people who assume Chicago is a dangerous hell hole has not been to northern and eastern St. Louis metro (the eastern of which being in Illinois)

What San Francisco is going through these day is basically what the media is trying to portray Chicago to be. But it's simply not. I moved here recently and within my 1st week here I was literally like "Where is this crime ridden hell hole they talk about? I don't see it anywhere."

@@knucklehoagies I'm going to have to disappoint you here. SF is not going through anything of the sort that the right media is trying to portray. I live here. Literally nothing has changed here except the Fox News segments. The locals are laughing their backsides off. The disparity in what some of the MSM say is happening and what is actually happening is so insanely large that we have new bar games related to it! Like, we watch Fox News segments and whoever spots more shots of the same intersection from more angles to make it look like a new place wins! They literally shoot all of their "San Francisco is dying" in the same four-block radius in the Tenderloin. You can't make this stuff up! Oh, and SF is a lot safer than most US cities, even then Chicago (which I absolutely adore and visit regularly). The techies are still refusing to be forced back into the office, so some of the downtown businesses that depended on them are indeed struggling. There is a lot of homelessness and drug use in the Tenderloin, but this has literally always been the case in that neighborhood going all the way back to the mid 1800s. That's the rug where the city admin sweeps all of its messes to so that they can keep the city clean and pretty for the tourists. Tourism btw went from 30% of pre-pandemic in 2021, to 50% in 2022, and to 80% in 2023. They are projecting that it might surpass pre-pandemic levels by next year. In other words, be careful with the propaganda. You might think that you're smarter than the propagandists, but they will eventually get you with enough repetition!

Late reply, but that is not a well-thought comment. Comparable cities of Berlin, Toronto, Copenhagen, Warsaw, Boston, etc do not even come close to the violence seen in Chicago.

@@sm3675none of that changes what I said lol. Most Americans don’t.

Shootings lol

How is lori lightfoot lol

​@@Xilladan093and other US cities don't have shootings? What's your point?

@@GeorgeOneEleven yawn missing the point hippie

@@GeorgeOneEleven clown 😘

totally agree. I moved here recently and it's nothing like they portray in the media. Sure there are bad parts but they're isolated to certain neighborhoods far away from the city. Everywhere else is clean, organized, and safe. Chicago is a great city but since it's located in the midwest, people tend to ignore it for coastal cities. Fine by me... keeps the rent low.

@@knucklehoagies The cost to live in Chicago is amazing compared to NYC, and I'm talking clean, nice apts near train stations.

It's by far the most underated. It's one of the most hated cities in the country, the crazy fear mongering is mostly done by far right media like fox. They do the same for new york, but they of course have an easier time doing it to Chicago because they can use the high black population to pretend that means a high crime rate. Chicago is funnily enough one of the only cities in the country that's actually considered completely safe, and the only one other than Boston that can match new york in general saftey, and actually beat it, in areas like homelessness.

It is the best city in America, overall. New York is bigger. LA has far better weather. But in terms of a city that has the best cost of living, best cleanliness, most cosmopolitan attractions, best food, best architecture, best public transit, most diversified economy overall…you can’t beat Chicago.

@justamaninTN la has good weather which is sadly the end of the positives for LA. Lived in Chicago most of my life and never once needed a car. In LA, if I didn't rent, I had to get an Uber, to go literally ANYWHERE. Want food? CAR. Want to go for a walk in the park? CAR. Want to go to your friend's house less than a mile away? CAR. CAR is your only option.

What is Philly then? Genuinely asking your opinions. Philly may not have the tallest but our urban fabric is 🤌 We also have also held the tallest in the country/world.

@@phillygrunt2154 At least in the modern era, Chicago is more influential

@@phillygrunt2154 kinda like the Lou. ❤

Nah Chicago is way better than NYC

I love our downtown

Chicago man, it’s the city that sticks together! It’s our spirit that scares the $h1t out of the haters!

