I’m from Cincy, and I thought the cicadas were cool. For a few weeks, it was so loud on my back porch that it was uncomfortable to even be out there. I was once in the room just inside the back screen door, and I had to close the back door just to be able to talk on the phone. My dog ate about 100 of the little guys, and threw up every time.
Nevertheless, I liked them. Once, I sat on the back porch smoking a cigar, and I must have had 20 of them land on me, and just hang out. We had a nice little chat about cicada issues – you know, what the hell they’ve been doing for 17 years.
I agree about the high school thing. For some reason, here it is a rather big deal where you went.
food (bagels, bread, diversity), 2. people (the french, diverse cultures, the crowds), 3. mt.royal (for running and biking), 4. humidity (hate it in summer but everywhere else I go, I get a nasty hacking cough.), 5. summers (nightlife, festivals)
hate
potholes, 2. drivers, 3. stm (public transit: for the love of god, get A/C), 4. construction, 5. the damn hot & humid summers
I know there may be some great and awful political and social things about Chicago (race relations, political corruption, schools), but I am just going to talk about my teeny, tiny selfish world.
Best
The people. They are – generally – lots like what I am used to since I grew up in the midwest. Good, accepting, down to earth, warm, people. A comforting departure from when I lived in other parts of the country.
The lake front. Yup, even with the crowds, it is fabulous and fun.
The architecture. Fabulous skyline that rises around you. You can appreciate it while you are standing in the middle of it, unlike NYC or other cities where you have to get away from it to gain perspective.
Bars are open til 4 am. (I may not take advantage of it very often, but it is good to know it is there. You can take a disco nap til midnight and still head out for a few hours of fun)
Great restaurants.
It is one of the major centers for art and culture, so most major exhibits and tours come through here. (opera, hip hop, fine art, broadway & other spectecles – although we can not spell here)
Public transportation (everyone complains about it, but being from Detroit I am stunned and amazed that it is actually an option. It is not as efficient as other cities, but if you’ve lived with no busses and trains, then it is amazing)
Worst
TRAFFIC (holy sh*t, it is bad always! 11 am, 11 pm, 2 pm, 3 a.m.)
Cost of housing (I would live like a frickin’ czar at this price in most of the country – NYC, SF excluded)
It’s flat. (no really, it is really, really flat. no hills. There is a gradual rise, kind of an on-ramp, at the end of the Chicago Marathon and people here consider that a hill).
This goes together with 1 & 3, but it is very difficult to get a good bike ride. The famous lake front path is too crowded and only a-holes ride it w/any speed (if this is you, then yes, I mean you). If you put your bike on your car to head out to less populated areas (or an area with any variance in topography), you have to battle the frickin traffic to get there and back.
My girlfriend doesn’t live here (I said this was going to deal with my tiny tiny world)
The actual percentage of beautiful women is low compared to other cities (Miami, NYC, SF, LA even smaller cities like Detroit) however, please see number 5 above (I am less concerned about this low percentage than I would be otherwise).
The Mallification (Chain stores and chain restaurants are taking over)
Far away from: ocean, mountains, skiing, another country, another major city
Best: The weather; The things the weather affords, such as year-round training; The proximity to so many things - ocean, mountains, desert, Mexico, etc.; The huge local multisport community; Solid base in the biotech industry.
Worst: Out of control real estate prices (a friend just bought a two bedroom/two bath condo for $550,000); City government - near bankruptcy, apparently corrupt members, lame duck mayor, etc.; Too many transplants overrunning everything; Many formerly natural areas are now massive housing developments built to accomodate said transplants. (See the SR-56 corridor. That used to be hills, lakes, trees, fauna… Now it’s tract homes and hardscape from Del Mar to east of the 15.); Too close to Los Angeles.
Cool thread I’ll write about my hometown, Lisbon, Portugal.
BEST:
1 - It’s beautiful with a lot of history. Last sunday I walked through the castle district, it’s so cool there.
2 - It’s by the river and the sea, I really like the sea.
3 - I get this special feeling when coming back and get emotional.
4 - There are 4-5 run races that go through the main street, it is very cool to have traffic stopped and being able to enjoy the city that way.
5 - I love the way it is disorganized. In general I hate it when cities, towns, neighborhoods are disorganized, but I wouldn’t want Lisbon any other way
WORST:
1 - Traffic is a nightmare.
2 - The whole area is very triathlon un-friendly, especially for riding.
3 - It is very crowded, it looks like the whole country lives here.
4 - People smoke EVERYWHERE.
5 - No Chipotle’s here
(Edit: While reading Smartass34’s post I realized I forgot the number one reason for me to live here: THE WEATHER ROCKS!!! I just hate the cold and can’t imagine living in a place where it snows)
5 Worst things: Predominantly dependant on the auto industry. Consistently inconsistent weather. Somewhat circuitous city government Beaurocracy: “Old boy network” in effect. Absurdly inflated real estate prices for run-down shacks built in 1922 and now labelled “historic”. Too many restaurants.
