<< 1 >>
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing
Review: I bought this book before moving to Chicago six months ago and it has been almost a total lack of help for anything I've tried to use it for. For starters, the neighborhood information is completely out-of-date (I passed up good neighborhoods because of this book!). And unbelievably, this book for NEWCOMERS lacks a comprehensive index and instead organizes everything by neighborhoods. In other words, if you want to know where any major landmark is, you have to look it up by neighborhood--but wait, you don't know the neighborhoods yet because you're new. This was a real brainstorm by whoever organized this book, and it's a real fun way to waste 20 minutes when you're just trying to find an address. There is decent information here, but I can never find any of it when I need to. My advice: skip this title and go straight for Fodor's Cityguide Chicago or The Unofficial Guide to Chicago, both excellent guides with clearly organized and updated information. They would both be loads of help to a newcomer.
Rating:
Summary: Disappointing
Review: I bought this book before moving to Chicago six months ago and it has been almost a total lack of help for anything I've tried to use it for. For starters, the neighborhood information is completely out-of-date (I passed up good neighborhoods because of this book!). And unbelievably, this book for NEWCOMERS lacks a comprehensive index and instead organizes everything by neighborhoods. In other words, if you want to know where any major landmark is, you have to look it up by neighborhood--but wait, you don't know the neighborhoods yet because you're new. This was a real brainstorm by whoever organized this book, and it's a real fun way to waste 20 minutes when you're just trying to find an address. There is decent information here, but I can never find any of it when I need to. My advice: skip this title and go straight for Fodor's Cityguide Chicago or The Unofficial Guide to Chicago, both excellent guides with clearly organized and updated information. They would both be loads of help to a newcomer.
Rating: 
Summary: Not for suburbs!
Review: Not a bad guide ... *if* you're moving to the city. Suburbs are not covered at all, except for some off-handed remarks about the "hinterlands".Also had some errors in radio station listings.
Rating:
Summary: Not for suburbs!
Review: Not a bad guide ... *if* you're moving to the city. Suburbs are not covered at all, except for some off-handed remarks about the "hinterlands". Also had some errors in radio station listings.
Rating: 
Summary: Sloppy and full of errors
Review: Was this book edited at all? It reads as though it was written in one weekend, with no references other than the Yellow Pages. For example, the author "helpfully" provides us with a listing of good temp agencies--suspiciously, every single one begins with the letter "A". You have to wonder if any real research was done in other parts of the book, or if the author just copied down names and addresses from the phone book (as she clearly did in this section). The writing is repetitive and full of generalizations, and many of her "facts" are just plain wrong. I moved to Chicago three years ago, and I wish I hadn't had this book then.
Rating:
Summary: Sloppy and full of errors
Review: Was this book edited at all? It reads as though it was written in one weekend, with no references other than the Yellow Pages. For example, the author "helpfully" provides us with a listing of good temp agencies--suspiciously, every single one begins with the letter "A". You have to wonder if any real research was done in other parts of the book, or if the author just copied down names and addresses from the phone book (as she clearly did in this section). The writing is repetitive and full of generalizations, and many of her "facts" are just plain wrong. I moved to Chicago three years ago, and I wish I hadn't had this book then.
<< 1 >>
| 