Agree love Chicago have to appreciate it.we get to much knocks about Chicago from people who were never there.

Every city has crime. I live 45 miles from the closest city in a village of 1,000. 99% Republican and we have plenty of crooks running around.

As a former Chicagoan, this is an accurate summary.

@@NotUp2Much How so? Driving in Dallas is a nightmare, and there are hardly any walkable spaces in the city. I know downtown has improved somewhat, but every time I go to Dallas I have to rent a car and I feel like I'm going to die on their highways. Contrast that to Chicago where I've never had to rent a car, plenty of walkable spaces, really good transit (by American standards), and some of the best food in America.

​@@NotUp2MuchGross

​@@NotUp2MuchPLEASE😂😂 Dallas is its own thing. You can't compare anything from Chicago to Dallas.

Definitely, but most choose to live without a car. If you choose to drive in the city, you can look at people's plates, and you'll see most driving are either out of state, or in state, but from the outer suburbs. The best thing too, you don't need a car to go downtown from the suburbs, nearly all the suburbs have transit acess wether it be cta and metra or just metra

@@tortellinifettuccine Nahhh lots of people in Chicago own cars. Plenty don't though. It's a 15 minute walk to the blue line for me, and a 30 minute walk to the nearest grocery store. Especially in the winter a car is pretty much a necessity for me.

@rban123 definitely agree, still an American city, but nevertheless there's always transit around for the vast majority of people, and stores are everywhere, just depends...are you in the suburbs? A lot of people in Chicago own cars, but most don't and even more don't use their cars at all or very little. Anyone living in proper Chicago is covered by 24 hour transit, but as soon as you get out of proper Chicago it definitely gets less well covered. I lived both in and right outside proper Chicago, and there's definitely a difference, but still, transit was always there, just a little further. Even so a lot of people outside the proper borders use cars, especially to get into the city and it causes traffick but I get it, especially during winter. Wouldn't make the 30 min walk to the station back when I lived near ohair during winter either.

@@tortellinifettuccine I've never lived in Chicago proper, but if I'm just going downtown for the day, I just drive to the Metra and take the train in. If I'm going to the north or near south side, I'll just drive so I don't need to worry about using transit (also because in those situations I'm usually gonna be out past the last train home.)

​@@rban123having a car looks like more of a PITA in winter (digging it out, heating it up, more maintenance and treacherous driving conditions) than just riding a studded tire bike or taking the L. I only lived in a small city during winters but biking worked for a few miles of a commute.

I'm thinking of moving. Except I need a plan to escape for January/February. :-)

@@alan2102X The cold makes you stronger. Bundle up and keep moving to retain body heat.

Yeah its so unique! DC, Boston, SF, Cleveland, Portland, Denver, Seattle, San Diego, Atlanta, Miami, St Louis, Salt Lake City, Phoenix, and Los Angeles (in the next few months) all just don't exist! Chicago is the only city with a rail connection to the airport! It's certainly not the case that pretty much every major city with a rail line that isn't NY has rail that goes to the airport. Only Chicago does... God people in this city will think of any reason to sniff their own ass

Chicago is the best

I just hope that Illinois’ current population loss (which is pretty high in comparison to the state population) doesn’t turn Chicago into Detroit soon. It’s a hidden gem, but that fact that it’s hidden is what’s dragging it down. Caterpillar left. Boeing left. It’s hasn’t hit too hard but people need to stop trashing it, otherwise the exodus of a good number of businesses out of Chicago will make the city a ghost town imo. Man, we need to chill with the taxes or our population loss is going to get worse.

The negative press keeps gullible idiots out. I'm all for it.

A lot of the negativity is right-wing political stuff, and racist. These assholes WANT Chicago to fail, to "prove" that the Democrats are evil and incompetent.

Chicago is a secret gem. I have travelled to most big cities in the United States. Chicago is cleaner than most. The public transit is better than most. There are less homeless and bums and drug dealers on your streets than other cities. It's far from perfect, your winters are shit, but Chicago is really awesome.

