Every February another wave of Chicagoans announces they're moving somewhere warm, while old-timers call it the price of admission for living in the greatest city in America. Is brutal lake-effect cold a deal-breaker or a badge of honor?
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Add your commentBorn and raised in Bridgeport. Watched three generations of my family shovel the same alley. You want to move to Phoenix? Go. More parking for the rest of us. The people who leave always end up talking about Chicago for the rest of their lives anyway. The city gets in you whether you like it or not.
My grandparents came to Chicago from Mississippi during the Great Migration. They faced things far harder than January cold and they never once thought about leaving. I think about that every time I hear someone whine about their commute because it's 12 degrees. Perspective.
If winter was such a dealbreaker nobody would've built a world-class city here in the first place. The architecture, the food scene, the music history, the lakefront in summer — all of that exists BECAUSE the people who stayed were serious about building something. Fair-weather cities get fair-weather culture. Simple as that.
ok but can we be honest for one second. february 2019. negative 27 degrees. my car door handle literally snapped off in my hand like a piece of brittle candy. SNAPPED OFF. i stood there holding a door handle in a parking lot on the north side and i thought, this is not a loyalty test, this is a hostage situation lmao
Genuine question for the old-timers who act so smug about staying: do you actually ENJOY the winter or do you just endure it and then feel superior about it? Because those are two completely different things and only one of them is actually a personality.
Moved here from Austin four years ago for work and people act like I have to earn some kind of suffering merit badge before I'm allowed to have an opinion on the city. I love Chicago. I also love my fingers and toes remaining attached to my body. Those two things can coexist.
i left in 2021 moved to nashville and honestly. the weather is nicer sure but i miss everything else so much it physically hurts sometimes. the pizza. the neighborhoods. having a real sports town. my family. came back to visit last march and cried at ohare which is embarrassing because ohare is a terrible airport and it definitely should not make anyone cry
The lake-effect cold is actually mostly a Michigan thing. Chicago gets cold because of the wind coming off Lake Michigan, but true lake-effect snow is a different phenomenon that hits the eastern shores. Just want to clear that up since everyone keeps saying lake-effect like they know what it means.
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