<p>A little historical perspective: until air conditioning became cheap and ubiquitous, and until we destroyed the ecosystems of Pyramid Lake, the Colorado River, and the Everglades, most of the places people now think of as having perfect weather were considered marginally habitable. Over the course of our nation's history, an awful lot has been accomplished by people who lived where it snowed in the winter (an awful awful lot if you count our European forebears). In fact, thanks to the waning of the Little Ice Age, and perhaps to global warming, a lot of it was accomplished under significantly harsher winter conditions than most students would have to suffer now.</p>
<p>Human beings can be productive in New England, upstate New York, and northern Illinois. Even in the winter.</p>
<p>A word about Buffalo: Buffalo (and Cleveland, Rochester, Syracuse, etc., including Ithaca) gets a lot of snow thanks to the "lake effect" from the Great Lakes, and it stays cool well into the spring until the ice breaks up on Lake Erie. But it tends not to be anywhere near as cold as the cities on the upper Midwestern Great Plains. When I got to college, I was fascinated to hear kids from Minneapolis talking about plugging in parked cars during the winter so that the engines wouldn't freeze. I never heard of anything like that growing up in Buffalo, where it rarely got below 20 degrees F.</p>
<p>Boston is windier than Chicago, although Chicago residents have an obsession with adding in the wind chill factor when citing the temperature. I've put it down to the unfortunate fact that someone decided to dub them "The Windy City." (Amarillo is I went directly from one to the other years ago, and found walking around Hyde Park to be significantly less harrowing than walking across the Harvard Bridge, just to cite an example.</p>
<p>In rural NE, snow is beautiful. I'm looking out the window at a gorgeous snow-covered landscape right now. A far cry from the slush experienced in most cities. (Although there are some cities, such as Quebec, that really know how to do winter right.)</p>
<p>Tend to agree with runnersmom and JHS. Grew up on Lake Ontario and live on Lake Erie - have visited Evanston and New Hampshire in early spring and winter. Evanston's cold is the run-away winner in my book. However, in contrast, their autumns and deep spring must be delightful. Each of the other locations had far more snow - but the kind of cold you get when the wind angles out of Western Canada and picks up along Lake Michigan is really numbing.</p>
<p>We are in Upstate NY and it can be miserable here. I tried to talk DD into going south, but she insisted she could "take it" and is in her 3rd year at Northwestern. We have regular conversations about who is colder, but the pluses of NU and access to Chicago outweigh the winter. </p>
<p>And Chicago is the "Windy City" not because of the actual wind, but because of the politics...</p>
<p>Note how in the state in NY, some places are noticeably windier than others. If you live in NY, I guess whether Chicago is windier to you or not depends on where exactly you live. NYC is windier on average and during the winter months. I was in Chicago 2 weekends ago for my friend's 40th-birthday. Very little wind during my 4-day visit. :)</p>
<p>Left Philadelphia on a Friday in a snow/ice storm -- arrived 1 hour later in Durham -- 65 degrees on Saturday.</p>
<p>My sons who are avid skiers are now hooked on the beautiful weather in North Carolina. They would have acclimated to New England winters, which are much colder than winters at the Jersey shore; however, they are much happier playing golf than skiing when they have some free time.</p>
<p>Just another point for your kids to think about when they are making their list of colleges.</p>
<p>
[quote]
If international students from Singapore can thrive in Minnesota--and I have seen it done--there shouldn't be any worry about moving to another part of the United States.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>And yes, I have survived a number of NH winters and I grew up in Southeast Asia. It took a while for my blood to adjust but it eventually cooperated, and can't think of living elsewhere. Nowadays, I avoid wearing gloves and hat whenever I can.</p>
<p>2cakes..you beat me to it... Chicago's moniker, "The Windy City" has nothing to do with weather. Though I went to college there, I think I finally realized that when I read "Devil in the White City".</p>
<p>I grew up in southern CA, and maybe it's reverse seasonal affective disorder or something, but I find the weather there very depressing. I live in the northwest now, and find it much, much more habitable... except in the summer, because it still gets way TOO hot here. Summer is awful.</p>
<p>My son is going across the country to MA for college next fall. We get snow here, but they get more there. He loves the winter weather though -- both my kids do -- it must be in the genes.</p>
<p>My husband grew up in Florida, and he won't live in those warmer regions of the country either anymore. He didn't know how oppressive it was until he left. So you never know, your son my love the NE seasons!</p>
<p>My heat-lovin' Texas girl is now a sophomore in Minnesota. Last year she learned how to properly layer and what to look for in warm socks. Did get a little freaked out by snow in April, though. This year she took her car to college. Since we haven't had any frantic calls for car repairs, I'm assuming it has survived the winter.</p>
<p>My D applied to "coastal" colleges, since anything in the middle was "too cold". So far, she can either keep her current wardrobe (WA and OR), or if admitted elsewhere, she might have to decide between flipflops (CA) and uggs (MA), LOL! I find cold more manageble than constant heat, and heat with humidity is unbearable by my standards.</p>
<p>We live in the Caribbean and weather has been a factor in our son's choice of school. Appropriate clothing isn't the issue so much as the seasonal character of a college community. The character of northern schools is very different in the winter and the spring because of the kinds of activities that can comfortably take place outdoors, and being able to sit on the lawn in the sunshine to study or play Frisbee year 'round is important to our son.</p>
<p>And as a Canadian, sitting here 60 degree weather (see, I even converted it to your outdated temperature system for all of you... joking ;)) in March has me as happy as a pig in... well, you know the saying. :)</p>
<p>We have lived in both NJ and now NH. There is really not that much difference in the severity of the winters (although this year we have been hammered with snow in NH), but it is the duration of the winter season where the real differences occur. Winter in NH often lasts well into April....it just never seems to end.</p>
<p>Chicago winter seems to be getting some flak on this thread, but it's certainly doable. Personally, I bike to school every day (well closer to 4 out of 5 days considering sometimes it gets so cold my parents refuse to let me, but if I had my way that wouldn't stop me). And hey wind chill's not a factor since you're always biking into the wind. You might think the first thing to crack would be my will to bike through sub-zero temperatures. nope. Instead, I went out from school one day to find that some recent precipitation had refrozen, and my lock was literally frozen shut. I had to call my parents for a ride and then go to an auto store to get some lock de-icer. As one of my classmates said, "I'm pretty sure that's God's way of telling you you're not supposed to bike in the middle of January" ;)</p>
<p>Point being, the human body can put up with plenty. I would guess more than half the battle for a southerner coming north is that there's an expectation that they'll be cold. Once you eliminate that, it's biking weather ;)</p>
<p>I am convinced that Tennessee is the perfect climate. All 4 seasons, but not too extreme (except for last summer which was unusually hot).
I had one kid stay in Texas and she is ready to escape, and one go to the northeast which he finds cold and dreary.</p>