Same can be said about my beloved City of San Francisco.

@@jfungsf882 yeah but the good news is, if people actually believe it long enough, san francisco might become affordable again. ;-)

Add Boston and San Francisco to your list and you have the only 4 walkable cities in the USA.

​@@Shaunfromboston God damn this is so funny and sad at the same time 😭

This is actually a little bit more flexible if you don't have to live and work there and are only visiting. A lot of the popular vacation spots have walkable areas that are designed to be used by people who arrived by plane. Amtrak rides across the country are a wonderful vacation in and of themselves if you're not relying on the train to actually take you places in a timely fashion, and happily a lot of the trains terminate in Chicago. So if you did visit Chicago, you could also take most of a week to have a nice leisurely train trip out to Emeryville which can deliver you to San Francisco. DC isn't too bad either, Philly is good. And in any of these places, you can stay in an Airbnb that used to be someone's affordable rental property, so that's nice.

Lol you Europeans. If you are visiting, you will be fine in PLENTY of big cities. You can easily add Seattle, Portland, San Diego, Los Angeles, New Orleans, and others. They will be some struggle but I have enjoyed car free vacations in these cities. Hell it's common to not rent a car for Vegas trips. The strip area and downtown is miserable for walking but the buses (15-30 min frequency) and Ubers are sufficient for getting places. I even rented a bike once and hopped on the bus for rides on some cool trails. Living here without a car is the real issue.

DC is pretty good as well. It’s on par with Boston and ahead of Philly, SF and Chicago imo.

I used to live in Edgewater and it was very safe. There were a few shootings when I lived there but they were all just targeted, gang related shootings that happened in the middle of the night with nobody around. But compared to places like Englewood or Auburb Gresham, it was super safe.

That beach extends to the south side of Chicago and people bike and run all night long with few problems. I've watched them do it over 20 years as I commute to work.

One of the many things that Daniel Burnham did right in designing Chicago was to give the majority of the lakefront, both north and south of downtown, to the people. It's parks, paths, and beaches are accessible to everyone. Many waterfront cities have been developed right up to the water's edge, leaving that amenity only for those who can afford to live there. Edgewater has been my home for 17 years and is one of the best neighborhoods in Chicago IMO

from rogers park, i love how close the lake is haha

So you spent a half a day in the neighborhood and feel you can make a safety judgement? How does your friend feel about the neighborhood after living there for a while now? East of Broadway at night does not feel safe, I lived there for 18 months, was the victim of an attempted robbery at Foster & Broadway

Same. I have turned to divvy to fill in the gaps between cta lines but I would go crazy for some tram/streetcar type thing that did that instead

Divys too expensive . They should make it cheaper and you should be able to pay for the bikes with Ventra. I would make life so much convenient for many commuters.

Indeed, this is a US problem though. The places that have truly outstanding transit in the world, like a lot of Europe and Asia, invest in their systems at a national level and they also allow their transit authorities to own land around the stations generating a TON of revenue directly for the systems. Why we generally don’t allow/do that in the US is beyond me…

So stupid. I looked at a list of homicides per capita and Chicago is #28 on the list. People think Chicago is #1.

They think right.

@@AngelloDelNorte don't believe everything the media tells you.

​@@AngelloDelNortesays someone who NEVER lived here Chicago is a wonderful city

@@AngelloDelNortemaking false claims isn’t respectable; there’s a reason why english classes teach about fallacies

I can't say Chicago is more safe than Philly because I've never been to Philly for an extended period of time. There are so many places that aren't safe to be in Chicago. And lots of places that were once considered safe are gradually becoming not safe.

