What makes her so different?

Walkable <3

Does she have a subway?

Yes!

It's actually really good for the US and the walkability is more on a neighborhood level than a city wide level, most neighborhoods can easily be walked within but the difficulty comes from trying to walk across the whole city

Okay but cost of living has gotta be high since its costal

Nope, she's a Midwestern Girl!

I knew this was Chicago without clicking the 'expand this'.

I used to live here. The transit system is amazing. My mother had epilepsy, and couldn't get a driver's license. But she took us kids everywhere on the bus routes and L. We didn't need a car.

(But the city itself is expensive, don't let anyone kid you about that.)

Cost of living INSIDE Chicago is, in fact, incredibly high. Idk what @amtrak-official is smoking to say otherwise - but in the 'suburbs' (which are also fairly big in their own right), cost of living is much more affordable! A large part of why I ended up in the midwest was the (comparatively) affordable living - though as with anywhere, it's more expensive in the city, and closer to nicer amenities. Plus with wacky politics in the US, and how hard it is to get state aid in many states... Illinois/the Chicago area is legitimately one of the safest and most affordable places to be.