Credited.

Nay, there is another problem with the housing costs issue: the "preference" you refer to is heavily influenced by the fact that the loop/near north side is closer to most sources of employment and education in Chicago. Higher demand, in that regard, doesn't necessarily mean the area is "better" to live in--or, at least, it isn't better "enough" to justify the much, *much* higher cost of living.

Edit: That statement is in the context of people who are weighing the pros and cons of Northwestern and Chicago. Obviously, on an overall level including the preferences of all people, the loop and near north side are more attractive to the majority of people. However, the preference of someone wanting to be close to their downtown job/one of the 10000 schools downtown/etc. is completely irrelevant to this discussion.

Ray--I agree with you completely. The academic focus at UoC can be terribly aggravating. I find myself constantly amazed by how little the professors/school in general seems to care about the actual practice of law. They don't give credit for journals, externships, nominal credit for clinics, etc.--I find myself amazed that they refer to the law school as a "professional school." It isn't--which is somewhat true of any law school, but it is particularly true here. That said, Chicago has a fairly clear advantage in job/clerkship placement in all economies though, good or bad. If someone was offered a significant scholarship at Northwestern, had little/no desire for clerkships/academia, and wanted to be surrounded by a more practical setting, I would recommend NW over Chicago to that person. There are a lot of "ifs" there, though.

Chicago does retain a large police force. As a result, the concerns about safety in the area around campus are completely overblown--frankly, they are negligible. Unless someone shows me crime statistics that demonstrate otherwise, I would argue that the area around UoC is equivalent to the area that Northwestern folks live in, as far as safety risks go. We're in Chicago--you aren't going to be 100% safe from crime regardless of where you are.

In the end, though, I agree that it is silly to argue that Chicago is universally superior to Northwestern.

Right after undergrad, I would've considered that a big point for UChi. After working a number of years and having varying levels of success and failure, I've flipped. I realize that academia is not what I want to do professionally (I'd rather leave that sort of stuff as a hobby) and that I'd prefer an environment that's much more pragmatic about law and employment.

I'd say that the city of Chicago mindset (the pragmatism, not the corruption) is apparent in both schools. L&E types from Posner to Sunstein use a very ends-focused style of reasoning.

And exactly why I want to go to Chicago.

Just posted this in another thread, but UC has placed 72% of the class of 2010 into V50 firms. Just another fact to add.