​@@euphegenialots of places that were unsafe are now safer. Cabrini green area for one, west loop, near west side around the United center, The whole of Madison was skid row in the 70s and 80s. Near south side were many condos were built.

it’s has relatively safe neighborhoods but there are still plenty of robberies in nice areas. Plus its cold as shit by the lake in the winter

@@mostmost1 you must not pay attention to what goes on in those areas at all

​@@euphegenialmao nice fear mongering Naperville native

Chicago is definitely not cleaner than Houston that’s ridiculous. And it’s not just in some neighborhoods that the crime is bad. The criminals in the bad neighborhoods have now started going to the safe neighborhoods and started terrorizing them as well. It’s terrible.

Whst neighborhood do you live

@@fleadoggreen9062 Rogers Park

Or Los Angeles.

@@garryferrington811 Illinois doesn't tax retirement income so Chicago ends up being much more affordable then expected.

@@degraves2003 it also discounts property taxes for seniors if your income in retirement falls below a certain level (I think the threshold is $70K or something like that) and that discount is on top of the homestead discount.

Lol so all those old asians getting shot in chicago isnt real?

Lori lightfoot. Now bow to her

@@Xilladan093 what's a digger? can you spell, little boy?

@@knucklehoagies little? Who you,

@@knucklehoagies neantherdal

Why did U end up leaving Chicago ?

Why’d you leave?

How difficult was getting used to the winter? I'm considering Chicago but I live in the south where most winter days are in the 40s and 50s.

⁠@@rexx9496 it will be a transition for you, but doable depending on what you like to do. There are a lot, and I mean a lot, of things to do indoors. Chicago has amazing museums, arts, sports, entertainment, and among the best food scenes in the world…and a few of the top cocktail lounges are here. Plus, housing is relatively affordable for a big cities with the amenities and infrastructure, so if you’re a hobbyist, you’ll be more productive in the winter months. I will say this, too. Come February, you’ll want to schedule a week in a warm place. There are direct flights to a lot of destinations you would be surprised. We go to Palm Springs and rent a house with friends. Direct flight. World class city and the people are overall very friendly.

@@TheErik1119 family & work took me out of state

Anthony Bourdain also said there are two metropolis' in the US; New York and Chicago.

lmao

Agreed

@@princerak8881 whats your fav city to visit?

I live near Chicago. I just hope you’re prepared for one of the highest tax rates in the nation lol

@@faheemabbas3965I hate the taxes here for sure. But you need to check the facts. Also, if you think about everything that’s here-it ain’t free to maintain. We could do better, but taxes are not nearly what they would be elsewhere with so much going on.

@@neosapienz7885 make sure you dont buy property the taxes are worse than texas

@@faheemabbas3965 everyone thinks they have the highest tax rates in the nation... Chicago is nothing compared to California. Hell, even Pennsylvania, where I am originally from has a higher gas tax and collective income tax than California. The sales tax here is alittle high but everything else feels about as expected for a liberal metro area.

@@faheemabbas3965 The tax rate is high but considering the cost of living is legit way lower than every comparable American city, I'd say it's not a huge price to pay.

I moved here from florida and chicago is 100x better in every way. Dont listen to idiots who get their info from faux news

Chicago isn’t even in the top 25 cities with the most violent crime per capita but republicans act like it’s syria

Chicago is waaaaaaayyyy safer than Baltimore

Chicago is by far more dangerous than NY. Just accept it

Not as safe as NYC- most cities aren't. But it's way safer than Baltimore, Kansas City, Detroit, New Orleans, Milwaukee, Memphis, Atlanta, Philadelphia, or St Louis. (Every city is safer than St. Louis).

Believe or not the blacks are moving away from Chicago. The city was also pumped by immigration especially from Latin America. Also the high property taxes aren’t helping either

The people are very nice and the city has a positive energetic vibe.

Tribalism is dumb.

How is San Francisco doing?

I love Chicago but the whole dumping on people from rural communities is overly cliche and just dumb. Haters come from all walks of life. Hell, there are haters who are actual people that live in Chicago. Enough with the tribalism.

Probably from Dallas suburbs haha

@@robertwilliams4682 like u

Mount Greenwood here. Tbh the crime is part of the gig. There are more shootings in Lincoln park than in my little southside bungalo, but that hasn’t stopped me from witnessing 2 shootings in the past month. It’s not a crime ridden hellhole like the media says, but it is a fact of life out here.

