New and improved City of Chicago Thread (Check OP for Recs)

Discussion in 'The Mainboard' started by Truman, Apr 23, 2018.

  1. New user

    New user Well-Known Member
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    Coming off a 3 day work retreat binge and can’t decide if I want to get out and continue drinking to enjoy this weather. Got friends at parlor that are tempting me
     
  2. Truman

    Truman Well-Known Member
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    Suggestions on a good fish monger to get sashimi grade? Ever since Issacson and Stein went out of business, ive been looking for a new one
     
  3. DollarBillHokie

    DollarBillHokie Usher is the worst
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    Is it dumb to live in the Streeterville area if you work near the Sears tower? I assume it is too cold to walk that distance most of the winter.
     
  4. Bert Handsome

    Bert Handsome I'm sorry, the card says Moops
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    Lot of people do, just depends on if you want a neighborhood like that.
     
  5. New user

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    I live in streeterville and walk like 1.5 miles each day. Just bundle up in the winter (snow pants over dress pants if necessary), and sweat a bit in the summer. 2 miles is probably the max i could do if walking.
     
  6. rcragg82

    rcragg82 Well-Known Member
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    Dirks Fish Market on Clybourn. Great, great place.
     
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  7. Brewtus

    Brewtus Got dat juice
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    I'm moving from the east coast to the northern burbs of Chicago next month. Excited to get to the area. Would like to live in Chicago proper but jobs are up in the burbs.
     
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  8. rcragg82

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    Take it to the Milwaukee thread!

    Just kidding. Welcome. Every winter for the last 3 years, I say I'm going to move to the suburbs. Then summer hits and you realize why you live here again.
     
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  9. boone

    boone Destination Unknown
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    Not sure why but I'm fascinated with Chicago. Never been there but have been wanting to go for the last 10 years. I think I'm attracted to the cold weather and the mystery of the Deep Dish pizza.

    Also Jelly that the Beer community is probably the best in the country.
     
  10. Bert Handsome

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    What burb or general area? I just moved to the north burbs about two years ago.
     
  11. Brewtus

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    For the first year, we'll be living in an apartment in Vernon Hills. The plan is to get to know the area and search for a house next year. Cities that we like are Evanston, Wilmette, Highland Park, Lake Forest, Libertyville (seems a lil far from Chicago), Northbrook, Deerfield, and Lincolnshire. I'm sure i'm forgetting one or two but that's the general area.

    I'm hoping I can find a house that is walkable to the lake, and the only towns that I could probably make that happen in are LF and HP.
     
  12. rcragg82

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    I'm not an expert in all of those but my thoughts:
    * Evanston is great. College town. Can get downtown very easily via purple line. Right on the lake. However, since its the first suburb out of Chicago, the lots are smaller and if you are not working downtown, it might not make as much sense as the others.
    * Wilmette / Highland Park / Lake Forest - Are you making a lot of money? If yes, great place for rich white people.
    * Deerfield - Good schools, pretty basic northern burbs suburb. Safe. Right next to LF but cheaper.
    * Northbrook - this is probably where I'd live because as it is the most well rounded suburb out of this group with costs, location, amenities, etc.
    * Libertyville - I hear good things. Depending on where you work, it might not be too far north for you. It is for me and just know that you are closer to Wisconsin than downtown Chicago.
    * Lincolnshire - I know nothing.
     
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  13. Bert Handsome

    Bert Handsome I'm sorry, the card says Moops
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    I would add in there Glenview is probably a mix in between Northbrook and Wilmette.

    Evanstan, Wilmette, Kenilworth, Winnetka, Glencoe, Highland Park, Lake Forrest will all have neighborhoods that are walking distance to the lake. It might be a 15-20 minute walk unless you are buying a house for > million bucks but it's walkable.
     
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  14. Brewtus

    Brewtus Got dat juice
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    Thanks, this all helps. Looking forward to getting out there an exploring the area.

    Side note, I'm moving from New Jersey and was curious how this move would impact my beer selection. I've never been impressed with what NJ has to offer in this area, and my research proves I'm heading to much better options. Comparison in spoiler.

