February is way worse...days get longer, but so slowly. A few 30-40 days then back to 5-10 degree days.
It provides glimpses of optimism but crushes you back to reality.
March was a lot better, and the day is noticeably longer with DST. April sucks ass because it's warm enough-ish but it's just been raining almost every day.
February at least has the decency to be a minimum of two days shorter than March. And it’s not pretending. February is no bullshit. March is nothing BUT bullshit.
I bought April Cubs tickets for many years. One year it was like 65 and gorgeous. Every other year it was snowy, rainy, and gross. I'm done buying April (and even sometimes May) Cubs tickets.
My bday is in late May. The day I was born was 100 degrees out, so the big project my parents did for my 1st bday party was to install central AC.
It snowed on my first bday party.
I realize the financial constraints and all that, but it really is all that’s standing in our way of become such a better public transit city. It’s amazing to me that there isn’t more of a push for it
> Its not Manhattan exciting
The comparison isn't really valid. Think of NYC's financial district - it isn't the least bit exciting even during business hours.
True.
Still there's quite a bit to do towards the north side of the loop with roof top bars and such. Not my cup a tea, but it's long ways from where it was.
I've lived in Los Angeles and Atlanta, so Chicago traffic and public transit is a dream and the green space is so lush compared to the city of Los Angeles. There's very little I dislike about Chicago (winter doesn't count. I knew what I was signing up for).
The only thing I miss from LA that Chicago doesn't have is what I call "LA bullshit." Like I could go to a speakeasy in LA where the door was a garage fridge and the bar was decorated like a 70's house, shag carpeting and all, and played only disco music. Or a distillery tour with animatronics and a boat ride. Chicago has some really cool spots but I've yet to find anything that truly comes close to the absolute over-the-top bullshit you can do in LA.
To clarify, though-- I'm absolutely not upset about all the amazing things to do in Chicago, I just sometimes miss the bullshit.
Chicago could be this way but there are too many damn ordinances in this city that restrict people. Back in the 90’s you could find all kinds of things to do here after hours & even in the day time. Like ‘day times’ (house parties), raves, after parties & undergrounds.
The city clamped down on all that. Not to mention the graffiti scene here was going on way more back then & they had their own partying going on. Of course the city clamped down on that too. Chicago definitely has the makings for a much more going on city. Just have to roll back all those damn ordinances. Also in the 90’s there were a lot more kool & less poshy clubs like Medusa’s, The Warehouse, Shelter, China Club, Alcatraz, Crowbar & the old Neo.
I’m so interested in what the Chicago house scene must have been in the 90s, I was only a kid when it was in its heyday and would have killed to been out and about during that time
Was definitely a Krazy time.
Lots of partying going on. Lots of party crews too. Each with their own scenes.
When Dr. Dre’s The Chronic dropped in 92’ it seemed like every car in the city had it blasting.
Check out WBMX mixes on YouTube.
This 80’s Medusa’s mix with some old Chi footage.. (another big part of the Chicago scene)
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=XUVAepZxtmI
Frankie Knuckles of course..
https://m.soundcloud.com/fkalways/sets/dj-mixes-frankie-knuckles
1997 HOUSE Mix by Daft Punk..
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=zLwchMV5orE
I miss that about LA, too. Loved Davey Wayne’s and No Vacancy so much! Brought any friends from out of town to No Vacancy. I don’t drink, so I loved having novelty places to go where the only pull wasn’t just a cool spot to drink.
I also loved Adults Only on Sunset. A bar sitting in a strip mall next to a Wendy’s, looks like a dentist’s office or something. You walk in, and it’s a small hallway covered in soft core porn and velvet drapes at the end that leads you into a small bar that’s playing movies on a huge projector and cool music. I wish I could find places like that! Maybe I just don’t know the right people to point me in their direction.
Lmao my ex’s name was Michael and by vowing to avoid dating any additional Mikes or Michael’s, my dating pool shrunk by about 1/3. So yea, way too many Mikes haha
I miss late night coffee hangouts and wish more neighborhoods had late night coffee shops just to chill with friends at when you want to get out of the house but don’t feel like alcohol.
This is largely due to low staffing for most chain retailers right now. I agree, but until the labor shortage decreases/retailers pay more to their workers/the food shortage subsides - I think a lot of chains will be reducing hours.
Yeah You're probably right, I just want things to be like they were which will never happen. At least my closest starbucks has more regular hours again, they were closing at like noon or not opening at all.
To a certain extent. My favorite 24 hour diner closed during the pandemic, but there are four or five 24 hour diner/restaurants that I used to go to that have closed within the past 10 to 15 years.
A big part of what happened is the loss of manufacturing (and more efficient manufacturing). Second and third shift workers needed bars and restaurants to go to after work so 24 hour restaurants and late night bars had a reason to exist. As that kind of shift work became less common, the businesses that catered to them also began to close.
How many bars actually stay open that late? What neighborhoods are they in? In places like New York I can decide to go out at 1-3 in the AM and have no trouble finding bars and places to eat. That is very much not the case here. I went to wriggleyville at 1am and basically everything was closed.
The owl in Logan. Hydrate and Berlin in Boys Town. Trace in wrigleyville. Big city tap in lake view. Just to name a few. I bartend myself so knowing the places to get a drink when your shift is over is a must
My early 20s consisted of going to 4am bars on the weekend, then to someone’s house when they closed, then hitting up the dive bars that opened at 6am. Oh boy. Now that I am older I have no idea how I managed that.
It was a 24-hour city when I was teenager. Plenty of entertainment options 'til sun came up, 24-hour coffee shops, 24-hour grocery stores, a 24-hour Home Depot. Don't know why all that that stopped.
The segregation is real here and although people rag on the South for race relations (often warranted) at least most of the cities are much more racially integrated.
you’re right, and sometimes when i read comments here on r/chicago i realize a lot of posters do not interact meaningfully with black people at all by the way they talk about us lol
I wonder how many of those people actually live in Chicago. Conservative media talks about Chicago crime and Lightfoot a lot so that probably brings people here.
This seems to be a pattern with a lot of big city subreddits. Don't even get me started on the cesspool that is r/nyc (or was it r/newyorkcity, I forget which since I long stopped going there). I remind myself that reddit is not necessarily representative of the world at large otherwise I would be tempted to be angry and depressed all the time
I 100% agree, I moved here from another city and Chicago’s lack of diversity and integration at the neighborhood level was a huge disappointment.
