Moving To Chicago... Because Chicago? (to live in, gym, stats)

[ForYourLungsOnly]

Originally Posted by jasonfieber

Thanks!

Would you say it's common for those who could easily afford a car to voluntarily live without one in the city? If so, why all the cars and parking?

I can easily afford a car and choose not to. Any big city will have many cars parked. Look at NYC, which has the best transit in the country but has cars parked everywhere as well. It just depends on the person. Someone may live one block from a train line and several bus lines and still insist on driving everywhere. The option to live car free in many Chicago neighborhoods is there, but not everyone chooses to take that option.

[chicago0311]

My anecdotal .02

- My wife and I lived together in east lakeview for 3 years. She worked in the city and me the burbs. We rarely used her car and I mainly used mine to drive to work.

- Most people in lakeview use public transit as their main form of transportation

- My wife would take the bus to work in the loop and it was very convenient and reliable for her. We would mostly walk for everything else - groceries, eating out, bars, home depot, gym, pharmacy etc were mostly within a couple blocks

- You are right - getting from the northside to wicker park, bucktown, logan square are a huge hassle. You can do it within maybe an hour on PT but in the rare occasion I went there it would usually be uber or I'd bust out the car and park at a meter. However, living on the north side I never felt much need to go there. There is a TON to do in lakeview, lincoln park and they are huge. This is where I spent most of my time. I'd venture outside of those 2 neighborhoods other than going to work in the burbs maybe once a week.

- Transit was sometimes frustrating when I wanted to go from east lakeview to southern parts of lincoln park. Say 2 miles away. I'd have to walk half a mile to the EL and then half a mile when I got off. Or pull my car off the street in my hard earned spot a few blocks away. Just a lot of effort to get 2 miles away - might as well just walk the whole way or say eff it and uber.

- People are right that the south side neighborhoods probably drag the walkability score - it is a lot different there. But that is irrelevant to you.

- I would recommend living in the neighborhood you are going to work in. Your neighborhood is where you will spend most of your time whether or not you plan on it.

- Kind of surprised you didn't see much foot traffic. In east lakeview there was an almost obnoxious amount of it. As far as seeing cars park in lots and on the streets a lot of these are people coming from the suburbs. It can vary a lot from neighborhood to neighborhood, but I found Chicago to almost be too much for me at times. I doubt you would ever feel it lacks urbanity.

- Overall, public trans will get you where you need to be one way or the other. Some places much more convenient than others. I won't lie though, it can be a huge pain in the ass sometimes. You won't need a car and most people in the northside don't rely on it. But they can come in handy in certain situations.

[OyCrumbler]

One thing to note is that buses are a lot more usable for novices to any particular route because of google maps and real time gps bus trackers on Chicago buses.

[chet everett]

Years ago there were more bus routes that made it possible for folks to get to jobs that were in locations other than the Loop. As those employers have been thinned out the remaining work locations have pretty much been forced to rely on workers who can drive and they provide parking that is also used by customers -- shifts in what used to be "industrial corridors" have fostered suburban style retail strip malls...

If these things repulse the OP then Chicago is not for them. Fact is tens of thousands of kids who went to colleges throughout the Midwest are totally fine with this and the "absence" of one hardcore car hater is not going to be noticed...

[ncls12]

How people who actually live here and get around isn't as "all or nothing" as you seem to be making it out to be. You also seem concerned about this socioeconomic/class issue regarding who uses the CTA. Hopefully my anecdotal experience will be helpful.

I live in the North Center/Lincoln Square area with my family -late 40s, spouse, two kids, two dogs, one car. Spouse and I both work in the Loop and either take the CTA or bike to work. Kids walk 2.5 blocks to neighborhood CPS school. We do much of our shopping/eating out/errand running on foot in the neighborhood, in surrounding neighborhoods, or along State St. near our offices downtown. We use our car for things when it is most efficient and logical to do so - weekend trips, husband uses it for work related things in other parts of Illinois about 2x/month, larger errands or big grocery runs, visiting friends in suburbs, and sometimes in other neighborhoods. Car stays put in our garage most days of the week.

Most families similar in size to ours in our neighborhood have one car. Families with one kid usually have no car or one car. I would say more than half of the single people I know who live on the north side or downtown don't have a car. Many of us bike to get around to varying degrees. We carpool with neighbors, for example, when it makes sense to pile a bunch of kids into one car and get them somewhere outside of the immediate neighborhood quickly. Sometimes we all take the CTA together. Or Uber. It just depends on the circumstances.

As far as the car thing being tied to income, it's very hard to find a SFH house in our hood under $1M, with new construction going for 1.3-1.4M these days. A lot of our friends without cars are similarly situated financially and live in similar neighborhoods price wise, but choose not to have a car or only one to meet the needs of a household of 4-5 people. So money isn't keeping people from owning a car or an additional car.