    [​IMG]
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    [​IMG]
     
  15. Bert Handsome

    Bert Handsome I'm sorry, the card says Moops
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    Pro tip, there is a Mariano's grocery store in Northfield that has a small beer section but there are some decent options. All of it is refrigerated, there is nothing sitting out at room temperature. They have build your own 6 pack that is a flat price regardless of what you pick for $9. They have Half Acre, Toppling Goliath, Surly 16 oz cans available that on their own cost more than that for a 4 pack.

    All of the other Mariano's grocery stores dont have the 16 oz cans in their build your own 6 pack selection.
     
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  16. gordon bombay

    gordon bombay magician's alliance enthusiast
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    Kane/Carton would be better than anything you can get here but other than that Chicago is better
     
  17. Brewtus

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    Kane & Carton are the 2 main losses I identified as well.
    :beerchug:
     
  18. Truman

    Truman Well-Known Member
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    Went to Drawl on Clark last night. Pretty meh. Bootleg Big Jones
     
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  19. gordon bombay

    gordon bombay magician's alliance enthusiast
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    walked by there the other day, interesting
     
  20. Truman

    Truman Well-Known Member
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    It wasn’t bad. I was Just unimpressed. Nothing special.
     
  21. Gaknight

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    Unless you love MillerCoors I don’t think I’ve ever heard such a statement. It’s got me legit cracking up right now.
     
  22. gordon bombay

    gordon bombay magician's alliance enthusiast
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    Yeah the craft beer scene in general is very subpar.
     
  23. Bert Handsome

    Bert Handsome I'm sorry, the card says Moops
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    Well f u too.

    http://www.chicagobusiness.com/real...d-economists-recommend-statewide-property-tax

    Jack up property taxes for pensions, say 3 Fed economists

     
  24. Brewtus

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    Illinois' finances (and assoc. taxes) are the major reason that I'm somewhat hesitant with my move. It would've been a lot harder of a decision if I weren't moving from NJ. I know that they tried to reduce the amount of debt, but it was considered unconstitutional by the state. Have they ever discussed voting on an amendment to allow such reductions?
     
  25. tmbrules

    tmbrules Make America Great Again!
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    Mostly they just talk about increasing taxes.
     
  26. Brewtus

    Brewtus Got dat juice
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    [​IMG]
     
  27. Bert Handsome

    Bert Handsome I'm sorry, the card says Moops
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    Without turning the thread political, lets just say that the super majority in the state legislature typically sides with labor on such issues.
     
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  28. theregionsitter

    theregionsitter Well-Known Member
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    The state finances aren’t that awful, they can be fixed

    It’s the local finances and city of Chicago that are the crippling ones
     
  29. Brewtus

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    Ok, good to know. Thanks for the info and also preventing this thread from going down the dark political hole that has has consumed so many other well-meaning threads.
     
  30. DollarBillHokie

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    I'm sure Illinois will be one of the first states to implement sports betting to improve pensions.
     
  31. rcragg82

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    I hope they make it legal so there is a marijuana tax, a gambling tax, heck bring back the soda tax. They need the money but some of the property taxes around the Chicagoland area are already ridiculous.
     
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  32. Bert Handsome

    Bert Handsome I'm sorry, the card says Moops
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    Just get the Mike Madigan approved property attorney and you are all good.
     
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  33. Baby Rabbit

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    Any reason why Streeterville? It's basically all Northwestern students and old people. NU owns about half of the property and it's just a pretty sterile, boring neighborhood. Good place to live if you work at the hospital or are a 1L at NU, otherwise there are a lot better areas, especially for the price.

    If I were you, I'd look at the West Loop. Lots of new construction and its an easy walking commute to the Sears Tower.
     
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  34. Truman

    Truman Well-Known Member
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    most of the West L is just as a far a walk to Sears than Streeterville
     
  35. Baby Rabbit

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    I guess it depends where you are/what you consider the West Loop. My GF lives off Madison near the expressway. That's about half a mile from the Sears Tower. Yeah if you go farther out obviously things change. There's a lot of new condos/apts going up closer in though.

