A proud Kansas Citian recently published 10 Reasons You Should Move to Kansas City, and while I applaud him for his very persuasive column, there is just one thing wrong: everybody who is anybody knows that you should move to Chicago. I grew up just a state away in Indiana and I recently moved to Georgia, but Chicago will always have a place in my heart. In fact, Chicago will always be home. Mostly because Chicago is the best city in the entire country, maybe even the world. You only have to see it to believe it.
1. FOOD!
Chicago-style deep dish pizza is a favorite for all generations. And all ethnicities. And really everyone in the entire world. There is literally no way possible to say “no” to this cheesy delight. People flock from all over the world for this creation – I’ve heard that it’s even better than Italy’s version. But don’t worry – if you for some unknown reason you don’t like pizza, we have all kinds of options. Authentic Asian food in Chinatown. Mexican fare in Pilson. Italian in Little Village. And of course, hot dogs in Wrigleyville.
2. SPORTS!
Da Bulls. The White Sox. Da Bears. The Cubs. The Blackhawks. Chicago has some of the most winningest teams in history. And boy do they know how to party. You should’ve seen the way the streets erupted when the Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup this past spring. We even celebrated with a parade! Chicago fans are loyal too – you won’t see a place with more respect for Michael Jordan. And I’ve personally been a witness to a fight on the CTA following a Cubs-White Sox game. These people care about their sports teams, and they’re not going to let you forget it.
3. THE HOLIDAYS!
If you’ve ever seen Chicago during Christmastime, boy, is it a sight to behold. The fireworks at Navy Pier on the Fourth of July are amazing. But we don’t just get excited for the major holidays. We really enjoy the others. We even dye the Chicago River green for St. Patrick’s Day.
4. PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION!
Sure, Chicago is a congested city but you never hear people complain about traffic. That’s because we have the best public transportation system known to man. (Or at least to me.) You can take the CTA literally anywhere in the city you need to go, and the Metra will get you to the suburbs. The El is easily the best invention since sliced bread, and it’s only $99 a month for unlimited riding. Most of my friends even sold their cars because there is literally no need for them in the city. How nice is that?
5. SHOPPING!
The Magnificent Mile is not called the Magnificent Mile for nothing. This glorious strip of pavement is a rough 5,280 feet of pure shopping bliss. There is everything you would ever need on this strip, and most of the stores are two stories tall. Some are even three. You could spend all day on the Mile and never travel more than two blocks with the shopping to be done. And if you get hungry, there are more than enough restaurants to keep you satisfied.
6. TOURISM!
Sure, nobody wants to spend all their time giving directions to the lost tourist, but being a tourist hub has its perks. There is nothing like viewing Chicago from the Sears Tower (sorry, I mean Willis Tower) Skydeck or enjoying a drink at the LandShark Beer Garden on Navy Pier. The best views of the city can be seen from the seat of a Chicago River Architecture Tour, and everyone needs to eat dinner on the cruise ship in Lake Michigan at least once. There are so many things to enjoy about this amazing city, and you don’t have to be a visitor to take advantage of them.
7. EXERCISE!
It seems like every single person in Chicago runs or bikes or walks or takes advantage of the trails in some way. Despite the fact that our food has enough calories to holdover a hibernating bear until spring, fat people in Chicago are nearly nonexistent, stereotypes be damned. These people brave the elements to stay skinny, and it’s hard not to get involved in some kind of activity when all your friends are into it.
8. BEER!
Chicago is home to the famous Goose Island (312 is named after our original area code), but we also have a ton of microbreweries around. We’re really proud of our alcohol and beer festivals are held nearly every weekend in the summer. The best one is inside of Soldier Field and everyone should take advantage of that. I’m serious – sign up now.
9. CULTURE!
We have all the museums you can imagine, and the aquarium is out of this world. Especially popular is Sue the T-Rex who guards over the Field Museum. And for those of you who prefer not to look at exhibits, Chicago is home to a variety of shows and performances. The city is particularly well-known for its improvisational comedy at Second City and for its jazz, blues, and soul music. You can also catch the popular performances at Broadway in Chicago, because who doesn’t love a good musical?
10. WEATHER!
Nowhere else in the country can you get the four seasons like you do in Chicago. Sure, the temperature may drop below zero for a couple months each year, but that gives you an excuse to wear your cute new boots and cuddle up with your significant other in front of the fireplace. These few months of hibernation will be well worth it come spring and summer when you are blessed with the best weather around. Seriously, nothing beats Chicago in the summertime. Ask anyone who has ever lived there.
I buy everything except weather. The Chicago cold is miserable.
And NY style pizza is superior
^ This.
The majority of this information is already well known throughout the country. The reason it is already well known, is because it is pure unadulterated fact. If you’ve never been to Chicago I suggest you wake up and plan a trip immediately. Great article, PostGradPres.
Strict gun laws, below 0 temperature, a violent gun war in parts of the city, the Chicago Bears, and higher taxes. The fall is nice there but I’ll pass on Chicago for now.
Thank God some one mentioned the gun laws. Chicago is a shit hole as far as I’m concerned.
have their gun laws changed their crime rate? I’m curious to know, as a gun owner.
They have one of the highest gun homicide rates in the country and have just been required to allow some sort of concealed weapon rights from federal courts.
Where does any place that attempts to outlaw guns in the US have a low murder rate?
DC, Oakland, Chicago…
DC had 82 homicides last year, which works out to something like 13 homicides per 100,000 people. I’m not going to put all of the credit of the dropping crime and homicide rate towards gun restrictions (DC doesn’t have an official handgun ban, btw), but the days of Dodge City are long gone, and have been long gone for quite some time.
