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Tokyo, Los Angeles, or Chicago

Which one?

  • Tokyo with the current employer

    Votes: 8 22.9%

  • CHI with this new employer

    Votes: 9 25.7%

  • LAX with this new employer

    Votes: 11 31.4%

  • TYO with this new employer

    Votes: 7 20.0%
  • Total voters
    35
I think Tokyo will make Chicago look like a tiny town in Iowa or something along those lines. On a good note, Chicago is by far the only place that I will call home. I have visited quite a few cities and still find that Chicago is the place for me. We have a gigantic lakefront that is host to many museums and parks, basically, 75% of the lakefront is a huge park. If you are into sports we have just about every professional sport available. I am pretty sure that baseball in Japan is pretty serious, almost as serious as the MLB here in the states. We have 2 baseball teams! The Cubs up North and that team that won the World Series 5 years ago but still thinks it won last year on the South side.

One more thing, the skyline in Chicago is 100 times cooler than the one in LA!
 
The biggest difference in these cities will be LA's climate. If you're already living in Tokyo, you likely won't be bothered by the morning traffic in LA, but you may be bothered by the fact that you HAVE to drive. But for outdoor activities, etc, California is the best place on earth. So I'd vote for California - but try to get a job in San Francisco next.
 
Antares said:
Little known fact: "The Windy City" nickname actually has nothing to do with the weather. That nickname was created to describe the politicians in the old political machine days (which some can still rightfully argue, still exists). ...the idea that they all just blow a lot of hot air.
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See link I provided in post #11

dmr727 said:
These kinds of comparisons are interesting to me because unless the OP gives us very specific parameters as to what he likes or dislikes, where in the city he'll be working, where in the city he'd like to live, and so on - it's all pretty pointless.
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But, there are a few parameters that are universal (post #11 again) even though the OP doesn't provide much detail.


White shirt. Goes with anything. 😉
 
I'm stuck between... Chicago, LA, and Tokyo. 😱

I think I'm going to say LA or Tokyo, nothing against Chicago but they're my favorites. 🙂
 
leekohler said:
I find it funny that so many people have the impression that the weather is somehow like Siberia.
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I'm not quite in Chicago but I'm only about 200 miles away and visit regularly. Before moving this far north I'd never seen snow stay on the ground longer than a week (the one time I did was a freakish year in England), I'd never experienced temperatures below 5 degrees C, I'd never seen icicles on trees, and I'd never seen a lake or pond a person could walk on in the winter. It does seem like Siberia to someone like me for about 3 months of the year. The winter weather IS rough, but I will miss it when I leave, I'm sure.
 
As a former expat (8 years in Singapore before returning stateside), I can honestly say I miss living abroad and would head back out given the opportunity.

If kids aren't a factor in the decision, and you are already established in Tokyo, remain there but decide if the new job is better for you in the long run.

You can always visit LA or Chicago.
 
LA also has snow... but only if you want to go see it. 😉 2hrs or less gets you to a decent weekend Ski/board area in Big Bear and 6hrs gets you to a nice, big resort at Mammoth Mountain. You also have good mountain and road cycling nearby or w/in a short drive depending on where you live. I'm from the Midwest but after living in LA for a few years I'm completely in love w/the variety of outdoor activities. The fact that I can cycle year round is awesome.

Crowded? Yes. Lots of traffic? Yes, but not nearly as bad as it was 4-5yrs ago (the economy has forced a lot of people out). Depending on where you work and where you chose to live you can bike more than what people seem to be saying in this thread. I can walk or bike to work, the beach, the grocery store, drug store, etc.,. Of course I like to ride so the 6 miles to work and 8 miles to the beach is no big deal to me.

If you live in one of the 'hoods closer to the beach (Santa Monica, Redondo, Marina Del Ray, etc.,) those are more bike and pedestrian oriented typically. You could also live in the Valley if you want a more suburban feel but it gets about 10-15 degrees hotter in the Valley than in the LA basin.

Also, places like San Fran, Las Vegas as well as a ton of national parks are less than a day's drive away. Hell, leave first thing in the morning and you can get to Vegas, lose way too much money and be back in LA in time to close out the bars.


Lethal
 
yojitani said:
I'm not quite in Chicago but I'm only about 200 miles away and visit regularly. Before moving this far north I'd never seen snow stay on the ground longer than a week (the one time I did was a freakish year in England), I'd never experienced temperatures below 5 degrees C, I'd never seen icicles on trees, and I'd never seen a lake or pond a person could walk on in the winter. It does seem like Siberia to someone like me for about 3 months of the year. The winter weather IS rough, but I will miss it when I leave, I'm sure.
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The winter isn't bad at all. It's not as if this is Alaska. What is with all the anti-winter sentiment? 😕
 
leekohler said:
The winter isn't bad at all. It's not as if this is Alaska. What is with all the anti-winter sentiment? 😕
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I agree. Not that I've lived through an entire winter in Chicago, but I've spent a week there when it was cold, and it wasn't too bad. And many people prefer four seasons to the consistent sunshine of Socal anyway.
 
