[eschaton]

I think the most important point though regarding Chicago is that it's not really a destination for older millennials (with or without kids) who find themselves priced out of the market in NYC, SF, Boston, or DC. Those folks either relocate to the suburbs or pick a significantly smaller, more low-cost metro.

There is a fair amount of NYC-to-Philly migration spurred by cheaper housing, but that's the only "alpha to alpha" example I can think of offhand, and is more understandable because the two metropolitan areas basically touch one another.