Bloomington Vs Chicagoland (Geneva area) (Naperville, Normal: trip , work, houses)

[Drover]

First of all, the idea that you're going to have quicker access to Chicago from Bloomington than Geneva under any circumstances short of selective catastrophic infrastructural destruction is so laughable that it's not even worth a serious rebuttal. Same goes for most of the troller's post for that matter. But moving on...

Given some of the criteria you're looking for, particularly parks and lakes nearby and houses starting in the 200K range, I would again suggest Madison. The Madison area itself is not wooded, but then neither is the areas around Chicago or Bloomington. (There's a reason why they call this "The Prairie State.") Chicago is, of course, surrounded by a 50-mile ring of suburbs, which are in turn surrounded by corn. Bloomington/Normal mostly dispenses with suburbia and is practically corn-locked. Madison is surrounded by one ring of suburbs, and then it too is surrounded by corn.

However, There are three fairly large lakes within the Madison city limits that are part of a larger chain of at least three more lakes. Also, Madison is about 2 hours from the Northwoods, a large wooded area of the northern Midwest that comprises the upper portions of Wisconsin and Michigan, most of Minnesota, part of North Dakota, and keeps going well into Canada. The Northwoods is also filled to the brim with lakes. Wisconsin by itself has 16,000 lakes. (Here's city-data's map of Oneida County, Wisconsin: http://www.city-data.com/tym/un3089.gif) To call Minnesota "Land of 10,000 Lakes" is quite probably an understatement.

Pretentious snobbery is rather frowned upon in Madison, which conspicuously fancies itself a beacon of enlightened egalitarianism. The rest of Wisconsin doesn't have much use for snobbery either, though it doesn't conscientiously strive for egalitarianism quite the way Madison does.

As for job market in Madison, the unemployment rate is 2.9%. Jobs practically fall in your lap there. If you don't have a job in Madison, either you're in a coma or you're actively dodging employment opportunities.

Madison has its share of chain restaurants, but there is also very active community support for local restaurants, gourmet shops, delis, and the like. And finally, for those cultural trips to the city, Milwaukee is about 75 minutes away, Chicago is just over 2 hours away.

If I understand what you're looking for, I'd recommend putting Madison on your short list. It quite honestly has it all over every other small metro in the Midwest. The only one I can think of that comes close is Ann Arbor MI.

[llama214]

Originally Posted by Drover

First of all, the idea that you're going to have quicker access to Chicago from Bloomington than Geneva under any circumstances short of selective catastrophic infrastructural destruction is so laughable that it's not even worth a serious rebuttal. Same goes for most of the troller's post for that matter. But moving on...

Given some of the criteria you're looking for, particularly parks and lakes nearby and houses starting in the 200K range, I would again suggest Madison. The Madison area itself is not wooded, but then neither is the areas around Chicago or Bloomington. (There's a reason why they call this "The Prairie State.") Chicago is, of course, surrounded by a 50-mile ring of suburbs, which are in turn surrounded by corn. Bloomington/Normal mostly dispenses with suburbia and is practically corn-locked. Madison is surrounded by one ring of suburbs, and then it too is surrounded by corn.

However, There are three fairly large lakes within the Madison city limits that are part of a larger chain of at least three more lakes. Also, Madison is about 2 hours from the Northwoods, a large wooded area of the northern Midwest that comprises the upper portions of Wisconsin and Michigan, most of Minnesota, part of North Dakota, and keeps going well into Canada. The Northwoods is also filled to the brim with lakes. Wisconsin by itself has 16,000 lakes. (Here's city-data's map of Oneida County, Wisconsin: http://www.city-data.com/tym/un3089.gif) To call Minnesota "Land of 10,000 Lakes" is quite probably an understatement.

Pretentious snobbery is rather frowned upon in Madison, which conspicuously fancies itself a beacon of enlightened egalitarianism. The rest of Wisconsin doesn't have much use for snobbery either, though it doesn't conscientiously strive for egalitarianism quite the way Madison does.

As for job market in Madison, the unemployment rate is 2.9%. Jobs practically fall in your lap there. If you don't have a job in Madison, either you're in a coma or you're actively dodging employment opportunities.

Madison has its share of chain restaurants, but there is also very active community support for local restaurants, gourmet shops, delis, and the like. And finally, for those cultural trips to the city, Milwaukee is about 75 minutes away, Chicago is just over 2 hours away.

If I understand what you're looking for, I'd recommend putting Madison on your short list. It quite honestly has it all over every other small metro in the Midwest. The only one I can think of that comes close is Ann Arbor MI.