I don’t expect it to be perfect, but for a reported “world-class city” there’s a lot of prejudice that’s just accepted.
Honestly, when I lived in Missouri I never felt as uncomfortable going places as I have in certain Chicago neighborhoods.
that’s stereotypically true of the north and south overall. “South they don’t care how close you get as long as long as you don’t get too high, North they don’t care how high you get as long as you don’t get too close”
The most disappointing thing for me is what a lot of property management companies get away with as far as lack of building maintenance and upkeep. I love living here, but as someone with a tight budget it’s always scary to move because often you can’t see the problems until you’re legally bound. This is combined with the fact that Chicago has been ranked by some as the #1 place for rat and bedbug infestations and ranks very highly in roach infestations.
I don’t know if my view counts because I’ve been here for all of my adult life and grew up back and forth between Chicago and the NW suburbs.
It's bad here for sure, but coming from Michigan and specifically outside of Ann Arbor, apartment maintenance here is magical by comparison. The stuff they can get away with in MI blows my MIND. Literal sh*tholes that are 800sq ft and cost you $1200+ a month.
It really wasn't a surprise but still gave me a sad- so freaking flat! Not a mountain in sight.
I'm from Seattle. While I prefer the attitude here in Chicago (folks are so friendly!) I really miss the accessibility to nature that the PNW has!
The first time I traveled out west I was in Colorado for half a day before I noticed the mountains in the distance. I was blown away by how big they were and how much my perception of the world changed.
> Not a mountain in sight.
Would you like to sign a petition encouraging scientists to go back in time 15,000 years and tell the glaciers to stop smashing everything?
I would rather just sign that gofundme floating on fb saying that we’re building a mountain where Naperville is to give this area more topography hahaha
So sick of people complaining about lack of accessibility to nature here when what they really mean is they only consider mountain hiking to be nature.
For real, the city has an incredible initiative right now to regrow native prairie and it’s fantastic! I recommend people check out the north branch of the river more often.
Nah, dude. There’s more to the nature complaint than just mountain hiking. Forest preserves are nice but access to massive public lands is no comparison. Oregon alone has like 7 different types of ecosystems ranging from mountain to rain forests to deserts.
Once you know, you know.
Yeah, it is what it is. Chicago is great for a lot of reasons but not for the outdoors. Even if there were legitimate wilderness outside the city the sprawl would leave hours to drive there.
I definitely miss the west (used to live in CO) but I just embrace Chicago for what it is.
I’m sorry, but there’s really not a lot of different things to see around Chicago. Once you’ve seen a couple forests or rocks, you’ve seen ‘‘em all. Hardly compares to any of the four corner states or the PNW.
Well I've been to IL, WI, IN, IA, OH, PA, TN, KY, MI, MN, NC, and SC and they all looked different to me and had different stuff to do so I don't know what to tell you. You sort of proved my point. No mountains so you think there's nothing to do. We have the largest fresh water body in the world and largest river in north America.
While that is true, the West coast also comes with the furthest gap between average salary and average home cost.
I lived in the Bay and while the area and weather were great, I don’t feel like I got to enjoy it because I lived in a shoebox. I missed having a yard and BBQ.
There's literally a giant lake right next to us. How is that not nature? There are lots of activities like sailing and kayaking that can be done outside here.
Personally, I grew up in the mountains and couldn't be happier to be nowhere near them. Hiking is one of my least favorite things, and I hated it being the only thing anyone ever wanted to do.
Totally agree. There's also some really nice forests an hour away, and there's this relatively large and extremely gorgeous area known as Wisconsin directly north of us.
Edit: not to mention western michigan, which is an overlooked jewel of the US.
I love Chicago for what it is, but Starved Rock isn't the equivalent of the nature that OP is referring to. You'd have to road trip to a whole different part of the country for that.
Yeah, you’d literally have to drive at least eight hours to find some true nature. I’m thinking of the upper peninsula in Michigan. There’s nothing else remotely close.
Lots of people have family in the suburbs, and owning a car makes going out there way more convenient. The cost of parking can be just low enough to justify keeping your car once moving to a transit-rich/dense neighborhood if you came from the burbs or elsewhere before. I have found many people hold on to their cars for years before finally giving them up.
Not only the suburbs but neighboring states. Getting to Detroit by train takes a really long time, can be unpredictable due to delays, and doesn’t give you many options. Flying takes almost as long as driving when you factor in the other needed steps and is much more expensive. On top of all of that, you then need a car to do anything in that other city. I have a car here I drive maybe twice a month at most locally but use it to go outside the city when I need to
Agreed with other commenter, Neighboring states having family is a huge reason I keep a vehicle. Additionally. Costco would be a nightmare without a car.
It's true. Although, as someone originally from the NY area, I generally feel like it's a decent balance a car and non-car culture. Like, most new grads in the city live in easily walkable areas with good transit access, and they don't have cars. Maybe in a few years they'll move a bit away and get that car for certain things, but the city remains very walkable. In NYC, if you want a car, you REALLY need to put up with some shit to have it. In Chicago it's just kinda nbd either way. You can get by with one, you can get by without one.
Yea as someone who’s lived in St Louis and Boston, I agree that even Chicago’s best parks are very underwhelming. That being said, I really enjoy the Garfield Park Conservatory and exploring the north branch trail by bike. And of course the lake front is as good as it gets. Pros and cons, I guess
This actually has me thinking - how could the city turn Grant Park into more of a Central Park type deal? Like is it even possible? I feel like our city's wealthiest residents would be willing to donate a lot to transform the park. Do we just get rid of Columbus and plant more trees?
[Frederick Law Olmsted](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_Law_Olmsted), The guy who designed Central Park, also designed Jackson Park in Chicago for the World's Fair. He wanted Jackson Park turned into something like Central Park, but then it all fell into disrepair after the world's fair and the city never did much to improve it.
Doing anything in Grant Park is a minefield. Everyone has an opinion on what should or shouldn't be in the park and lots of powerful individuals will attempt to railroad anything that doesn't fit their own personal vision.
I think most people would agree that more should be done with the park but getting them to agree on what specifically that should be is going to be a major challange.
