Chicago Travel Answers

I can understand wanting to leave southern CA--but to move from one traffic nightmare to another. Why? What you should do is make out a list about what you find undesirable about CA and what you find desirable about CA and then make out the same type of list for Chicago. Then do a cost/benefit analysis. Then brainstorm and see if there are other communities that better fit the desirables of both Chicago and California without the undesirables. For example, you site real estate as a concern in California--understandable. But surely, there are many urban areas in the U.S. that are cheaper than Chicago.

Thank you Zrim from your response :) Believe me, we have checked out many different places with maybe a better climate and all, but as I said before the ratio between salary and real estate in Chicago is the best. That is why we chose the Chicago area, plus my husband lived before in the Rockford area, so he is a little familiar with Illinois. I also forgot to mention, that besides living in L.A., I have lived in a cold climate before including New York City, Denver and my birth place of Kiev in the former U.S.S.R. I am just concerned that it's going to be a huge adjustment for me to move from a warm climate of Southern California back to the snow and humidity in the summer, though humidity doesn't bother me as much as the snow does. Some people say that Chicago winter is worse than in New York, but I don't know since I haven't lived in Chicago. As far as the traffic concerned, NY traffic is not much better than LA's, but their public transportation is much better than it is in L.A. and I expect that in Chicago it's better than in L.A. too. To be honest, I don't know that if it wouldn't be for buying our own property, I would even think of moving, but again I don't know, since everyone who has been to Chicago, loves it except for its weather. They just love Chicago's architecture and culture, which we also lack here in L.A. L.A. is a great city to live in if you have mega mega bucks. Your average house in a semi-nice neighborhood will run you about400,000 -450,000. There is nothing less than that that is descent.

What part of the Rockford area is your husband from? I grew up in that area (Freeport). Dowtown Chicago is really neat--lots of good restaurants, good museums, theater, concerts etc. But it is a major hassle getting from the suburbs to downtown. In fact, many people who live in the suburbs hardly ever get to the lakeshore areas. If you are set on Chicago--maybe a condominium in the city would be a good fit. Cuts down on the commute and puts you in the middle of things so that you can enjoy the city. As to weather--Chicago is balmy compared to where I live (Minnesota).

I am not sure what are of Rockford he lived in. He was there for only 1.5 years. So, you are saying people who live in the suburbs usually do not work in the downtown area of Chicago? I thought that the public transportation was well established where people would take a train or subway to get to work, like they do in New York. I myself worked at the World Trade Center in NY in the '80 :((( and traveled from Brooklyn on the subway. It took me about 1 hour each way. Yes, I did notice that you are from Minnesota where it gets as cold as in Russia ;)

Sure, lots of people in the suburbs work in Chicago. But 2-3 hours a day of commuting would seem to be a large drain on your time. And you have to ask yourself--if you commute to work each day. can you then do the fun things in town. Afterall you will have to get back home to your child each workday and will you feel like making the trek back into town on the weekends. Don't get me wrong. Chicago is a great and fun city. But speaking for myself, I'd never live in the suburbs of such a huge city. Good luck with your decision.

Thank you very much! :) I still would like to hear from others. Maybe those who moved to Chicago area from the warm climate? and those who take public tranport to work every day...... Thank you in advance.

You may want to have (or try to get) more vacation time in order to get through Midwestern winters. One "survival trick" used by people who live in places with harsh winters (myself included) is to reward ourselves with holiday breaks during the darkest months of the year. Every year I plan "major holidays" in December and early March, and lately I've been trying to have a conference trip in February as well. (Being a college professor has its benefits ;}) What you save in real estate by moving from California you may end up spending in travel - travel that is important for your mental health. But hey, travel is why we're here, isn't it?

Although zrim's comments about traffic have some merit, there are many of us in the Chicagoland area who commute to work via public transportation and don't view it as such a burden. I have a 40 minute train ride plus a 20 minute walk should I choose to take public transportation and a 1/2 hour drive if I pick my travel times wisely. I tend to take the train more often than not, the 40 minutes is not a waste to me as I read the newspaper, magazines and books. And the 20 minute walk is a little bit of exercise and fresh air. I live in NW Indiana which isn't everyone's cup of tea, there are suburbs to the north, west and south that are equally well connected to downtown should you choose to commute via train. And a lot of jobs are out in the suburbs so it's possible to live and work in the burbs should you choose-BP, Baxter, Abbott, Tellabs, Discover, Kraft are the ones that immediately pop into my head. It's true though that a lot of suburbanites don't get into the city all that often but I'm there all the time both during the week and on weekends. On the other hand, there are also many who endure traffic nightmares every day, no matter what time they leave. For someone like me in a field where there are a ton of jobs I have a little more flexibility than friends who are in more specialized fields who have to go where the jobs are at. I don't think I can help you with the weather question, I've lived in the Midwest since I was 3 and it only gets to me around February, I take a trip down to Jamaica and all is well again.

