Chicago, one year in

Now that I’ve called Chicago home for a bit over a year, I feel it’s time to revisit some early ideas I had about the city and see how they match up with my understanding of the city at this point. In an egregiously long post from last April, I supplied (to anyone masochistic enough to read that far) reasons why Chicago outpaced other American cities as my choice to settle for awhile. San Francisco (broadly speaking) still sits atop the heap as my ultimate locale, but for now and the near-future, it wouldn’t be the right choice. Considering I’ve committed myself Chi-town for grad school, it seems the city proved itself pretty admirably.

Last year, I listed the general traits I'd find in my idea city, and I claimed that Chicago would fulfill all but two. Although this is the case, some categories are satisfied to greater and lesser degrees than others. Here's my original criteria with some current comments regarding Chicago [The black type below are the criteria that I desired in a city. Green is my current analysis of Chicago's ability to satisfy each respective category]:

A cosmopolis, first and foremost. Yes, without a doubt, but it’s different than NYC. The downtown area doesn’t have the same energy as New York; it’s much more tame in that regard. However, the ethnic enclaves in Chicago are phenomenal and you can literally meet someone from any nationality here. The city feels connected, hip, and flourishing. This is certainly a winning point for Chicago but I wouldn’t put it at the level of New York.
Four distinct seasons. Holy crap, YES! This year’s winter was brutally long, but I still loved it. I wouldn’t want that excessive gray every year (I do have it from reliable sources that this was the worst year in memory for lingering clouds/cold) but it felt so good to be living in a place that legitimately gets snow again. Also, fall was gorgeous with all the deciduous trees, and summer gets hot hot hot. I should add a footnote here that, although I didn’t mention it last time, I cannot stand humidity. I was somewhat disheartened to find that Chicago does get a bit humid towards the late summer. This, however, is nothing compared to the east coast and it’s something I can live with for that shorter window.
The juxtaposition of quaint neighborhoods and a thriving, vertical downtown. Yep, definitely.
A significantly sized and clean body-of-water/river. The lake is not always clean enough to swim in at points during the summer. Occasionally, public announcements are issued when bacteria levels rise. Last year, this didn’t seem to happen too often.
Relatively-affordable, interesting, clean, safe, decently-sized housing. It still blows my mind how much you can get for your money in Chicago real estate. “Tiny” condos here dwarf most condos in New York and they’re much cheaper than DC too. Without a doubt, you can find expensive places here, but even the spendier parts aren’t bad, comparatively. In truth, many other cities are more expensive than Chicago, including Seattle, SF, LA, Boston, DC NYC, and others.
Few rainy days; give me snow over cold rain. Yep, it’s proven to be just that way. The other thing I really like is that most rain storms in the warmer months arrive in the form of thunder storms. I’d prefer a roaring thunder storm any day to steady (Portland, you’re guilty) rain.
Mind-blowing architecture. Umm, yes. New condominiums are spreading like a virus, and many of these are uninspiring, but that doesn’t overshadow the city as a whole. Regardless of the uproar over the future Chicago Spire, I'm happy to see the city reclaiming its hold on bold, avante garde design.
An encompassing network of public transportation. Pretty damn good, although we need some major work in order to win the Olympic bid for 2016.
Incredible food. More than anything, this is true. The food culture here is unparalleled for the price. I’ll just say that Top Chef was filmed in Chicago last season and the winner is a Chicago resident.
History. Give me a break. Yes.
An eclectic, thriving, worldly, educated, unpretentious populace. Yes, and put emphasis on the last adjective, especially. I cannot express how glad I am to be away from the pompous throngs in my two former east coast cities. These are, of course, generalizations, but compared to DC and NYC the people here are so much more down to earth. You will find more "worldly" people in a couple other US cities, but that doesn't mean these people are living in a cave. It simply means many of them come here to live permanently and comfortably; it's not a stop on the way for the majority.
Great, distinctive, comfortable coffee shops. This is one criterion I have to say has disappointed me. There are some good spots, but they don’t define Chicago. They’re few and far between, much to my dismay.
Great, distinctive, comfortable pubs. Without a doubt, the pub scene here surpasses any other I've seen in the US! Chicago reigns supreme on this front.
World class universities. Sure, sure.
A promising economy. Anyone who makes this claim too loudly would be laying their neck out. The economy here is multi-faceted enough and large enough to weather storms in sections of the economy, but no place can escape unscathed what's going on right now. Gas here is higher than California; ouch. But, yes, it's "promising" for the future.
Bike friendly and pro-physical fitness atmosphere. Having Mayor Daley count himself among the biking enthusiasts has elevated the conversation of biking safety and accessibility to the forefront of Chicago conversations. A number of high-profile biking fatalities have made the front page of the Chicago Tribune since I moved here last April. According to a friend who is an avid biker, however, the number of instances per capita has actually decreased. There's simply more visibility, similar to Portland, OR. Stiff penalties are now enforced for impeding bike lanes and more streets have designated lanes for bikes. Overall, it's a bike friendly city but more work should be done on this front. Regarding pro-physical fitness, that depends heavily on the seasons/weather. Winters hit hard here and few venture outside. Now, however, the warm sun beckons thousands to the shores of Lake Michigan for running, biking, rollerblading, volleyball, swimming, and of course, bags. Overall, Chicago falls in the middle of pro-physical fitness, but for the metropolis category (NYC, LA, Houston, etc.), it's much better than average.
A place where I feel comfortable yet constantly challenges me. Kind of a lame category, although I see where I was going with it. Yes.
Clean, abundant park space. Phenomenal for a metropolis. Very impressed.
Easy access to the outdoors. Yep.
Easy access to mountains. This is one I never deluded myself into believing and it’s most certainly not the case. This, more than anything besides proximity to family and friends, would prove the Achilles heel of Chicago’s hopes to keep me much beyond graduate school.
Easy access to the ocean. Again, I couldn't lie myself into this one. Lake Michigan truly feels like a sea at times, but you don't get the briny aroma and you don't get the (huge) breaking waves.
Athletic teams. Nothing shy of religious devotion in this town.
Affordable, abundant flights to my hometown. So so on this category. For being 2000 miles away, it's about as good as I could hope. The fault doesn't exactly lie with Chicago and it's two airports here...
Affordable, abundant flights to everywhere else on earth. Check. Check.

So in summary, I'm not going to pretend I've stumbled into utopia, but it's the best place I could hope to live right now. That could evolve after 6 years, but in the meantime, I've got plenty of time to enjoy a carefully and happily chosen city. Those are feelings I haven't had since college, which feels pretty amazing.