This is all true. Statistically speaking though Chicago doesn’t even come close to the top 10 for violent crime per capita. Many in the top 10 are cities in red states. You won’t hear that on faux news.

I had a sportswriting career that had me all over the country in small towns. I always kept thinking, "I tell them I'm from Chicago, they will be so intrigued!" Nope Most often, I'd hear, "Aren't you happy to be away from there?" At first I didn't get it, didn't understand what was being said. I first thought they were saying, "aren't you happy to be from there?" Which I completely am. Then I had to try to explain and talk them down...they never got it.

You don’t pay taxes here. Suburbs real estate tax funds most of the illegals and council

Hey, I'm planning on moving to Chicago soon and am apartment hunting. Do you mind sharing the name of your apartment? That fits perfectly with my budget. Thanks!

Wicker parks to expensive for most Chicagoans. It’s not very easy to move into for working middle class people.

@@mochistorm8687 There are many other great neighborhoods for middle-class families in Chicago. Try West Ridge -West Rogers Park, Edison Park, Peterson Woods, Edgewater, Budlong Woods, Jefferson Park, or North Park. They're beautiful, safe neighborhoods with nice housing stock and plenty of parks, and safe enough to let your ten-year-old ride her bike to the ice cream parlor.

I’m in my early 30s and rather go to Michigan City, Indiana and be an hour of a train ride away

Finally some said it!

The opinions of a lot of the city’s residents are also effectively worthless.

If Chicago could have, the entire Chicago Metro would be within the city limits of Chicago...there would just be more neighborhoods 😊

@@BrendanSullivan-ll7fzyou sound mad.

The opinions of people in small towns hundreds of miles away are worth even less.

me too, i realzied he just went to the nice gentrifying or historically upper class neiborhoods.

The Metra sure works for commuting but using it in daily life is awful. Fare integration is rough as it it’s not Ventura turnstiles service. The wayfinding is awful and some Chicagoans have never taken metra because it’s hard to navigate. Also get off the wrong stop well you’ll be waiting another one to two hours for a train. They need to adopt regional rail like Toronto and make the trains come every 20 mins or 15 so more people could use it not just commuters.

Also underrated for all the walkable neighborhoods. Obviously the car is king here but there are a surprising number of places one could live car light.

That’s the problem. You can’t live car free. Even if you live car light your paying for a car.

Chicago is evenly split between all races. About the same number of whyte people, as hipanics and blaqs, with ashins rapidly catching up

I love Los Angeles. It has gorgeous scenery, many interesting and lovely neighborhoods, and some of the most interesting architecture in the country. And it's friendly and strangely relaxed. The only things it has going against it, is its total car dependence and its absolutely outrageous housing prices.

Oh my gosh same! I used to trash the CTA for being a shitty metro system, but after having to move to Houston for work, I now completely cherish the fact that it EXISTS. :(

Roger's Park is probably the only Northside neighborhood I don't hate. It's the one place in the city that isn't segregated that is still safe and fun to be in.

@@patrickboldea599 facts, plus people are being really careful not to let the neighborhood gentrify too. Our alderwoman does a great job with community outreach and really listens to us.

Because you like losing money? Buying in Chicago is just burning money. Almost every city neighborhood has either depreciated or remained stagnant for a while now. The taxes are out the ass too. Renting is honestly better for your pocketbook here.

You have no idea how bad the infrastructure of this city is in, I work a job that sees things you would not imagine, I would never buy a place in Chicago.

Lol have you even been there. We have more construction cranes than New York. I’m sure if you went you would see how rapidly some neighborhoods are growing.

@@patrickboldea599 yup best to rent

@@mochistorm8687 en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cities_with_the_most_skyscrapers NY has more under construction but anyhow keep deluding yourself like all Chicagoans do that you're somehow comparable. Chicago is the Manchester to NYs London

How is the highway median station better?

