“What was this city, then, if such as myself, on a low budget, could essentially see, do and eat whatever I wanted without straining my wallet? Were the skyscrapers merely a prairie mirage, a veil for the cheap, accessible delights hidden at their feet?”

The above? A typical New York response to visiting Chicago. It’s a nice piece, well-written, but it sure made me chuckle. Don’t get me wrong: NYC is really cool. But Chicago is cool and liveable. Why are New Yorkers always so shocked by that?