Thinking about Chicago, specific info- (Oregon, Fulton: real estate, property taxes, house)

[studioiduts]

I moved from Atlanta 1 1/2 years ago to Portland, Or. I spent about a year off and on going out to PDX looking for live/wok space and checking out Oregon. After moving here, I feel like I just can't stand the people out here or the business climate. I've always thought people from the west coast were kinda fake. I don't know why I even considered moving out here. (Yes I do, it was because I liked Portland's summers, the land and wanted to be close to my food supply) But, when you can't connect with people and feel totally alone even in a group of people, it's a signal I think. The people out here are liberal zealots not in touch with reality (Socialists). The local gov. is also tax happy. No sales tax, cheap to incorporate, but they get you in other ways. Transit is c**p, except busses, in which case, why bother unless you HAVE to.

The real estate out here in no way reflects what you get out of the city. The cost here is now on par with SF and Seattle. I just got messed over on my lease because the building got sold with no notice. They are jacking my rent up $500 more a month and haven't fixed any roof leaks or other broken things that are their responsibility. I decided to get out.

On my list of places to move before getting out of ATL, was Chicago. I went there once to do some work. I did some A/V and home automation work for one of the Chicago Bears, contracting with a guy in Atlanta. I went out a couple nights. It was in the fall. Weather was alright. People in the bars were all cool and approachable. I remember the bars being extremely loud for some reason, but I had a good time and some great food. Went to a place over on North Ave. I think. I wanna say that it was a place Ministry used to play, but not sure.

I was raised in NE New England about half my life and about the other half in the Deep South (unfortunately). I've always got along great with people in NY when I'm there and people from the midwest. Boston, is another story. Anyway, I prefer people who say what they mean instead of some fake smile or passive aggressive attitude. I think Chicago fits that (the "say what ya mean" part). Here's what I'm looking to do and where and what I have:

• Open an audio production studio (recording, foley, sound for picture, sound design, web content, audio books, forensics) - content creation on sight and room rental with equipment

• Move into a warehouse : mostly or all clear span, high ceilings, some natural light, preferably not with other tenants-but-if so, with working artists or professionals-not ravers,hipsters or tweakers. I have to build out anywhere I go for pro rooms.The space needs to be 4000 sq. ft or bigger. It would be live work. Either a roommate or another artist would sublet some of the space. Looking for maybe a graphic designer or video guy. Maybe photographer.

• Move into the inner west side. I'm not set in stone on this. Right now on Craigslist, most of the spaces I have seen are between the edge of East Garfield and the Uke, above Fulton. I have seen stuff around WP, but most is over $1 a sq. ft. I need between .40 and about .80, depending on where at and amenities. Looking off Google Maps, there are some studios around there, and there is a Mastering House a block down from one place I am looking at. It looks like the area could become a music row, like Nashville.

• I already have over $500k in gear. I got about $100k in the bank plus another 60k to 100k of assets(cars) soon to be liquidated into cash. So I have some funds. I would build everything myself, or contract people for additional help for some things. Need a good long term lease that is flexible for me to build what I need. I need to be in a somewhat decent area. That is a somewhat relative term.

• I need to be close to parks for walking my dogs. I got 2 Akita/Pit mixes that I walk 3 times a day for about 1.5 to 2 miles. I walk around 10AM, 6PM and around 2-3AM.

• I preferably need a roll up grade door for cars. I have 2 mustangs that need to be restored and liquidated. I have one Opel Gt and 1 Jeep Cherokee for personal use. The mustangs could be sold before the move if absolutely necessary, but I would take a loss. I would prefer to profit. If I am in a bad area, I need garage space for clients cars anyways so they won't get stolen or vandalized. I also have a 24 foot truck to move everything that would be sold later.

• I would like to be close to transit. One place I am looking at is over off W. Carrol near Kedzie station. Not the greatest area, but there is stuff coming in there. It's also near WP and Bucktown.

I'm curious as to how bad the crime is out there. I lived in lofts in downtown ATL on E. Marrietta, Inman Park and south of Turner Field in what people thought was somewhat rough. Didn't encounter anything I couldn't handle. Plenty of drug dealers, prostitutes, homeless and drunks. I still walked my dogs at 4AM through the broken sidewalks and skittering roaches. People would call that the hood in the city. Although I would call Bankhead HWY near MLK the hood. Also Fulton Industrial. If anyone from Atlanta can chime in on a comparison of crime in Chicago vs. ATL would be nice. Especially between years 95 and 2k in ATL. Everyone talks about crime in every city I go to. I just seem to never have a problem. I would like to keep it that way. I'm 5'9", about 175, stocky, some tattoos, shaved head, dress in black, into the metal/industrial scene if that gives you a clue. Am I gonna have a problem getting mugged or shot at night with 2 big dogs. I don't know how militant gang activity is there. Or how the racial tension compares to ATL. Or LA even.

