People who aren’t from Chicago tend to think of it as a big slab of a city - without the distinct boroughs of New York, or the famous neighborhoods of Los Angeles. But if you live in Chicago your neighborhood defines you in ways the whole city does not. 77 different neighborhoods, each worthy of celebration on its own: each filled with a unique vibe, culture, and history that longtime residents come to embrace. 

What’s also cool though is that the other 76 neighborhoods are unique adventures for you to experience. You can live in the electric energy of downtown and in minutes scoot out to the warmth of a Cubs game in Wrigleyville, or the epicenter of cool on the West Side (sorry Wicker Park). 77 different neighborhoods, one that is your own, and 76 others all at your disposal. 

Let's switch to what's tough about Chicago. Winters may not kill you but damn, they’re gonna hurt. Everyone knows about the cold, the wind, and of course, the snow, but the thing they don’t warn you about is how grey the skies remain for so long in winter. The Great Lakes cast a low, heavy layer of clouds over the city, creating a perfect storm of cold, wind, snow, and clouds throughout January and February. If you can survive that stretch though you’re home free.



Neighborhood Pride  

LookyLOO Review of Chicago

Architecture and building types matter a ton in cities that get as chilly in the winter (and hot in the summer) as Chicago. Lifestyle here is driven more by your home or building than other cities so let's dive into that first. Chicago has every kind of place you can live -- high-rises downtown, bungalows, two-story flats, big brick single-family homes, and all the rest. Most unique to Chicago though is The Courtyard apartment building. These are distinct 3-story U-shaped buildings with grass courtyards, mostly built between the 1910s and 1930s when fire hazards and regulations prevented builders from going taller. There are so many other ways to live but everyone should get a chance to live in one of these sometime.

Beyond the architecture, you'll find beautiful beaches, and a silly number of music festivals, including [**Lollapalooza**](https://www.lollapalooza.com/), [**Pitchfork Music Festival**](https://pitchforkmusicfestival.com/), and the [**Chicago Blues**](https://www.chicago.gov/city/en/depts/dca/supp_info/chicago_blues_festival.html) and [**Chicago Jazz Festivals**](https://www.chicago.gov/city/en/depts/dca/supp_info/chicago_blues_festival.html). Chicago is excellent at bringing people together when the weather gets warm. 

The city has a great food scene, seriously, watch The Bear. It has excellent transit, so not having to own a car makes it even more affordable. Many say it has most of the perks of NYC but at a fraction of the cost and a more favorable salary-to-cost-of-living ratio. That makes it attractive to couples and young families, aspiring to buy a condo or home and take advantage of the excellent public school systems in the suburbs. 

Finally, Chicago has a much more relaxed vibe, people aren’t rushing or trying to get ahead quite as much. There is an ambitious and hard-working culture but the city moves at a less stressful pace than NYC or San Francisco. 

Check out the [**calendar of events**](https://www.themagnificentmile.com/things-to-do/events) to see how jumping this city gets. 

Lifestyle

In terms of how schools are assigned, children are guaranteed a place in the neighborhood school to which your home is assigned as long as you fill out the forms to enroll them in a timely manner. If you don't fill out the forms in a timely manner and the classes fill up, your child may be assigned to another adjacent neighborhood school for a year until they can get staffing figured out for the school your child would have been assigned to. The assigning of homes to schools is done usually by distance but in the past had some political reasons to not always be. Under a new state law, all school catchments will need to be regularly re-assessed with the default assumption being that the nearest school should be the appropriate neighborhood school. This will not change the school assignments for currently enrolled students though unless parents opt into the new school they would normally be assigned to. Also, at any time if you are unhappy with your neighborhood school, you can apply to send your child to any other neighborhood school in the city. I'm unsure how that approval process works.

Beyond the neighborhood schools, you have the magnet schools which are admittance by application only. Some are special interest schools with a focus on STEM or the arts for example. Others are purely academic in how you get into them. In terms of the application process, they all require some form of test and sometimes ask for recommendations from teachers. They are not looking not only for top scores on the tests but for relative scoring position when compared against other similar students (that is to say, against your child's peers so being top 10% in the district doesn't help if they're only top 30% in their school). They do this as measurable intelligence and aptitude on tests is primarily driven by home life and school environment moreso than the student's natural aptitude. So the hope is that by using relative ranking within schools that they create an equitable process that manages to bring the students with the greatest natural or learned talent to the magnet schools without disadvantaging poorer communities in the city while still giving some advantages to wealthier households who can better prepare their children for the entrance exam.

