinos) pushed to the western edge and the white population centrally located. Not to mention the elephant in the room of Oakland. When we start talking about diversity of other sorts such as income, education, nationality etc the picture is similar. That is to say, my experience of San Francisco was one of homogeny, the opposite of my experience of Chicago. But I've experienced Chicago more broadly as well, so as I say I'd like some numbers to backup the assertion that San Francisco is more welcoming of inter racial families.
  - falsestprophet 12y ago
    What on earth does interracial marriage have to do with software companies? Do we need to fly planes full of singles between Hyderabad and Changdu to jumpstart startups in Asia?
rayiner 12y ago
> - Not as socially, ethnically or culturally diverse as many other tech hubs. Chicago is almost an even mix of white/black/Hispanic, and has old money patronage that supports cultural amenities that go beyond what you have in SF. And there's no single social group that overwhelms Chicago's culture, like tech is doing to San Francisco and the Bay Area. Last time I got a haircut in Palo Alto, the woman cutting my hair was talking about startups. The engineering school issue is definitely a fair point.
the_vincedent 12y ago
You make good points about the universities and growth potential, but you're dead wrong about the social aspects of the city. Also, if you think the weather is bad here try living Cleveland - 4 month gig there was more than enough for me. I opted to move back during a blizzard.
rhino369 12y ago
Illinois, Purdue, Wisconsin, Northwestern and to a lesser extent Michigan dump tons of engineers into Chicago.
- dmritard96 12y ago
  Yes although arguably dumps just as many into the valley and NYC
  - mathattack 12y ago
    And outside of that, there's a big loss due to proximity. Northwestern hasn't had nearly the impact on tech as Stanford or Cal, and UIUC's biggest alums are in the valley.

peterevans 12y ago

> The ecosystem supports growth, but not hypergrowth. Companies like BaseCRM do well starting there, but move to Silicon Valley when it's time to explode. You could probably rewrite that as "not Silicon Valley". Or is there some other location you have in mind that could also support "hypergrowth"?

drcode 12y ago

You forgot to mention how the January wind sucks all the breath out of your lungs.

graupel 12y ago
Hey, summer in Chicago is a great month. :)
- xasos 12y ago
  also when construction starts :)

ingenieros 12y ago

"Not as socially, ethnically or culturally diverse as many other tech hubs." Chicago has world class museums, music venues, restaurants and ethnic enclaves like Ukrainian Village, Maxwell St., Devon, Pilsen.. and you mean to tell me there's more diversity up in the bay area? LOL

mathattack 12y ago
Your chances of seeing multi-ethnic couples, kids and neighborhoods is 10X in the Bay Area than Chicago. (And yes, I've lived in both)
- kasey_junk 12y ago
  I'd be very curious to see actual statistics around that. This is a belief that is highly subject to selection bias. I myself don't like the Bay Area for my own perception of the lack of diversity there, but again I would not be surprised if that is my bias showing through. (and for instance I live in a neighborhood that has a history of multi-ethnic families that goes back to before that was socially acceptable nearly anywhere else in America)
  - xasos 12y ago
    Chicago is pretty segregated as whole. The North side is predominantly Caucasian and the south side (save for a few neighborhoods) is predominantly African-American and Latino.
    - kasey_junk 12y ago
      Sure Chicago is segregated (though I find the North/South boundary, like all generalizations misses a considerable amount of complexity) but this is true of all US cities. San Francisco for instance is segregated pretty dramatically with the Asian population (and a mixture of Latinos) pushed to the western edge and the white population centrally located. Not to mention the elephant in the room of Oakland. When we start talking about diversity of other sorts such as income, education, nationality etc the picture is similar. That is to say, my experience of San Francisco was one of homogeny, the opposite of my experience of Chicago. But I've experienced Chicago more broadly as well, so as I say I'd like some numbers to backup the assertion that San Francisco is more welcoming of inter racial families.
- falsestprophet 12y ago
  What on earth does interracial marriage have to do with software companies? Do we need to fly planes full of singles between Hyderabad and Changdu to jumpstart startups in Asia?

rayiner 12y ago

> - Not as socially, ethnically or culturally diverse as many other tech hubs. Chicago is almost an even mix of white/black/Hispanic, and has old money patronage that supports cultural amenities that go beyond what you have in SF. And there's no single social group that overwhelms Chicago's culture, like tech is doing to San Francisco and the Bay Area. Last time I got a haircut in Palo Alto, the woman cutting my hair was talking about startups. The engineering school issue is definitely a fair point.

the_vincedent 12y ago

You make good points about the universities and growth potential, but you're dead wrong about the social aspects of the city. Also, if you think the weather is bad here try living Cleveland - 4 month gig there was more than enough for me. I opted to move back during a blizzard.

rhino369 12y ago

Illinois, Purdue, Wisconsin, Northwestern and to a lesser extent Michigan dump tons of engineers into Chicago.

dmritard96 12y ago
Yes although arguably dumps just as many into the valley and NYC
- mathattack 12y ago
  And outside of that, there's a big loss due to proximity. Northwestern hasn't had nearly the impact on tech as Stanford or Cal, and UIUC's biggest alums are in the valley.