<p>
You gotta be KIDDING! Have you ever experienced the lake-effect wind and snowstorms Chicago has every winter??? Philly's winter weather is generally downright balmy by comparison!</p>
<p>And FYI, Philly DOES have 2 bodies of water in and around it--the Delaware and Schuylkill Rivers. :)</p>
<p>^
Plus the beach is relatively close by.
As to the foodie scene, how many college students will be frequenting places like Trotter's on a regular basis? I mainly hear about the lunch trucks :)</p>
<p>Alexandre, you need to try some new Philly restaurants and get away from those tourist traps you've been frequenting. :) Here's one recent listing of the top 50:</p>
<p>The</a> Philly Mag 50 - Philly Mag</p>
<p>While Philly may not currently have one of the top 10 of the very best haute-cusine restaurants in the nation (although it HAS in the recent past), once you get below that tippy-top tier, Philly has a breadth and depth of restaurants and dining that compares quite well with Chicago and other cities. Besides, the vast majority of college students won't be dining very often at the types of restaurants you named, and for them--and perhaps all but the most demanding jet-setter gourmets such as yourself ;) --Philly is a fantastic restaurant city.</p>
<p>
All other ways? We've already discussed restaurants. Chicago definitely trumps Philly in terms of skyscrapers and skyline. Chicago beats Philly in terms of jazz and blues clubs, although Philly has its share. In terms of theater, they're probably pretty evenly matched, both having a decent selection of resident theater companies and venues. For art, classical music, history, quaint and scenic neighborhoods, beautiful and interesting suburban/exurban towns and locales, parks and arboretums, interesting places within 1 1/2 hours, etc., I'd give the edge to Philly. So what else? Bears vs. Eagles? Cubs vs. Phillies? :D Matching up cultural and other assets head-to-head, it doesn't seem to me that Chicago is "hands down better" than Philly. But I guess it depends on your interests.</p>
<p>Chicago has two baseball teams...</p>
<p>Deep dish pizza or Philly Cheesesteak...wow...such great choices...its hard to choose. :D</p>
<p>^ Now THAT'S some haute cuisine!</p>
<p>(I wonder which one Alexandre prefers: Pat's? or Geno's? :) )</p>
<p>Geno's is fantastic (I concur with Alex's statement about Everest in Chicago)...I've never been to Philly, so I can't attest to Pat's (but I assume it's awesome too...just don't ask for provolone cheese, right? ;))...I'll have to make a trip....maybe tour UPenn and check out Trump's and 45%er's old stomping ground...</p>
<p>Which Geno's are you talking about? I was referring to the Geno's that's across the street from--and is the legendary rival of--Pat's in South Philly.</p>
<p>
[quote]
check out Trump's and 45%er's old stomping ground
[/quote]
How do you know we're not one and the same? ;)</p>
<p>45 Percenter,</p>
<p>Have you been to Chicago? If so, where did you go other than downtown? There's no way Philly is even anywhere close to Chicago. By the way, the city is dirty to me. Even the mayor called it "disgusting disgrace". Philly</a> mayor calls city a 'filthy, disgusting disgrace' - Green Daily</p>
<p>Yes, Sam, I've been to Chicago--mostly downtown, but also the U. of Chicago area. I'm also quite familiar with its cultural assets (museums, symphony, theater, etc.).</p>
<p>Have you been to Philly? And if so, which parts? And with which of Philly's cultural assets are you familiar?</p>
<p>
[quote]
Which Geno's are you talking about?