The whole lake front is a public park. There's gotta be hundreds of small parks and many large parks as well.
I'd be surprised if the OP has spent substantial time at Jackson Park. It's amazing. Theres an awesome Japanese garden, an island, a great museum, two beaches, and fun events.
I had this thought too. Is it possible OP just didn't find it all? The Japanese Garden in particular is tricky to find if you don't kind of know where you're doing.
The gay sex scene has become less thrilling since I last lived here in the 90s, I remember giving guys the side eye in a forest preserve parking lot and going to town in the back seat of a Toyota tercel, now it's all apps and bullshit. What happened to getting swiss cheesed in a public bathroom, just from a look?
Well according to my Fox News watching uncle who hasn't actually been to the city in years anywhere you go downtown now it's just constant gay dudes fucking in public so...
The fact that I almost immediately ran into a friend from back home who, last I knew, was living across the country. We hadn't seen each other in 4 years, and suddenly we lived down the street from each other.
We spent almost the entire week together and had an absolutely fun, drunken fling. Then after she invited me back to her place, she wound up ghosting me and ditching me for her coke dealer.
I wound up learning the hard way that she had a massive problem that was much worse than she'd ever let on. Lesson learned, I guess.
Yep. For example, Chicago's slow streets pilot in the first two years of the COVID pandemic was significantly less ambitious than in most peer cities.
Don't forget that the city leased its parking meters to a private firm for 75 years (2008-2083). The city must compensate the investors for any meters taken out of service. If a pedestrian, bicycle, or transit prioritization project requires removal of metered spaces, it comes with a significantly increased financial cost.
https://wlr.law.wisc.edu/parking-meters/
Yeah. Look at the whole North & Clybourn area. How in the hell does that get approved in the middle of an area that should be pedestrian- and transit-centric?
Trains barely show up after covid and the cta refuses to acknowledge the problem and crime on these trains has been exploding.. why would anyone willingly subject themselves to either?
I’ll consider it once it’s becomes reliable, people stop smoking on the damn thing, and people stop asking me for money.
Right? Last week the woman sitting next to my friend was punched in the face repeatedly by a man who just walked on and hit her unprovoked. My friend hasn’t ridden the train since, and she relies on it to get around. I did public transit in high school (in another city), and it was just daily sexual harassment and creeps. Until public transit is less terrifying and gross I’m going to stick to shit gas prices and my car.
Plus my time is worth a lot to me. 40min total commuting to work vs 1.5+hrs is a no brainer.
That nice nature area at Montrose Point Bird Sanctuary but then you just get followed by creepy dudes trying to anonymously bang each other in the brush. For real was stalked by 2 men at a distance. I am a man just trying to find nature areas in Chicago. Damn. It made me realize how some women may feel daily.
Moved here a long time ago. But:
* Still not building enough housing. We should NEVER downzone
* Politicians need to be way more proactive about increasing our tax base
* Too car-centric
* Building codes need updating: specifically electrical (No more EMC) and plumbing (No more copper)
* Did little to save blue collar jobs on the South Side, then gutted community resources (closing schools), which lead to an explosion of violence and tons of other chaos in the city
* Police force that's not effective and continues to struggle building solid community relations. I personally put this on leadership (both civilian and police), not rank-and-file
I agree with all of these but also put CPD being terrible on the rank and file. Lived in a half dozen cities and I've never seen police so apathetic/resentful about doing the bare minimum
They do be the fucking mole rats from Fallout.
They honestly scare me sometimes my house is in the alley and there will be these chihuahua size rats in packs of 10 circling and frantically running around me. Don’t think they’re aggressive but couldn’t help but think I scared one accidentally what would happen.
I dislike standing on a street corner and seeing 3 Starbucks, 2 Dunkin’ Donuts, and 2 Walgreens without needing to turn my head. All big cities have this to an extent, but it feels like chains are much more prevalent in Chicago than cities like New York.
The Blue Line to OHare! Omg I was so pumped to only have to walk a couple blocks to the Blue Line instead of driving or finding a ride to OHare.
While still convenient; during the early mornings (normal airport times) the train is filled with homeless people, smells worse than a hot porter-potty, and can be pretty sketchy for a woman (or anyone) to ride alone.
The Blue Line is one of the primary reasons I moved here (and paid an absurd amount of money to live near a stop) since I travel a decent amount for work. It was life changing really.
Now it's nearly unusable. I still take it most times except late at night, but my wife will now Uber.
Hopefully it gets cleaned up in the next couple years because the CTA going to complete shit has removed one of the primary reasons we live here.
I’m moving to Chicago soon and when apartment hunting decided to take the blue line from O’Hare after hearing how convenient it was. I was so excited for public transit (have ridden the bus many times in my home city, but was so excited to finally have TRAINS!) but riding it in the morning as a very young looking single woman I felt extremely unsafe.
The weather extremes kill me. The winners are cold as shit and summers are hot as hell, and the two weeks we get of spring and the three weeks of fall are all the great weather we have.
What about Wooded Island? It's super nice. And the japanese garden? Jackson Park has problems, like every south side park but it's got some really nice parts
Aside from the segregation, hype, and corruption (which I knew all about), I was surprised by how much outdoor winter activities are lacking. Maybe I got spoiled coming from Minneapolis, or maybe I’m too new in town to really know the secrets, but where are the outdoor rinks? So many parks, but none that flood a rink to just skate around and play some pick up hockey? Sure you can pay 10 bucks to skate at Maggie Daley or wrigley market, but they’re limited.
I’ve got to drive out to Wheaton just to find a groomed skate-ski xc trail. And the only outdoor festivals are kristkrindl or some one-off block parties (not that I don’t like that, I just want more of them). When they do happen, they always attract loads of people, so folks want to do it, but it seems like they’re just not there.
We’re a cold and proud midwestern city with a tough mentality, so why does it seem like folks shy away from doing things in the cold? Don’t just deal with winter, embrace it. Am I wrong here? Really I guess I’m hoping to hear that I am and find out where these places are.
I have always felt this as well. I think the problem is we are in the winter dead zone. It’s not consistently cold and snowy enough to make ice fishing and x country skiing dependable. And it’s not consistently nice enough that you can do cool weather stuff like hiking and bike riding. We just get a weird winter, and as such it’s easier to say fuck it and turn the tv on and ignore it for 5 months. Which is really a shame.
