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Hey Everyone!!! This is my first post - I am born and raised in beautiful Los Angeles. My mom and dad moved from LA to Chicago a long time ago, but I stayed. I never had a desire to leave Los Angeles, since it's all I know. CA has just become too expensive and I decided to move to Chicago to be closer to my parents and to go back to school. Specifically, the NW suburbs and I think about 45 min from downtown. I want to further my education so that if I choose to move back to CA, I'll make enough to afford it.
Why the weird title?? Well, in Los Angeles, specifically the Hollywood area, everyone is a transplant. Most people move here for that dream of being in the entertainment industry. In LA, you're considered a "unicorn" if you're a native and that's what all my transplant friends call me. Here I am going against the US traffic heading east to middle america while everyone else is heading west...
I saw a few posts about other people that have moved. I am hoping to connect with people that have made the move from LA to Chicago and how things went for you. I am so scared to move which is why I stayed here in CA when most of my family moved away. I'm a creature of habit so moving scares the heck out of me. Plus, I am going to miss LA and my friends terribly. I've visited Chicago my entire life (my mom is oddly enough from there and moved to LA when she met my dad) so I am familiar with it so I know what IL doesn't have that LA does. I'm going to miss the weather, mountains, and fast paced environment. The days of walking to the grocery store of going to get some food and being back in 10 min are over - which is another thing I will miss. To me, LA and Chicago are like black and white and I am in no way knocking Chicago, I just see it as a complete opposite and I fear it, because it's change.
Of course, there are so many good things that will come along with my move. Chicago offers many things that LA can't and a huge thing is cost of living. So again, I am not putting down the city - I just want to know if there are some former Angelinos (I've always hated that word to describe us but for the sake of the post I will) out there in Chicago / Surrounding areas that made the move and how they coped with being homesick and adjusting to the new lifestyle.
I'd also love to hear from Chicago people too - anyone suggestions help at this point. I'm just a girl that has a few weeks left in LA and is scared because I'm leaving everything I know to move to a new place.
Where specifically in the NW suburbs are you planning on moving to?
We have friends that are LA transplants (actually will be seeing them later today) and I've been told that they only thing they miss about Los Angeles is the weather.
Obviously two different major cities, but I don't think you're going to be in for a complete culture shock. It's not like you're landing in the middle of nowhere North Dakota.
Hey Everyone!!! This is my first post - I am born and raised in beautiful Los Angeles. My mom and dad moved from LA to Chicago a long time ago, but I stayed. I never had a desire to leave Los Angeles, since it's all I know. CA has just become too expensive and I decided to move to Chicago to be closer to my parents and to go back to school. Specifically, the NW suburbs and I think about 45 min from downtown. I want to further my education so that if I choose to move back to CA, I'll make enough to afford it.
Why the weird title?? Well, in Los Angeles, specifically the Hollywood area, everyone is a transplant. Most people move here for that dream of being in the entertainment industry. In LA, you're considered a "unicorn" if you're a native and that's what all my transplant friends call me. Here I am going against the US traffic heading east to middle america while everyone else is heading west...
I saw a few posts about other people that have moved. I am hoping to connect with people that have made the move from LA to Chicago and how things went for you. I am so scared to move which is why I stayed here in CA when most of my family moved away. I'm a creature of habit so moving scares the heck out of me. Plus, I am going to miss LA and my friends terribly. I've visited Chicago my entire life (my mom is oddly enough from there and moved to LA when she met my dad) so I am familiar with it so I know what IL doesn't have that LA does. I'm going to miss the weather, mountains, and fast paced environment. The days of walking to the grocery store of going to get some food and being back in 10 min are over - which is another thing I will miss. To me, LA and Chicago are like black and white and I am in no way knocking Chicago, I just see it as a complete opposite and I fear it, because it's change.
Of course, there are so many good things that will come along with my move. Chicago offers many things that LA can't and a huge thing is cost of living. So again, I am not putting down the city - I just want to know if there are some former Angelinos (I've always hated that word to describe us but for the sake of the post I will) out there in Chicago / Surrounding areas that made the move and how they coped with being homesick and adjusting to the new lifestyle.
I'd also love to hear from Chicago people too - anyone suggestions help at this point. I'm just a girl that has a few weeks left in LA and is scared because I'm leaving everything I know to move to a new place.
Thanks all!!
Hi, I am a transplant from OC to Chicago, but still a Dodgers fan. I can understand your fear of moving to a new place, especially one with a change in climate that needs adjustment. I would look at this as an opportunity to expand your horizons, not one that is going to harm you. Chicago is a great city in that it is, in some ways, culturally different that most; it has museums, sports, symphony, theatre, forest preserves, a good nightlife scene, great food ( you can try Portillo's in Buena Park and Moreno Valley for a preview) and is central to a lot of cities. While some of my family stayed in California, many moved away like you. I can say that your upbringing in S. Calif. will always make you a Californian at heart. I know of several people like us who have moved here and stayed.