If anyone works in audio, it would be nice to know how things are going in that field in Chicago. Is it over-saturated? Lot's of places closing? Is the music scene still strong. Is the arts scene still strong? Are people able to make money there where it will be spread around to other people in the field.

How polluted is Lake Michigan? Can you actually get in the water in the downtown area or is it risking your life? Is it clean up towards north Michigan, like Muskegon? I'd like to take my dogs up on the north beaches in the dune area. Also, are Humbolt and Garfield parks clean? Is the water their free of e.coli contamination?

How bad would the winters affect my dogs. They love cold and snow. But they have never been in below zero I don't think. They are part Akita. Anyone gone through that transition from the west coast with pets?

Is it hard to get local organic vegetables? I already sourced out some meat on a farm out west of Chicago. Supposedly North Michigan has some really fertile land and good fruits?

What are the gotcha fees I need to know about. Such as, forming an LLC, car fees, taxes (I'd be leasing not buying), etc. I know the local gov. is corrupt(they all are). Is it livable? (I know, over 3 million living there...)

- This is getting long, so I'll wrap up. Can't think of anything else right now. I can only afford to move one more time with what I have. Just hoping I can find the city that works for me. I can deal with weather if the city has great people. I really need a productive environment.

Thanks

[Drover]

Well I can't answer all of your questions but I'll tackle the ones I can:

Akitas are well suited for cold climates. Dogs' coats tend to adjust with weather, up to a certain point -- obviously a malamute will do better here in winter than a chihuahua. If your dogs find it too cold for their liking, you can always get dog jackets. (Yes, they really exist.)

Chicagoans are not passive-aggressive. If we don't like you, you'll know it.

When you say how is crime "out there" you'll need to be more specific. You have mentioned a lot of places and the severity of the crime varies from one to the other. I can say this much, crime in East Garfield Park is fairly high. It's not completely out of control and there are considerably worse neighborhoods around here, but it's worth keeping an eye on your surroundings. It's also the kind of place where getting $500K worth of equipment stolen seems fairly likely. I'd get a rockin' security system.

You can swim in the lake on most days in the summer (too cold to swim in about 8 or 9 months a year), but there are periodic beach closings due to a high bacterial count. Pollution is less of a problem the further you get from the Milwaukee/Chicago/Gary corridor along the lake.

Getting local organic produce takes work. You won't find farmer's markets on every corner selling the stuff, though they are scattered here and there. They are also quite seasonal around here for obvious climate-related reasons. You may have to settle for Whole Foods or Wild Oats during the off-season.

Humboldt Park and Garfield Park are generally clean, though Garfield Park often has some seedy-type folks hanging out. I certainly wouldn't walk my dogs in either park at 3AM. I have no idea about the water quality in either park -- they're not exactly swimming destinations. Given the number of geese that settle into various green spaces all over the midwest in the summer, I wouldn't count on nice, e.coli-free waters in either park.

If you thought the taxes in Oregon sucked, brace yourself. The sales tax in Chicago is 10.25%, property taxes aren't exactly cheap, income tax is not too bad (flat 3%), but the city always manages to find a million ways to ding you. And owning a car is one of them. The city hates your car and they will make you pay for owning one. First, that sales tax will apply to your car payments -- each lease payment will have a 10-plus percent surcharge. Second, each car pays an annual city "wheel tax" of $75. But that's only if it's registered. If it's sitting in your garage being restored, don't worry about it. And that's on top of the $78 annual license plate fee to the state of Illinois. Third, they find a million ways to issue parking tickets, many of which have nothing to do with the manner in which you've parked. And the fines are positively confiscatory: the city generates 150 million dollars a year in revenue from parking tickets. That's almost 5% of the city's budget. So their ticketing efforts aren't merely to maintain orderly traffic flow and what-not. There is major financial motivation behind it too.