[/quote]
Ooops...I was referring to Gino's (Chicago pizzeria)...got confused by the spelling.</p>
<p>45 percenter. If you only went from downtown to the southside near UC you really have not experienced Chicago that well. Most of the entire north side is totally happpening. I would also like to mention that The Art Institute of Chicago has the most significant collection of impressionistic art in the world after The Louvre. Chicago is a very clean for a city of its size.</p>
<p>45 Percent,</p>
<p>I can see why you think Chicago isn't better if you mostly just hanged out in Chicago downtown and U of Chicago area.</p>
<p>First of all, Chicago downtown doesn't have the highest concentration of cafe and restaurants. I personally think Chicago downtown, other than being a finanical district, is best for touristy things, theater/art shows, shopping but not for just hanging out. But even if you just hanged out in the downtown, you should have felt it's a cleaner, richer (more wealth), and more well-managed city. The sheer size of downtown tells you Chicago is a more prominent city. In 2006, I got to know a group from London while there for 10 days. They were impressed. </p>
<p>U of Chicago is in the southside of Chicago. I've only been there once and it's supposed to be one of the better parts of the southside which as a whole is considered poorer than its northern counterpart. So you didn't really get to see the nicest parts of Chicago. </p>
<p>Image:Chicago</a> community areas map.svg - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia shows the neighborhoods of Chicago. I don't claim to know all about Chicago; I am mostly familiar with the lakefront neighborhoods north of the Loop because they are supposed to be the most happening and easily accessible by public transit (I didn't have a car). I'd say among them (excluding the downtown), the Near North, Lincoln Park, and Lakeview are far better than Center City. By better, I mean nicer looking, cleaner, and safer. Edgewater, and Uptown are not bad either. There are tons of restaurants and shops along streests like Clark, Halsted, and Broadway in those areas. If you use a google map, you'd see Near North, Lakeview, and Lincoln Park as a whole is a much bigger area than Center City/Old City and I am not even counting downtown Chicago (Loop). I don't know much about all the other Chicago neighborhoods.</p>
<p>I was in Philly last September. I stayed in Center City and I walked a lot in the area. I also walked from there to Chinatown. That Center City/Old City has 200-sidewalk cafes isn't really that impressive actually considering it includes just about any restaurants that have seats outside. I am a food lover and fairly particular with what I want. I was not impressed with the variety. There were very few Asian restaurants. As a point of reference, even thought Lakeview is pretty white, there were five Thai restaurants within walking distance from my hotel in Lakeview when I was there for my friend's 40th b-day in Feb and I am not even counting other Asian like Vietnames, Japanese..etc. Anyway, it took me a while to find a semi-decent looking sushi place in Center City but it turned out to be very mediocre. I did have a pleasant meal in a South American place. If I am not mistaken, Center City+Old City is considered the most vibrant area of Philly and it's really not that big. I don't think it takes more than 45 min to walk from west to east. I admit I don't know anything about areas outside of Center City and Old City. But I didn't bother to see other parts partly because of time constraint and partly because of this map I saw before my trip The</a> Philadelphia Inquirer . It kinda adviced me not to wander outside of CC. ;)</p>
<p>rjkofnovi, while the Art Institute of Chicago is obviously one of the finest art museums in the country, so to is the Philadelphia Museum of Art, which is of comparable or greater size and scope. Additionally, Philly also has the Barnes Foundation, which has one of the largest--if not THE largest--private collections of impressionist and post-impressionist art in the world, and the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, which is the nation's oldest art museum and also has a significant collection of impressionist paintings. So between the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Barnes Foundation, and the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia has more impressionist paintings than any other city in the world except Paris.</p>
<p>rjkofnovi and Sam Lee, similar to Chicago, Philadelphia is much, much more than just its downtown area. Further, it sounds like Sam didn't really get to experience much of what Center City and Old City have to offer. For example, did you fully explore the Rittenhouse Square area, the Independence Mall area, Old City, Society Hill, South Street, Washington Square, the Parkway/Museum area, etc.? I doubt that in your brief time in Philly you were able to fully explore all these areas or get a true feel of what they have to offer. And, as you said, you didn't get a chance to explore any of the areas outside of Center City. So you didn't see the restaurant-rich districts in University City, South Philly, the Fairmount/Museum area, Northern Liberties, Manayunk, Chestnut Hill, etc., let alone the wonderful towns just outside of the City. Center City is definitely happening, but there are many areas outside of Center City that are also happening, and it sounds like you weren't really able to get a good feel for the city from your brief stay there.</p>
<p>Someone spending a few hours walking around downtown Chicago can't get a real feel for everything the city has to offer, and the same is true for Philly. In fact, in many ways it's even more true for Philly, which has many wonderful historic neighborhoods dating back to the early 18th century, which require a lot of walking around to fully explore.</p>
<p>Can't we all agree to disagree? Obviously Alexandre is stuck up on saying that Chicago is hands down better than philly, while 45 percenter can't even get a conciliation out him that the two cities are basically equally matched (which they are :P)</p>
<p>comparing Chicago to Berlin and Barcelona ... is HILARIOUS.