@@grahamturner2640 We have three notable median stations; Lake St & I-35W, 46th St & I-35W and Cedar Grove Transit Station. Those are listed in ascending order from best to worst quality on sound protection, but they're also good stations that have internal waiting areas to block the noise of waiting for vehicles. Lake St & I-35W is a massive structure with huge walls that block the sound on the waiting platforms, 46th St & I-35W has sound walls for the outside platforms but it's louder, and Cedar Grove doesn't have any sound protection but it's on a less used highway so the noise volume is less egregious compared to some other stations I was at in Chicago. There's some room for improvement for sure but there's good bones with the 3 median stations we do have.

Pretty excited about the twin cities plans. The only bummer is that they’re trying to make BRT the backbone of those plans. BRT is great for cost and efficiency but isn’t as good for high ridership, isn’t as noticeable by visitors and is just more boring to ride compared to a train (imo).

@@highway2heaven91 For what it's worth, the reason we are going with BRT is moreso because it is an upgrade to high demand local bus routes and some Express bus corridors. It simplifies operational costs, provides a higher quality service on routes that desperately need it, and can be done cheaply, quick and efficient. That's how we can open so many lines so fast. The LRT and regional+Intercity rail plans are still very much for our highest demand corridors and are being planned out in accordance, like extending Northstar to St Cloud, building Northern Lights Express to Duluth for that sweet 90mph services, and even overturning study bans on the regional rail corridor known as Dan Patch, as well as a high speed rail corridor from the Twin Cities to Rochester known as Zip Rail. Think of the BRT plans here as not a replacement to rail, but as a comprehensive system to support a growing transit system that makes our core bus service better. Some BRT lines here are questionable but not unfixable, and should the need arise + cost controls are implemented for LRT projects, we could see long term rail upgrades to many corridors; The Gold Line is one that is a likely candidate.

I’m a Chicagoan who was in the Twin Cities back in 2015 and it was a great trip. I would definitely go back again in the future especially to see some baseball.

Plus the violent crime rate per capita just barely puts it in the top twenty most violent cities in the country. It’s ridiculously overblown.

@@foxesamu exactly. Last I saw, Chicago is like number 18 on that list. Rockford, IL was ranked as number 6 in terms of violent crime per capita so per capita, Chicago isn’t even the most violent city in Illinois. St Louis, MO was rated number 1 in violent crime per capita, yet nobody ever seems to shit on St Louis

Most cities don't have street takeover like Chicago had two times this year. All cities do have crime, but some are way crazier than others.

@@AngelloDelNorteChicago has dangerous areas but most of Chicago is relatively safe

@@AngelloDelNorte I've been to cities smaller than chicago that have worse crime. These "street takeovers" are isolated incidents and not something that happen often. The media just likes to pick on Chicago. You want to see a crime ridden hellhole, go visit San Francisco these days. I love my California cities but SF is basically what the media tries to make Chicago out to be.

😂😂😂😂😂

Yes Lake Michigan tap water is some of the best quality in the country.

I live in TexASS and I hate it. Too hot, you have to drive everywhere and deal with god awful drivers. TexASS sucks!

Everyone wants to move to Austin…. Sure, have it guys, I’ll take my seasonal metropolis with a body of water over a desert liberal walkway the size of Mount Greenwood.

@@BroadwayLTDProductions Texsucks!

That would be a massive improvement to the system. We need more rail lines in the city, especially on major east-west streets on the dense north side. It's easy to get downtown on the el and easy to travel north-south, but traveling east or west over Chicago Ave, Fullerton, Belmont, Lawrence, or Touhy is hellish. I've always dreamed of a line running over Touhy from the Red Line terminus at Howard St, to the Rosemont station on the Blue Line, which is the last station before OHare and has the train yard for the north branch of the Blue.

