chicago vs. philadelphia

Listen, I hate to say it, but I think Chicago might be cooler than Philadelphia. But I don't like it better.

People always ask me how I like living in Philadelphia. I always say I don't really have much to compare it to. The only other city I've ever lived in was London, and that was only for three months, I lived with a family, I was going to school and otherwise lived in a dream world of free transport cards and wondering at accents and alternative spellings.
I like Philadelphia because it is a city. I would probably like living in any city. I particularly like Philadelphia because it is small, it is not too far from home, though it is warmer than home, and it is cheap compared to other cities.

Notable differences:

Chicago is huge. The third largest city in the country. The skyline makes ours look especially measly and you can't bike from what is sort of like South Philly to what is sort of like Fishtown in 20 minutes.

Chicago is way flat. I thought Philly was flat until I biked in Chicago and now I don't think it is. The hills in Chicago are just bridges. It's the stuff fixed gear dreams are made of.

Chicago has beaches IN THE CITY. In Philly you have to drive at least an hour to the Jersey shore. Chicago borders on Lake Michigan which looks like an ocean but isn't. There are a million beaches along it and a sweet paved path running along it, sort of like a bicycle expressway from the north to the south.

There are a lot of Schwinn's here because there is a/the Schwinn factory in Chicago. Also more Specialized bikes than there are at home, I don't know why. Everyone has a Chrome bag, like every single cyclist. No variety. I think that's because

the hipsters are hipper in Chicago. To me, this is a negative. I'm not just counting Pitchfork, where everyone "pulls out all the stops." It's noticeable just walking around Chicago. I think this might be because it's a bigger city. Apparently they call it "Second City," as in, after New York. People need to try harder to stand out. The city is also richer. Everyone is beautiful and thin and super well-dressed. My friends in Philly are mostly dirty art school kids who ride bikes. Not that they're not beautiful. I guess there are bourgeois hipsters here, I just don't notice them?


My supervisor lent me this book, "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson. It's nonfiction about the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago and the serial killings by H.H. Holmes and the architect, Daniel H. Burnham, who designed the fair. I just started it today:

"So far the year had been a fine one. Chicago's population had topped one million for the first time, making the city the second most populous in the nation after New York, although the disgruntled residents of Philadelphia, previously in second place, were quick to point out that Chicago had cheated by annexing large expanses of land just in time for the 1890 decadal census. Chicago shrugged the sniping off. Big was big."