city warz - LA vs. Chicago

I don't have an opinion on this. I've only been to LA for a few hours and it seemed all right, so even if I tried to proclaim why Chicago was better, I'd be talking out of my ass.

l.a. wins out when it comes to food and geography and proximity to other interesting cities, and weather. chicago wins on housing options, the skyline, the people, the architecture, the general big-city energy which l.a. lacks in some ways, the museums, and the overall tolerability of the suburbs.

i will give it to chicago, also b/c my family roots there go back to the 1820s-30s.

chicago wins on rock n roll and cheese, loses on general aesthetics of the population and every single minute between the six months between october and may.

i need a nap, obviously.

every single minute between the six months between october and may.

^^^^^^^seriously thinking about moving

not to LA, tho

dont underestimate the weather thing

-- max, Monday, May 5, 2008 1:54 PM (3 minutes ago) Bookmark Link

also babes, medical marijuana, mexican food

-- max, Monday, May 5, 2008 1:55 PM (2 minutes ago) Bookmark Link

yeah i wish there was mexican food in chicago!

chicago has weather, babes and mexican food

fyi

lol

it may not have a 'weather thing'

it also has people who take everything really literally, apparently

when i come back to chicago, the people who seemed like douches are practically bros now that i've met l.a. douches

Chicago is real and the crime is more organized.

I love going home to Chicago but I have to vote L.A. Everyone I know here is from NY and Chicago anyway.

You know what town also has a lot of Chicagoans? Phoenix.

every single minute between the six months between october and may.

^^^^^^^seriously thinking about moving

not to LA, tho

-- deej, Monday, May 5, 2008 3:57 PM (Monday, May 5, 2008 3:57 PM) Bookmark Link

this is the reason a very awesome friend of mine transferred to l.a., this winter fucking killed everyone it seems. i don't think i can take another one.

people always complain about winters in chicago, but i love them. it's the summers that can be a real bitch. i grew up w/o air conditioning.

chicago is gonna win this poll b/c there are a ton of chi people on this board and they rep their city hard, theres only like 12 angelenos and no overwhelming city pride

omar, this one was different. fucking brutality.

Everyone I know here is from NY and Chicago anyway.

i think jmc is the only chilxor who was born here? most seem to be from north carolina?

heavy snowfall in april is a bitch

i was born in chicago

make that two then.

i haven't been this mad about missing snowfalls since that crazy blizzard shut down manhattan while i was home for break back in '95/'96

secondary poll: cuauh v. beckham

http://www.vanguardia.com.mx/XStatic/vanguardia/images/espanol/cuaunta15nov07.jpg

i was born in ELGIN

I'll be the lone voice for "winter's not that bad" but like jmc I haven't been to LA outside of the airport so I can't really make a quality decision. Blanco pwns Becks tho.

Don't mess with WAUKEGAN

YOU'RE PRETTY FACE IS GOING TO WAUKEGAN.

dammit, gonna be singing that to myself all day now.

i like la and prefer it to nyc most days, i have never been to chicago : (

i prefer l.a. to nyc almost every day

ILXors originally from the Chicago area.xls:

jaymc, Granny Dainger = Bolingbrook
felicity = Waukegan (apparently)
Amateurist, deej = Evanston
Melissa W. = Wheaton
omar little = Woodstock
phil-two, k3rry k3ane = Chicago

T0dd Sw1ss = Naperville

i hated la in my youth w/o ever stepping foot in it, think a lot of people do that

i'd like to see a boston vs san francisco poll except nearly everyone hates boston, including me, so what would be the fun in that?

that would be an unfair competition

chicago is really pretty today so i feel guilty for all the shit i've been talking about it all winter, but i think it is ultimately not really for me maybe.

how long have u been here?

almost 5 years. for school. if i had a normal job, i think i'd probably like it a lot better.

but i think it is ultimately not really for me maybe.

i'm in all likelihood moving back east in the fall for family reasons but i think ultimately i'll come back here. oh, and i was hanging out with buffalo folk this weekend.

after I saw how many ex-Chicagoans there were in the Valley of the Sun, my business plans were to import good pizza and italian beef out there. Alas, I have no business acumen.

OPEN A HOT DOG STAND. it's hard to fuck up hot dogs.

Does Aur0ra count as Chicago area? If so, add me to Chicago_area.xls

Chicago by a mile.

most seem to be from north carolina?
what are you smoking? i think only jeff is from nc. some of us lived there for a while but i am from NE OH.

my hometown is the butt of many jokes, but at least it's not in north carolina.

also i have never been to LA so chicago 4eva

i guess the last stop before here was north carolina for a few folks (jenny, jeff, jesse, courtney).

er, ?

the lesson, as always, disregard anything i have to say.

