Second City

New York kicks a little ass, but I don't think it will be surpassing Chicago anytime soon. First, the air here in New York is pretty bad. Most of this isn't New York's fault, it's the industrialized parts of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Ohio. Still, it's filthy, and my poor lungs do not need this kind of abuse. Chicago has dirty air too (thanks Gary), but not this dirty.

It's also expensive here. I saw an apartment yesterday that in Chicago would have cost around $600. Here it costs $1700. Even the Chipotle is more expensive in New York. By the way, I just used the FAQ on Chipotle.com. I asked, "Are burritos healthy?" The response was "Negative." "Will the ETA really give up violence?" "Duh." The one exception to Chicago's price advantage is transportation, which is excellent and cheap in New York.

New York seems more racially integrated, which is nice, but in Chicago you're represented by Senator Obama, which is pretty awesome. New York sports teams are annoying, and when's the last time a New York team won the World Series? Chicago is a prettier city, and anyway most of New York's architecture is derivative (the skyscraper was invented in Chicago).

The crucial distinction, of course, is that New York law firms have worse better judgment in their hiring decisions, so this is where I'll be for a while.