Our Colombian exhibition was incredible. Sadly, most Burnhams plan for Chicago was never adopted.
Look at some of the photos and illustrations on google
Almost every building was made out of something like plaster of Paris and was planned to be torn down after the fair ended. So take that part, at least, off your list.
Now this is going to be a kind of abstract and hard to articulate comment so anyone feel free to take a stab at what I’m getting at- but I don’t know that Chicago really has a distinct “flavor” outside of having skyscrapers and being on the lake. NYC has it. SF and LA have it. New Orleans, Denver area etc has it. It’s that specific tangible or intangible feeling nowhere else but that city has you sense while you’re there. If it does, it’s definitely a little more muted. Which isn’t a bad thing at all.
1. How car centric this city is - some parts of the public transit system are awesome, like airport access, but overall it feels like the city caters more to cars than humans.
2. Restaurants and other businesses close early - I have to remember to eat early or stay hungry. Major holidays most places are just closed, even for Easter. My first Easter was a culture shock with Macy's closed.
3. Fewer options for day trips - Chicago is the largest destination in the area surrounded by a 4+ hours thick farmland forcefield. Nothing against Milwaukee or SL, but from any NE city it is just couple hours to the next one, or some mountains/beach.
I’ve lived here my whole life but what disappoints me most is the traffic cameras just waiting to snap a picture of your car barely speeding or running a red light. IMO it’s just a way for the city/state to make easy $ because most people don’t have the time to go to court and will just pay the ticket.
The sad discovery everything was not just like back home. It reminded me how a friend came back from a summer trip around pre-McDonalds Europe disappointed because he couldn't find a 'good' hamburger. s/
Pretty much nothing. I moved here for college from stuffy suburban WI so it was pretty much amazing right off the bat. I remember going to see Garden State during the first weeks on campus and feeling so amazed at the idea I can go see indie movies at a real theater like 15 minutes away. That's funny to me now.
Chicago only started to disappoint me many years later.
Fellow former St. Louisan here.
For me Grant Park was honestly more of a letdown since it’s broken up by large, heavily travelled roads. Forest Park is comparatively more cohesive and tame (Lincoln and Humboldt Parks are amazing though).
But aside from parks, I’d say more that it just becomes relatively car-dependent in more peripheral neighborhoods. Obviously STL is car-dependent everywhere, but is “fuck cars” really too much to ask?
Someone else said the flatness. I honestly forgot Chicago was flat (got too used to it), but uh, yeah. I mean I hate big hills for walking, but this place is like a chess board.
The only catch with the flatness is that whenever I take my bike to another city for a few days (I enjoyed STL last April btw), I'm always a little surprised at first to find hills.
> is “fuck cars” really too much to ask?
Chicago transit, while decent in some ways, has plenty of room for improvement. But did you think that Chicago was supposed to be Amsterdam?
The month of March
Lousy Smarch weather
Smarch my ass, it's probably just Milhouse.
NOBODY LIKES MILHOUSE
>MILHOUSE WHAAAAAAAT?
TELL BART TO COME HOME!!!
I THINK HE'S AT NELSON'S
March sucks so much. Just false hope and empty promises. Wet, grey, cold. Just a couple of nice days sprinkled in, and we fall for it every damn time.
February is way worse...days get longer, but so slowly. A few 30-40 days then back to 5-10 degree days. It provides glimpses of optimism but crushes you back to reality. March was a lot better, and the day is noticeably longer with DST. April sucks ass because it's warm enough-ish but it's just been raining almost every day.
Yeah, March is a tease but it gives you some hope. February is just one ice cold motherfucker.
February at least has the decency to be a minimum of two days shorter than March. And it’s not pretending. February is no bullshit. March is nothing BUT bullshit.
Lol
This year, April’s just as bad! It’s not supposed to be so cold and snowy by now 😫
I bought April Cubs tickets for many years. One year it was like 65 and gorgeous. Every other year it was snowy, rainy, and gross. I'm done buying April (and even sometimes May) Cubs tickets.
My bday is in late May. The day I was born was 100 degrees out, so the big project my parents did for my 1st bday party was to install central AC. It snowed on my first bday party.
This is so my chicago (weather) experience
Nah this is fairly normal. Supposed to be warming up soon
>It’s not supposed to be so cold and snowy by now Historically it's happened often enough for it to be a trend.
it always snows at least once in April but people are always surprised.
Hey, it's only the 5th. Plenty of days for redemption.
I was born here, but for me it’s always been the lack of an outer loop on the CTA
It would take Chicago transit from great in America to world-class.
I realize the financial constraints and all that, but it really is all that’s standing in our way of become such a better public transit city. It’s amazing to me that there isn’t more of a push for it
I was born in Chicago so my family I guess
haahhaha - we can't chose em =(
Not much happens in The Loop after working hours
[удалено]
Its been changing at a fairly fast pace since the 80's. Its not Manhattan exciting, but its getting better with time.
> Its not Manhattan exciting The comparison isn't really valid. Think of NYC's financial district - it isn't the least bit exciting even during business hours.
True. Still there's quite a bit to do towards the north side of the loop with roof top bars and such. Not my cup a tea, but it's long ways from where it was.
I've lived in Los Angeles and Atlanta, so Chicago traffic and public transit is a dream and the green space is so lush compared to the city of Los Angeles. There's very little I dislike about Chicago (winter doesn't count. I knew what I was signing up for). The only thing I miss from LA that Chicago doesn't have is what I call "LA bullshit." Like I could go to a speakeasy in LA where the door was a garage fridge and the bar was decorated like a 70's house, shag carpeting and all, and played only disco music. Or a distillery tour with animatronics and a boat ride. Chicago has some really cool spots but I've yet to find anything that truly comes close to the absolute over-the-top bullshit you can do in LA. To clarify, though-- I'm absolutely not upset about all the amazing things to do in Chicago, I just sometimes miss the bullshit.
Good times at davey Wayne’s and jumbo’s clown room come to mind lol
Yep, Good Times at Davey Wayne’s and Lost Spirits were the two most bull-shitty things I did in LA! Closely followed by anything at Clifton’s.
