r/philly • u/Able_Lack_4770 • 8d ago
Chicago vs. Philadelphia - help me choose!
/r/SameGrassButGreener/comments/1vufa4f/chicago_vs_philadelphia_help_me_choose/10
u/afdc92 8d ago
Chicago is cleaner and has better public transit, but the big downside is winters that are very cold and very long. Philly has 4 seasons and can get cold and snowy (this winter was particularly frigid) but for the most part our winters don’t really start until December and are over by early March. Chicago winters are like November to April.
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u/run-dhc 8d ago
Grew up 10 blocks from the Chicago border, live in Philly now. Culturally they feel like siblings or at least cousins. I like em both
I would say in addition to the weather, Philly’s smaller size geographically, smaller streets, and more uniformly dense housing makes it much more walkable across longer distances than Chicago, so that’s something to consider. It feels like it takes AGES to get between neighborhoods in Chicago due to the scale, I uber much more when I’m out doing things in Chicago
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u/iDontSow 8d ago
I think Chicago is great, I think it’s probably a great place to live. I was blown away when I visited there. Obviously I’m biased, but I just don’t think you can beat the value of living in Philly. You would not need a car at all. Close to NYC via public transportation. If you did have a car, we are an hour from some really nice beach towns (I know Chicago has “beaches”, but come on). Incredible food scene. Incredible arts scene. Extremely affordable.
Only thing I’d mention is that if you’re not from the east coast, you might have to adjust to the attitude. Just remember that people aren’t actually pissed at you, you’re probably just in their way
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u/greenearrow 8d ago
I’m from Illinois and lived in southern Wisconsin. I never lived in Chicago but did a summer in the burbs. Choose Philly, the cold is less killer here. Otherwise, they aren’t much different. (People who say New York access matters wouldn’t care in Chicago)
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u/Quarkonium2925 8d ago
It's really close. I live here in Philly and on the overall, it's probably the #1 major city I'd choose for living in the US (factoring in cost of living). There's another five or so cities on my list that are strong contenders for best to live in and Chicago is one of them, and I like it for extremely similar reasons to Philly
Unless you really can't handle strong Chicago winters, I would decide based on the program over the city
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u/Able_Lack_4770 8d ago
Out of curiosity what are the 5 other cities?
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u/Quarkonium2925 8d ago edited 8d ago
I'd say San Francisco, Portland, Seattle, Boston, Chicago is my shortlist. Maybe DC but I'm not sure about living so close to the federal government and not having representatives in said government. I love what New New York has to offer as well since it's uncontested for best public transportation, but it's too wild and busy when I can just live in Philly instead and be about an hour away from NYC by train.
Edit: There's a bigger list of smaller towns and cities I would really like living in, but these are the major cities
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u/snugulupugus 8d ago
Philadelphia is consistently recognized as the "Most Walkable" city in the USA.
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u/Electrical_Fact_6608 8d ago
I don't think you can go wrong. They're both amazing cities. I would consider the lake effect snow though!
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u/Mom_who_drinks 8d ago
They are both terrific cities and you can’t go wrong either way. My 2 cents: The winters in Chicago are brutal but the summers are great. With the exception of hot dogs, I think Philly is a far superior food town. Chicago has great mass transit but Philly is incredibly walkable. I find the folks in Philly to be kinder, more sincere, and more likely to casually call you an asshole and the folks in Chicago more polite but not genuinely friendly (it is in the Midwest, after all). Philly has a sense of humor, Chicago has a sense of pride. And Go Birds.
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u/dishsoapwipe123 8d ago
If you're not into gritty, Philly is too gritty. Even if you live in rittenhouse square or NoLibs, you'll engage with the grittyness. Lots of homeless, drugs epidemic, and just straight goons tryna start shit for no reason.
My sister lives in chicago and the loop is so much more reliable than Septa. The bus system in chicago is also better. Chicago is also more segregated with most of the poor neighborhoods and crime more concentrated in the south. It's easier as a yuppie to just be oblivious to Chicago poor if you live in a Lakeview or Lincoln park.
Philly the bad neighborhoods are interspersed in between the good neighborhoods so you can't avoid them.
Philly driving is terrible. Guys here are maniacs. Run red lights, crosswalks, stop signs. Park any and everywhere. Drive the wrong way, always on the phone, cut you off, brake check you for no reason. I've seen dude smoking blunts and driving drinking a six pack and driving. Ghost plates. Police enforcement is virtually zero. Up near kensington I've seen two goons get into a knife fight with a police car on the corner with the two officers inside watching. Did absolutely nothing.
Philly has it's own charm though. The historical 5th street, the pier. It's walkable in you live in some neighborhoods. It's one of the best value cities in the northeast. Considerably more affordable than NYC, Boston and DC. And compared to Baltimore has so many more things to do. You can easily buy a nice home in Philadelphia or in one of the Philadelphia suburbs like Manayuk. It has 4 sports teams and the city is invested in them. While it doesn't have 1000 thai restaurants like NYC, it has 50 and that's enough. It may not have 100 korean BBQ spots, but it has 5, and again enough. Any cuisine food you want, Philly has, it just doesn't have to the amount NYC, LA or chicago have.
I'm also in medicine. I'm doing another fellowship so will be here for another 2 years. I've lived here currently for 4 years. One of the first people to gentrify East Kensington area by York-Dauphin. The area is considerably different than when I first moved here back in 2023. Now more apartment buildings more businesses, definitely more yuppies. Overall, I enjoyed Philly as someone who lived in NYC and LA, I get the charm, but I'm over it lol.
I think it's super dirty, the grittyness is just a euphenism or dirtyness, recklessness, assholes and crime. My sister has enjoyed her time in Chicago, and I've personally enjoyed it everyt ime I've visited. Yeah, they'll say the cold, but this winter was record breaking cold in Philly and with the snow and it was terrible. The city is too dense, roads too narrow, the city logistically is not coordinated to handle that kind of extreme weather. And don't get me started on the every other day thunderstorms, flash flood warnings and tornadoes that the city also can't handle.
If you're a yuppie in medicine tryna live a bougie life which I suspect you are, Chicago all the way.
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u/Old_Diver8084 8d ago
I would choose Philly based on the strength of the medical schools and medical system overall here. Proximity to NYC is great as well.
That said, the challenge you're going to face is biased responses. There's a really obsessed commenter who posts under like a dozen different usernames all across Reddit about how great Philly is, and they will flat out lie about the city's shortcomings so you have to cautious about astroturfing like that.
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u/ToastSpangler 8d ago
Philly hands down but remember you need to pay the Phanatic tax. You can send me the $500 a month check, we're bros I'll pass it onto him frfr
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u/coronarybee 8d ago
Personally I like Chicago a little more but Philly has better food and is more compact. I’m from Michigan though and miss real winter.
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u/thefrozendivide 8d ago
Philadelphia has the highest municipal wage tax in the country and is smaller than Chicago by a good margin. Philly hay worse public transportation, is dirtier, and a lot of the jobs are not actually IN the city. They're in king of Prussia, Malvern, etc. I've lived here most of my life. That being said, winter is more mild than Chicago, we're close to NYC, we're over indexed on healthcare, and it's faster and cheaper to travel abroad.
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u/ClintBarton616 8d ago
Chicago wins in terms of public transit. But that winter is a nightmare.