What this ends up doing is that in the wealthiest parts of the city, up to 20% of students from their elementary schools get sucked up into the magnet schools while in the poorer areas, it is around the top 8-15% (roughly). This is often why if you look at standardized test scores for places like Lincoln Park High School or Lake View High School it looks like the school is bad but in reality the top 20% of students from the elementary schools feeding it were all admitted to the top magnet schools.

Basically, if you want "good" schools live in a school catchment with high income families as that's the best indicator of a student's success with the second being the number of books their parents had in the household (not owned, in the household so the library is fine) on average while they were a young child. But that said, even the lower income areas can be great. For example, my wife taught for an amazing 1+ rated elementary school in a middle-income Hispanic community where the parents were focused on their kids having an easier life than they did. That school sent around 16% of its students to the top magnet high schools.

Yes, CPS has a bad reputation because of fear mongering and people not talking about individual schools within the system separately. But overall, CPS makes up 5% of the top 100 high schools in the USA based on matriculation rates to top rated universities. If you expand to the top 250, CPS still is about 5% of the schools in the list. Please keep in mind that the City of Chicago is a bit less than 1% of the US population. So this indicates that CPS greatly outperforms expectations as an overall school district.





Review from Former Teachers

Schools

Chicago is an amazing city; great industry and economy, beautiful classic architecture, world-class culture, exciting sports scene, and everything a $3 subway ride away, but these things also come in a much less expensive package than the coastal majors. If you crave a major city but want a more economical lifestyle than New York, or San Francisco, or Boston, or Los Angeles, then Chicago has to be on your list. It’s the 3rd largest city but just the 15th most expensive city in the United States. https://chicago.curbed.com/2019/6/5/18644825/move-to-chicago-guide-advice

The Economics 

Why You Should Move Here Now?

**Basim Ali** / Lived in Chicago / Updated 3yr
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Chicago is hands down one of the best cities in the states.

Cost Of Living: First off, Chicago is incredibly cheap. It’s significantly cheaper than NY, LA, SF or even cities like Seattle and Boston. (It’s cheap compared to most major North American cities. It’s still obviously going to be more pricey than middle of nowhere Texas). Most cities with a relatively cheap cost of living either don’t have well paying jobs, or they don’t have jobs at all. Chicago on the other hand is the 3rd largest city in America, and it has a very diversified economy. Despite this, it remains affordable for such an important city. Even in the desirable neighborhoods in the North Side of the city you can very easily get a studio for $1000 a month.

Things To Do: Chicago has more than enough things to do and there’s something happening every single day in the city. The Magnificent Mile is one of the best shopping streets in America, trumped only by Fifth Avenue. Other places to visit include the Navy Pier, Millennium Park, Grant Park, Buckingham Fountain and one of my personal favorite things about the city: the Riverwalk. The Lincoln Park Zoo is incredible as well (and it’s free). In addition to this there are many river and lake cruises that offer stunning views of the skyline. In the summer the lakefront bursts into action. Throughout the warmer months, there are parties and festivals on the gleaming beaches in the shadow of Chicago’s cloud piercing skyscrapers.

Food: Food in Chicago is incredible and relatively cheap, a perfect combination. Chicago style deep dish pizza and hotdogs are of course world renowned. Chicago’s diversity also means that there also a lot of cuisines from all around the world. There are also many upscale food options as well such as Everest or Alinea. The city’s restaurants have a total of 24 Michelin Stars.

Crime & Safety: Chicago has a notorious gang and murder problem. That being said the downtown and most of the North Side neighborhoods are completely safe. As long as you don’t venture into the wrong neighborhoods, which you have no reason to unless you want drugs, are a part of a gang etc then you should be completely fine. You should always be conscious of your surroundings but that goes for most major cities, not just Chicago. If you’re planning to move to Chicago, the Northern suburbs are incredibly safe places to live. Naperville, Evanston etc consistently rank as some of the best places to live in the Midwest.

Weather: This depends on the kind of person you are. Winters in Chicago are brutal, but they are so beautiful! Chicago in the winter time is nothing short of magical and the cold makes us all the more grateful for summer. However if you like to wear flip flops and t-shirts all year around and generally don’t like snow/ cold weather, Chicago and the Midwest in general is not for you.