Seriously. Say it again I think I was dreaming.</p>
<p>08seniors08, I lived in Berlin for a year and have been to Chicago more times than I can count. Although those cities don't have a lot in common, they are both world-class cities with frigid winters! hehe! </p>
<p>Barcelona and Chicago actually have some things in common, such as their crazy architecture, big time beach/lake front locations and resilient, friendly and outgoing populations that love to have a good time. </p>
<p>But I was not comparing those three cities to each other because I think they are similar. They aren't. Each of those cities in unique, which is why they are considered great cities of the world. I was comparing them in terms of their significance and overall quality. Of course, preferences are personal. Some people love Detroit! hehe! But most people with attachements to neither city (such as myself) would agree that Chicago is a more pleasant and fun city thant Philadelphia.</p>
<p>HAahha okay whatever. This thread has become Philly vs. Chicago, not NU vs. UPenn.
And I'm sure the OP has decided by now... I wonder which!</p>
<p>
[quote]
On the other hand, Chicago has 2 of America's top 10 restaurants in Charlie Trotters and Alinea. Everest and Tru are also excellent. Those four restaurants are better than any restaurant in Philadelphia. The next 10 or so restaurants are roughly the same quality as the Fountain. As far as restaurants go, only three cities in the US compete with Chicago; NYC, Las Vegas and San Francisco (in that order).
[/quote]
</p>
<p>haha. Alexandre, I think u know better about Chicago restaurants than I. I live in Chicago (north suburb) and haven't been to any of those places u mentioned. But, Chicago is an excellent city for any food lovers. Not to mention, I am willing to say that Chicago is one of the greatest sports towns in the country. (probably best only after NYC) Plus, talking about Northwestern, it is located in Evanston, which has many excellent, affordable restaurants and bars around it. I actually live pretty close to NU campus and have a bunch of hs friends at NU. So, I know the area pretty well. I haven't been to Penn, but I've been to philly twice. And, maybe it's bc I was used to living in Chicago, but I felt that Philly just did not match up to Chicago in any measure. It's much smaller, downtown was not as aesthetically beautiful as Chicago's, and the city vibe was just not so energetic. I thought that philly was pretty similar, in its overall vibe, to Baltimore. Only other U.S. cities that I felt were good enough to be mentioned along Chicago would be San Fran and NYC. The Chicago downtown is just beautiful and only those two cities, IMO, were comparable in energy level, architectural beauty, etc. to Chicago. In addition, NU is located in a relatively wealthy neighborhood of Chicago suburb and it is very safe. (although south side of Evanston gets dangerous at night)</p>
<p>Aside from this city discussion, both NU and Penn are very good schools, and aside business(wharton), I think that two schools are pretty comparable academically. (w/ slight edge to Penn in overall rep)</p>
<p>
[quote]
And, maybe it's bc I was used to living in Chicago, but I felt that Philly just did not match up to Chicago in any measure.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Bingo. The only are where Philly trumps Chicago is in history. But to think that Philly rivals Chicago in terms of art, culture, architecture, food, business, neighborhoods, quality of life, cosmopolitan nature, etc. is just silly.</p>
<p>
That really depends on (1) personal taste and preferences, (2) the personal experience one has had in either city, and (3) the extent of one's knowledge of what either city has to offer. You should really be careful about making such sweeping generalizations. In terms of cultural and tourist attractions, parks, recreation, residential neigborhoods with charm and character, geographic location, etc., Philadelphia and its surroundings are easily the equal of Chicagoland, and in many ways superior to it. But, as I said, which city one prefers is really a function of one's personal interests, preferences, and knowledge/personal experience of each city. So let's just leave it at that.</p>
<p>oh, also, there are some very famous restaurants at Evanston. There is one place in Evanston that is very famous all-around Chicago area, which serves excellent buffalo wings. Also, there is another very famous place in Evanston that serves excellent ribs. (their beef/pork ribs are just delicious) In addition, that Chinese/Thai place immediately comes to my mind as well. That place isn't as famous as the other two i mentioned, but it is a pretty popular place among local people bc it is really cheap and the food is pretty good too. What I am getting at is showing that NU people have access to really nice places right around them, and they don't even need to go down to Chicago downtown many times.</p>