Thank you guys very much! :) Well, so the commute, I gather, would be similar to my commute when I lived in NYC. I too like train rides. There are lots of things one can do, including sleeping and reading; ) Dabs, you have mentioned BP, Baxter, Abbott, Tellabs, Discover, Kraft. Am not sure what exactly this is. To me it sounds like some companies. Is that what you meant or something else? And you have mentioned, you live in NW Indiana and commute. So, you commute to Chicago every day? What part of Chicago? Downtown area? And if so, it only takes you 40 minutes to do that? Am I understanding correctly? Just out of curriousity, what does one think of Aurora area and Vernon Hills area? Just wondering. Those are the 2 areas where friends of my husband live. And my cousin lives in Northbrook, my aunt in Palatine. So, are you guys saying that there is a way to get to the Center of Chicago from most of the suburbs by train, etc???? thank you, again :)

As Kristi & Phil know, I seriously considered Chicago as THE place for my girlfriend, her son, and I to move to once she sells her casa in Mexico. Chicago is, quite simply, my favorite U.S. city. But having spent all of her life in Mexico and California I know intuitively that she would HATE the cold winters of Chicago (and elsewhere). If I were you I would spend 2 weeks vacationing in the city you're thinking about living in before you actually make the move. To not do so might be disastrous. Robert

Robert, thanks for a great advice! I told my husband the same thing. Company I work for shuts downs for Christmas break, so that's when I want to come to Chicago and check it out. The difference between my moving to Chicago and your girlfriend, is that at least I used to live in the cold before moving to California:))))

True, though after you've left the cold for say . . . 3 weeks, it's difficult to go back to it again!! :-)

BP, Baxter, etc. are large companies that have located out in the burbs. A lot of people live and work in the suburbs, a lot of companies chose to move out of the city of Chicago to the burbs because of economic factors. I do commute by car or train every day to the loop (central business district), parking is a consideration if you opt to drive, it can be expensive. There are at least 4 train stations in Chicago, coming in to different sections of the loop. You can see train schedules for all of the suburbs to get an idea of travel time here (and which station they use), Vernon Hills is on the North Central line, Aurora is on the Burlington Northern line: www.metrarail.com I don't know a lot about Aurora besides the fact that it's a larger city, I think it's the second largest in the state besides Chicago. So it's likely to have some big city problems-crime, gangs, drugs. The riverboat gambling licenses were awarded to economically depressed areas, Aurora, Joliet and Elgin were the sites selected in the Chicagoland area. Since you have a young child, schools will be a concern for you, you might have to consider private schools should you locate in Aurora. But just east of Aurora is Naperville which I understand is a very nice place to live but your housing costs will be higher as will your real estate taxes. Vernon Hills is north of the city, when I lived there it was still being developed, as the suburbs spread further and further out, Vernon Hills doesn't seem as remote as it once was. But it's not well served by trains and I wouldn't drive from there to the city so unless your jobs are in the burbs, that might not be a good location. I imagine people who do commute by train from VH drive to another train station, perhaps Libertyville or Deerfield but that would add 20 minutes or so of driving to the commute If you are finding housing prices in the200,000 range, there is a reason for it. Either the location is very far outside the city or the area has some problems or both.

Thank you very much for such a detailed info, Dabs! Robert, thank you too :) Dabs, so are you saying that to find a house in a200,000 even in the higher200,000 is unrealistic in the nice area? So, what do you think is a realistic price for places like Naperville, Skokie, Schamburg (sp?). As I have mentioned before, the prices here in the L.A. area, are unheard of right now. One of my cousins just sold his house for436,000 in not such a nice area of the San Fernando Valley, which is a suburb of L.A. I think if we decide to move, I rather get a pay cut and find job closer to home than commute, especially if I will have my daughter in a day care. I don't want to waste 1 hr each way on the train and pick her up and drop her off in the wee hours. Just out of curiousity, what would one suggest as far as the descent area where the housing is in upper200,000- lower300,000. Or let me put it this way, are there any areas like that? :))))

Go to realtor.com and play around. In Aurora for example there are hundreds of homes for sale between200-300,000. Towards the300,000 end it looks like you get into some pretty nice homes. 4 bedrooms, newer construction etc. And I'd have to disagree about Aurora being a hotbed of crime and gangs. It is a city that Chicago grew into. At one time Aurora was your average Illinois mid-size town on the Fox River. The reason why it is now so large is that it has been enveloped by the Chicago sprawl. But it is a long haul into downtown Chicago from Aurora. My sister lived for years in Joliet which is even farther out than Aurora. She commuted to the lakefront each day--I don't know how she did it. But in the end day she gave up and moved to St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands where she remains to this day.

