Chicago River, Wells St Bridge

Why Chicago?

Most of this falls under my Urbanism interest, but suffice to say Chicago has a lot to offer to someone who loves a friendly & diverse city, and hates feeling like he *must* drive to get around.
I haven’t been here long, but it doesn’t take long to fall in love with Chicago. So much to see, do, and enjoy. All while sharing a city with the nicest Midwestern neighbors I’ve ever had.

The Chicago L

Photo by Jean Colet on Unsplash

I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say that the L (our elevated heavy rail public transit system) is probably what drew me here. For someone who has only ever lived in car-oriented suburbs (looking at you, San Antonio), the immense scale of Freedom and Ease of movement that the L offers is unparalleled.
And unlike many subway systems, much of the L is Elevated! Useful public transit that lets you look at your city as you go. Incredible.

Before Chicago

I grew up in the suburbs of St. Louis, and spent most of my young life there before moving to Seattle, then San Antonio before finally settling in Chicago.
St. Louis is a great city, and keeps improving year after year. But I think Chicago has more of what I want right *now*

If you find yourself in St. Louis I 100% recommend checking out Forest Park. It’s a beautiful park with both the city Art Museum and Zoo–both of which are completely free. Forreal. It’s awesome.
Definitely biased b/c I used to work there BUT St. Louis has the best free zoo in the country. No contest.

Moving to Chicago

Thanks to remote-work, I decided I needed to get out of San Antonio, TX ASAP. After a lot of research, Chicago was the clear winner for me. I moved here in 2022, and (due to complex relationship things at the time) initially ended up in River North for a year.

River North

Fun fact! Living in River North sucks! Don’t do it!
Unless you’re made of money, it’s nearly a food desert, and what isn’t “Tourist” just feels like rich person facade nonsense.

It’s a lot of money for very little Chicago. 100% worth a visit though–there are so many cool, beautiful buildings here

I’d never move back to River North but it was an OK place to land when you knew nothing about the city. As I’d hoped, being close to The Loop meant easy access to the rest of the city via public transit, and I was able to explore enough to eventually realise that I wanted to live elsewhere in the city.
There is only one thing I miss about living in River North–the view:

Elsewhere in the City

I’ve moved further up northside since then, though I spend a lot of time in West Town since there are so many great coffee shops in the area.
I’ll likely continue to move around the Chicago area, but I doubt I’m ever leaving. Each neighborhood has something great to offer.