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Chicago vs New York. Your preference?

impulse462

impulse462

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Jun 3, 2009
2,105
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I've always been a big city kinda guy, but growing up in a suburb of Michigan, I dont really get to experience any real city.

We live around 5 hours from chicago so I've been there quite often and I really really love the city. As for New York, I've only been there once when I as 8 so I don't really remember it all that well.

So I was wondering what city you guys, prefer, and what the major pros and cons of each are. Stuff like, architecture, food, places to see (museums)?, the type of the people there, etc.

I just included Chicago and New York, because there the 1st and 3rd largest cities in the US, but if you have opinions on other cities (Boston, San francisco, etc) feel free to share.
 
I was born in Chicago, but I say New York hands down.
They're both lots of fun though.
 
New York, along with London, is the most important city in the world socio-economically, culturally and historically. So empirically, New York wins.

But I've never been to Chicago, so I couldn't judge. I loved San Francisco and want to live there, and it's a beta city.
 
As a Clevelander, I live vaguely midway between the two, and have spent time in both. Both are "World Cities" where you can truly experience global culture and access to everything under the sun. Chicago does have a tinge of the midwest about it - slightly more laid back - but both are buzzing urban centers. New York feels a bit more old-money pretentious to me, but it also has a little more old-world charm. I enjoy both cities a great deal, and I wouldn't rank one over the other.

While I'm at it, I'll throw in a plug for Cleveland. Cleveland always gets a bad rap, but it's actually a well-kept secret of a town, highly underrated. Because it's smaller and on a gradual economic upswing from the bad years of the 70s and 80s, it's both cheap to live there and the nightlife/culture scenes are growing. to me, it's just the right size - big enough to be a proper city but not so big you get lost in it. There is a world class orchestra, a top art museum among other great museums, three major sports teams, it's right on Lake Erie, there is an authentic market, several nightlife districts, great ethnic food, several excellent brew pubs (I would put Great Lakes Brewery up against any other) a great airshow every year, plenty of concerts, cool historic sites, one of the nation's best hospitals, several well-regarded universities, and the city is relatively compact so you don't have to drive as far to get places.
 
[insert location here] vs. New York...I'll pick [insert location here]. Why, Boston born and raised.

The above condition is only true for locations outside of New York and does not apply to locations in New Jersey that consider themselves part of or related to New York.

*puts on flame retardant suit*
 
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Lord Blackadder said:
As a Clevelander, I live vaguely midway between the two, and have spent time in both. Both are "World Cities" where you can truly experience global culture and access to everything under the sun. Chicago does have a tinge of the midwest about it - slightly more laid back - but both are buzzing urban centers. New York feels a bit more old-money pretentious to me, but it also has a little more old-world charm. I enjoy both cities a great deal, and I wouldn't rank one over the other.

While I'm at it, I'll throw in a plug for Cleveland. Cleveland always gets a bad rap, but it's actually a well-kept secret of a town, highly underrated. Because it's smaller and on a gradual economic upswing from the bad years of the 70s and 80s, it's both cheap to live there and the nightlife/culture scenes are growing. to me, it's just the right size - big enough to be a proper city but not so big you get lost in it. There is a world class orchestra, a top art museum among other great museums, three major sports teams, it's right on Lake Erie, there is an authentic market, several nightlife districts, great ethnic food, several excellent brew pubs (I would put Great Lakes Brewery up against any other) a great airshow every year, plenty of concerts, cool historic sites, one of the nation's best hospitals, several well-regarded universities, and the city is relatively compact so you don't have to drive as far to get places.
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Drew Carey, is that you? :D

Great, now I have that Cleveland Rocks song stuck in my head.
 
There's a reason Chicago is called the second city.

@leekohler- talk to the hand. :D
 
JML42691 said:
[insert location here] vs. New York...I'll pick [insert location here]. Why, Boston born and raised.

The above condition is only true for locations outside of New York and does not apply to locations in New Jersey that consider themselves part of or related to New York.

*puts on flame retardant suit*
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:D

As a born and bred New Yorker, I would argue with you...but I'm going to take it easy on you because I know you New Englanders had a rough weekend.
 

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Moyank24 said:
:D

As a born and bred New Yorker, I would argue with you...but I'm going to take it easy on you because I know you New Englanders had a rough weekend.
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For what it's worth I quite enjoy upstate New York, the city..well that's another story.

And thanks, it was a tough weekend, but the Jets clearly outplayed the Pats and deserved it more, that was one embarrassment of a game.
 
I am born and raised in NYC and while I've travelled alot I havent had the pleasure of visiting Chicago (its on my list though) I cant really provide a comparison but I can tell you that NY is amazing. There is never a lack of things to do.... awesome restaurants, tons of museums, broadway shows and everything is open late. Time square is absolutely electric... on a weekend at 2 or 3am the streets are full like if it was the middle of the day....... So while I've never been to chicago I have visited many major cities both in the US and outside, and I can honestly say nothing quite compares to NY.
 
rdowns said:
There's a reason Chicago is called the second city.