Thanks, Zrim :) My husband's friend lives in Aurora, but closer to Naperville. He said that it's a good area, as long as you stay closer to Naperville and he also mentioned that that county has a good school system, which is very important to me. I think he said Cook, but maybe I am wrong. I need to double check with him. Yes, school systems are important for me. BTW, does anyone know anything about Plainfield? Sorry, guys, I am so nosey and asking too many questions, but it's really important decision I am making here and my husband is not a big help. He is really set on Illinois no matter what. He hates California :((((

Plainfield is a small town between Joliet and Aurora. I guess I have driven through visiting my sister, but I don't recall the place. I imagine that it has grown in these past few years as people continue to push out from Chicago. Obviously, your husband is serious about a move so you guys definitely should take a trip to Chicago to get a look at your options. If I had to live in the suburbs of Chicago I'd try to go north to Northbrook or Lincolnshire or the like. But Dabs seems happy in NW Indiana. There are dozens and dozens of choices so you should look at them for yourselves.

I have friends who grew up in Plainfield. It's in northwestern Will Country. It used to be a separate place but in recent years has become increasingly engulfed in suburbia. There's a small "main street" area, and lots of corn fields still around. Oswego, in Kendall County, is similar, but I like it better. It's right on the Fox River which gives it some character (and trees). Lots of corn fields around Oswego, too.

I would definetly raise concern about the winters in Chicago. While the winters are somewhat more mild than they are here in Minnesota, the snow and cold are quite common, including bone chilling wind off of Lake Michigan. I have visited in the winter/spring quite often and have had both unbearable cold in March and nice weather in February. There will be cold, snow, and wind and if you can't deal with that, I wouldn't suggest Chicago, Minneapolis, or other similar areas. Good luck!

Living in Chicagoland is sometimes a compromise. I grew up in the area that zrim mentions, Deerfield to be specific. My dad still lives up there and it is a lovely area with terrific schools, nice parks, good amenities. But you will not find many houses below400,000 and the real estate taxes are pretty high. My brother just moved from Deerfield, his wife was tired of North Shore attitudes so they bought a larger home with more land for less money up in Grayslake. But they both work in the north suburbs so commuting is not an issue. When I moved to NW Indiana, it was a bit of a culture shock. My nieces and nephews all go to private school, I'm surrounded by industry, our parks could use a little work. But the housing prices are more reasonable, my taxes (until the last assessment) are laughably low and there is a nice sense of community. But you wouldn't know that by looking at demographics or statistics, you really have to go into the community to discover that. If I had to look for an alternate location right now and I had children? Probably I'd start with Northbrook , Wilmette and Glenview, all north suburbs but a little more reasonably priced than surrounding communities of Kenilworth, Winnetka, Glencoe. I might also take a look at Naperville but only if I thought I'd be working out that way or could reasonably take the train.

Oh, and since you know someone in Aurora, they are a much better resource for that area than any of us, they will know if there are good and bad neighborhoods, whether the schools are good, etc.. I don't know that Aurora is a hotbed of criminal activity but I assume that it has it's share of problems like Joliet and Elgin which I know do have problems with gangs and drugs. Larger cities tend to have good and bad pockets (like Hammond where I live) and often the school systems are not ideal and they are dealing with somewhat different issues than schools in more affluent areas. Cook County, BTW, is a very large area which includes Chicago and the schools are not on a county wide basis but rather on a city or township basis. Many of the schools in Lake County are the finest in the state

You guys are something! I am just overwhelmed with your kindness and all the answers :)) Actually I was wrong when I said Cook County, I meant to say Dupage. I was told that Dupage has great school system. apparently that's in the Naperville area. I am also concerned about the job market. I am an executive assistant working for a large company here in the L.A. area. My husband is getting his nursing license, though he also has Masters in Computer Science :) You are all correct when you say the best thing is to see it for myself. I just don't know how I am going to react coming in the winter to check out all these places. My husband is already in Illinois, planning to stay there and is living (not his own place) in the Lincolnwood area of Chicago.

