Huh? Aren’t sizable Kollels in Chicago? Between the coasts, Chicago has the largest except for maybe Toronto!!
Telshe Yeshiva has a couple dozen. Chicago Community Kollel has almost that many. Ohel Torah has 16. Skokie Yeshiva has some more. And there are some others as well. (Those would be of the non-sizable variety) PLus there are large chaburos of baalei batim in each of those and many others as well. Telshe Yeshiva has more than 150 bochurim in addition to the kollel, so there’s [plenty decent chaburos to speak with in learning.
Not to say that any of these are looking for outsiders at this minute, but to say they don’t exist shows gross ignorance on the part of one who supposedly is doing research on out of town!