Here's my latest parking ticket: Failure to move my car for street cleaning. They have irregular street-cleaning schedules, so when they want to do street cleaning, they go around and tie temporary signs to wherever they can tie them. The first problem is, most of the time they don't even give 24 hour's notice. Sign goes up on Monday afternoon to move your car by Tuesday morning. The second problem I encountered is, these temporary signs all used to be orange. But for some reason they have now changed them to all sorts of colors. The sign on my street -- the only sign they put up on my entire block, by the way -- was green. And they attached it to a lamp post which was painted -- you guessed it -- green. How the hell I was supposed to see that sign some 40 feet from where I parked in the dark of night, I'll never know. What I do know is that an administrative hearing officer won't care so I won't bother to contest it. Moral of the story is, if you have off-street parking for your car, use it at all times.

[studioiduts]

The car fees don't sound that oppressive. The tickets, yes. Atlanta had some pretty heavy fees and their courts were definitely good ol boy systems. Ideally, I would only be parking on the street when I'm out and about, like at a bar. Or getting groceries or something. I try to spend a lot of time in the studio and if I find the right wear-house, the cars would be inside. My mustangs are to be sold when done, if not sooner. That's just become an ongoing problem. I could also store them in Indiana. Wonder if Illinois has the vintage car tag policies like other cities. Things sometimes run cheaper. I'm not into having road salt destroy my vehicles either, so I wouldn't drive much in winter. Definately not the Opel.

I'm not worried about swimming that much, just my dogs going in the water. I have one dog that loves going in the water and another that sometimes will drink pooled water. Even the ocean at times. I watch-out for that stuff because you really don't know what's in it nowadays. In Georgia there was always the mosquito problems from water and they used to spray all the time. I always have that on the back of my mind. I heard Lake Michigan has a lot of heavy metals and amonia in it. That was kinda my concern. I have seen the doggie jackets. I was thinking of getting some to keep the rain off the dogs out here so they don't destroy the house.

The local food would be one of the things I think I would miss from the PNW. Especially Alaskan seafood.

I used to do security and automation, so I know how to deal with it. The main thing is not having a gun in my face when I walk out the door or off the train. I wouldn't be advertizing on the building "Please Come Steal My Gear". Studio tours are by appointment and with ID. No physical studio address would be advertised, just drop box. At the very least, keep a 9 milli under the mixing console just in case. Stuffs hard to steal though unless the place is vacant for days on end. It's heavy and bolted down. It would take a big truck and a bunch of guys to take it out.

[Drover]

Keep in mind that possessing a 9mm or any other handgun in Chicago is illegal without a permit, which they stopped issuing in 1983.

[studioiduts]

So no transferring of firearms from other states?

[Drover]

Not handguns anyway. Long-barrel guns are legal and don't require a permit, but they must be registered with the city. These are city-specific ordinances; many suburbs allow handgun ownership and many don't require registration of long-barrel firearms. As for statewide laws, you are required to obtain a Firearm Owner Identification Card to possess any type of firearm or to purchase ammunition. Or you can do what I do and tell the state to mind its own f$*king business, ignore the FOID card requirement and buy ammo in Wisconsin or Indiana.

[studioiduts]

No s**t ,right. Out of the 50, New Hampshire is about the only one who got it right.

[miserylovesco.]

My roommate is a designer for high end A/V company that does millionaires homes and hotels in the city.

I could get you in contact with him if you're interested.

Also, what you're looking for is most suited for the Wicker Park area BUT, the whole million car thing is going to be a pain in the ass. Space here is prime so, you're going to be paying a price to store those Mustangs.

Also, the sales tax here is killer, it's the highest in the nation.

[studioiduts]

Sales tax doesn't effect me that much except for food. In most states the food tax is lower than sales. I buy most things I need off the web or used. Honestly, I buy clothes not that often and usually thrift. I get leather jackets off ebay. I buy most my gear off ebay, but I have almost everything I need. Might buy coffee beans there or just mail order from Stumptown in PDX. Groceries, occasional oil changes, utilities and bar tabs. That's my expenses. I got no debt. And I find stuff cheap on the web no matter where I'm at. I don't buy retail.

As far as your A/V friend, sure you can pass my interest along. I'm in a different field now though. I'm doing music not residential/commercial A/V or sound reinforcement. I'm straight up sound recording/design with some emphasis going on new distribution and live video. I used to do what he did, a long time ago. That's going to be hard in the recession unless he does corporate accounts tied with support. It wiped a lot of people out in Atlanta when home building crashed and no one could build home theaters in their McMansions anymore.

[CarolinaBredChicagoan]

Food is taxed at 2%. I, like you, rarely buy a lot of non-grocery stuff. I generally buy my big ticket items elsewhere unless I get a great deal. To be honest, the extra sales tax really doesn't sting as badly as it could.