I hope that I was able to paint a realistic picture about what it’s like to live in Chicago, both the pros and the cons. To summarize, Chicago is cheap, has great summers, a plethora of things to do, delicious food, safe suburbs and most neighborhoods of the city are safe. However winters here can be brutal and some areas of the city do have a very high crime rate.


For more reviews from locals check out: [**reviews section**](https://lookyloomove.com/locations/chicago/reviews)

Reviews of Chicago from Locals

**The Good, The Bad, The Ugly**

**The Best Thing About Chicago?** Neighborhood Pride

Chicago is a huge city that stands as one to those from the outside, and of course those who live here are proud of the whole. But if you live here your neighborhood defines you in ways the whole city cannot. 77 different neighborhoods, each worthy of celebration on their own: each filled with a unique vibe, culture and history that longtime residents come to embrace. What’s also cool though is that the other 76 neighborhoods are unique adventures for you to experience. You can live in the electric energy of downtown and in minutes scoot out to the warmth of a Cubs game in Wrigleyville, or to the epicenter of cool on the West Side (sorry Wicker Park). 77 different neighborhoods, one that is your own, and 76 others all at your disposal. 

**The Worst Thing About Chicago?** Winters That Do Not Kill Us Make Us Stronger

They may not kill you but damn, they’re gonna hurt. Everyone knows about the cold, and the wind, and of course the snow, but the thing they don’t warn you about is how grey the skies remain for so long in winter. The Great Lakes cast a low, heavy layer of clouds over the city, creating a perfect storm of cold, wind, snow and clouds throughout January and February. If you can survive that stretch though you’re home free. 

**How You Living?**  On A Courtyard

Ok, so Chicago has every kind of place you can live. Highrises downtown, bungalows, two-story flats, big brick single family homes, and the rest. Most unique to Chicago though is The Courtyard Building. These are distinct 3-story U-shaped apartment buildings with grass courtyards, mostly built between the 1910’s and 1930’s when fire hazards and regulations prevented builders from going taller. There are so many other ways to live but everyone should get a chance to live in one of these sometime. 

**Why You Should Move Here Now?** The Economics

Chicago is an amazing city; great industry and economy, beautiful classic architecture, world-class culture, exciting sports scene, and everything a $3 subway ride away, but these things also come in a much less expensive package than the coastal majors. If you crave a major city but want a more economical lifestyle than New York, or San Francisco, or Boston, or Los Angeles, then Chicago has to be on your list. It’s the 3rd largest city but just the 15th most expensive city in the United States. 



If you’ve never been to the Chicago Metroplex you may not know it stretches across the southwest side of Lake Michigan. While Chicago ain’t a coast it for sure is a beach town. The Lake is a defining characteristic as it provides play in the warmer months and brings the wind in the winter. 

The city is surrounded by many quiet and some city-like suburbs, some of the most beautiful in the country. Evanston, home to Northwestern University, sits north of the city along the lake and is a wonderful college town for those who crave a city, but don’t want to live in THE city. The northern suburbs tend to be a bit fancier as their lake access is rewarded with higher prices and fancier digs. To the west lie countless booming ‘burbs like Oak Park, Hinsdale, Downers Grove and Naperville, that tend to serve both upper and middle/working class families. 


The Area

As was noted above, Chicago neighborhoods are a big deal to locals. It may be the sporting culture that brings that local pride and spirit down to the street level, but it plays out for the most part innocently with the possible exception of the North Side v. South Side rivalry. Historically the North Side was wealthier and more white, and the South Side more working class and African-American. While some of that hegemony still exists, Chicago has diversified in ways that make the distinction less clear and perhaps idealistically less important. 

Overall, city neighborhoods are organized into districts, and while there are plenty of exceptions for any of these characterizations you can think in terms of the north as being “posh”, downtown as urban upscale, west as hipster, and south as home to great arts, sports, historic culture and more diversity.


