Trib editorial on families leaving Chicago (Cicero, Phoenix: taxes, live, restaurants)

[KRAMERCAT]

Originally Posted by nearnorth

You forgot conservative and boring.

Have you ever been to Az?

[KRAMERCAT]

Originally Posted by Aleking

Arizona is a great place for like minded upper-middle class white people who enjoy the heat.

Have you ever been to Az?

[Vlajos]

Originally Posted by KRAMERCAT

Have you ever been to Az?

I have, it's like hell on earth.

[Attrill]

Arizona in summer is absolutely hell on earth. And for me the Scottsdale/Phoenix area has a small smattering of stuff that is kind of interesting, but overall there's a hell of a lot of people, traffic, and ultimately very little going on. Tucson is a bit better, and some of the rural areas can be interesting if you have some offroad vehicles and weapons. Otherwise they are just plain awful.

[MichiVegas]

Originally Posted by Attrill

Yep. And there are also other costs you'd incur, like having to have two reliable cars, that also add to expenses.

Well that's true in the city too. Anyone considering Wilmette isn't going to be taking the bus around Chicago with the kiddies.

People upper middle class and higher in the city proper have reserved parking spaces and generally use cars for their daily needs. One possible exception is work commuting, if they work downtown.

As for Arizona, not my cup of tea, but obviously many people like it. Most people prefer sunshine and heat over grey skies and subzero temps.

[Chi-town Native]

Originally Posted by MichiVegas

Well that's true in the city too. Anyone considering Wilmette isn't going to be taking the bus around Chicago with the kiddies.

People upper middle class and higher in the city proper have reserved parking spaces and generally use cars for their daily needs. One possible exception is work commuting, if they work downtown.

As for Arizona, not my cup of tea, but obviously many people like it. Most people prefer sunshine and heat over grey skies and subzero temps.

Wait until the water supply slows to a trickle. What I really hate on principle is someone who moves to the desert and then wants to have (and water) a $@;(/?! lawn.

[nearnorth]

Originally Posted by KRAMERCAT

Have you ever been to Az?

Yes. Have you?

[nearnorth]

Originally Posted by Attrill

And for me the Scottsdale/Phoenix area has a small smattering of stuff that is kind of interesting, but overall there's a hell of a lot of people, traffic, and ultimately very little going on.

It's the worst kind of hellish, bland, sun-belt sprawl, right up there with Houston. Edward Abbey had it right when he called Phoenix "the blob that swallowed Arizona."

Flagstaff is nice to visit, but I think I'd get bored living there when I wasn't doing outdoor rec stuff.

[Attrill]

Originally Posted by MichiVegas

Well that's true in the city too. Anyone considering Wilmette isn't going to be taking the bus around Chicago with the kiddies.

People upper middle class and higher in the city proper have reserved parking spaces and generally use cars for their daily needs. One possible exception is work commuting, if they work downtown.

That's not true at all. My wife and I are solidly upper middle class with one car, but there is no way in the world we could get by with just one car in Wilmette. We would definitely need one for each of us. That easily means another $400-600 each month. We also don't have any reserved spaces, we have a 2 car garage behind our SFH in Logan Square. And yes we do take our kid on the bus at least 2 or 3 times a week (and much more when it isn't as cold as it is now). We have friends that are easily making over $400-500,000/year who are doing the same thing. They just bought similar properties in Wicker Park or Bucktown instead of Logan.

We considered all of the old streetcar suburbs, including Wilmette, but the cost was pretty high for what we'd get. It also meant each of us would lose an hour every day in additional commuting time, which also means additional childcare costs. It also meant living a much more isolated lifestyle than we'd like to live.

[chet everett]

Pretty funny that a two car garage behind a SFH is not considered by some to be "reserved space" -- in my mind the two are functionally equivalent. Also amusing to see the assumption that towns with excellent Metra service would not actually reduce one's commute time and abundant day care would necessarily be higher, not found that to be the case at all. And of course equally groundless assumption that things are somehow more "isolated"...