Is it feasible to live in Chicago and work in Farmington Hills, MI?? (Auburn: how much, lawyers)

[binarybelle]

You also might want to think about how likely you are to form real, lasting friendships/relationships in Chicago if you are not here 80% of the time. It might be a lonely life if you don't have friendships already established here.

[OrangeAndBlue]

Originally Posted by binarybelle

You also might want to think about how likely you are to form real, lasting friendships/relationships in Chicago if you are not here 80% of the time. It might be a lonely life if you don't have friendships already established here.

Yeah but how much time do you really spend hanging out with your friends during the weekdays anyway? It's probably still a better deal than living in Lakeview and commuting 60-90 minutes each way to work in the far suburbs. Do the people that do that hang out with their friends much during the week (unless their friends are their room mates)? How much time per week do they spend in their cars?

I'll stick to what I said before, if you can afford it give it a try and see if it's something worth doing long term. There are thousands of consultants doing this kind of stuff every week and they have door to door trips of 5 hours or more each week as well (granted they are sitting in an airport / airplane and working and not stuck on the road). I would probably try to stick with subleases during the nice weather times only though and just forget about it in the winter - you can always get a hotel room for the few times you'll want to visit Chicago then and it would most likely be cheaper that way. Yes the driving back and fourth will suck, but for someone young looking to enjoy the city, Chicago > Detroit and the extra $ and time on the road may be worth it.

[dewthedru]

if you're going to travel that far, why not live in toronto? it's a shorter drive and the weather won't affect the drive as much.

[meatpuff]

Feasible? No. Crazy? Yes.

Look, just get a hotel room. Even $800/month will only get you a pretty modest apartment in decent areas of Chicago or the suburbs. If you stay in a hotel in the suburbs for $100/night, for that same $800 you can stay in Chicago 8 weekend nights -- in other words every weekend in February and 4 out of 4.4 weekends every other month -- for the same price. With no lease, no utilities, no vacuuming and no penalty if you decide to go out with your friends in Detorit one weekend.

$100/night won't get you a hotel on N. Michigan Ave., or any other "it" area; but it will get a hotel close to the "it" areas, closer to them than many of us live. If $100/night sounds expensive, remember this is just an expensive lifestyle, period. If you're driving, the AAA says driving a small sedan 15K miles per year costs 43 cents per mile, so this drive will cost you around $230 a week.

[Nicolebaba]

Thanks a lot everyone for the very helpful advice!

Looks like its really time-consuming to commute every week, and chances are that I would be too lazy to really organize all of the driving, flights, etc. Really dont know what to do cause I am a city type like to go out for cultural events, museums, shows, and more importantly, meet people and make friends (luckily a nice boyfriend:-))

Its really a puzzle here cause I am really not sure whether Ann Arbor (found a lot of nice comments about this town on the MI blogs here) would meet my needs as listed above, thats why I am thinking of this crazy commute idea, however, looks like I would not have much time to make friends in either city if I am the whole time on the way:-((

Really dont know.....what other research I should do in this regard to help me make up my mind?

Thanks a million!

[surlycue]

Originally Posted by dewthedru

if you're going to travel that far, why not live in toronto? it's a shorter drive and the weather won't affect the drive as much.

It is the same drive. Neither is realistic.

[mrnickster4]

I don't understand why you are so against living in the city of Detroit? If I could find a full time job there I would jump on it in a heartbeat. Yes Detroit has a rough area, so does Chicago, New York, DC, Miami and Boston. I love downtown Detroit and go as often I can. And fortunately rent/buy is ridiculous cheap. I am talking brand new lofts from $100k. And the market tanked long before the rest of the country (by at least 2 years) so prices have nearly bottomed out. And it always seems like there is some type of fair/show/event on the weekends. Along with professional baseball (summer), there is an nfl team (fall-winter) and a hockey team (fall-spring) in fun areas of the city. And if you want a close sub to the city, Ferndale and Oak Park are absolutely beautiful.

[Avengerfire]

Originally Posted by mrnickster4

I don't understand why you are so against living in the city of Detroit? If I could find a full time job there I would jump on it in a heartbeat. Yes Detroit has a rough area, so does Chicago, New York, DC, Miami and Boston...

lol

[Mister Mappy]

Originally Posted by mrnickster4

I don't understand why you are so against living in the city of Detroit? If I could find a full time job there I would jump on it in a heartbeat. Yes Detroit has a rough area, so does Chicago, New York, DC, Miami and Boston. I love downtown Detroit and go as often I can. And fortunately rent/buy is ridiculous cheap. I am talking brand new lofts from $100k. And the market tanked long before the rest of the country (by at least 2 years) so prices have nearly bottomed out. And it always seems like there is some type of fair/show/event on the weekends. Along with professional baseball (summer), there is an nfl team (fall-winter) and a hockey team (fall-spring) in fun areas of the city. And if you want a close sub to the city, Ferndale and Oak Park are absolutely beautiful.

Yes, but would you live in the city of Detroit? Not one of it's many suburbs where everyone seems to live, but in the city itself?

[jlawrence01]

Originally Posted by Mister Mappy

Yes, but would you live in the city of Detroit? Not one of it's many suburbs where everyone seems to live, but in the city itself?

One reason is that you have to live in the city proper to hold a city job.

Second, in certain enclaves, you can buy 10x the house in the city that you will find in the suburbs.