(06-12-2018 09:39 AM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote:  

(06-12-2018 08:44 AM)Marc Mensa Wrote:  

(06-12-2018 07:50 AM)450bench Wrote:  

(06-11-2018 08:11 PM)Marc Mensa Wrote:  You went to Chicago and have, thus far, survived. Be vigilant. Wrigleyville is a gangstas paradise.

The sarcasm is poetic...Try going to Garfield Park, Humbolt, Englewood etc. Just drive thru one afternoon...good luck

Chicago is a great city... may be the best in the country from May thru Christmas. January thru April suck, though.

I find downtown to be quite enjoyable. The suburbs suck.

Had friends in Lincoln Park and loved visiting in the summer. The parks... the huge neighborhood street festivals... the food... and the weather.... just a great place to be for 8 months of the year.

(06-12-2018 07:50 AM)450bench Wrote:  

(06-11-2018 08:11 PM)Marc Mensa Wrote:  You went to Chicago and have, thus far, survived. Be vigilant. Wrigleyville is a gangstas paradise.

The sarcasm is poetic...Try going to Garfield Park, Humbolt, Englewood etc. Just drive thru one afternoon...good luck

Humboldt is in the beginning stages of turning around since Wicker Park is prohibitively expensive for a lot of people now; the overflow has migrated to Logan Square instead, pushing up prices there with the newest wave going to Humboldt. Was just talking with a college friend about investing in real estate there in the near future, in the somewhat unlikely even Amazon puts HQ2 here (political hijinks will probably keep that from happening) prices across the area would go through the roof.

Nevertheless, your overall point is mostly accurate regarding some of those neighborhoods. It's pretty fascinating what the crime heat map looks like as soon as you pass Austin Blvd from the Austin neighborhood on the far west of the city to a pretty nice inner-ring suburb in Oak Park.

(06-12-2018 09:39 AM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote:  

(06-12-2018 08:44 AM)Marc Mensa Wrote:  Chicago is a great city... may be the best in the country from May thru Christmas. January thru April suck, though.

I find downtown to be quite enjoyable. The suburbs suck.

The tri-cities of Oak Park/River Forest/Forest Park (I live in FP for the record) have some charm; other parts like Elmhurst, Naperville, and Evanston do too. For the most part you've gotta pretty good point though, most of the fun is in the city.

Gotta live way out west or south of the city. Larger lots, lower taxes, good schools.

love chicago, just hard to find someone who isn't a transplant. the last time i was in chicago was on my way back from a cousin's wedding in milwaukee. took the megabus and had a four hour layover downtown. i had a general idea of where the bus was gonna leave from so i just walked. somewhere like five miles away i found a bar. i didn't bother to ask where i was since i didn't care all that much. it was urban, i just assumed it was still downtown. i'm sure it was stocked with transplants except the bartender but i didn't see any tourists. i committed the name of the bar to memory so when i got home i could see how far away that bar was so i could tell people about it one day. it said i walked a total of something twenty miles. people don't believe me but i didn't think it sounded too far fetched

seems like everyone knows someone who lives in chicago. i know about ten people most likely. which is clutch cuz chicago is pretty dope. i'd like to check out some of the southside fringes. with someone who knows the area. or, i'll just take my two year old daughter with me exploring. she's my bodyguard in some of the rougher neighborhoods in cincinnati. what am i doing here? i'm off to buy her an ice cream

(06-12-2018 11:30 AM)Marc Mensa Wrote:  

(06-12-2018 09:39 AM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote:  

(06-12-2018 08:44 AM)Marc Mensa Wrote:  

(06-12-2018 07:50 AM)450bench Wrote:  

(06-11-2018 08:11 PM)Marc Mensa Wrote:  You went to Chicago and have, thus far, survived. Be vigilant. Wrigleyville is a gangstas paradise.

The sarcasm is poetic...Try going to Garfield Park, Humbolt, Englewood etc. Just drive thru one afternoon...good luck

Chicago is a great city... may be the best in the country from May thru Christmas. January thru April suck, though.

I find downtown to be quite enjoyable. The suburbs suck.

Had friends in Lincoln Park and loved visiting in the summer. The parks... the huge neighborhood street festivals... the food... and the weather.... just a great place to be for 8 months of the year.

I once had a client from chi-town that was the purest definition of "snowbird"......

I can't emphatically state enough how happy I was he always went back.....

some don't....

It's a beautiful city. That's what makes what's going on there such a tragedy.