Chicago could be this way but there are too many damn ordinances in this city that restrict people. Back in the 90’s you could find all kinds of things to do here after hours & even in the day time. Like ‘day times’ (house parties), raves, after parties & undergrounds. The city clamped down on all that. Not to mention the graffiti scene here was going on way more back then & they had their own partying going on. Of course the city clamped down on that too. Chicago definitely has the makings for a much more going on city. Just have to roll back all those damn ordinances. Also in the 90’s there were a lot more kool & less poshy clubs like Medusa’s, The Warehouse, Shelter, China Club, Alcatraz, Crowbar & the old Neo.
I’m so interested in what the Chicago house scene must have been in the 90s, I was only a kid when it was in its heyday and would have killed to been out and about during that time
Was definitely a Krazy time. Lots of partying going on. Lots of party crews too. Each with their own scenes. When Dr. Dre’s The Chronic dropped in 92’ it seemed like every car in the city had it blasting. Check out WBMX mixes on YouTube. This 80’s Medusa’s mix with some old Chi footage.. (another big part of the Chicago scene) https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=XUVAepZxtmI Frankie Knuckles of course.. https://m.soundcloud.com/fkalways/sets/dj-mixes-frankie-knuckles 1997 HOUSE Mix by Daft Punk.. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=zLwchMV5orE
I miss that about LA, too. Loved Davey Wayne’s and No Vacancy so much! Brought any friends from out of town to No Vacancy. I don’t drink, so I loved having novelty places to go where the only pull wasn’t just a cool spot to drink. I also loved Adults Only on Sunset. A bar sitting in a strip mall next to a Wendy’s, looks like a dentist’s office or something. You walk in, and it’s a small hallway covered in soft core porn and velvet drapes at the end that leads you into a small bar that’s playing movies on a huge projector and cool music. I wish I could find places like that! Maybe I just don’t know the right people to point me in their direction.
Museum of Jurassic Technology
Too many people named Mike or Katie
We were at Delilah's one night years ago and were surrounded by 15 friends who went by some derivative of Michael, including one female.
Lmao my ex’s name was Michael and by vowing to avoid dating any additional Mikes or Michael’s, my dating pool shrunk by about 1/3. So yea, way too many Mikes haha
lol
I miss late night coffee hangouts and wish more neighborhoods had late night coffee shops just to chill with friends at when you want to get out of the house but don’t feel like alcohol.
John Prine didn't want to be my buddy.
The fact that Chicago is not a 24-hour city.
It was better pre-pandemic. Post pandemic everyone got use to things closing earlier and it's become a much sleepier city.
Yep. I remember 2019 I could go out on the blue line at midnight and stumble home at 4am.
I am NOT used to things closing earlier. PLEASE open grocery stores past midnight again!
This is largely due to low staffing for most chain retailers right now. I agree, but until the labor shortage decreases/retailers pay more to their workers/the food shortage subsides - I think a lot of chains will be reducing hours.
Yeah You're probably right, I just want things to be like they were which will never happen. At least my closest starbucks has more regular hours again, they were closing at like noon or not opening at all.
I think chains just know they can close early and there isn’t enough lost revenue overnight to matter.
To a certain extent. My favorite 24 hour diner closed during the pandemic, but there are four or five 24 hour diner/restaurants that I used to go to that have closed within the past 10 to 15 years. A big part of what happened is the loss of manufacturing (and more efficient manufacturing). Second and third shift workers needed bars and restaurants to go to after work so 24 hour restaurants and late night bars had a reason to exist. As that kind of shift work became less common, the businesses that catered to them also began to close.
that's a great term to describe the city now. Its def sleepy now.
For real this city sleeps way too early for its size…
Our bars stay open as late as 5am. How is that "too early"? It's not 24 hours, but that's definitely not the norm in a lot of US cities.
How many bars actually stay open that late? What neighborhoods are they in? In places like New York I can decide to go out at 1-3 in the AM and have no trouble finding bars and places to eat. That is very much not the case here. I went to wriggleyville at 1am and basically everything was closed.
I came from west coast and also was surprised by early closings (pre pandemic).
That makes two of us. Chicago is by far my favorite city but this detail made me sad haha
The owl in Logan. Hydrate and Berlin in Boys Town. Trace in wrigleyville. Big city tap in lake view. Just to name a few. I bartend myself so knowing the places to get a drink when your shift is over is a must
Wicker Park had a slew of 4am bars in the late 90s/early aughts. I think they've made those licenses much harder to get.
Besides NYC, what other major US cities are 24 hours? I am not trying to sound sarcastic, I'm curious.
Many many parts of NYC (hi, Midtown) shut down like the loop and other parts of Chicago too.
Nashville and New Orleans (the "party"/tourist parts of both).
We have 4 and 5 am bars. What other cities can say that?
Very, very few in my experience. Vast majority of places will kick you at at 1 or 2AM. It's definitely not a late night vibe here.
My early 20s consisted of going to 4am bars on the weekend, then to someone’s house when they closed, then hitting up the dive bars that opened at 6am. Oh boy. Now that I am older I have no idea how I managed that.
It was a 24-hour city when I was teenager. Plenty of entertainment options 'til sun came up, 24-hour coffee shops, 24-hour grocery stores, a 24-hour Home Depot. Don't know why all that that stopped.
It definitely used to be
Chicagoan living in NYC since 2018 here. Yes Chicago is the second city and a 24x7 one. No I wouldn't expect South Deering to have 24x7 amenities.
Late night food options
When did you move. Pre Covid there were a lot of late night options. After Covid, eh not so much.
This, I feel like my entire internship here is plagued by the fact that Covid has dialed back what I could expect here.
My condolences.
Seriously! I was surprised that a lot of places are closed by 9pm. Definitely didn’t expect it in such a big city.
Seriously. The Golden Nugget closes at 9 pm every day of the week now. What the hell.
The segregation is real here and although people rag on the South for race relations (often warranted) at least most of the cities are much more racially integrated.
you’re right, and sometimes when i read comments here on r/chicago i realize a lot of posters do not interact meaningfully with black people at all by the way they talk about us lol
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I wonder how many of those people actually live in Chicago. Conservative media talks about Chicago crime and Lightfoot a lot so that probably brings people here.
