[destroycreate]

Ok, don't come for me--just hear me out.

We hear about cities like Houston, Atlanta, Dallas, etc. blowing up. People are "fleeing" LA/SF and NYC for cheaper cost living enclaves.

What I don't get it is...why doesn't Chicago seem to have more pull? It is a world class city, truly urban through and through, offers traditional cosmopolitan major city life, and save it for a few crime-ridden parts, is pretty safe and most importantly exceptionally affordable for a city of its kind. Atlanta is apparently the land of $36k-salaried millionaires, but who wants that when you can live in an urban brownstone-lite in a compact neighborhood in Chicago that boasts the arts, transit, culinary enclaves and more? If I'm also understanding correctly, you can find McMansions galore in the Chicago ex-urbs too.

Anecdotally, when I speak to people in Seattle, LA, SF, or SD, I rarely hear anybody yearning to move to Chicago. But they'll be open to relocating to Austin, Dallas or Miami.

Is it just the weather? Is that honestly such a big deal for people? Lack of higher paying jobs? To me, Chicago is an amazing city which I think most us can agree on--but shouldn't it be exploding with growth and becoming a major go to? It seems like it's just been sort of stagnant—growth seems more like a slow burn than making front page news stories.