Move to Austin or Chicago? (Howe: real estate, apartment, house)

[kh1980]

My husband'd work has given him an oppurtunity to move either to Chicago,IL or Austin. We are trying to weigh the pros and cons. For a background, husband has a tech consultant job, we are immigrants and our two kids go to elementary school and we'd be ok if we have to live upto 40 mins drive away from the city. Things to consider (in order) would be better school system, job oppurtunities in tech field, future education prospects for kids, real estate prices, cost of living, community structure and cultural diversity. I have visited Chicago city but have never been to Austin. Would be really great if someone can give me comparison/suggestion! Thanks

[janejanejanejanejane]

I would move to Texas cause you will get a pay raise by doing it. We do not have state taxes.
If you can take the heat, Austin is my fav city in Texas,I would do it!

[wedmiston]

I have lived in Chicago for many years (20) and am contemplating a move to Austin, but I must say, you are not going to be able to compare them to one another - entirely, substantially, hugely different. For starters:

IL - very high taxes, TX - low taxes
TX - red state, IL - blue state
IL - very cold in winter, TX - very hot in summer
Chicago - lots of pro sports, Austin - no pro sports

Specific to your popints:

Chicago:
40 mins drive away from the city - many suburbs qualify, but stay west and north, not south
better school system - can be had in burbs, no way in chicago public schools
job oppurtunities in tech field - don't know
future education prospects for kids - better schools equal...
real estate prices - IL market hit hard so good bargains there
cost of living - check Sperlings. com to compare
community structure - ?
cultural diversity - not in the IL suburbs, just the city

There is probably a lot more but that's just for starters...

[Austin97]

Originally Posted by kh1980

My husband'd work has given him an oppurtunity to move either to Chicago,IL or Austin. We are trying to weigh the pros and cons. For a background, husband has a tech consultant job, we are immigrants and our two kids go to elementary school and we'd be ok if we have to live upto 40 mins drive away from the city. Things to consider (in order) would be better school system, job oppurtunities in tech field, future education prospects for kids, real estate prices, cost of living, community structure and cultural diversity. I have visited Chicago city but have never been to Austin. Would be really great if someone can give me comparison/suggestion! Thanks

The make or break it item is really do you want to live in a big city or a smaller city. Chicago museums, arts and entertainment are world class. Austin is absolutely second rate. For example one year when we went to watch the nutcracker some of the dancers kept almost falling. It was painful to watch. That being said I cannot stand the cold at all (originally from illinois).

[twange]

Hmm...I'm hungry: do I want pot roast or Vietnamese?

Sorry for the sarcasm, but that's how different these places are!

I can't stress this enough: you MUST visit Austin before making any kind of decision. Chicago is huge, sprawling metropolis with a lot of options but higher cost of living and very long, cold winters. Austin is a medium-size city with a small town pace. Not as many options but a more customizable palette. If you are willing to be patient and do your homework, you can really carve a nice niche here. Some like it, some don't. It's also hot as all get out in the summer. But a lot of people get used to it and figure out how to manage (that's me).


Right now it's not looking it's best as it's been a really hot, dry summer: grass is brown and a lot of trees are struggling. But I'm from the Great Lakes part of the country and I can tell you that you won't miss those brutal winters.

[Bubchub68]

I've not lived in Chicago, but have lived in Michigan and moved to Austin few months ago. My hubby wanted to move a warmer place for quite sometime. Coincidentally, he got a job in Austin and here we are. We like Austin, so far so good. We've been hearing this summer has been the hottest and we(the kids mainly) managed pretty good.

The only disappointment about Austin is the cost of living. It was very reasonable in Michigan. The average cost of running a household in an apartment is almost equivalent to living in a house in Michigan. Especially, electricity is way up high. The additional cost of utility bills and property taxes will definitely make us think twice before we buy/lease a house. These additional costs balances up the "no state taxes".

Apart from that, the move has been pretty good so far. People are really friendly. Hope this helps!

[h886]

Originally Posted by janejanejanejanejane

I would move to Texas cause you will get a pay raise by doing it. We do not have state taxes.
If you can take the heat, Austin is my fav city in Texas,I would do it!

Not necessarily true. Salaries may not be comparable, even when you stay in the same field. You may be in for a pay cut even before taxes are figured, depending on what you're used to where you're coming from. As far as income tax, yes it's true that we don't have them. However, because property taxes are so much higher in Texas, many find that it evens out about the same. We've had other posters on here from Chicago comment that the COL in Austin is really not lower than Chicago.

[jack_bristow]

Austin will be a positively AWFUL decision for you. Go Chicago, hands down, do not pass GO, do not collect $200. The winters are brutal, I won't deny that, so if that's a dealbreaker absolutely don't go. It is no joke and lasts a long time (it is the price you pay for fantastic summers). But for what you're looking for Chicago is absolutely the way to go.

The previous poster is 300% correct, the cost of living in Austin is not that much less than Chicago as Austin suffers a major hype tax in pretty much everything, especially housing.

Go to Chicago, I promise you won't be sorry. Well except when it snows.

[texastrigirl]

I lived in the Midwest the first 22 years of my life. The winters can be tough but so can Austin summers. It's a mixed bag and as someone pointed out, really hard to compare these two cities because Chicago is such a huge metro area. You might do yourself well to pick an area of Chicago where you might live (say Naperville for example) and ask for comparisons on that to an Austin area you would consider (Southwest Austin for example). Probably a better way to understand the differences and cost of living. There is a COL calculator somewhere on the internet you can use by zip code. Don't know how accurate it is but it's a start. And yes, TX has no state income tax but they make up for it in other ways. There are also calculators on the web that will compare tax burdens by state. Good luck.

[jack_bristow]

If you're going to live in Chicago, don't go to the anonyburbs if you can help it and/or afford it. If you're a fan of the urban life move into the city but there's a big lifestyle difference living in a huge urban area like that, starting with car and parking.