Aurora straddles Kane and DuPage Counties, Naperville is in DuPage. Since you seem to have some time, I'd advise looking at a couple of things. Some of the local communities have newspapers, you can check their online versions and get a feel for what the local community issues are-are there crime problems, development issues, tax issues, school issues, etc. This link should have most of the western suburbs suburbanchicagonews.com/sunp... And see if you can do an internet search for some more demographic information. Crime statistics, school information (test scores), tax information is all available if you do a bit of searching. And you might even consider getting a subscription to Chicago Magazine, I think I paid a whopping10 for a year at Amazon. Mind you, it's target audience seems to be the more affluent Chicagoans but I find a lot of interesting information in there about restaurants and neighborhoods if you want to get a feel for the city.

Thank you very much Dabs! I'll check out the site and of course, we'll come and check out Chicago :) Tickets are very cheep to fly to your part of the woods from here :)

Several years ago, my job sent me to Chicago in the dead of winter (October, November, & January -- I begged to go home in December!). My temporary home was on Elm Street in the Gold Coast area and worked a block or so off of Michigan Avenue; thus, my commute was 15-20 minutes. At the end of my "assignment" in Chicago, I was offered the opportunity to transfer there. At the time, I was living in L.A. Even though Chicago has a beautiful skyline, friendly people, good public transportation, nd wonderful restaurants, I could NOT handle the winter (and I grew up in the Midwest!). It's true; once you leave cold weather for warm weather, there's virtually no going back!! On another note, I now live in San Francisco and detest the weather here. To people who grew up here, it's temperate. For me, coming from many years in L.A., it's still way too COLD!!! So going to Chicago for 2 weeks in the winter is good advice; you'll definitely find out whether you can handle it or not!

Thank you, Hula Girl! :) That's exactly what I need to do. I need to check it out in the winter. I just talked to a realtor (my relative) here in L.A. She said the prices here are outrageous and it doesn't look like they are going down. She said that in Beverly Hills 30% of people are buying houses with cash!!!!! That is something! And the house I mentioned earlier that my cousin sold in not such a nice area, was actually sold for469,000 instead of437,000 as I have previously mentioned. She is the one who sold it for him. So, looks like if we stay in L.A., we won't be buying anything for a long time to come....... What do you guys think of the areas like - St. Charles, Geneva and Batavia Thank you again, very much!!!!!

I hope I'm not too late to answer ~ I live just south of Plainfield. It's no longer a rural town, but a semi-thriving suburb now. Unfortunately, as is the usual in Illinois, the housing grew before the roads were upgraded, so traffic is a major problem. There's constant construction and contant backups. Regarding schools - Plainfield recently added seven schools to its district (that's how fast it's growing). From what I've heard through the rumor mill, Plainfield North has the better schools. Now Naperville is an extremely nice community. There are a lot of young couples/families there - by young I mean in the 27 to 42 range. The schools are some of the best in Illinois. Naperville is also right along the Fox River and they're famous for their Riverwalk, canoeing, etc. The downtown area is historic and quaint. Housing is more expensive as the demand to live there is quite high. Edward Hospital is in Naperville and is an excellent organization to work for and to use as a patient. Edward pays comparable to hospitals in the city (Chicago) and you don't have to commute. If you have specific questions about this area, please feel free to email me. I live close and could actually get photos or newspapers for you, if you're interested :) Oh, and although I was born and raised in the cold Chicagoland area, I lived in southern Cali for a few years. I found it VERY difficult to come back to the cold, but I adjusted quickly as I moved from CA to IL in November :) It seemed to take awhile for my blood to thicken up and keep me warm again lol :) Wendy

Wendy, of course it's not late! I am still in California ;) Thank you very much for your response! I will definitely write you if you don't mind. Thanks for the offer! :) I just need to get my thoughts together :) That is a wonderful and useful info for me. Thanks again! Talk to you soon :)

I'm glad to hear that - I couldn't remember the date of your original post - for some reason I thought it was from July :) Keep in touch :) Wendy

"What do you guys think of the areas like - St. Charles, Geneva and Batavia" Ah... those areas are more commonly referred to as the Tri-cities by western suburbanites. All are good places to live with excellent school districts. They are wonderful places to raise a family with activities yearound geared towards families. St. Charles and Geneva housing can be on the expensive side. Batavia is still a growing suburb but housing can still be considered affordable. I remember reading that your hubby is currently on the border between Aurora and Naper. The school district in that area known as Indian Prairie is an excellent school district. Housing can still be affordable but there are quite a few exclusive communities in the area where homes average in the 400K -1Mill range ... Stonebridge and White Eagle to name two. Depending on where in Plainfield you might buy, you will either end up in Will county (which is one of the fastest growing counties in the nation) or Kendall county (another county experiencing rapid growth). The areas on the northwest border of Plainfield are good areas to explore for new subdivisions. Good luck with the move. Let me know if I can help in any other way. Bambi