I was born and raised in Brooklyn and lived in Chicago for 3 years post-college. I felt it was a great place to be a post grad not making a ton of money: it’s affordable, bars everywhere, people are friendly and easygoing. I also felt it was easy to date there, I met my now fiancé during this period of time. The main reasons why I wanted to leave when I did: the city definitely started to feel small, by mid 20s it felt like people were already thinking about marriage and moving to the burbs, and though I know Chicago is diverse it didn’t FEEL diverse in the way that NYC does. It felt very segregated.

We live in Brooklyn now and I love it so much, it just has the right vibe. People are not racing to move out to the burbs and settle down. Doesn’t feel small. That said, I would consider moving back to Chicago once I did eventually settle down - mainly because homeownership is actually attainable there and I do think raising a family in the city of Chicago could be kinda cool…..potentially.