Well, I am supposed to be starting school in Boston in the fall. I applied to a bunch of places and really thought I had made my decision
Loyola Chicago accepted me.. but keeps coming back with offers and frankly, it is becoming harder and harder to not consider it lol I like the school, the program, class sizes etc.. (overlooking the fact that it is a religious institution. grumble)
but the reason I dismissed the school at first was because of Chicago itself.. I've never been and don't know much about it other than horror stories about the weather
I am trying to measure pros/cons here. Frankly, I love Boston, love the school but living there is expensive.
I like the school in Chicago, and with their offer my education/living and apartment expenses would basically be free.
So.. anybody ever been to Chi town? Likes? Dislikes?
OK, here I am, lol.
Chicago is a GREAT city, Fran. And I really hope New Englanders aren't talking sh!t about our weather, because that would just be ironic. LOL.
So, what's it like in Chicago... hmmm, ok well, for starters, we have pretty **** good public transit. It's safe and reliable, busses/the L come frequently, Metra is almost always a safe bet. Chicago bus drivers are aggressive on the road but actually really friendly if you need help. Once, when I was in high school, some friends and I got kind of lost. We asked the bus driver, who told us what stop to wait at and then radioed the driver of the bus we were waiting for to tell him to look out for a group of 4 kids who needed to get to the train station. The only other city I've used public transit in is LA and their bus system SUCKS compared to ours.
It's generally a pretty friendly city, although that can vary by neighborhood. I had a lady from Detroit tell me how nice everybody is in Chicago. My friend's mom says Chicago is a big city with midwestern sensibilities.
We're also an awesome food city - in fact, some would say THE food city in the US right now. I have several hole-in-the-wall, BYOB favorites, but there are also prominent restaurants if you're looking for something different. Lots of bars that range from super hip, to super classy, to down-n-dirty.
Definitely dog friendly here. Renting with a large dog is a challenge, as always, but smaller dogs are much easier. Licensing is $5 for an altered dog and $50 for an intact one, but they're not enforced. We have an awesome off leash dog beach (technically you need a license AND a Dog Friendly Area pass, but nobody has either). Lots of restaurants allow dogs on their outdoor patios, and many put out bowls of water for them. Lots of training facilities and access to dog sports if you travel to the near-by suburbs. We have AKC, UKC, APDT, bitework, Dock Dogs, therapy dog clubs, etc.
Loyola is in Roger's Park, which is a neighborhood I don't know too much about although I do hear it's a nice place to live.
Let me know what other questions I can answer.