Does Aur0ra count as Chicago area? If so, add me to Chicago_area.xls

Totes. I knew I was forgetting someone. I mean, there's probably another handful more, if you count random ILM posters that don't say hi on the Chicago thread.

chicago's weather thing:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pwA-MvEfTLY

you only have to deal with hollywood douchebags if you go to hollywood douchebag bars.

If there were an ACTUAL war, Chicago would stomp all over LA like General Sherman's army.

You are on fucking crack.

LA has like over a million more people.
Also, Chicagoans are too nice to fuck with LA. Just try to get in the way of some Angeleno's money. Seriously. Try it.

-- B.L.A.M., Tuesday, 6 May 2008 04:54 (21 minutes ago) Link

Not on crack. Just from Chicago. What I should have said was:

Chicago has the smartest scientists and the Fermilab Tevatron particle accelerator. If there were an ACTUAL war, Chicago would bomb LA to kingdom come.

Don't be so certain. JPL + Latin Playboys = win.

you only have to deal with hollywood douchebags if you go to hollywood douchebag bars.
yes, thats true. but then you have to deal with wannabe-hollywood douchebags in every other bar in the city which is probably worse.

also, whoever said that LA has better food, I dunno about that one. LA has better Mexican and Asian food (especially korean & sushi), though Chicago does have two of the best authentic Thai restaurants in the country (Spoon Thai & TAC Quick). But Chicago kills LA on most everything else, except for salads I guess.

i think if Michelin did guides, Chicago would certainly have more stars than LA.

though i actually don't mind LA. i just need to get a drivers license before my next trip there.

You long for mountainous desert? Really?

I sure the hell do. And having it a short drive from a beach is unbeatable.

Everyone is convinced that Chicago's music scene womps all over LA's, but LA is way more represented in my music collection than Chicago. Maybe it's cause I don't like indie/rock?

I can't comment on a war between the citizenries, especially if the field of battle is unspecified (Valley Girls suffering through Valley Forge II, etc.), and I note that there are major rivers, deserts and mountain ranges between the cities. But if you want to look at institutions, I note that FermiLab (where one of my college best friend's parents work) is located in Batavia, Illinois and contains no weapon facilities - if it's gonna blow anything up, it's Chicagoland. If you want to extend the city that way, tho, LA has, in addition to Cal Tech, the LA AFB (space and missile systems), Vandenberg, March AFB, Miramar, Edwards, Lockheed Martin, Northrop-Grumman, Boeing, Hughes Aircraft, Camp Pendleton, San Diego Naval Station, Fort Irwin/the National Training Venter (GTA: Iraq), the California National Guard, the bloods, the crips, the entertainment industry, the paparazzi, Kaiser Permanente, Cedars-Sinai and the University of Southern California Trojan Marching Band. Chicago's got a lot of big fat guys.

You long for mountainous desert? Really?

Really Doe

JPL be on the rocket science tip. Them + CalTech + Dr. Dre? they be droppin' BOMBS.

Total Research Funding, 2005:

UCLA $786M
USC $445M
UIC $318M
U. Chicago $294M
Irvine $277M
Cal Tech $265M

Relative size of the Unis considered in that list MUST factor into your analysis. The Research Funding per student numbers would be FAR more revealing.

CalTech is like three or four square blocks in Pasadena. UCLA is half of Westwood.

i know how much physical space the LA schools take up and while i'm not doing analysis, students don't have much to do with the issue.

i hated LA for a lot of years but lately ive got nothing but all kinds of love for it. It certainly beats Chicago by miles.

xps seriously CTA must only look good when you're comparing it to whatever LA's got

or boston, or portland, or memphis. or hey, have you ever been on the people mover in detroit? imagine if instead of multiple lines going to the loop there was one train line and it only went to the abandonned factories on the west side.

You are on fucking crack.

LA has like over a million more people.
Also, Chicagoans are too nice to fuck with LA.

i'd be wililng to bet the crime statistics would show that nicety isn't one of chicago's strong suits.

hmmm, according to fbi data, despite having a million more people, there were only 12 more murders in la in 2006 (last year of complete data). and there were over 3,000 fewer aggravated assaults out there.

CTA is pretty good but it could have done without bulldozing several green line branches on the southside. Could do with through ticketing on the Metra and the Metra should run through the city, also a decent Metra connection to O'Hare would be good too.

CTA is pretty good but it could have done without bulldozing several green line branches on the southside.

If they hadn't done this (though it was many years ago and *supposedly* because of neighborhood demands) I would be able to ride the El all the way to work.

