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I lived in Chicago for a few years after finishing my undergrad. It's a great place to meet people, especially if you're single. You can avoid the Ann Taylor crowd easily if you don't shop on Michigan Avenue too often. I worked for an ad agency that was located on the magnificent mile and was always on the go,go,go. But it got boring after a while and is an expensive place to live. If you have family there, go for it as family are a great resource of support.
I'm considering moving again myself. I no longer live in Chicago, but am thinking of moving to the small town where I spent my childhood, where I still have family. I am in the last semester of a graduate program that I may not be able to complete due to some circumstances, so if I do move, it will be with the spring refund I get this semester. I may end up living with a relative for a few months while I job search and get acclimated again. But I'm so miserable where I currently live, that I think a location change will do me good. As the saying goes, "you only live once." Might as well live for today.
I'm 63 and we just moved to the middle of the county. No family, no friends waiting for us - except those I met and chatted with online. It's not the first place either of us moved knowing no one. Life's an adventure. If you don't like where you wind up, then move again. We aren't trees with huge giant roots underground. Pack up and move.
Sounds easy? Nope, it isn't. I lived mostly in the northeast prior to this: NJ, RI, NY, and now TN. It's different and invigorating in its differentness. Do I miss some things about the northeast? YUP, I do; but I love many things about here. It's only been 3 months but we're comfortable here.
Go, do. Get out, make friends, love what is unique about Chicago. If it turns out not to be what you want long-term, you can plan to eventually move. You're not rooted. Take advantage of whatever is where you are to learn and experience. Life is an adventure - and it doesn't have to stop just because you are comfortable somewhere. Live.
I have lived in DC for 5 years. I love my apartment and the neighborhood that I live in and it took me three years to find the best spot for me in town. I have a good, secure job at a well respected organization and get to do work I like, I have a great relationship with my boss.
I am considering moving to Chicago (with a job offer). My brother lives there and when I visited him, I fell in love with the city and my gut told me that it was where I belonged. What I have now is good but I know that I don't want to build my roots in DC. There are things that I don't like about it (the career obsessed, Ann Taylor wearing crowd, high cost of living and the transient nature of the place. I am drawn to Chicago because of the down-to-earth vibe of the people, the lower cost of living, and the grander scale of the city (also, the lakes!). Although I think I will miss the beauty of DC compared to the brown-ness of Chicago. I will also add that DC has the highest proportion of women to men in the entire 50 states, so I'm hoping to move somewhere where the odds of meeting a romantic partner are a little more in my favor.
Most of my good friends have moved away at this point and it's either make all new friends here or in Chicago. I am at times incredibly excited about living in Chicago and getting to explore a new place all over again, but then I am overwhelmed with anxiety about leaving what I have here for an unknown new reality and having to establish myself all over again.
So I ask you, would you leave something good for something new and potentially amazing even though there's no guarantee that you'll like it better?
Yes! you already have your answer above. Anxiety? translates to fear. You're single, you have a future, and you owe it to yourself to try. Don't wait for a guarantee, there are no guarantees. (Let us know, we wish you the best.)
I think you should go for it. I'm kind of in the same boat. I have a good stable life in CO...good job, good apartment, lots of friends I enjoy spending time with...BUT...I've actually been thinking of DC. I miss my family and the east coast in general and I'm afraid if I meet someone out here then I'll never have the opportunity to go back.
I think it's better sometimes to just go for it (assuming it doesn't leave you homeless or anything extreme) instead of wondering what if. If you stay in DC then you'll always wonder what if you had gone to Chicago. If you go to Chicago and you miss DC then you can always go back and you won't have to wonder what if you had gone somewhere else when you had the chance. Good luck!
It's a great job but when I decided to move to Chicago, I planned to leave around August so that I would have one more summer here in DC to say goodbye. I guess it's happening faster than I had prepared myself to leave and it's making me have second thoughts.
Having second thoughts is a good thing because you want to have those thoughts now so you go through your checklist of the pros and cons. More likely than not, you'll have some second thoughts after you get moved and that is normal too. You need to question the decisions that you make. I over think everything and that is a kind of insanity you probably don't want but I end up with few regrets. Someone says "Have you thought of...............?" And I have!
Having second thoughts is a good thing because you want to have those thoughts now so you go through your checklist of the pros and cons. More likely than not, you'll have some second thoughts after you get moved and that is normal too. You need to question the decisions that you make. I over think everything and that is a kind of insanity you probably don't want but I end up with few regrets. Someone says "Have you thought of...............?" And I have!
I know with my many moves I have had mixed feelings. There is a lot of unknown.
A few thoughts I had one was with the job and in the long term do you feel it will be a better opportunity with money or growth? Will you enjoy it more then the current?
In all the places I lived there has been pro's and con's it is just about weighing the best in the situation you are in which is not going to be perfect.
Will you be able to visit again before you make the final move? If you can maybe going and viewing places to live and getting more of the feel of the area from a living stand point rather then a vacation one can help
Daniella makes a good point. Be sure to investigate what your income from the new job will be able to get you in terms of housing and the distance that you might have to commute to find a home/apartment in your price range. Look at the neighborhoods where you will be able to afford to live and see if this looks like something that will work for you. But I am a big proponent of shaking up the status quo and making the leap now while you are unattached and the move is relatively simple.
I would stay in DC. That is where the money is and with Obama the money will continue to flow. That area of the country is much more interesting that Chicago too.
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I worked for an ad agency that was located on the magnificent mile and was always on the go,go,go. But it got boring after a while and is an expensive place to live. If you have family there, go for it as family are a great resource of support. 
Anxiety? translates to fear. You're single, you have a future, and you owe it to yourself to try. Don't wait for a guarantee, there are no guarantees. (Let us know, we wish you the best.)
