Bloomington Vs Chicagoland (Geneva area) (Normal, Madison: how much, job market, buying)

[Steve-o]

There are many stereotypes up here, sometimes from town-to-town. Naperville and Aurora, Wheaton and Warrenville, St. Charles and Geneva, all have their little fun with each other. Actually, sometimes the stereotypes/rivalries are within the same town. Naperville (north and south) and Aurora (east and west) come to mind, but alot of these are related to high-school rivalries of course. Actually I believe East and West Aurora (before the town was united by bridges) used to be bigtime rival communities and the city leadership decided to make downtown on the island to appease both sides of the city.

[llama214]

I just heard yesterday that Geneva had a big break out of some big illness. Shouldn't reflect the town as a whole, but it seems like it was pretty bad. Hope all that were infected are well now, and that things like this can stay more undercontroll. Oh, and nather! I was up in the area just a few days ago for an afternoon meeting and I found it hard to find Geneva. It seems like the towns are all just "smooshed" together. I of course went the southern route, so I hope you fair better when you travel. I ended up in some part of Carpentersville?, and it wasn't too appealing. Fed me well though, so I can't complain too much.

[Steve-o]

Geneva is easily accessible from Randall Rd, Rt. 31, Rt. 25 or Rt. 38.

Llama, you overshot Geneva by about, mmmm, 15 miles or so Id say. And yeah, Carpentersville is old and rundown in areas, the west side of town is facing BIG development which should be good for the area.

[llama214]

Yeah, I know! I stopped at a gas station(which was not on the best side of town) to ask for directions and the guy looked at me like I was an idiot. I quickly told him that I was from downstate and his face relaxed. lol! I think there should be a road just for people that aren't from Chicago to travel on. Or we should all wear signs or stickers on our cars so people understand. I wasn't going very fast, but I must have just went right by. Mapquest is quickly becoming my archnemesis. I told my wife that we should have invested in the Prius with the navigation system.... What would of happened if I would have ended up on the wrong side of Chicago?!

[nanannie]

I think you are being bated again Steve,like people are saying =the jolly GREEN giant is alive and well on this forum

[Drover]

Originally Posted by llama214

What would of happened if I would have ended up on the wrong side of Chicago?!

You would have, without a doubt, ended up mugged, robbed, shot, dead, or some combination thereof, because that's what happens to EVERY SINGLE PERSON who wanders into the "wrong side of Chicago" EVERY TIME!

[nanannie]

Yes Sir Lama-man,fault line like you dudes in southern illinois,but I have tsunamis to the left of me,volcanos to the right-and here I am ,stuck in the middle in Bend Seriously dude,your presenting yourself like a piece of cellophane,,take a walk,leave it be,enjoy,let others enjoy---lighten up your heavy load -You say tomato,he says tomato--we are all on this planet together,there are really no borders,,Illinois is just a name given to a tract of land by the govt. Your town is great I'm sure...Im off

[nanannie]

And I am visiting this forum cuz I am visiting your city this summer again,looking to see whats new I will enjoy museums,cubs,(or sox-who knows)lots of fun,lots of restaraunts,lots of walks thru the city and lakefront,lots of bars and music,,little bit of time off for a wedding,,...GO BEARS

[nather]

Wow, I was away for a few days and could not check this forum. Sorry I opened up a can of worms here.

Obviously I will have visit at some point....hopefully this Spring.
I was just looking for some general opinions on the two areas. I realize I am asking about two very different areas. And there are pros and cons for both.

I also know I probably won't find exactly what I'm looking for which is the character and beauty that seems to be in some of the suburbs of Chicago but without having to mess with bad traffic and feeling like you are in the rat race, and still being able to afford a nice home. I expect it's a bit like the suburbs of NY in that each town/village has its own unique character and then of course you have access to all that is the big city. We also like the unique restaurants, we are not really into the chain restaurants, but again eating out is not necessary on a daily basis either.

What we absolutley HATE about the suburbs of NY are the pretentious snobs that live here! The standards are such that the average person is made to feel very inadequate. We have truly come to hate most that live here.