    Mainly I just wouldn't recommend Streeterville for someone working at the Sears Tower who wants to walk to work. There's just a lot of places closer in, unless you really have a reason to be in Streeterville
     
  36. Anison

    Anison Fair and square
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    Agree with this.
    Also, look into the south loop.
     
  37. boone

    boone Destination Unknown
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    Ive been misled. I was under the impression that Chicago was like a Beer mecca
     
  38. Bert Handsome

    Bert Handsome I'm sorry, the card says Moops
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    Equal opportunity to facepalm the city too.

    https://chicago.suntimes.com/politi...etting-worse-for-city-as-meter-revenues-rise/

     
  39. tmbrules

    tmbrules Make America Great Again!
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  40. Truman

    Truman Well-Known Member
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    It's Chicago. Of course there was shady shit.
     
  41. rcragg82

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    Chicago has a good beer scene. I honestly don't know what those two posters are talking about or where they are hanging out to have such an impression.
     
    #91 rcragg82, May 15, 2018
    Last edited: May 15, 2018
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  42. gordon bombay

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    The beer scene is very average. Not a lot of good breweries and we don't see the distribution that cities like SF and NYC have. NYC is really the mecca right now the beer scene is dumb there.
     
  43. Gaknight

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    Are we just forgetting San Diego exists?
     
  44. gordon bombay

    gordon bombay magician's alliance enthusiast
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    I truly believe NYC has passed San Diego, Portland etc. it doesn't have the "culture" those cities have with respect to beer but they have better beer bars, better distribution, and better breweries.
     
  45. Brewtus

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    The length of the contract alone is shocking.
     
  46. Brewtus

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    Eh... sure there are some really good beer bars (Blind Tiger, Ginger Man, etc), but in NYC you are paying a decent price tag for the more sought after beers. There are some good breweries there, but there are also some really mediocre ones. However, that is every where with the rate new breweries are opening.

    I used to work in NYC and while it has improved I wouldn't put it over SD by any means. I'm in SD every other month for work and always find new bars/breweries to check out, and the pricing is almost always much more reasonable than NYC.

    Regarding, IL vs NY. You can compare the distribution here: http://seekabrew.com/distro/compare.html
     
  47. gordon bombay

    gordon bombay magician's alliance enthusiast
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    Fancy what say you nyc or san diego who has better beer
     
  48. cal2431

    cal2431 Well-Known Member

    Random question but does anyone know if the lights have been turned on at the public tennis courts? Either oz park courts or waveland park courts?
     
  49. Baby Rabbit

    Baby Rabbit Pelican fan
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    Yeah, I mean deals like that are usually bad for the public, but that was just ridiculous even when they announced it, much less in hindsight.

    Hey, at least its not as bad as the red-light cameras deal! How many people are in jail over that now? Some of the CPS deals are up there too
     
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  50. rcragg82

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    There is a very big difference in stating that Chicago doesn't have as good of beer scene compared to NYC vs saying it is subpar (which you previously stated) and saying its just MillerCoors as another Atlanta-esque poster stated.

    There are plenty of lists that have Chicago as a top 5-10 craft beer city. Its even better if you look at what its distribution network is because it pulls in some really good Michigan and MN breweries that you can't get on the coasts.

    Half Acre, Revolution, 3 Floyds (i'm counting it as Chicago) rival most breweries around the country. Then you get some of the smaller but really good breweries like Metropolitan, HopButcher, Pipeworks, Maplewood, Corridor/DryHop, etc.

    You get all the breweries that might not be HQ'd here or have been acquired but have above average brew pubs: Lagunitas, Ballast Point, Goose Island. Finally, you have some bars that were way ahead of the craft beer scene like Map Room, Local Option, Sheffield's, Hopleaf and others.

    Long post but the point being, Chicago has a great beer scene and your initial post of it being subpar is factually incorrect.
     
    #100 rcragg82, May 15, 2018
    Last edited: May 15, 2018
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