The Neighborhoods

Chicago has so many neighborhoods for young professionals it feels greedy for them not to share with other midwestern cities. Huge apartment skyrises downtown, big brick apartment buildings in the surrounding neighborhoods like Lincoln Park, three-decker apartment homes in historic and upcoming neighborhoods like Wrigleyville, and Logan Square, that all provide relatively inexpensive housing (compared to NYC/SF/LA) for the younger generations. Every one of these neighborhoods has a great local social scene if you just feel like walking out for some fun, and the L provides super-cheap transport to the rest of the city when you feel like venturing farther. 
- Downtown / The Loop
- Logan Square
- West Town (Ukranian Village, East Village, Wicker Park, Pulaski 
  Park)
- River North
- Lake View (Wrigleyville/Boystown)


Young Professionals

Downtown

The biggest and most famous of the LGBTQ+ neighborhoods in Chicago is Boystown. It hosts the Pride Parade and is full of cool boutiques, coffee joints, theaters, comedy clubs and amazing nightlife. Boystown, which is part of the Lakeview area also has the historical Legacy Walk the world’s only outdoor LGBTQ history museum.
Another popular neighborhood is Andersonville. Labeled “Girlstown” due to a big and growing lesbian population, the neighborhood is on the north side of the city with most of the social scene between Clark Street and Ashland Avenue. Andersonville is home to Women and Children First, one of the largest feminist and LGBTQ+ bookstores in the United States. https://www.gayrealestate.com/news/usa/illinois/chicago/chicago-gay-city-guide-a-midwestern-jewel-for-the-lgbtq-community.html
- Boystown (Lakeview)
- Girlstown (Andersonville)
- Pilsen

LGBTQ+

Boystown/Girlstown

Chicago has plenty of neighborhoods for young families looking for “city life” but who also demand great schools, safe streets and some of the amenities they’d get in a suburb but without you know, “the suburbs”. Beverly is a great example of these neighborhoods - big brick homes with room to grow at reasonable prices, great local schools for the little ones, and tons of outdoor space including a 250 acre forest preserve for hiking, or sledding when the snow falls. If you’re in the family way but intent on hanging in the city you’re going to be ok here. 
- Beverly
- Edison Park
- Lincoln Park
- North Center
- West Loop
- Hyde Park 


Families

Beverly

A lot of bigger families in Chicago flock to the suburbs for the homes, yards, public schools and lifestyle, but staying in the city is absolutely a thing here as well. Neighborhoods like Sauganash/Forest Glen are magnets for families prepared to spend bigger bucks for beautiful older homes, large yards (for the city), and close proximity to great schools for their beans. It should be noted that these neighborhoods tend to be a bit quieter, with less of a jumping social scene than the hipster or younger family options but there are golf courses if that is your scene. As with most cities Chicago has plenty of “crossover” cities that attract young professionals, young families, and bigger/established families. Lake View, which includes Wrigleyville and Boystown, and Lincoln Park, are two of these areas. Great big homes, luxury condos, apartment buildings and fancy-ish amenities make these neighborhoods work across nearly all demographics, as long as you’ve got the $$$. 
- Sauganash/Forest Glen
- Lake View (Wrigleyville/Boystown)
- Lincoln View


Sauganash/Forest Glen

Chicago

**Beyond_the_Matrix **/ Living in Chicago / Updated 3yr
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**What's it like living in Chicago?**

You can do almost anything you think of. Normal stuff like play in a sports league or book clubs or dance classes or cooking classes etc. Less common stuff like improv, burlesque, trapeze, learn sailing. During normal times, on any given night, you have endless options. Pick any cuisine, you can find multiple restaurants. Think of any kind of bar/nightclub ambiance, we have it. Pick a style of music, you can probably find someone playing it somewhere. Or go see a play or stand-up comedy or a cabaret show.

We also have an excellent public transit system so you can get anywhere at almost anytime without needing a car (or a designated driver).

We also have jobs in pretty much any field. Whatever you do … you could probably do it here. Want to change careers? We have other options and also lots of universities and other options to get a degree or training.

And we’re next to a giant lake so we have beaches (a lot of people don’t realize that) for swimming, boating, or just chilling.

But what differentiates is from a lot of big US cities is our cost of living is more attainable than a lot of similar cities.

Some people really hate the winters though. But just get waterproof snow boots and a legit winter coat and you’ll be ok.

Plus we don’t have as much “nature” as other areas, or other nearby cities for getaways.

Bad stuff - it’s a city. Thankfully I haven’t been on the receiving end of any crime or violence but it sucks to hear about it happening nearby. I am cautious about where I go alone at night, when I’ll take public transit, etc. But I’m still able to go about my daily life without trouble.