Also, the average person cannot even enjoy all that the city has to offer because you are too busy living paycheck to paycheck just to get by. Unless of course you want to do what everyone else does and live so far above your means you will never dig out, we are not willing to do that.

I realize the suburbs of Chicago will still be a bit expensive, but nothing is worse than here.... a tiny shack starts at $500,000.

We will not know exactly what we are dealing with until we get settled with jobs etc. So starting off with something in the $200k - $300k (closer to $200k) is probably what we are dealing with as far as housing goes. I know for that amount Blooomington is much better, you get much more for your money there.

And I guess unless we were actually working in Chicago, we have no need to travel into the city often...we would do that more for entertainment, cultural value than anything. So if its easy enough travel into Chicago for a weekend from Bloominton and by living in Bloomington we would have more money with which to do the traveling, than that is a decent compromise.

I also was curious as to the job situation in Blooomington. As again, I realize the suburbs may have more opportunities. I just completed my Master's Degree and my husband will have his Electrical Engineering degree shortly. But if I had to I can always do work as an Executive Assistant which is where most of my work experience has been. Does anyone know the going salary for such jobs in the two locations?

Also, does Bloomington have lakes,parks near by? We have so many trees where we are now and really enjoy that aspect.

Thank you to all for your input on this topic!

[llama214]

You should consider this thread as your first lesson when moving to Chicago, don't tell Chicagoans(or it's wannabes), that it is bad. You should take a look at the Chicago crime thread(What's the deal Chicago) to see some of their posts. Unwelcoming to say the least.

Like you said, the home prices in NY are probably just as high in Chicagland. You can easily find a house, townhome, condo, etc. for a decent 250,000 here. Plus, there are rental homes close to the airport that are nice and are cheaper(monthly not overall) then a house. Try one of these and then pick a nice home. After living in Indy, it took us months to realize that our house payment wasn't controlling our spending. B-N has a much higher purchasing power than Chicago. People here spend money like it is nothing, but have a big home. In Chicago they may have the big home, but I doubt they are doing anything else. They can't afford too. If they are, they are so deep in the red, they are just barely gettting by.

If you are looking to avoid the neighborhood snobs here, you are in for a little let down. The city is very welcoming and much more country like then anything Chicago, BY FAR! But both Bloomington and Champaign, within the last decade, have definetly developed an attitude. Champaign has always had this since so many there have such high degrees of eduaction. But because of the boom that has taken place here, our workforce has thousands of highly educated people, that make very good money. But you will find this anywhere. The towns around Peoria are not much different. I often wonder what would happen if you locked a person from Naperville, and another from Morton in the same room, who would kill each other first.(Morton being one of those towns, where you are the local outcast, if you don't by a new luxury car every year. I mean that too!) You will make friends, but there are 'clicks' in the different pockets of the city. State Farm produces many of these, as well as some of the other employers.

If you decide to go into Chicago when you check out Geneva, clock how many mins it takes you to get downtown. From my doorstep to Chicago it is about 2.5 hours. And that is in no traffic untill you hit the city. I'm sure that some that live in the far western burbs find that it can take them 2 or more hours to reach the city. We might even beat them at times because it is just a straight shot north. Plus you can get more since Indy and SL are close as well.

I have no idea the pay scale for those jobs you listed. My guess is fairly high. It is not hard to find a job in B-N as long as you have a degree, which you do. I'm in the medical profession so I can't really say.

While B-N has not preserved nature as well as Geneva(and I use preserve lighty here) we still have numerous parks and lakes. Trees are everywhere, which may seem strange since we are just sitting in the middle of a corn field.
Parks are plentiful. It seems in all the newer subdivisions that the builders made it so that parks are by the amount of people in the area, not just where people can see them from the main road. In fact, in my subdivision, a small neighborhood water park went up! It is awesome! And several others have been placed all over the city. I completely envy whoever was lucky enough to get them right in their backyards. Be careful when looking to buy a house or townhouse close to a lake though. The housing prices skyrocket! There are also some wooded subdivisions right outside the city limits on the west side of Bloomington. They are very nice and lie around the Jolly Lake Rd. area. While they aren't in Unit 5, many people there just simply pay tuition to send there kids to U High or something.