Can I afford this city?

[Lookout Kid]

Originally Posted by dmp_do

Perhaps I should consider switching to a more equitable specialty. The US needs General Practitioners, is asking for GPs, and I want to be a GP, yet the income of a GP compared to almost any specialty is ridiculously low. The salary is still high when compared outside the field, but I could switch to radiology and at least double my income for doing at least the same amount or less work. I am not asking to be rich. What I want is to live a secure life that allows me to practice my profession without being distracted by money.
It probably sounds like I'm whining, but physician compensation is, in my opinion, completely askew. It's a disappointing situation.

I hear you. A close family member of mine is in Family Practice. It's still a very high-paying job, and he is quite comfortable--but my friends who specialize are certainly making a lot more money. But this family member loves his job, and wouldn't trade it for anything. And you'll always have job security!

[deechee]

No one mentioned Beverly?

[freezintoes]

HI

I hope you made it to chicago I think you can afford it and be happy
go where your heart wants you to go! I understand family responsibilities
Be stable living where your dream is trying to lead you

I went to school in chicago, married a DO, like you, we moved
to michigan, Kids are grown now and guess where they
want to live? Chicago

I miss chicago
your still young if I were you I would start house hunting on the net
then you and wife go look at houses I prefer the north side and
suburbs

There are lots of places for you and your wife to work at too in chicago
check out skokie's housing its not that far from northside of chicago
And there is loyola university also

I use to hang out in skokie with friends while I lived in chicago

Hope things work out well for you and your family

Originally Posted by dmp_do

This is a bit of a theoretical thread.

I am a third year medical student, I'm married, and we have our first child coming in the next few weeks, with a second planned in the next couple of years. I want to move to Chicago after I finish residency, which is at least five years in the future. My wife is supportive of this decision, she loves the city almost as much as I do, although the list of cities she could live in is much larger than my own. I did my undergraduate at DePaul University. I lived on, or very near, campus for the entire experience. I fell in love with Chicago, and have wanted to return since the day I left. So, we both want to move to Chicago, eventually. The trouble is can we afford it?
I'll graduate as a DO (a physician, similar to an MD). She will graduate with a PhD in Art History. I would love to go into family practice. She would love to teach at a university. Our combined student loan debt will be just over $300,000. We expect to net between $150k and $200k combined each year.
We are tired of apartments and condos. By this time we will both be about 35 years old. We need our own house. But can we afford to raise two children (probably 5 and 3 years old), own one car, one house and pay off our student loan debt?
The trick is that houses in the city are very expensive. We've looked at some very nice townhomes, and it looks like our range is $600-800k, if we go down that path. Otherwise, a place in a walkable, safe neighborhood inside the city with decent access to work and schools (such as Lincoln Park) is going to run at least $1,000,000.
Is it possible to do this, or am I dreaming? Will I have to specialize to make this happen?

[coldwine]

Originally Posted by OrangeAndBlue

I know that sounds like a lot of money coming in, but when you do the math on everything, you'll be surprised how little a 10k / month income (after tax) can go in this city

I completely disagree.

The rest of your post discussed optional extras that really weren't applicable, in my opinion. Chicago is the best place in the nation in which to carve a hole and hide with not a lot of money. $10k/month should go very far in Chicago; I certainly did it on my own on significantly less.

The only hole in the plan that I see is the "own a house" option right now. I don't even know if banks would lend to one professional and one (very) hopeful person with a PhD in Art History. You just need to set your sights a bit lower and rent for a while longer. You have significant outstanding (and interest bearing!) debt. Now let's add in the other costs OrangeAndBlue discussed: insurance (which will be a significantly higher sum if you own real property), utilities (which will be next to nothing if you rent), food, transit, etc. Schools will be an issue, because Chicago -- as with many cities in this nation-- has some serious issues with regards to education.

Otherwise... If you can't make it work on $10k/month, then I'm going to accuse you of having a drug problem.

[JoeyPants]

Originally Posted by dmp_do

I do appreciate the comments. So far, my fears have been reaffirmed. I kind of knew all along that we wouldn't be able to do what we wanted on the stated budget or time frame. I think the most likely path will be that we move to a smaller city, like Indianapolis,

As far as branching out from LP, I'm focused on LP because of ignorance really. It's the one location that I know offers what I want. I am totally willing to look at other neighborhoods, but I don't know about those other places. I see posts about crime all over the city, and it makes a little paranoid about where you go. Chicago is a dynamic city that changes from street to street as well as over time. I don't suspect I would be moving back to the city I left ten years ago. I want to be excited about coming home. I don't don't know why, but chicago provides that for me.

Ah, the unintended consequences of neighborhood bashing. What many neighborhood bashers don't realize, I'll refrain from pointing them out. Is that their actions have consequences. Every so and so makes a posts trashing the entire Southside, or so and so neighborhood, they don't realize that they are turning off some people to the ENTIRE city. Many suburbanites and out of towners have preconceived notions of Chicago. More then once I've heard "I wont go into Chcago, it's too dangerous" Posts repeatedly ripping on dozens of Chicago neighborhoods reaffirm these ideas. I understand that certain areas of Chicago are dangerous, but to take delight in repeatedly reminding out of towners of how bad it is does have it's consequences. How does the saying go, bite your nose to spite your face.

[coldwine]

Oh my god, I had no idea how out of date this thread was.