If I had to pick among those three cities, I would go to Tokyo, but that's because, in spite of learning some Japanese, I've never really had the chance to live there.

That being said, between LA and Chi town, I would choose the Chi hands down -- similar reasons as Lee above. LA is a great place to visit, but I don't think the quality of life there is as good as other large US cities.

Also, Tokyo is a little warmer than Chicago, but it's not that much warmer than Chicago. The climate seasons in Tokyo are more like Chicago than they are like LA.
 
leekohler said:
The winter isn't bad at all. It's not as if this is Alaska. What is with all the anti-winter sentiment? 😕
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I guess my point is that it seems much more extreme if you've never experienced it before.

@mkrishnan: Tokyo is a lot warmer than Chicago. True, both places have distinctive seasons, but Tokyo does not often experience snow or even frost for that matter.

@ Abstract: Closer to 6 years. How time flies!
 
mkrishnan said:
LA is a great place to visit, but I don't think the quality of life there is as good as other large US cities.
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A lot of people are saying this, and while I don't necessarily disagree, I don't think it's possible to make this kind of statement without knowing more about the OP's potential living situation in LA. I think the thing people don't realize is that LA isn't simply one large city - it's a huge collection of much smaller communities. The QOL will vary greatly depending on where in LA someone chooses to live. Living in Santa Monica will be a very different experience than being in a loft downtown, or down on the water in Seal Beach, in the Valley in Reseda, or up in the canyons of Topanga.

Believe me, I'm not blind to LA's faults, but a lot of the things being said on this thread - the traffic is bad, the people are horrible, it's dirty, there's no soul - don't have to apply to the OP depending on where he's working and where he lives.
 
There is one other factor to consider. Consider what is near LA and Chicago. You presumably already know what Tokyo and the area has to offer, but you should also look at where LA and Chicago are.

If you like culture (theatre, galleries, music, etc) then consider that Chicago is a day's drive from Toronto, Detroit, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Buffalo, Cincinnati,etc. etc.

I'm not saying that LA doesn't have culture, just that by having so many metropolitan centres nearby means that there is that much more variety in regional styles and scope.

If you like the great outdoors, then look to see where you can get to in day's drive. LA has the mountains and the deserts to the east. Chicago has all sorts of wilderness areas to the north and north west. Or from Chicago you can drive for a day and be in Canada, though LA has Mexico to the south.





Good Luck.
 
snberk103 said:
If you like culture (theatre, galleries, music, etc) then consider that Chicago is a day's drive from Toronto, Detroit, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Buffalo, Cincinnati,etc. etc.

I'm not saying that LA doesn't have culture, just that by having so many metropolitan centres nearby means that there is that much more variety in regional styles and scope.
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I kinda see where your going with this statement but playing the devil's advocate......LA has San Diego, Anaheim, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Palm Springs, Tijuana etc................a majority of these cities have national landmarks and attractions just like Chicago would.🙄
 
OP has lost interest. So, is anyone else contemplating a relocation from one of these cities to another one? 😉
 
dmr727 said:
A lot of people are saying this, and while I don't necessarily disagree, I don't think it's possible to make this kind of statement without knowing more about the OP's potential living situation in LA.
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Yeah, I have been there many times, but it's probably fair that it ultimately depends on what one likes. If one likes "urban living," I think that LA is not as good as the other cities of its size (and some smaller than it), but it has many other charms. If one likes those charms well enough, it might well displace everything else.
 
mkrishnan said:
Yeah, I have been there many times, but it's probably fair that it ultimately depends on what one likes. If one likes "urban living," I think that LA is not as good as the other cities of its size (and some smaller than it)
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Yeah, you're right. I agree.
 
mkrishnan said:
Yeah, I have been there many times, but it's probably fair that it ultimately depends on what one likes. If one likes "urban living," I think that LA is not as good as the other cities of its size (and some smaller than it), but it has many other charms. If one likes those charms well enough, it might well displace everything else.
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Agreed. It's technically a "city", but not what I would consider "urban". It's more like a bunch of suburbs all knitted together, which is fine for some people, but not for me. I much prefer being able to walk everywhere, and having things close. It's tough in LA depending where you live. For example, if you live and work in West Hollywood, it's easy to walk everywhere. But if you live in West Hollywood and work in Burbank... while not terrible, still is not fun.

That said, I need to go for a visit soon. Nothing like walking the Sunset Strip trashed. 🙂
 
leekohler said:
That said, I need to go for a visit soon. Nothing like walking the Sunset Strip trashed. 🙂
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If you come visit and not send me a PM, I'll be very disappointed. I don't know that I can keep up, but I'm willing to give it a shot. 😛
 
I guess it is fun to hear what others say but this sure is something that only you can decide. I for one would pick LA just because I don't want to live in any of those other places and really don't want to live in LA either but I like Northern CA so I probably would take a chance with LA given those options.
 
Gregg2 said:
OP has lost interest. So, is anyone else contemplating a relocation from one of these cities to another one? 😉
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I'm really torn between:

Flint, MI
Camden, NJ
Gary, IN

Or maybe just moving down south to Ciudad Juarez, Mexico.

What do you think?
 
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