But there have always been more who began adult life as artists and intellectuals only to find themselves 25 years on somehow being mainly a teacher at a D-list college in a place they never wanted to live.

But there have always been more who began adult life as artists and intellectuals only to find themselves 25 years on somehow being mainly a teacher at a D-list college in a place they never wanted to live. 

--Garance Franke-Ruta, Everlasting Realities of the Bohemian Lifestyle

Chicago, unlike New York, has plenty of affordable housing, if you're willing to live in "up-and-coming" neighborhoods.  But my sense is that the city doesn't have a well-established intellectual class outside of Hyde Park.  Which isn't affordable.