Chicago, Portland, Or Austin. (Elgin, Oak Brook: leases, credit card, month-to-month)

[andys06]

So, I want to start this thread stating I also posted this alike in Portland, but with some of the negative comments about movie to Portland i was wondering how people felt about this with Chicago and Austin.

I am 24 years old, finding myself without a job, and not a lot of leads in my area of Ohio. no college education, but 7 years of work experience in customer service (so crappy jobs don't bother me) I've finally decided that i want to move to a bigger city, a new area. None of my family really lives around here, and I don't have a lot of strong roots.

I have a car that I am currently selling on Craigslist, and will have about $1500-$2500 to move come March 1st. I've been scouring the roommate wanted section of Craigslist, and find a lot of month-to-month leases.

Am i crazy to think that I can find a roommate on Craigslist, with at least two months rent up front, and money to live such as bus pass, toliteries etc? And then be able to find work( retail) within those two months to start a life in Chicago? I personally would love information from someone who has done this, or someone who lives in Chicago?

[Jandur]

You can keep yourself afloat with $2500 for a while depending on where you live. You can probably find a place with roommates for $500/mo or so. The lower end of the number you mentioned would scare me though. It might take a while to find a job.

[SmartGXL]

I moved to here (Chicago) from Dayton, Ohio in 1998, but I did have a job lined up for me.

I think Chicago has a bigger job market, but it is VERY competitive here (as it is in Austin). I know that there are a lot of call center jobs being created in Austin.

Do you have any call center work experience? There is a large credit card call center in Elgin IL (40 miles NW of Chicago) that always seems to be hiring, if you have experience. And they often hire 18 year olds with no job experience (but the pay is pretty low).

[jds62f]

I would advise lining up a job before you move, if possible.

[SmartGXL]

Also...I would recommend that you focus on acquiring a marketable skill set...by either going to college, or going to a vocational school...the market is very tough nationwide and there really is no city that you can move to that will offer any livable wage to anyone without an education beyond high school...although there are plenty of customer service jobs in Chicago that pay minimum wage while you focus on acquiring that skill set...and you can ditch the car here and live with roommates to help split the bills.

[SmartGXL]

I forgot to add, that the one advantage that Chicago offers, is that you can live here with no car...this is a huge cost saver.

About Austin, I know a lot of people are moving there. My brother left Dayton and moved there several years ago. It is a really cool place, but in many respects, it is just a very warm sunny version of Dayton...it is a typical north american city, with a central downtown, several bar/nightlife districts, but not much else to the city, and has several suburbs. It is cool, but is slightly over-rated and is actually VERY EXPENSIVE to live there, actually more expense than Chicago, in many ways. There is a healthy job market there, but ONLY for people who have job experience AND degrees (engineering and Computer Science degrees). A couple years ago, I was there and met 2 people (guy and his girlfriend) in a goth bar there downtown who moved there from Cleveland. They both had liberal arts degrees, and moved there on a whim after hearing about "how good it was". But when they got there, found that the market for people with B.A. degrees is slim to none. The guy was still unemployed, but the girlfriend was really excited that she had just found a job...I asked her where she is going to be working, she told me, "Macy's jewelry counter! I'm so excited!!". So take that for what you will!!

[andys06]

Thanks everyone for the positive comments! Definitely more positive than the comments from the Portland forum! I agree on getting educated! But, I think I need to be more settled into an area before I do that, and as I get older Dayton, Ohio is definitely not it!

I definitely had the finding roommates idea in mind, I actually think for at least the first year i'd rather live with someone else. Just out of curiosity, what are some low priced neighbor hoods close to public transportation? Are retail shopping malls, areas like that in one area or spread out? Thanks in advance!

[jsk1983]

Originally Posted by andys06

Thanks everyone for the positive comments! Definitely more positive than the comments from the Portland forum! I agree on getting educated! But, I think I need to be more settled into an area before I do that, and as I get older Dayton, Ohio is definitely not it!

I definitely had the finding roommates idea in mind, I actually think for at least the first year i'd rather live with someone else. Just out of curiosity, what are some low priced neighbor hoods close to public transportation? Are retail shopping malls, areas like that in one area or spread out? Thanks in advance!

Rogers Park, Edgewater, Humboldt Park, Logan Square, Avondale, Pilsen, Bridgeport...

[soulful]

andys06. Regarding retail shopping, it is scattered all over the place. Many neighborhoods have various strip malls. North Michigan Avenue and State Street have a lot of the large department stores. Oak Street has many chic boutiques.

There are various large malls in the suburbs. Some of these are Woodfield, Old Orchard, Oak Brook. There are many others and some smaller facilities.

[Irishtom29]

Portland Maine or Portland Oregon? Portland Maine is a very nice town.