My U of C sociologist girlfriend pretty much put the bulldozing of the greenline branches down to them serving Black neighborhoods.

done without bulldozing several green line branches on the southside

they didn't bulldoze any lines. they closed some stops over the years (university in '85, dorchester in '73, etc.) but most of those had seen steep ridership drops after the dan ryan el opened anyway.

having spent about two weeks cumulatively in both places I can say Chicago wins on pretty much every front except for weather. I should note that I turn in to a whiny bitch when it dips below 52 degrees F.

though it was many years ago and *supposedly* because of neighborhood demands)

i used to work with a guy who grew up down here who said his preacher made $$$ off the green line terminating at cottage grove after the '96 green line rehab. it's amazing what not having an elevated train running behind your buildings will do for property values.

http://www.chicago-l.org/maps/route/maps/1933map.jpg

See mainly kenwood and stockyards branches

yeah, i miss those branches that closed in the mid-50s too.

I was talking about the 63rd branch, Ed, the Dorchester stop would come in pretty handy these days.

(that's a cool map btw)

It's a cool site, http://www.chicago-l.org/, lots of CTA history.

Weird. That site is blocked at my work.

actuall, this map is way clearer:

http://www.chicago-l.org/maps/route/maps/1938map.jpg

uh i can't see those maps either and my work doesn't block anything

Yeah, I had trouble, too. Try this, and scroll down?

http://www.chicago-l.org/maps/route/index.html

Interesting to see that there was an early version of the Skokie Swift 70 years ago.

I grew up in L.A. and stayed there waaaay too long. I've visited Chicago once.

I voted Chicago based on musical terms - Rotary Connection being a big reason. (maybe the lamest?) Yeah, yeah, skyline, public transit, arts, Lake Michigan, cost of living, etc.

I was hoping this would be actual WARZ thread.

Pit every L.A. mayor against every Chicago mayor of the respective era.

At least until 1976, Chi would preserve disorder in L.A. with a flick of the hand. (see what i did there?)

http://www.chicago-l.org/maps/route/maps/

For some reason I can access this address, and then from there go to the maps posted.

My work also blocks nothing. Good maps!

I can say Chicago wins on pretty much every front except for weather. I should note that I turn in to a whiny bitch when it dips below 52 degrees F.

for me its:

I can say LA wins on pretty much every front except for weather. I should note that I turn in to a whiny bitch when it dips above 52 degrees F.

if we're going to compare the cities based on how many poor people kill each other, yes, Chicago has a higher murder rate in the aggregate, but I think those measures may follow the city boundaries. in this regard, it's notable that Compton, for instance, is a separate city in LA county. if you go below the large-city measures, it's #14 on the most dangerous list, while the only Chicago-area city in the top 25 is Gary, at 17. a number of LA/SoCal cities are among the safest places.

Chicago-area city in the top 25 is Gary, at 17.

the mob's been dumping bodies in gary for 40 years!

We moved to Chicago instead of LA in part because LA is too far away from the east coast. I like having to fly only 2 hours to get back home.

Chicago...L.A...Tom Friedman kind of has it right:

A few weeks ago, my wife and I flew from New York’s Kennedy Airport to Singapore. In J.F.K.’s waiting lounge we could barely find a place to sit. Eighteen hours later, we landed at Singapore’s ultramodern airport, with free Internet portals and children’s play zones throughout. We felt, as we have before, like we had just flown from the Flintstones to the Jetsons. If all Americans could compare Berlin’s luxurious central train station today with the grimy, decrepit Penn Station in New York City, they would swear we were the ones who lost World War II.

wtf with this thread getting all "my crime is bigger than yours"

see thread title

no one's gonna deny that there's lots of ugly in NY. it's the price of efficiency and a side-effect of old infrastructure that still functions very well. if Singapore's the Jetsons and NY's the Flintstones, then what's London? and why doesn't the metaphor correspond to their global significance or financial power?

holy crap it's so gorgeous outside chicago would win, for today anyway, over anyplace on earth. why am i inside?

I'd settle for an open window. It's the perfect day. I will be having extra "smoke" breaks this afternoon.

i was outside all day suckas

You long for mountainous desert? Really?

-- kenan, Tuesday, 6 May 2008 05:09 (Yesterday) Link

yes, you mope, duh.

it is pretty shocking. i mean when ever do you see mountainous desert romanticized in American culture???????

Thomas Friedman would live in a fascist police state as long as it smells good and he gets nice reception on his Blackberry.

holy crap it's so gorgeous outside chicago would win, for today anyway, over anyplace on earth. why am i inside?

-- chicago kevin, Tuesday, May 6, 2008 12:37 PM (10 hours ago) Bookmark Link

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

Thomas Friedman would live in a fascist police state as long as it smells good and he gets nice reception on his Blackberry.

-- Gavin, Wednesday, May 7, 2008 3:27 AM (2 days ago) Bookmark Link

His whole theory, though, is that Blackberry reception prevents fascism.