Ah, the Windy City. Ever since I started living in New York, I’ve always wanted to visit this beautiful city, too. I even thought of actually moving to Chicago – so much so that I compiled some helpful tips to know in case I do push through with my plan to move to the 3rd largest city in the US. If you’ve thought of packing up your bags and heading to the birthplace of the skyscraper, then these might help you as well.
First off, Chicago is a walkable city so for New York dwellers like myself, who are basically so used to walking, this is good news. I like that they have easy-to-follow street grids. Biking is also highly encouraged and there are bike share offers available. The Chicago City government has made possible several protected bike lanes such as those found along Milwaukee Avenue.
Secondly, Chicago is an ideal city for sports fans. It has 8 major league sports teams in the fields of basketball, hockey, football, soccer and baseball. I doubt you’ll run out of a sports team to cheer on!
Thirdly, Chicago has many parks (600 parks as of this writing!), amazing museums and lots of tourist attractions. I can already imagine my family enjoying their time at the Lincoln Park Zoo, Art Institute and the Shedd Aquarium.
Fourthly, can we finally talk about Chicago’s great food (hello, deep dish pizza and Chicago-style hotdogs!) and beautiful music (blues, soul, jazz and gospel music lovers will enjoy it here!)? Actually, the city is also known for Michelin-starred restaurants and for dining places that offer delicious international food. In fact, the city was voted the best restaurant city in 2017. Isn’t that super interesting?
Fifthly, Chicago has lots of diverse communities. So for folks who, like me, love discovering new food, conversing with people of other nationalities, understanding their rich culture and traditions and just basically widening horizons, Chicago is a dream. From the Polish-style cathedral to amazing Asian food along Argyle Street to an impressive archive of black culture and records in South Shore, the city sure has a lot to offer that could help quench the soul of any global traveler.
Truly, Chicago is a great city to live in. I guess one of the big challenges that you need to face when you finally decide to move there is apartment hunting!
I have a suggestion. Try online apartment search resources in order to find great apartments in Chicago. I gave Zumper a try and I found really great leads for rental places. The inventory is updated in real time and the listings are of very good quality. New rental places appear first and you can set filters so your search becomes more convenient. For instance, in my case, I set filters based on price range (of course – budget is crucial!), location, amenities available, bedroom count or if the rental place welcomes pets or not. I then set alerts so I can receive notifications easily. The site is really very easy to use! Give it a try.
So, are you as inspired as I am to try my luck in Chicago?
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Mindanaoan is a multi-awarded blogger, content creator, seasoned social media strategist and publicist with undeniably successful track record. 2012 International Visitor Leadership Program (for global leaders) alumnus and O visa grantee (for people with extraordinary skills and who have risen to the top of their field). Avid traveler and a proud relief operations volunteer. Regular resource person for social media, blogging and content creation. Available for work and travel – [email protected]