5 Best things: Vehicles are less expensive here due to rampant industry deals. Interesting varied of environmental conditions: It never gets boring. All my friends are in city government and I went to high school with them. The mayor bought two bikes from us and I know where he lives. Two days ago I gave him cuts in line at Starbucks. The three months after I bought my house the value probably went up $15K at least, likely more since I did a lot of work on it. You can always get something good to eat here, lots of variety: Lebanese, Arabic, Mexican, Italian, Thai, Chinese, etc. etc.
And the best thing about Dearborn: After visiting all seven continents and over 40 countries, It is home.
My family lived in Dearborn when I was born. My mom went to Fordson, My dad went to Lowery (now defunct), My brothers and sisters went to McDonald Elementary, My G’ma lives near Ford Rd and Telegraph, My Grand Fathers watch shop is now part of Greenfield Village & his name is still on the door (Robert Love).
HEY! HOW COME HIS WATCH SHOP WASN’T PART OF YOUR BESTS?
All of the things you crave from a big city (restaurants, intellectual stimulation, entertainment, big-time athletics), very few of the things you hate (like serious commutes and serious crime).
One of the world’s great cities in which to run. “Tree City”, the Arb, the Huron River, 140 parks (with a population of 110,000 or so), Barton Hills, U of M Campus. Hills, flats, trails, and several tracks.
Lots of options to swim.
Beautiful countryside to ride in west of the city.
The Big House on a Saturday afternoon in October.
Worst:
Only one decent road leading out of town (Huron River Drive) and one O.K. (Scio Church Road).
Mediocre pavement quality.
Winters are too long and too slushy.
Cops on bike patrol riding the wrong way on one-way streets - which encourages the 40,000 U of M students to do the same.
Where else can you find a six-figure job, a decent home for $250k, all while being 10 minutes away from what is arguably one of the best outdoor playgrounds in the country - the Wasatch Mountains? No place I know of.
Worst:
Religious/political/social climate can be hard to stomach if you’re non-Mormon.
Winter air in the valley gets really nasty because high-pressure systems trap all the polution in the valley.
No thriving downtown or cultural community.
Soccer moms distracted by 5 kids in the back of the SUV as well as who’s on the other end of the cell phone.
Cold winters and hot summers - sometimes without much inbetween.
Worst things Winter An agonizing city in which to be a pro sports fan Roads are not so bad, but frequent road construction is. In the last three days, roadwork has begun on two of my fave bike routes. NIghtlife/entertainment has steadily sunk in the last 5-10 years. Economic growth has stalled since the mid 90’s
Best things Summer - Probably not that great compared to other cities, but after six months of snow and rain, anything else is paradise. Metroparks - Cleveland is encircled by a ring of city parks, and is connected to Akron by the Cuyahoga Valley NRA. This is an incredible resource I think a lot of locals take for granted. Low cost of living. Lakefront - Bad decisions have hampered downtown lakefront access (although some pie-in-the-sky plans are underway to change that… we’ll see). But the lakefront suburbs have nice beaches and parks. Lake Erie is not the “dead lake” it was in the 70s. Reputation - I sort of like it that no one wants to come to Cleveland. I think we have a lot of good things going here and I’d prefer it if other people stayed the hell out. (Probably not a very forward-looking attitude.)
I’ll jump on San Francisco but I’m sure we’ll get a few different opinions.
Best:
SF is one of the most beautiful cities I have seen in the world, if not the most beautiful.
The proximity to incredible open spaces is awesome. In a 5 minute drive I can get to the beach and Marin Headlands and have great running trails to myself. In less than an hour more open space than can be thoroughly explored in a lifetime. For an outdoor person it is heaven. Great snow w/i 4 hours as well.
The bars, restaurants, shopping, nightlife in general is world class.
Weather, you can be outdoors year round. Often in shortsleeves or a light long sleeve through winter.
Incredible athletic community. I meet far more active people here then anywhere I’ve ever visited!
Mexican food! (I had to add an extra).
Worst:
Homeless problem. San Francisco is becoming a bit dangerous. I had a crazy street person break into my apartment in broad daylight when I was home a month ago and am hearing about this more and more often. There are drunk homeless people aggresively pan handling everywhere.
Prices. Its just plain expensive, housing, renting, eating, etc.
Parking is a joke in the city and traffic can be pretty bad if you need to drive. No LA, but pretty bad.
The weather in the summer is generally cool and foggy in SF proper. I don’t mind this as I go North a bit daily, where it is always sunny in the summer and like the cool city temps but it drives some of my friends nuts.
I’ll write about my hometown, Lisbon, Portugal.
