Anyone moving/moved out of the Chicago area? Where, and are you happier? (Phoenix: lease, home)

[Atlanta_BD]

Originally Posted by Steve-o

Anyone that stays indoors in Chicago for 8 months of the year are candidates for the Biggest Wussies Of The Year Award. Seriously. 3-4 months are cold, the rest are mild to gorgeous.

And a 100-degree day in Phoenix in summer here would be considered "cool", I kid you not.

I never stayed indoors in Chicago in the winter time and I never drove there. I was always out and about having fun in the city even in the dead of winter walking and riding CTA. The winters never stopped me from going shopping, hanging out with friends, going out to eat, going to House parties, going to the museums, nothing.

We'd also always went sledding, not just with kids, but the adults too.

[Casper27]

I have just moved from Chicago to Austin, TX and though I don't regret the move due to family reasons I miss Chicago so much more than I thought I would!

No more late-night food joints (at all ...), late-night bars (everything closes at 2 am down here), no more seasons (fall is a joke, it's just summer-lite here), variety in ethnic neighborhoods, public transit (never thought I'd miss the Red Line!), real ethnic food (darn near everything here is in a taco), individual neighborhoods with their own "central strip" of bars and restaurants (it's all either college or small-town themed), or feeling of living in an actual city (their cityscape in downtown is cute but nothing like a real city).

I do like that everybody is so friendly down here but I don't think that makes up for the oppressively hot and humid summer which evidently lasts 8-10 months. The live music scene is a LOT better though and was thus the deciding factor in choosing Austin over other towns.

I'm giving it two years down here in Austin and will reevaluate...if I survive that long!

[edsg25]

Originally Posted by Steve-o

Anyone that stays indoors in Chicago for 8 months of the year are candidates for the Biggest Wussies Of The Year Award. Seriously. 3-4 months are cold, the rest are mild to gorgeous.

And a 100-degree day in Phoenix in summer here would be considered "cool", I kid you not.

let me add on to the above: in a normal winter, it is easy to get outside on many days without extremely cold temperatures of snow. And that even includes January.

[probablyimnotsure]

Originally Posted by edsg25

let me add on to the above: in a normal winter, it is easy to get outside on many days without extremely cold temperatures of snow. And that even includes January.

So much hyperbole about Chicago winters on these forums.

[ropper111]

Good for you OP...can i come with

[OrangeAndBlue]

Originally Posted by annam726

My family (husband, 2 small kids) and I are seriously considering moving out of Chicago mainly due to weather and cost of living. We are focusing on either Houston (great jobs, weather) or Phoenix (great weather, cheap).Anyone else here who has moved out of Chicago?? If so, where moved to and are you happy with your decision?? My parents and in-laws think we are crazy however I know in my gut that it will be a leap forward and the best thing to do for my kids. Staying indoors for almost 8 months out of the year is making me go crazy! I work as an accountant and my husband works in the construction industry. We have relatives in both cities we are considering who have assured us we will not have problems finding work. Feedback from anyone who has been or is in this situation is greatly appreciated!!

My family and I moved from Chicago (downtown) to Houston (burbs) 3 years ago...

It'd be interesting to know where in Chicago you are now and what kind of area you're looking to move into in the South (city or suburbs). Anyway, few reflections from our move:

Weather: Chicago weather is not unbearable 8 months out of the year... that's a big exaggeration. Down here it is unbearably hot and humid for 4 good months of the year. You and your kids won't be going outside during that either (and it's in the summer while kids are out of school). On the other hand, it's quite common to have a private pool in the backyard (in the burbs) and that makes it a bit more bearable. All in all, I'd say the weather down here is slightly more agreeable on the whole, but it's really not much better. To me personally, I think it was a wash but I was never that bothered by the cold either.

Overall I certainly miss Chicago and the city lifestyle we had there with everything life offered us living downtown. We had planned on staying there perhaps as long as seeing our kids through elementary school but after that would have had to leave due to poor schools and inability to afford private. We moved due a job opportunity that sort of found me....I wasn't actively looking.

