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Last night, as Chicagoist began celebrating the weekend a day early, we spoke with someone from Rhode Island (motto: “If You Stretch Your Arms Wide Enough, You Can Hug The Entire State!”) who is thinking of moving to our fair city. While acknowledging all the great things the city has to offer, she expressed some hesitation: "I just don't know if I could handle the winters."
Ah, winter. The Achilles’ Heel of our otherwise world-class city (not counting the rampant corruption, transit problems, cultural segregation and the Rainforest Café). Or is it? Allow us to speak against the conventional wisdom and say: We love winter in Chicago. Here are a few reasons why:
• Christkindlmarket!
• Glögg and all the lovely Andersonville spots that serve it
• The snow globe effect of being downtown in the first 30 minutes of a heavy snowfall, before the salt trucks come in and ruin everything
• Knowing you can take the "L" to work and not have to drive, or walk through the pedway and avoid the bitter cold
• Rental apartments with heat included
• Tomorrow Never Knows Fest at Schuba’s
• The Marshall Fields windows, which we’re really hoping don’t suck now that Macy’s is in charge (this year’s theme is Mary Poppins)
• Ice skating downtown — formerly at Block 37, now at Millennium Park — with S’mores at Cosi right after (with the little mini-Sterno heater!)
• Curling up in front of the fireplaces at Moody’s
• The It’s A Wonderful Life/White Christmas singalongs at Music Box
• Bikewinter!
• One-cent (a.k.a. free) CTA rides on New Year’s Eve!
• Celebration Blend at Intelligentsia
• The inevitable shitstorm that arises from lawn chairs in the street (a.k.a. dibs)
Those are a few of our thoughts. What are your "reasons for living" during winters in Chicago?
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snuggling up with someone under a thick down comforter. i'm taking applications.
Moody's in winter? Only if you like breathing grease.
Otherwise, wonderful points, though drinking fine Scotch or smoking a bowl while watching the blizzard from the big windows of your apartment isn't too shabby, either.
Winter really isn't that bad--well, except March, when you feel as though you've been through five years in minor gulag.
Mmmmm....Moody's.
I love it in there. Grease, heat, fireplaces, peanuts.
You leave there and you smell like beef.
Delicious.
The brats at Christkindlmarket! Hopefully it wont be 10 degrees when I go there this year.
You totally had me, up until the mention of glogg. I stand firmly, but alone, in the anti-glogg camp... hot grain alcohol with bloated raisins floating in it? gak. (and since i live in andersonville, i can't avoid it!)
Spot on with the rest of these, though! ;)
Rhode Island?????????????? Someone from New England thinks that Chicago winters might be too harsh???? WTF? It might be slightly warmer there because of the ocean, but RI & Connecticut are the Land of the Ice Storm, Slush, and Freezing Rain.
It's not like this person has lived in Miami all their life. What a pussy.
in standard comments form, i will digress: i prefer to call it the el (no quotation marks), for it stands for the elevated.
i fully realize that the CTA puts "L" on their transit map signs, but the CTA often does things that make me scratch my head.
said person from rhode island/connecticut has been told that in chicago it is unheard of for it to snow, rain, melt, and snow again. said person has been told that when it snows, it is COLD FOR GOOD until spring comes. i guess rhode island is just slushier and muddier.
just because i grew up in the northeast doesn't mean i love it!
thanks for the winter info!
to play devil's advocate, jocelyn: i've heard it dubbed the L as in 'the alley L', which is supposedly what they first called it since it ran through alleyways. check it out: chicago-l.org's history page
* Knowing that the city is still going to move after snowing 12-16".
* Walking to your favorite bar/hangout during a snowstorm and knowing that it's packed to the rafters
I couldn't help but cringe when I read the words "Rainforest Cafe" But this list definitely sums up the things I like about winter here. The only other thing is that I love is that Chicago has four seasons. While winter does seem eternal here, just having that makes Chicagoans appreciate spring, summer and fall more than other people do. My favorite thing is the first day when it is even remotely warm in winter or spring - like 50 degrees or something, and everyone comes out of the house wearing shorts. Brilliant.
Sorry, but Chicago has a spring? Since when!?
i always like it when it gets cold enough that we can refrigerate large items (like turkeys and cases of beer) on our back porch. Space-savings and energy-efficiency.