I haven't been to Chicago but did spend 5 weeks in NYC in 1975. Yep, you Yanks are really good at 'doing Big Cities', which have a life and spirit of their own .. also interesting however is how many people from HZ seem to come from smaller towns, even villages, which are apparently all over the place ..?? Not like that here, where country towns are rather more isolated.

It's true that one can always 'get used' to traffic noise but I will always wonder if you have to sacrifice something valuable in the process. After all, it's a desensitization process, so wouldn't we then become less sensitive to sound in general? Not a good tradeoff, IMO - although it's obviously no option for many people.

Anyway keep in mind that your plans for World Domination might need to be based in larger cities .. unless you make good use of the internet ..