You’re off by about 120 and the rate is ~22/100,000 — in other words, 7 times higher than the US average.
Oh, I almost forgot *Slap on the Back* Wikipedia is your friend.
The fluke last year of 14, which you mention, down from 18, down from prior 22 (which has been about the norm) isn’t exactly an accurate representation.
Not to mention the massive population of vagrants. You can’t walk ten feet in any direction downtown without being approached for money. Not only that, they get mad when you offer to buy them food instead of giving them cash. Fuck that noise. Chicago sucks.
Lived there for three years. Driving on 90/94 is worse than chewing tin foil.
Getting shot by an illegal gun is a power move.
Most of these points can be made about any major U.S city.
I hope you’re not one of those people from “the region” who says they’re from Chicago. Chicago won’t claim them and Indiana doesn’t like them.
I’m not. I grew up on the Indiana-Ohio border and then moved to Indianapolis for college. I lived in Chicago during grad school and now I’m in Atlanta for my job. Chicago is still easily my favorite place to live.
And you’re right - the Region is the worst.
It’s also full of FIBs
I can think of about 1,000 reasons to move to Charleston, S.C.
1. It will always be the Sears Tower
2. Nothing beats Chicago in the summertime
3. You forgot the Chicago Fire, even though they’re not that good and the stadium location is terrible.
First off, I lived in “Chicago” (ie Vernon Hills) which is funny because any person who lives in the state of Illinois is from “Chicago”. After living in “Chicago” I moved up to Green Bay WI. The winter is fucking miserable. It’s not bearable. It’s not “let’s be cute and cuddle in the winter to stay warm” bearable. Fuck that. Upper midwest winters suck balls. Hard. Yes, maybe summer in Chicago is DA BOMB but summer in any city is awesome. Secondly, Chicago is fucking huge. I think there’s a lot to say about cities, like Kansas City, that are on the smaller side, yet have a lot to offer. Lastly, I would like the next article to be titled “10 Reasons You Should Move To Nashville”. Now you’re talking about a great city. Nashville is the new LA without all the doucheyness.
No, summer in Orlando is terrible. 90 degrees, without the humidity. Have you ever gone outside and not been able to breath because the air is so thick and hot? Not to mention, the apocalyptic-like thunderstorms we get EVERY SINGLE DAY from the months of April through October. “3:00? Oh, better get inside before all hell breaks loose outside for the next 3 hours.” Summers in Central Florida suck, I’ll take Chicago any day.
Can every PGP Contributor write “10 Reasons You Should Move to (fill in the blank)? The original KC article was based off a Huffington Post article. This article was wrote just to have content on the site.
written*
Thanks, mom.
I don’t know how encouraging you to have correct grammar is motherly. I would consider it more 6th-grade-Language-Arts-teacherly.
Since you asked, I’ll think about “10 reasons you should move to Dallas”
Or, as I like to call it, Postgrad Heaven.
Basically anything that happens in Wrigleyville(or Lakeview, whatever the hipsters call it). I live in FL, and have spent a good deal of time in Chi, and it and Austin are my 2 fav cities. TBOX in wrigleyville is one of the best pub crawls in the country, hands down.
Wrigleyville and Lakeview are not the same thing. And neither is Lincoln Park, for that matter.
Also, Goose Island is a sell-out.
I was going to put up a snarky comment about how weather isn’t one of your reasons, but it freakin is. How about you move to a place that avoids the crappy ones? Also, having to live in Illinois AND Chicago in that political climate would blow.
Thank you for your contribution, Tosh.
Hey look, its the resident librarian, here to make sure our post’s bibliography is in order.
CITE YOUR FUCKING SOURCES.
I’ll give you one reason why you shouldn’t move there: the people. A lot of them are pushy, loud, and generally try to act like they have an East Coast attitude. Chicago is not a good reflection of the rest of the nice people in the Midwest.
In other news: Chicagonians are narcissistic
DC has all of these things and is a helluva lot warmer.
Whoa there. I love DC, but let’s not get crazy here. DC’s food scene might as well be nonexistent compared to what other comparable cities offer. I mean, Richmond and Baltimore’s food scene is much better, and they’re much smaller cities. It’s a really weird quirk of DC.
And everyone knows you can’t speak positively of the DC Metro, or the Red Line will break down just to spite you.
I would say food is the only thing I really miss about Atlanta (having recently moved) but there’s enough in DC to satisfy me. Plenty of new cultural options to try (Vietnamese, Ethiopian, etc).
And I think the DC metro is the cleanest, best connected public transportation system I’ve used. Also, I’m on the orange line so if the red line breaks down because of my positive comment I won’t really notice.
Might as well be Canada. State Income Tax? Fuck that.
Chicago is is like the Austin, TX of the north. Great Visit. Wouldn’t live there though.
What? I can’t even fathom one comparable aspect.
Reasons not to:
1) obnoxious people
2) tolls. Everywhere tolls, seriously, fuck that shit for normal humans who drive.
3.1) college sports BLOW
3.2) their professional sports teams have been good, and full of twats, which means no self respecting fan is going to ride their jockstrap
3.3) attending a sporting event live, or watching at a bar, for your home team means getting berated (or beaten) by people (refer to #1)
4.1) the laws
4.2) the politics
Fun to visit, sure, but not to stay.
I’m a huge Anaheim (refuse to call them Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim) Angels fan and went to watch them at Wrigley, thoroughly enjoyed cubs fans they were inviting and nice. I disagree good sir or madam.
You went to a single game, that meant nothing (baseball is the worst), and you’re basing your opinion on that?
Chicago stinks just like NYC.