What's laughable is how much time these suburbinites waste just sitting in traffic. Now sure, on a normal day it wouldnt take that long. But I'm sure if someone from Geneva and someone from B-N left there houses at the same time for Soliders Field, parked at McCormick place, and then walked to the stadium, the approximate time that the people from Geneva would be seated is probably the same time that people from B-N would be parking in McCormick Place. And you can say I'm lieing all you want. It is the truth. My family has been Bears ticket holders for almost a decade now, and the few games I have been to, that is the general conversation in our seating area; how we get to Chicago so fast when we are in central Illinois.

[Drover]

Originally Posted by llama214

What's laughable is how much time these suburbinites waste just sitting in traffic. Now sure, on a normal day it wouldnt take that long. But I'm sure if someone from Geneva and someone from B-N left there houses at the same time for Soliders Field, parked at McCormick place, and then walked to the stadium, the approximate time that the people from Geneva would be seated is probably the same time that people from B-N would be parking in McCormick Place. And you can say I'm lieing all you want. It is the truth. My family has been Bears ticket holders for almost a decade now, and the few games I have been to, that is the general conversation in our seating area; how we get to Chicago so fast when we are in central Illinois.

Right. Sure. When you drive up here, all the traffic the rest of us fight magically clears out of the way, just for you, and then immediately returns to its previous state of congestion for the rest of us.

Clue time: you have to drive an hour and a half just to begin fighting your way into the same traffic someone from Geneva encounters about 20 minutes into their drive. So unless it takes 1.25 hours for someone to walk from the McCormick Place parking lot to the stadium and get a seat, I would politely suggest that you don't have a clue what you're talking about. Now, how's about you go buzz around someone else's ear for a while? kthxbye.

[Paxtonian]

This is probably something you won't believe until you try it, but when I drive from Bloomington OR Paxton to Chicago to visit my family, half the time is taken up in actually getting the edge of the city, and half is taken trying to get through the city to my destination. I'd certain that IF I went from Bloomington to the Loop, I'd stand a good chance of getting there at the same time as someone driving in from Geneva (especially at rush hour).

[Paxtonian]

Make that I'd into an I'm. I really need to proof read these posts better...

[Paxtonian]

As for the job situation in Bloomington-Normal, as I once said in a post, anyone who can't find work there needs to be examined by the coroner.

[Drover]

Originally Posted by Paxtonian

This is probably something you won't believe until you try it...

*Sigh* Look. My parents live in Geneva. My brother and my wife's family live in C-U. I've done both drives a million times, in all kinds of traffic conditions. I'm not buying that it takes the same time to drive to the Loop from Geneva as it does to Paxton, even during rush hour. During rush hour, someone coming in from Geneva has to fight sucky Eisenhower Expressway traffic. Someone coming up from the South suburbs has to fight sucky Dan Ryan Expressway traffic. Someone coming up from the Southwest Suburbs has to fight sucky Stevenson Expressway (I-55) traffic. All of them suck tremendously, though I will grant that of the three, the Dan Ryan sucks the least because it's shortest. During rush hour, that's about a 15 to 20 minute advantage to someone coming up the Dan Ryan from I-57 versus the Ike from I-88. That's simply not enough to overcome the additional 70 miles you have to drive from Paxton versus Geneva. Period. The time gap widens even more during off-peak driving, when I can make it from my parent's place to the Loop in 50 minutes. Go ahead and try that from Paxton.

Nather: sorry to jack your thread...

[Paxtonian]

Have it your way, but if I left this instant, I could be in the Loop in slightly less than two hours, and that's including a brief stop at that I-57 rest area just south of the city. Traffic on the Dan Ryan is usually a bit congested, but it tends to move fast. That's something that can hardly be said of the other expressways.

[Drover]

Originally Posted by Paxtonian

Have it your way, but if I left this instant, I could be in the Loop in slightly less than two hours, and that's including a brief stop at that I-57 rest area just south of the city. Traffic on the Dan Ryan is usually a bit congested, but it tends to move fast. That's something that can hardly be said of the other expressways.

Have it your way, but if I left this instant, I could in Geneva in an hour, including the 10 minutes it takes to get from my place to the loop. I'm sorry. There's just no comparison.

[Steve-o]

The ONLY time it takes 2.5 hours to get from Geneva to Chicago is when its a blizzard or a horrible accident. I go to the United Center frequently and we can get from Geneva/Fox Valley area to Damen in about 45 minutes on good days, a little over an hour on bad days.