@leekohler- talk to the hand. :D
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Yes, we have a smaller population. ;)

The reason I chose Chicago over NYC is livability. You can live in a very nice place for very little money in Chicago, not so in NYC. You're gonna shell out big bucks for a place the size of a broom closet. The same opportunities are available here as in NYC, too. Chicago is also much cleaner and well kept.

That said, I do love NYC too. I have lots of friends there and I like to visit often. If I had a $1-2 million dollar salary per year, I would live there because then I'd be able to live in the manner I'm accustomed to, which is not that luxurious, believe me.

That said- both are fun places and have their own pluses and minuses. But I will stick to Chicago, thanks. ;) I could never have a back yard with a garage or front porch in NYC. It's prohibitively expensive. Here I can, rather easily.
 
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I've been to both cities more than a few times, and I prefer Chicago. The people feel a little more accessible, if that makes any sense. I love New York, but when it comes to big city energy, Chicago seems more my speed. That said, I've never visited Chicago in the middle of winter either. :)
 
Sunny Los Angeles California

On Monday my car read 100 degrees after a day in the zoo

Yesterday it was 80 and windy can't beat that temp during the winter

West Coast:D
 
dmr727 said:
I've been to both cities more than a few times, and I prefer Chicago. The people feel a little more accessible, if that makes any sense. I love New York, but when it comes to big city energy, Chicago seems more my speed. That said, I've never visited Chicago in the middle of winter either. :)
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I like winter here- there's lots to do, and it's very pretty in the winter. But I also like winter in general. Winter is the only time to be in NYC, IMO. I don't care for summertime in NYC.
 
I've visited both cities, and would love to visit them both again - both times, my stay was too short.

Chicago struck me as being much more affordable than New York.

When I visited New York (I live in Texas), I was somewhat surprised by the people there - the stereotype among people in the south is that New Yorkers (and indeed, everyone in the northeast) are rude. My impression was that that's completely true of people driving cars; but everyone else was rather friendly. I think New Yorkers tend to be more impatient and always in a hurry than people in the south, which some might misinterpret as "rude."
 
Tomorrow said:
I've visited both cities, and would love to visit them both again - both times, my stay was too short.

Chicago struck me as being much more affordable than New York.

When I visited New York (I live in Texas), I was somewhat surprised by the people there - the stereotype among people in the south is that New Yorkers (and indeed, everyone in the northeast) are rude. My impression was that that's completely true of people driving cars; but everyone else was rather friendly. I think New Yorkers tend to be more impatient and always in a hurry than people in the south, which some might misinterpret as "rude."
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I would say that's probably true. Going out at night is when you find out how New Yorkers really are. Very nice, for the most part.
 
Tomorrow said:
I've visited both cities, and would love to visit them both again - both times, my stay was too short.

Chicago struck me as being much more affordable than New York.

When I visited New York (I live in Texas), I was somewhat surprised by the people there - the stereotype among people in the south is that New Yorkers (and indeed, everyone in the northeast) are rude. My impression was that that's completely true of people driving cars; but everyone else was rather friendly. I think New Yorkers tend to be more impatient and always in a hurry than people in the south, which some might misinterpret as "rude."
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Couldn't agree more. I now live in Texas and I'm still getting used to how much people talk to each other here. Like in line at a grcoery store and stuff. Or how after an hour at dinner, I know the entire life story of the waitress. We aren't rude in New York, just not so much into small talk with strangers I guess. And impatient; definitely. The slooooow pace is still one of my biggest pet peeves here after almost 5 years.
 
Tomorrow said:
You might want to adjust a bit more before you visit Fort Worth - talk about laid back!! :eek::cool:
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I go nuts whenever I go down south. There is just no sense of urgency from anyone for anything. I think they baked in the sun too long. Oh yeah, they're also too ****ing polite. :D
 
rdowns said:
I go nuts whenever I go down south. There is just no sense of urgency from anyone for anything. I think they baked in the sun too long. Oh yeah, they're also too ****ing polite. :D
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Funny you say that - whenever we go to visit my wife's family (they live in a small town of about 5,000), people in THEIR town drive ME nuts. Service in restaurants is slow, people drive slow, you know.
 
Tomorrow said:
Funny you say that - whenever we go to visit my wife's family (they live in a small town of about 5,000), people in THEIR town drive ME nuts. Service in restaurants is slow, people drive slow, you know.
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When I was in NC a few months ago, I was taken to Cracker Barrel. We were seated, given menus and a waitress didn't come over for about 10 minutes. When she finally came, she said, "Y'all need some more time?".

I replied, "More time, where I'm from we would have been served and gone by now." :D
 
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