What? First off, around nearly half of Chicago residents use public transportation, that's not far off from New York city. Second off, New york has much more highway than Chicago, and also much more in the downtown as well, Chicago dosent have any highway downtown unless you consider lake shore drive, which again, is nowhere near as bad as a massive highway in the middle of downtown, and surrounding the entire city.

@@tortellinifettuccineYeah and the reason that it's hard to remove parking spots is that they legally aren't allowed to remove any metered spots without paying a mega fine because of that contract Daley signed

@ryanjacobs836 Yeah, that's probably one of the biggest things currently stopping a lot of places from making good change in the US. I live in Chicago, but my parents are in the suburbs. Granted, the suburbs there are better than 99% of all American suburbs, but it's still just that, an American suburb. The only close transit I have other than a 30-minute walk to the metra is one bus that takes me to the rosemont stop for the blue line. There are stores nearby though in walking distance, but they are behind a massive empty parking lot, though at least you don't have to deal with it if you're walking. There's plans to remove the parking there, the issue is there's meters on it, and the cost of turning it into a park or even just destroying the thing went from 100k to over 20 million dollars. 20 million fucking dollars to get rid of a shit, not even that BIG parking lot. And right next to it is a bigger lot, that I'm not joking is 24/7 completely empty, because the business there is BASICALLY abandoned, idk how it's still in business. This one did not have meters, and there were plans to tear it down for about 200k to 400k. The fucking peice of shit owner I assume got meters put there, and now the fucking cost is upwards of 40 million. WHAT THE FUCK. When I went to a city meeting (where I'm surprisingly taken very seriously) for the suburb, I was told they had zero way of getting rid of the lots since the cost would be insane, and it would literally be cheaper to just improve the downtown of the suburb since there's so much open real estate, and there's PLENTY of parking that needs to be abolished and thankfully none of it is metered. The downtown of the suburb surprises me every time I visit my parents because they actually take my suggestions seriously. I told them we need rapid transit busses at a minimum downtown along with the train station we already have, and boom, next 2 months when I visited we got a rapid transit line and some badass stations. Next month I came they turned nearly all the apartments downtown that had like 3 bottom floors of just parking, into mixed density housing, some with commercial, some with office, all with residential combined regardless. I was BEYOND shocked. The thing is, this is a pretty small suburb, and a very rich one. I've tried this in other suburbs with no success, I've gotten muted before in another suburb. There's definitely areas in the usa that want to change, they just don't know how, and even when they do they can't, and even when they can, their neighbors can't. It's just a fucking shit show.

Chicago is also very easy to live multimodal. Like you can own a car but you don’t need one and all the trips you could do you could bike drive walk take a bus and sometimes a train.

What suburb is that

I live near Chicago. The population loss is not going to serve Chicago well in the next 10 years. The taxes are BAD.

Honestly glad you added the caveat "live in the right neighborhood." Glad someone here at least acknowledges that Chicago has a lot of neighborhoods that deserve the rep they get lol. Source: I live in one.

I live in a 'bad town' and regularly travel all around some of America's most dangerous (and love them). Some of these places are trying to mend old wounds and not price people out in the process. Chicago is one of my 3 favorite cites. I've been from englewood to 83rd & pulaski, chinatown to garfield park conservatory, and on up to norwood park and northern burbs (winnetka). It's hard not to notice the north-south economic divide along 55. the southside contains the traces of economic segregation, divestment. The legacy of the homan square blacksite leaves a bad aftertaste. I live in a town with a large black population, and it doesn't feel so divided up. Do you feel like chicago will try to improve those areas that are hurting? Is positive change coming to your hood? So much of the southside is not as dense as the north. The west side feels easier to fix from an outsider than the south because of this.

@@faheemabbas3965the city is growing, but I agree, taxes will be more and more of an issue. They’re not bad for a big city, though. I’d just like to see more clearly just what I’m paying for. We need to make some repairs.

​@@faheemabbas3965 Chicago closer and closer is becoming the new Detroit.

