Chicago vs San Francisco

The only reason why Chicago is still amazing to visit is because it has amazing architecture. However it also tends to have crazy politics making questionable decisions that ultimately end up hurting the residents by way of rising costs and declining safety. It is a charming city because of its proximity to the lake, but it has been heavily mismanaged financially which has bought into question education quality, funds for safety improvements, etc. A lot of it has to do with the mayor which has not really been up to par recently for the past years and has increased the division and violence that the city has experienced. In addition Chicago is a VERY expensive city. It has high property taxes and also sales taxes to add to the pain. It is an international city, this is true. However that only goes so far when statistically Chicago loses residents each and every year. The food scene is amazing and has a lot of mom and pop establishments that can ease any resident from having to go to big chain fast food or restaurant establishments. Regarding jobs there are many jobs if you want to count low paying ones as well. Many of the white collar jobs struggle to pay market level salaries that other smaller cities are currently dishing out. The competition amongst highly educated people lowers the salary range due to the simple economics of high demand of jobs by job seekers = lower supply of jobs from companies = less leverage for job seekers, more leverage for Chicago companies. Anyways I would have to say the harshness of the winters have lessened and are improving, but it does not mean winters are easier. It is still very cold and snowy come January - February for the most part. I notice a lot of people say Chicago residents are very friendly and kind. I would agree they are friendly and kind to people of their own circle, but not to anyone outside of their circle who is a stranger for the most part unless it is an employee being nice to a customer. It is hard to break into circles here since many here have known each other since childhood and Chicago's main supply of new residents comes from the young people coming from the Chicagoland suburbs looking for something cooler than northern Chicagoland near the Wisconsin border. My biggest Chicago pet peeves is the lack of parking spaces, crowded streets with parked cars, and speeding and red light cameras all over.

The gang crime is concentrated in very specific parts of Chicago. Those neighborhoods are in south and west Chicago. I have lived here for 10 years and I have moved many times and never come close to either of those neighborhoods. The lake provides sandy warm beaches in the summer. The food and restaurant scene is phenomenal. People are friendly because it's the midwest but not in your business- because it's still a big city.

Truly one of the all-time best in the U.S. Only a few other cities rank higher than Chicago. Still a city that keeps the Midwest alive and holds so much history while maintaining the best of the best {technological and architectural} and continues booming up through this day.