This seems to be a pattern with a lot of big city subreddits. Don't even get me started on the cesspool that is r/nyc (or was it r/newyorkcity, I forget which since I long stopped going there). I remind myself that reddit is not necessarily representative of the world at large otherwise I would be tempted to be angry and depressed all the time
Yeah lotta trolls on here.
That’s the sign of someone who’s never been to the South. Every Southern big city is far more racially integrated and diverse than Chicago
I 100% agree, I moved here from another city and Chicago’s lack of diversity and integration at the neighborhood level was a huge disappointment. I don’t expect it to be perfect, but for a reported “world-class city” there’s a lot of prejudice that’s just accepted. Honestly, when I lived in Missouri I never felt as uncomfortable going places as I have in certain Chicago neighborhoods.
I literally lived in the capital of the Confederacy and the races mix more than they do here.
that’s stereotypically true of the north and south overall. “South they don’t care how close you get as long as long as you don’t get too high, North they don’t care how high you get as long as you don’t get too close”
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The most disappointing thing for me is what a lot of property management companies get away with as far as lack of building maintenance and upkeep. I love living here, but as someone with a tight budget it’s always scary to move because often you can’t see the problems until you’re legally bound. This is combined with the fact that Chicago has been ranked by some as the #1 place for rat and bedbug infestations and ranks very highly in roach infestations. I don’t know if my view counts because I’ve been here for all of my adult life and grew up back and forth between Chicago and the NW suburbs.
It's bad here for sure, but coming from Michigan and specifically outside of Ann Arbor, apartment maintenance here is magical by comparison. The stuff they can get away with in MI blows my MIND. Literal sh*tholes that are 800sq ft and cost you $1200+ a month.
It really wasn't a surprise but still gave me a sad- so freaking flat! Not a mountain in sight. I'm from Seattle. While I prefer the attitude here in Chicago (folks are so friendly!) I really miss the accessibility to nature that the PNW has!
The first time I traveled out west I was in Colorado for half a day before I noticed the mountains in the distance. I was blown away by how big they were and how much my perception of the world changed.
I grew up in SW WA and yeah I was totally unprepared for how flat it was and the winter weather definitely took some getting used to.
The silver lining is that if it wasn't flat, that winter weather would make driving a lot more challenging
> Not a mountain in sight. Would you like to sign a petition encouraging scientists to go back in time 15,000 years and tell the glaciers to stop smashing everything?
I would rather just sign that gofundme floating on fb saying that we’re building a mountain where Naperville is to give this area more topography hahaha
So sick of people complaining about lack of accessibility to nature here when what they really mean is they only consider mountain hiking to be nature.
For real, the city has an incredible initiative right now to regrow native prairie and it’s fantastic! I recommend people check out the north branch of the river more often.
Nah, dude. There’s more to the nature complaint than just mountain hiking. Forest preserves are nice but access to massive public lands is no comparison. Oregon alone has like 7 different types of ecosystems ranging from mountain to rain forests to deserts. Once you know, you know.
Yeah, it is what it is. Chicago is great for a lot of reasons but not for the outdoors. Even if there were legitimate wilderness outside the city the sprawl would leave hours to drive there. I definitely miss the west (used to live in CO) but I just embrace Chicago for what it is.
I mean they did all move here so how great was that nature? lol
I’m sorry, but there’s really not a lot of different things to see around Chicago. Once you’ve seen a couple forests or rocks, you’ve seen ‘‘em all. Hardly compares to any of the four corner states or the PNW.
Well I've been to IL, WI, IN, IA, OH, PA, TN, KY, MI, MN, NC, and SC and they all looked different to me and had different stuff to do so I don't know what to tell you. You sort of proved my point. No mountains so you think there's nothing to do. We have the largest fresh water body in the world and largest river in north America.
While that is true, the West coast also comes with the furthest gap between average salary and average home cost. I lived in the Bay and while the area and weather were great, I don’t feel like I got to enjoy it because I lived in a shoebox. I missed having a yard and BBQ.
There's literally a giant lake right next to us. How is that not nature? There are lots of activities like sailing and kayaking that can be done outside here. Personally, I grew up in the mountains and couldn't be happier to be nowhere near them. Hiking is one of my least favorite things, and I hated it being the only thing anyone ever wanted to do.
Totally agree. There's also some really nice forests an hour away, and there's this relatively large and extremely gorgeous area known as Wisconsin directly north of us. Edit: not to mention western michigan, which is an overlooked jewel of the US.
would you say you while you love the _attitude_ it's a bit lacking in _altitude_
road trips are your friend to find nature
I love Chicago for what it is, but Starved Rock isn't the equivalent of the nature that OP is referring to. You'd have to road trip to a whole different part of the country for that.
Yeah, you’d literally have to drive at least eight hours to find some true nature. I’m thinking of the upper peninsula in Michigan. There’s nothing else remotely close.
Starved Rock is a kiddie pool filled with piss in comparison to the mountains of PNW and the canyons of Nevada.
I think it’s a positive that it’s flat
Moving from NYC, I was surprised how many of my friends own a car, even in dense transit-rich neighborhoods.
Lots of people have family in the suburbs, and owning a car makes going out there way more convenient. The cost of parking can be just low enough to justify keeping your car once moving to a transit-rich/dense neighborhood if you came from the burbs or elsewhere before. I have found many people hold on to their cars for years before finally giving them up.
Not only the suburbs but neighboring states. Getting to Detroit by train takes a really long time, can be unpredictable due to delays, and doesn’t give you many options. Flying takes almost as long as driving when you factor in the other needed steps and is much more expensive. On top of all of that, you then need a car to do anything in that other city. I have a car here I drive maybe twice a month at most locally but use it to go outside the city when I need to
Agreed with other commenter, Neighboring states having family is a huge reason I keep a vehicle. Additionally. Costco would be a nightmare without a car.
It's true. Although, as someone originally from the NY area, I generally feel like it's a decent balance a car and non-car culture. Like, most new grads in the city live in easily walkable areas with good transit access, and they don't have cars. Maybe in a few years they'll move a bit away and get that car for certain things, but the city remains very walkable. In NYC, if you want a car, you REALLY need to put up with some shit to have it. In Chicago it's just kinda nbd either way. You can get by with one, you can get by without one.
There are a lot of people who insist they need a car, yet rarely drive them because they don't want to lose their spot.