As some others have mentioned, many of the people you see driving around the city don't actually live here. There are also definitely people who do in fact like to drive everywhere, even if it means sitting in brutal traffic. At least in my circles, people who drive at all costs may elicit occasional eyerolls, but those who are car free really don't. I avoid driving as much as possible, but there are times when it is simply more efficient to do so.

[sstsunami55]

Originally Posted by ForYourLungsOnly

I can easily afford a car and choose not to. Any big city will have many cars parked. Look at NYC, which has the best transit in the country but has cars parked everywhere as well. It just depends on the person. Someone may live one block from a train line and several bus lines and still insist on driving everywhere. The option to live car free in many Chicago neighborhoods is there, but not everyone chooses to take that option.

The reason you see cars everywhere is NYC is that there isn't as much space for cars as there is in other places so that space fills up really easily. It's supply and demand. Supply is much lower there.

[IrishIllini]

Originally Posted by sstsunami55

The reason you see cars everywhere is NYC is that there isn't as much space for cars as there is in other places so that space fills up really easily. It's supply and demand. Supply is much lower there.

As a percentage, yes. In raw numbers? No. 50 percent of New Yorkers own a car. The percentage of Chicagoans who own a car is like 80 percent, but there are more cars (in raw numbers) in NYC than Chicago.

[sstsunami55]

Originally Posted by IrishIllini

As a percentage, yes. In raw numbers? No. 50 percent of New Yorkers own a car. The percentage of Chicagoans who own a car is like 80 percent, but there are more cars (in raw numbers) in NYC than Chicago.

I understand that. All I'm saying is that sure there are more cars in NYC but the proportion of cars to the amount of road space is higher than it is in Chicago.

[Vlajos]

Originally Posted by sstsunami55

I understand that. All I'm saying is that sure there are more cars in NYC but the proportion of cars to the amount of road space is higher than it is in Chicago.

Thanks for clearing that up. I was getting confused

[jasonfieber]

Originally Posted by ncls12

How people who actually live here and get around isn't as "all or nothing" as you seem to be making it out to be. You also seem concerned about this socioeconomic/class issue regarding who uses the CTA. Hopefully my anecdotal experience will be helpful.

I live in the North Center/Lincoln Square area with my family -late 40s, spouse, two kids, two dogs, one car. Spouse and I both work in the Loop and either take the CTA or bike to work. Kids walk 2.5 blocks to neighborhood CPS school. We do much of our shopping/eating out/errand running on foot in the neighborhood, in surrounding neighborhoods, or along State St. near our offices downtown. We use our car for things when it is most efficient and logical to do so - weekend trips, husband uses it for work related things in other parts of Illinois about 2x/month, larger errands or big grocery runs, visiting friends in suburbs, and sometimes in other neighborhoods. Car stays put in our garage most days of the week.

Most families similar in size to ours in our neighborhood have one car. Families with one kid usually have no car or one car. I would say more than half of the single people I know who live on the north side or downtown don't have a car. Many of us bike to get around to varying degrees. We carpool with neighbors, for example, when it makes sense to pile a bunch of kids into one car and get them somewhere outside of the immediate neighborhood quickly. Sometimes we all take the CTA together. Or Uber. It just depends on the circumstances.

As far as the car thing being tied to income, it's very hard to find a SFH house in our hood under $1M, with new construction going for 1.3-1.4M these days. A lot of our friends without cars are similarly situated financially and live in similar neighborhoods price wise, but choose not to have a car or only one to meet the needs of a household of 4-5 people. So money isn't keeping people from owning a car or an additional car.

As some others have mentioned, many of the people you see driving around the city don't actually live here. There are also definitely people who do in fact like to drive everywhere, even if it means sitting in brutal traffic. At least in my circles, people who drive at all costs may elicit occasional eyerolls, but those who are car free really don't. I avoid driving as much as possible, but there are times when it is simply more efficient to do so.

Thanks for your anecdotal experience. It's indeed helpful.

I think your experience is fairly common, meaning a lot of Chicagoans will use the L to get to/from the Loop from a N/NW neighborhood, but then also own/use a car for various other errands. That's what I've said a few times now. It's more of a "car-lite" lifestyle than a "car-free" lifestyle for a lot of people there, apparently. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with that. But just like one has a choice to prefer a car-lite lifestyle (or even a car-heavy lifestyle), one can prefer a car-free lifestyle. Regardless, people tend to like living around/near others who are like-minded in various ways.

Regarding the socioeconomic factors, it's not that I'm particularly concerned about that. Chicago is a bit different than most cities in that its public transit users don't earn significantly less than earners across the entire city. In many places, public transit users make much less money than the average worker in their respective city. I was rather expressing my desire to not live in another place where there's any type of stigma around car-free life, although I would *also* (if possible) like to be around other people who choose to be car-free for reasons other than utilitarian purposes.