There is both cities in red and blue states with 30.0+ homicide rates

Post or pre COVID?

It was 2022, nearing the end

The brown line is the most reliable lol

As a regular rider of the Brown Line, I've hardly ever experienced the delays you mention.

@@davidberlant5096 tbh that's fair. it was a couple years ago and I only took it on the thurs, fri, and Sat (mainly). from my pov the service was infrequent but if you're a regular rider, you have a better say in experiencing the frequency than I did.

He specifically went to high income areas. You can find the same in any city and he ignores a lot of the problems in the city that a visitor wouldn't see.

@@morewiExcept that’s where the city has high density and tons of public transit options. That’s where people visiting would typically start off. And it’s not like like venturing off into other neighborhoods puts you in sudden danger. The violence in Chicago is concentrated in a few areas, and you would have to actively seek those areas to get there. The point is that the media and the general population have glommed on to this idea that this violence is everywhere and you’re going to be a victim once you step out the door. That’s untrue, and the statistics bear this out - Chicago’s per capita violence isn’t even in the top 20. But go ahead and believe otherwise. It just makes the rest of us roll our eyes at you.

@@BlownMacTruck ignoring the crime waves hitting the nicer areas of the city doesn't help

@@morewiNo one’s ignoring them. We’re just not blowing them completely out of proportion. But go ahead and- give us the data that shows there are greater incidents of violence per capita in these neighborhoods versus other cities.

@@BlownMacTruck sure reality and politics is your answer.

Shoot, that was a mistake on my part. I'll put a note in the description.

I hear all the time from people (even ones that live in Chicago or an adjacent suburb) that they’re scared to go downtown. It’s mind boggling as someone who goes 3+ times a week myself and never has an issue

No they trash the Loop too, particularly the CEOs that try to use crime as an excuse for why they're leaving.

There were plans to do that in the late 2000s

yessssssssssssssssssssss

I've always thought that there should be a spur off the Brown Line up Western Ave to Howard. However, the Western Ave bus line 49B runs every 5 minutes throughout the day between Howard St and the Brown Line el station at Western & Lawrence.

Chicago just flooded. Spoke too soon 🤣🤣😂😂

@@bigtrader7924 There was very little flooding, just in a couple of small areas. I'm on the north lakefront and that rain bomb only flooded our machine room.

Chicago does get natural disasters such as tornadoes and blizzards

@@thomasgrabkowski8283 better than what other states experience

That's my concern, too. Our public pensions are eating us alive and our legislature and the IL Supreme Court have made it next to impossible to reform them. Sometimes I think the city and perhaps the whole state have to do Chapter 9 municipal bankruptcies just to bust these contracts with public workers and change the system, but that would be a disaster for our credit rating and there are so many stakeholders in business as usual that there is not the impetus for change that we need.

That's why it's good to have a Ventra card if you visit the city frequently. If you do, buy a Ventra card at a downtown or neighborhood el station. You will pay a one-time fee of $5 for a card that looks like any credit card, and load your fare onto it at the station or online. You can either load a pass for 3, 7, or 30 days, or fare that is debit each time you ride a CTA bus or train, or a PACE (suburban) bus. NOTE- MAKE SURE YOU ARE BUYING A PASS FOR BOTH CTA AND PACE VEHICLES IF YOU LOAD A PASS- that way, you can ride all over the suburbs as well as the city on the card. You really should register the card online as you get the $5 you spent on the card back that way. Just keep it in your travel bag if you're a visitor to the area and make sure it's loaded before you come, and you'll be debited only $2.50 when you ride the train from O'Hare.

Downtown is extremely full on Tuesday and Thursday but other days not so much

@@isaacliu896 This is facts. Its cause a lot of jobs are hybrid but require workers to be in on those two days

Dead at nights and quiet on weekends. Not impressed. Could be worse.

@@isaacliu896 And those workers that are going in on Tuesday and Thursdays are driving and not using the Metra like they did pre-COVID. The traffic has become a real nightmare on those two days.