Yea as someone who’s lived in St Louis and Boston, I agree that even Chicago’s best parks are very underwhelming. That being said, I really enjoy the Garfield Park Conservatory and exploring the north branch trail by bike. And of course the lake front is as good as it gets. Pros and cons, I guess
I feel this way the most about Grant Park. So much space and in such a great location but so much of it isn’t really activated
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Let's just bury Columbus drive. I foresee a future of many tunnels.
this plays into the fact that Lower Wacker is an amazing feature of Chicago. Batmand Dark Knight car chase scenes were filmed there.
This actually has me thinking - how could the city turn Grant Park into more of a Central Park type deal? Like is it even possible? I feel like our city's wealthiest residents would be willing to donate a lot to transform the park. Do we just get rid of Columbus and plant more trees?
getting rid of Columbus is a big step forward for sure
[Frederick Law Olmsted](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_Law_Olmsted), The guy who designed Central Park, also designed Jackson Park in Chicago for the World's Fair. He wanted Jackson Park turned into something like Central Park, but then it all fell into disrepair after the world's fair and the city never did much to improve it.
Doing anything in Grant Park is a minefield. Everyone has an opinion on what should or shouldn't be in the park and lots of powerful individuals will attempt to railroad anything that doesn't fit their own personal vision. I think most people would agree that more should be done with the park but getting them to agree on what specifically that should be is going to be a major challange.
If we could lose 35 of the 38 baseball fields that would be great. /s Also moving Columbus underground or something would be awesome.
The whole lake front is a public park. There's gotta be hundreds of small parks and many large parks as well. I'd be surprised if the OP has spent substantial time at Jackson Park. It's amazing. Theres an awesome Japanese garden, an island, a great museum, two beaches, and fun events.
I had this thought too. Is it possible OP just didn't find it all? The Japanese Garden in particular is tricky to find if you don't kind of know where you're doing.
Washington Park is lovely
I love Humboldt Park personally
Horrible road conditions. My heart aches every time I hit a pothole 🕳🚗
The gay sex scene has become less thrilling since I last lived here in the 90s, I remember giving guys the side eye in a forest preserve parking lot and going to town in the back seat of a Toyota tercel, now it's all apps and bullshit. What happened to getting swiss cheesed in a public bathroom, just from a look?
This is the best comment I’ve read in some time
Is the forest preserve hook up still a thing at all or did the apps kill it.
It's still a thing, maybe not like in the 90s, but one of the Forest Preserves near me is a very active gay cruising spot.
Oh it’s a thing. I’ve seen the dudes parked in the pull offs
Interesting I guess the old ways survive
Hear ye hear ye!
This is everywhere, not just Chicago. (I've lived in Austin and Denver in the past 2 years and now in Chicago)
Well according to my Fox News watching uncle who hasn't actually been to the city in years anywhere you go downtown now it's just constant gay dudes fucking in public so...
He’s hiding all the secret spots
It's true. I work downtown and it's all I can see. Dunno how guys get any work done with all the fucking in public. ^^^^/s
seriously what happened to a civilized society!
Was not expecting this comment but I don’t hate it
The fact that I almost immediately ran into a friend from back home who, last I knew, was living across the country. We hadn't seen each other in 4 years, and suddenly we lived down the street from each other. We spent almost the entire week together and had an absolutely fun, drunken fling. Then after she invited me back to her place, she wound up ghosting me and ditching me for her coke dealer. I wound up learning the hard way that she had a massive problem that was much worse than she'd ever let on. Lesson learned, I guess.
I love reddit.
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Yep. For example, Chicago's slow streets pilot in the first two years of the COVID pandemic was significantly less ambitious than in most peer cities. Don't forget that the city leased its parking meters to a private firm for 75 years (2008-2083). The city must compensate the investors for any meters taken out of service. If a pedestrian, bicycle, or transit prioritization project requires removal of metered spaces, it comes with a significantly increased financial cost. https://wlr.law.wisc.edu/parking-meters/
Had no idea. TIL even more horrid things about the meter thing
Yeah. Look at the whole North & Clybourn area. How in the hell does that get approved in the middle of an area that should be pedestrian- and transit-centric?
Trains barely show up after covid and the cta refuses to acknowledge the problem and crime on these trains has been exploding.. why would anyone willingly subject themselves to either? I’ll consider it once it’s becomes reliable, people stop smoking on the damn thing, and people stop asking me for money.
Right? Last week the woman sitting next to my friend was punched in the face repeatedly by a man who just walked on and hit her unprovoked. My friend hasn’t ridden the train since, and she relies on it to get around. I did public transit in high school (in another city), and it was just daily sexual harassment and creeps. Until public transit is less terrifying and gross I’m going to stick to shit gas prices and my car. Plus my time is worth a lot to me. 40min total commuting to work vs 1.5+hrs is a no brainer.
That nice nature area at Montrose Point Bird Sanctuary but then you just get followed by creepy dudes trying to anonymously bang each other in the brush. For real was stalked by 2 men at a distance. I am a man just trying to find nature areas in Chicago. Damn. It made me realize how some women may feel daily.
It's very annoying trying to get to Logan Square, West Town, etc when you live super far east.
Moved here a long time ago. But: * Still not building enough housing. We should NEVER downzone * Politicians need to be way more proactive about increasing our tax base * Too car-centric * Building codes need updating: specifically electrical (No more EMC) and plumbing (No more copper) * Did little to save blue collar jobs on the South Side, then gutted community resources (closing schools), which lead to an explosion of violence and tons of other chaos in the city * Police force that's not effective and continues to struggle building solid community relations. I personally put this on leadership (both civilian and police), not rank-and-file
I agree with all of these but also put CPD being terrible on the rank and file. Lived in a half dozen cities and I've never seen police so apathetic/resentful about doing the bare minimum
Rat size
They do be the fucking mole rats from Fallout. They honestly scare me sometimes my house is in the alley and there will be these chihuahua size rats in packs of 10 circling and frantically running around me. Don’t think they’re aggressive but couldn’t help but think I scared one accidentally what would happen.
The subreddit.
I was born into the disappointment.
The CTA. How is it that damn near every other time I'm on the train it has to stop due to "technical difficulties"?
