Lived for years in both. Chicago > Houston But anyway, over the years I feel the lack of appeal/respect for Houston is part of its appeal, if that makes any sense.
No offense to this list, but if I'm an ambitious youngster, I get an MBA or whatever and am looking to start a career in big bidness, the first 3 places I look are respected firms in NY, Chi, LA, with all due respect to Boise, Indianapolis, and Fayetteville Arkansas.
The Astros are actually coming to town my first week in Chicago...maybe I'll check out the game at Wrigley!
That's tough. I'd love to be able to split up the time to where I got to take advantage of the snow and the nice summers up there. I wouldn't even have to live in the city itself. I loved it when my parents lived there and I'd take the train in from the suburbs. How about... Jan-March in Chicago, April-June in Houston, July-mid-September in Chicago, mid-September (Astros playoffs)-December, Houston. Yeah, that's what I want to do.
chicago is one of my favorite cities...in the summer. i'm from central Texas originally and lived here all my life. i cannot handle the cold unless there's a snowboard strapped to my feet. therefore, houston wins. meggo, having stated that, some of the best mexican food i've ever eaten was in chicago. i've also had stellar "new york style" pizza and great hotdogs (called "red hots") in chicago. seriously, the mexican food there is awesome (and usually of the 24-7 variety!)
For all of those thinking about living Chicago because of the snow having lived in a snowy climate for the past few years I can tell you that snow sucks unless you can ski on it. Sure it looks nice while its falling and then for about the hour after the sun comes out but once that's over you realize you have to shovel it or else you can't get anywhere. When you go somewhere you can't find parking because the streets and lots haven't been plowed. Within a day it just becomes grey slush or freezes into rock hard grey slush. Did I mention all the grey slush you have to deal with being tracked inside unless you take your boots right away?
I guess I made this choice already. I lived 7 years in Chicago and decided to come back to Houston. My main motivation was family, but the winters up there were killing me. Whenever I talk about Chicago, I always say, "It's a fantastic city; too bad they built it way up there." I often miss it though.
I often wonder why cities like chicago, detroit, cleveland, cinncy, milwaukee, minniapolis, etc even exist. its one thing for cities on the coast like ny, boston, philly, but once you move inland what's the point? anyone ever watch little house on the prarie. they lived in minnesota. remember the episode when their house was covered with snow. why would they deal with that. was it free land?
I call bs on Albuquerque...there are only a handfull of large companies and a lot of govt. jobs...Nice place, but not the best place for a l-t career... Oh yeah, Houston of course...
So is the weather really that great in Chicago during the summer? Now I'm looking forward to being up there for ten weeks this summer even more! Is it the same type of weather that NYC has in the summer? Cause I've been to NYC in July and it was hot an humid...
there are some pretty hot moments, but overall it's wonderful. i personally like the heat, so it's never been that much of a big deal to me. i have a feeling you're going to love chicago.
No it isn't great, unless you've just emerged from Chicago winter. Whereas in Houston, you are guaranteed to have 90+ heat in the summer, Chicago is sometimes nice, sometimes hot. They did have a heat wave that killed 500+ people about a decade ago.
Everyone has been telling me the same thing although I'm inclined to agree with Senor Valdez and chalk it up to the dreary Chicago winter.... ...which by the way, are not that bad, especially in comparison to Houston summers.
I don't get the "mean new yorkers" stereotype. If somebody from out of town asks me for directions I generally help them to the extent that I can, my disdain for you peon tourists is wholly internal rather than visible. My mom always says the same thing whenever she visits, she's always surprised about how helpful people are, though she grew up in Boston where the Masshole phenomenon is prevalent.