When I moved here, I was determined to learn the city and the suburbs. That helped me a lot. To this day I know Chicago better than most natives because I was an outsider who wanted to feel a part of things. My suggestion to you is move here, and visit S.Cal occasionally. You will find the longing for the place wanes after time. The traffic gets worse, the cost of living gets worse, and things that you never noticed suddenly bother you. Chicago is a beautiful city; it has its problems, but in my visits to other places, it has a lot to offer and things, like you say, that LA cannot. Good luck with your move, explore and learn the city, visit the Art Institute, Hamilton, Milennium Park; go to the beach and enjoy this opportunity to transform from a unicorn into a butterfly.
P.S. You are going to hear a lot of people gripe about taxes and the cost of living. I have also lived in Boston in addition to growing up in California, and to hear these people complain is a joke. The cost of living here is relatively great.
I wasn't an LA native but lived there for 8 years. But I am from Ohio so Chicago felt right to me.
Just curious how old you are and why you are choosing to move to the burbs? Most single, young people prefer the city.
Agreed. I work with a lot of younger people (20s/30s) who live in/near downtown chicago. We are in the suburbs but that's b/c we moved here to be close to my wife's family and they are very far from downtown.
I too am originally from Ohio, but lived in Nashville for about 6 years before moving to Chicago. The chicago area is nice (for the most part). The humidity will be a change from LA. I love the west for it's dry climate. I find most people in the midwest though to be generally friendly and genuine, which my wife and I really enjoy (compared to living/when we lived in the south).
As far as where to live it will probably mostly depend on where you decide to work.
To answer the question about why I am moving to the suburbs... well, the short answer is that I am going to be staying with my dad while I finish school and he lives in the suburbs. Even though I am from Los Angeles, I am not a "downtown" kind of gal. I worked in downtown LA or ten years, but could never fathom living there. I live in the Valley and I guess the best way to describe the Valley to non-natives is to say its the suburbs of LA. I don't mind living there, its really nice. I'm in the Elgin/Algonquin area. Also, I am really familiar with Chicago -- the crazy part of my "story" or upbringing is that my parents met in Chicago in the late 70's.
My mom spent her high school years in the Waukegan area. My dad (who is also an LA native like me) was stationed there in the Navy. So they met and my dad brought her back to LA. So, as a kid, my mom would take us to Chicago a few times, maybe 3 times, and then my parents moved there when I was 19 so I have visited Chicago more than I can count on my hand. Thankfully, I also have a cousin out there that is my age so I am not totally friend-less.
I thank everyone for bringing me comforting words about my move - I hate to sound like this person who is not grateful that I have the chance to move - I am - and I am open to the new city -- I am just here at home in LA with a few weeks left so the sadness of leaving is right in front of my face still. Once I move, start working and school, I will get better. I know that. What I have heard, and know to be true, is that LA people suck in terms of being nice. We don't just go out of out way on the street or elevator to look at people and say hello. I know that to be true because *I* noticed that I was doing that... we kind of suck at that but its how we are raised -- so I have been trying to NOT be like that so when I get there, people wont think I'm this suck up LA B*** -- I promise to represent LA in a good way.
To answer the question about why I am moving to the suburbs... well, the short answer is that I am going to be staying with my dad while I finish school and he lives in the suburbs. Even though I am from Los Angeles, I am not a "downtown" kind of gal. I worked in downtown LA or ten years, but could never fathom living there. I live in the Valley and I guess the best way to describe the Valley to non-natives is to say its the suburbs of LA. I don't mind living there, its really nice. I'm in the Elgin/Algonquin area. Also, I am really familiar with Chicago -- the crazy part of my "story" or upbringing is that my parents met in Chicago in the late 70's.
My mom spent her high school years in the Waukegan area. My dad (who is also an LA native like me) was stationed there in the Navy. So they met and my dad brought her back to LA. So, as a kid, my mom would take us to Chicago a few times, maybe 3 times, and then my parents moved there when I was 19 so I have visited Chicago more than I can count on my hand. Thankfully, I also have a cousin out there that is my age so I am not totally friend-less.
I thank everyone for bringing me comforting words about my move - I hate to sound like this person who is not grateful that I have the chance to move - I am - and I am open to the new city -- I am just here at home in LA with a few weeks left so the sadness of leaving is right in front of my face still. Once I move, start working and school, I will get better. I know that. What I have heard, and know to be true, is that LA people suck in terms of being nice. We don't just go out of out way on the street or elevator to look at people and say hello. I know that to be true because *I* noticed that I was doing that... we kind of suck at that but its how we are raised -- so I have been trying to NOT be like that so when I get there, people wont think I'm this suck up LA B*** -- I promise to represent LA in a good way.
You mention you're 'in the Elgin/Algonquin area'. That's where we live FYI. Not sure if you have any area specific questions but I'd be glad to help if you do.
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