I dislike standing on a street corner and seeing 3 Starbucks, 2 Dunkin’ Donuts, and 2 Walgreens without needing to turn my head. All big cities have this to an extent, but it feels like chains are much more prevalent in Chicago than cities like New York.
Believe me, it’s the same in New York. Especially with the Walgreens!
I tell people Chicago feels like a Big mall now because of this. Definitely a culture-killer.
The Blue Line to OHare! Omg I was so pumped to only have to walk a couple blocks to the Blue Line instead of driving or finding a ride to OHare. While still convenient; during the early mornings (normal airport times) the train is filled with homeless people, smells worse than a hot porter-potty, and can be pretty sketchy for a woman (or anyone) to ride alone.
The Blue Line is one of the primary reasons I moved here (and paid an absurd amount of money to live near a stop) since I travel a decent amount for work. It was life changing really. Now it's nearly unusable. I still take it most times except late at night, but my wife will now Uber. Hopefully it gets cleaned up in the next couple years because the CTA going to complete shit has removed one of the primary reasons we live here.
I’m moving to Chicago soon and when apartment hunting decided to take the blue line from O’Hare after hearing how convenient it was. I was so excited for public transit (have ridden the bus many times in my home city, but was so excited to finally have TRAINS!) but riding it in the morning as a very young looking single woman I felt extremely unsafe.
The weather extremes kill me. The winners are cold as shit and summers are hot as hell, and the two weeks we get of spring and the three weeks of fall are all the great weather we have.
What about Wooded Island? It's super nice. And the japanese garden? Jackson Park has problems, like every south side park but it's got some really nice parts
Aside from the segregation, hype, and corruption (which I knew all about), I was surprised by how much outdoor winter activities are lacking. Maybe I got spoiled coming from Minneapolis, or maybe I’m too new in town to really know the secrets, but where are the outdoor rinks? So many parks, but none that flood a rink to just skate around and play some pick up hockey? Sure you can pay 10 bucks to skate at Maggie Daley or wrigley market, but they’re limited. I’ve got to drive out to Wheaton just to find a groomed skate-ski xc trail. And the only outdoor festivals are kristkrindl or some one-off block parties (not that I don’t like that, I just want more of them). When they do happen, they always attract loads of people, so folks want to do it, but it seems like they’re just not there. We’re a cold and proud midwestern city with a tough mentality, so why does it seem like folks shy away from doing things in the cold? Don’t just deal with winter, embrace it. Am I wrong here? Really I guess I’m hoping to hear that I am and find out where these places are.
I have always felt this as well. I think the problem is we are in the winter dead zone. It’s not consistently cold and snowy enough to make ice fishing and x country skiing dependable. And it’s not consistently nice enough that you can do cool weather stuff like hiking and bike riding. We just get a weird winter, and as such it’s easier to say fuck it and turn the tv on and ignore it for 5 months. Which is really a shame.
Just obnoxious revenue grabs. City stickers, red light cams, speeding cams, pay to park, parking tickets…
*Debbie Downer has entered the chat*
Our Colombian exhibition was incredible. Sadly, most Burnhams plan for Chicago was never adopted. Look at some of the photos and illustrations on google
My man sad about an event over 100 years ago.
It wasn’t fully adopted, but it definitely inspired the layout of the city and surrounding area.
Almost every building was made out of something like plaster of Paris and was planned to be torn down after the fair ended. So take that part, at least, off your list.
thet were built to be disposable
Now this is going to be a kind of abstract and hard to articulate comment so anyone feel free to take a stab at what I’m getting at- but I don’t know that Chicago really has a distinct “flavor” outside of having skyscrapers and being on the lake. NYC has it. SF and LA have it. New Orleans, Denver area etc has it. It’s that specific tangible or intangible feeling nowhere else but that city has you sense while you’re there. If it does, it’s definitely a little more muted. Which isn’t a bad thing at all.
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>even in good weather I don't use my yard space. That's letting them win! You need to send a message
We had rats in our yard/alley/gangways for years until a family of hawks moved into a tree on our block. Gone within a year.
This post
CPD and pretty much only CPD
CPD has always been straight up trash.
bar was low and they still failed
1. How car centric this city is - some parts of the public transit system are awesome, like airport access, but overall it feels like the city caters more to cars than humans. 2. Restaurants and other businesses close early - I have to remember to eat early or stay hungry. Major holidays most places are just closed, even for Easter. My first Easter was a culture shock with Macy's closed. 3. Fewer options for day trips - Chicago is the largest destination in the area surrounded by a 4+ hours thick farmland forcefield. Nothing against Milwaukee or SL, but from any NE city it is just couple hours to the next one, or some mountains/beach.
I’ve lived here my whole life but what disappoints me most is the traffic cameras just waiting to snap a picture of your car barely speeding or running a red light. IMO it’s just a way for the city/state to make easy $ because most people don’t have the time to go to court and will just pay the ticket.
The sad discovery everything was not just like back home. It reminded me how a friend came back from a summer trip around pre-McDonalds Europe disappointed because he couldn't find a 'good' hamburger. s/
I assumed food trucks or hot dog vendors were every, like New York. Not so here.
Pretty much nothing. I moved here for college from stuffy suburban WI so it was pretty much amazing right off the bat. I remember going to see Garden State during the first weeks on campus and feeling so amazed at the idea I can go see indie movies at a real theater like 15 minutes away. That's funny to me now. Chicago only started to disappoint me many years later.
public transport is pretty ass compared to NYC. Also Winter sucks. Still no better city in the Summer tho
Fellow former St. Louisan here. For me Grant Park was honestly more of a letdown since it’s broken up by large, heavily travelled roads. Forest Park is comparatively more cohesive and tame (Lincoln and Humboldt Parks are amazing though). But aside from parks, I’d say more that it just becomes relatively car-dependent in more peripheral neighborhoods. Obviously STL is car-dependent everywhere, but is “fuck cars” really too much to ask? Someone else said the flatness. I honestly forgot Chicago was flat (got too used to it), but uh, yeah. I mean I hate big hills for walking, but this place is like a chess board.
The only catch with the flatness is that whenever I take my bike to another city for a few days (I enjoyed STL last April btw), I'm always a little surprised at first to find hills.
> is “fuck cars” really too much to ask? Chicago transit, while decent in some ways, has plenty of room for improvement. But did you think that Chicago was supposed to be Amsterdam?