The way I would sum it up is that for city living, few places can beat Chicago (weather and all) and the COL is actually pretty good compared to other cities of similar size and character. However, if you're going to be outside of the core city living in the burbs anyway then many other places make a lot of sense. We live in the burbs in Houston and I'd rather be in the burbs down here than in the burbs in Chicagoland...
- lower COL
- many places of employment also in the burbs as Houston is so spread out, so for me the commute is not bad at all
- overall far less congestion which allows us to enjoy the amenities of the city very easily (there is very little traffic outside of rush hour, which means a weekend or even weeknight trip into the city is 20 minutes or less from our fairly distant suburb - compare that with driving into the Loop from Naperville even on a weekend day fighting the congestion on the Ike)
- Houston, while it's super sprawled out and pretty ugly, has all the amenities of a world class city including great restaurants, ethnic "neighborhoods", shopping, theaters, museums, parks, etc. It's really not that far behind Chicago in that regard. You will just be driving everywhere and will spend far more on gas and cars.

[ropper111]

Originally Posted by Casper27

I have just moved from Chicago to Austin, TX and though I don't regret the move due to family reasons I miss Chicago so much more than I thought I would!

No more late-night food joints (at all ...), late-night bars (everything closes at 2 am down here), no more seasons (fall is a joke, it's just summer-lite here), variety in ethnic neighborhoods, public transit (never thought I'd miss the Red Line!), real ethnic food (darn near everything here is in a taco), individual neighborhoods with their own "central strip" of bars and restaurants (it's all either college or small-town themed), or feeling of living in an actual city (their cityscape in downtown is cute but nothing like a real city).

I do like that everybody is so friendly down here but I don't think that makes up for the oppressively hot and humid summer which evidently lasts 8-10 months. The live music scene is a LOT better though and was thus the deciding factor in choosing Austin over other towns.

I'm giving it two years down here in Austin and will reevaluate...if I survive that long!

Austin is awesome, you will grow to love it, wait to the winters

[Kamms]

Originally Posted by Casper27

I have just moved from Chicago to Austin, TX and though I don't regret the move due to family reasons I miss Chicago so much more than I thought I would!

No more late-night food joints (at all ...), late-night bars (everything closes at 2 am down here), no more seasons (fall is a joke, it's just summer-lite here), variety in ethnic neighborhoods, public transit (never thought I'd miss the Red Line!), real ethnic food (darn near everything here is in a taco), individual neighborhoods with their own "central strip" of bars and restaurants (it's all either college or small-town themed), or feeling of living in an actual city (their cityscape in downtown is cute but nothing like a real city).

I do like that everybody is so friendly down here but I don't think that makes up for the oppressively hot and humid summer which evidently lasts 8-10 months. The live music scene is a LOT better though and was thus the deciding factor in choosing Austin over other towns.

I'm giving it two years down here in Austin and will reevaluate...if I survive that long!

What were your expectations regarding Austin? It's much smaller and it's in Texas; what did you expect? I assume you moved there for a job; otherwise why go there knowing there is no red line, its the home of U of TX, its a small town (hence college-dominated), no seasons etc.

Adjust or move back to Chicago.

[Chubsworth]

Austin is no Chicago but I was surprised at how big it is, since everyone talks about it like it's a small college town. It's 900K people, almost 2M metro. It's definitely not like Iowa City or Ann Arbor. It's bigger than SF, Boston, Seattle, Detroit, DC, etc.

[Casper27]

Kamms, the purpose of moving to Texas was to be closer to family while they go trough medical issues, but I needed to be in Austin to pursue playing music full-time (did it part-time in Chicago). Again, I don't regret moving here but five years of living in Chicago spoiled me. It's been quite an adjustment leaving the third-largest city in the US for a giant college town on the verge of becoming a city, but I am looking forward to seeing how the next two years pan out!

Ropper, thanks for the encouragement!