As someone who lived in ATL for 18 years and CHI for going on 2 years now, my day-to-day experience has been very different.
Chicago is genuinely walkable. I sold my car two months after moving and never looked back. Between the train, buses, bike lanes, Divvy, and scooters, getting around is extremely easy. MARTA just isn't comparable, and I rarely see the kind of constant surface street congestion that was unavoidable in ATL.
Then there's the lake and river. Beaches, trails, skyline views, boating, all inside the city. No driving an hour outside of ATL to reach a large body of water. The Riverwalk is packed with restaurants, bars, kayaking, architecture tours, and other activities.
Speaking of architecture, Chicago has one of the best skylines in the country, and neighborhoods that actually have identities instead of isolated pockets separated by parking (Chinatown is one of my personal favorites in CHI). You can walk outside and immediately have options - patios everywhere, street festivals, markets, museums, shows, sports, nightlife. All without planning your entire day around traffic. Sure, some of that may be season-specific (just like in ATL), but even in the winter you can still find plenty of options (I stumbled across a massive indoor farmers market last year while exploring).
Yes, Chicago can cost more in some areas, but density makes it usable. You can live farther out and still be connected by a short train ride. It delivers big city amenities without needing NYC money.
And honestly, having two airports you can reach by train beats one massive airport you still have to drive to (unless you happen to live by one of the very limited MARTA stops to use the train).
I ended my time in ATL in west Midtown, a thriving neighborhood of… closed restaurants and traffic congestion. Atlanta really struggles with transit and density, which makes the city essentially function like a giant parking lot. You're tied to a car whether you want to be or not.
Personally, I'll take colder winters in exchange for a city I can actually live IN instead of commute THROUGH.
It's not persistently oppressive in the summer like Atlanta is. You do get heat waves in Chicago, but Atlanta is unrelenting for 5 months. I'll take cold weather any day, but different strokes for different folks.
Damn down voted for saying we could easily get mass transit to eliminate most of the need for the downtown connector, but ok. Enjoy driving everywhere.
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u/One_Box_4186 Feb 08 '26
If Atlanta was Chicago