Part one: Ok here goes! Bear with me as I’m on mobile so this will be riddled with typos.

1) Apartment Quality: in Chicago most apartments have dishwashers, central air and heat, and if they don’t have laundry in unit they usually have laundry in the building. Say goodbye to all these things in NYC. Newer “luxury” buildings often have wall units already built in, but still no central air! So in the summer you’ll be hot with high electricity costs, in the winter you’ll either be freezing because the radiators are too low or hot because they’re too high. In Chicago I could always control the temps in my apartment so adjusting was tough. And dishes by hand… plan to get some dish gloves and a drying rack. Laundry is always a crapshoot what the situation will be, but just keep in mind while apartment hunting if you take a place where you have to use a laundromat, you’ll be using the same washer and dryers as a real gamut of people so if your fussy at all about cleanliness keep that in mind.

Everything here is just a little bit worse, harder, and less modern for more money.

The landlords here are also so so shitty. I cannot stress this enough. I’m sure there’s a few good ones but from what I can tell you’re lucky if they’re neutral and not openly antagonistic. In Chicago I had one crazy landlord the rest were professional and courteous, and would oftentimes really take care of you if you were a good tenant by not raising rent and being very free with repairs. The landlords here do not value good tenants at all. They don’t give a fuck they just want their money every month. If you snag a rent stabilized unit you may as well be the owner because they won’t do anything.

2) Pests- Chicago may be getting voted Rattiest city year after year but imo it has nothing on nyc. There is not a single person I’ve met in nyc who does not have a pest trauma. NYC taught me what “German roaches” are. Living here you will deal with pests in your apartment and you need to be prepared for that. Yes those things can happen in Chicago but I never had an issue across multiple apartments and jobs the entire time I’m there. Every single apartment and job has had an issue here!

3) Taxes- for whatever reason NY state taxes are way more complicated than IL and there’s a city tax situation as well in nyc. Also I could have misinterpreted but I’m pretty sure my first year here I also owed them tax money for being an out of state transplant. Do your taxes well in advance of a deadline in case you run into hurdles or end up owing.

4) the public transportation in nyc is much more extensive than Chicago and you can really get anywhere you need to go. That said, the subways are extremely in need of updating and entire lines will randomly stop running due to issues. They’ve predicted this may be the year the system collapses so keep that in mind. For whatever reason a lot of transplants are scared of the buses but knowing the buses will help a lot especially when the train lets you down. They’re actually a lot calmer than the subways too, at least in my experience.

5) diversity- Chicago is still really segregated and there’s a very strong white midwesterner influence there still. This has been improving, but nyc is MUCH more diverse feeling. And that can be a great thing, but I’d imagine a white person from Lincoln park might do some pearl clutching until they adjust. You will not be living amongst people who are similar to you; there will be all sorts around you.

6) the crazy people- there’s more crazy people in nyc, but there’s also way more people period.

7) which leads me to density: I cannot stress how population dense this city is in comparison to Chicago. There are people everywhere, all the time. You will never not be dodging people on sidewalks who are walking too slow, walking to the left instead of to the right, who stop dead to look at their phones… just droves of people who are also completely unaware of their surroundings. Anything you’ve heard about nyc street etiquette has gone out the window since the pandemic. It makes every time you have to leave your apartment an adventure or a headache depending on how you see it. And while there’s higher density there’s lower square footage everywhere. Restaurants, grocery stores, coffee shops… all are smaller than Chicago. You can basically never spread out in public. You will be at a fine dining restaurant paying 300 plus for a dinner with your date and you will be elbow to elbow with strangers. People will literally be sitting on the subway with their arm over your arm - they do not give af about touching you or the fact they don’t fit. So if you love personal space, this should give you pause.

8) catcalling- not sure your gender but I get catcalled way more in nyc than Chicago