**Pros and Cons of living in Chicago**
Living in Chicago / Updated 2yr
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Good for me. I grew up on the south side, Beverly neighborhood. Had a good community upbringing, you knew the same people your whole life that whole thing, went to private school but my family scraped all they had to send me there because at the time the neighborhood public school was bad, it’s a lot better now. I got into a trade Union around 21, started making good money so I left that neighborhood and moved to Pilsen because it was the only place where I had a friend that needed a roomate, lived there for 2 years, pretty fun neighborhood(great if you love carnitas and Latin culture), close to downtown but still it’s own neighborhood feel, then moved to Tri-Taylor, pretty good area but close to the west side crime and drug addicts but still close and accessible to downtown and other fun neighborhoods, never get unsafe living their though despite decent amount of crime in the area. Last 4 years I’ve been in the Near West Side neighborhood, which borders the West Loop, so that’s been fun and now moving to Buena Park with my fiancé and really looking forward to being close to the lake and away from the highway.

Remember, Chicago is all about neighborhoods, there’s 77 of them and they’re all unique, I’d suggest renting in the West Loop or Old Town, being close to transit and traveling the El to different neighborhoods to get a feel for what you like best. You’ll know quickly if you’re in a bad neighborhood because there’s empty lots, tons of graffiti and busted/burnt out buildings, avoid those areas at night and you’ll be safe, they’re mainly west of Western and south of Pershing, although there is a nice area by the lake, south called Hyde Park that is where University of Chicago is. Keep awareness in touristy areas and you’ll be fine as well, in my 30 years I’ve never had an altercation outside of a drunken bar dispute.

**What is it like to live in Chicago (city)?**
**Dave Marques** / Lived in Chicago / Updated 2yr
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Winters are cold as hell, but there are some surprisingly mild days interspersed. Spring is rainy, windy, and chilly, but absolutely gorgeous towards the end. Summers are hot and humid but with some nice cool weather mixed in. Fall is wonderful.
Lake Michigan is a treasure. Lots of public beaches and parks along it. The water is a really beautiful cerulean color sometimes and seeing the skyline on the lakefront by night is a must.
Chicago is a city of neighborhoods. Downtown (the greater Loop plus River North) is tall and dense, kind of like Manhattan but emptier (especially at night). Outside of that, however, the city is divided up pretty precisely into neighborhoods, each with their own architectural styles, socioeconomic/racial/ethnic demographics, histories, points of interest. They are fun to explore - Hyde Park is very academic and cerebral; Wicker Park and Logan Square are trendy with lots of thrift stores and funky restaurants; Bronzeville has important Black historical and cultural institutions; Boystown is the lgbtq hub of the city. The downside is that they can also be a little insular at times and there are pretty glaring inequalities between neighborhoods, especially on the South and West sides.

**What is it like to live in Chicago (city)?**
**Basim Ali** / Lived in Chicago / Updated 3r
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Chicago is hands down one of the best cities in the states.

Cost Of Living: First off, Chicago is incredibly cheap. It’s significantly cheaper than NY, LA, SF or even cities like Seattle and Boston. (It’s cheap compared to most major North American cities. It’s still obviously going to be more pricey than middle of nowhere Texas). Most cities with a relatively cheap cost of living either don’t have well paying jobs, or they don’t have jobs at all. Chicago on the other hand is the 3rd largest city in America, and it has a very diversified economy. Despite this, it remains affordable for such an important city. Even in the desirable neighborhoods in the North Side of the city you can very easily get a studio for $1000 a month.

Things To Do: Chicago has more than enough things to do and there’s something happening every single day in the city. The Magnificent Mile is one of the best shopping streets in America, trumped only by Fifth Avenue. Other places to visit include the Navy Pier, Millennium Park, Grant Park, Buckingham Fountain and one of my personal favorite things about the city: the Riverwalk. The Lincoln Park Zoo is incredible as well (and it’s free). In addition to this there are many river and lake cruises that offer stunning views of the skyline. In the summer the lakefront bursts into action. Throughout the warmer months, there are parties and festivals on the gleaming beaches in the shadow of Chicago’s cloud piercing skyscrapers.

**35 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW BEFORE MOVING TO CHICAGO**
In this video I share the 35 things you need to know before moving to Chicago. 


Chicago, Illinois

Italian Beef

Looklyloo Score: 93