Minneapolis vs Chicago (St. Paul, Rochester, St. Cloud: real estate, home, school)

[cdubs3201]

I personally haven't found cost of living to be more expensive in Chicago. Now I'm only 26, no kids, no major responsibilities, but I think cost of living is relative to the lifestyle.

Example: I live downtown Chicago. I take the CTA train/bus and sometimes cabs to wherever I have to go. I walk a lot of places as well. Just about everything I need is located within walking distance of me. For someone as young as I am, the starting salaries for a lot of entry-level business positions are significantly higher here in Chicago than what I found when I was applying for similar positions in Minneapolis/MN. Anywhere from 5-10k difference in yearly salary.

Also, if I were to be living in Minneapolis or MN, I would need to have a vehicle for day to day operations (going to work, shopping, doing anything). Where as Chicago, I haven't owned a car in 3 years and been fully functional. If I were to own a vehicle, I'd be paying probably close to $2000 a year in insurance, not to mention car payments, repairs, speeding tickets, and gas, and even a parking spot at $100-200 a month. If you add all those up, you're looking at potentially 4-5k a year in car costs. Instead, I pay $75 a month for CTA train and bus service unlimited usage. I pay at most $12 a cab ride if I need to use one.

Maybe prices for commodities and rent are a little higher, but not that much higher really. Rent in Chicago can be manipulated/negotiated pretty well if you can talk to the landlord or are able to get more roommates.

[Clifford63]

Originally Posted by cdubs3201

I personally haven't found cost of living to be more expensive in Chicago. Now I'm only 26, no kids, no major responsibilities, but I think cost of living is relative to the lifestyle.

Example: I live downtown Chicago. I take the CTA train/bus and sometimes cabs to wherever I have to go. I walk a lot of places as well. Just about everything I need is located within walking distance of me. For someone as young as I am, the starting salaries for a lot of entry-level business positions are significantly higher here in Chicago than what I found when I was applying for similar positions in Minneapolis/MN. Anywhere from 5-10k difference in yearly salary.

Also, if I were to be living in Minneapolis or MN, I would need to have a vehicle for day to day operations (going to work, shopping, doing anything). Where as Chicago, I haven't owned a car in 3 years and been fully functional. If I were to own a vehicle, I'd be paying probably close to $2000 a year in insurance, not to mention car payments, repairs, speeding tickets, and gas, and even a parking spot at $100-200 a month. If you add all those up, you're looking at potentially 4-5k a year in car costs. Instead, I pay $75 a month for CTA train and bus service unlimited usage. I pay at most $12 a cab ride if I need to use one.

Maybe prices for commodities and rent are a little higher, but not that much higher really. Rent in Chicago can be manipulated/negotiated pretty well if you can talk to the landlord or are able to get more roommates.

Maybe it makes sense to look at what the poster has for a situation more than your specifics. It was expressed that they are considering Northbrook and they currently have two children. I highly doubt anybody in that situation is looking at entry level jobs or car free living.

Cars are expensive - this is true. 2K a year for insurance. I am paying $900 a year for two cars. I am mid forties with 20 years of engineering experiance, so that probably explains a lot of difference in perspective.

My step son has been in Minneapolis for 8 years. He has never had a drivers license or a car. He works, goes to school full time and gets by fine. He could not do that so easy in the burbs, but people can get by without a vehicle if they want to do that in MN. Probably more people do that in Chicago though.

15% higher cost of living is probably fair if you look at some reference material and more general circumstances than your own. Some jobs will pay more in chicago, some will not. Depends on the individual siutation.

[uptown_urbanist]

I don't drive, never have, and have never had a problem with a carfree life in Minneapolis. My parents own a car but rarely use it; they walk to get everything they need, groceries included. My brother doesn't own a car and gets by just fine. I agree that probably more people go carless in Chicago, but it's certainly a viable choice in Mpls, too. And while I agree with Clifford (unrelated individual circumstances aren't really relevant for this particular post), I did want to add just in general that people with kids do have different concerns - they do need to think about schools, probably need more space (and from personal experience, although not in Chicago) going up from a one-BR to a 2-BR (or more), especially if the occupant or occupants of that second room or third aren't paying, does add up to a significant financial difference that childless people don't think about. A single person, or at least a childless person, deciding between the two cities has fewer factors to consider. I don't know the difference in babysitter or daycare costs, for examle; that can vary widely by location. A family may well decide that the higher costs of living in a more expensive city are worth it, but one of the great things about Minneapolis is that you do get a big (not huge, but big) city that has a lot to offer, especially for its price tag. And as for salary, that also varies by field - in my field it's somewhat similar everywhere, or at least in most cities, so the salaries are the same in Minneapolis as they are in much more expensive cities.

[rcsteiner]

Originally Posted by fashionguy

Minneapolis's downtown is negligible compared to Chicago. They are two completely different cities. Minneapolis is more affordable and has less rough areas. Great place for raising family. Not so great for young people who like a lot of options for everything. Minneapolis is colder than Chicago despite that some people will tell you there's not much difference. I will contribute my opinion that there is much difference. Though probably less windy, Minneapolis is indeed much colder and has longer winter. You can literarily feel that the wind is cutting your face like a blade and your nose is trembling with ice frozen on it from your breathing during some winter days. Yes I mean it. The vapor you breathe out immediately freeze to ice on your nose. You can cover other parts of the body but there is really not much you can do about the face. Since you have kids, I think you should consider Minneapolis, or suburban Chicago. I recommend suburan Chicago.

Your breath doesn't freeze on your nose. Heck, it took me a long time even on the coldest days to get a nice ice covering on my beard so I could impress my wife with my "explorer" look.

There are lots of ways to protect the face if you ever need to (say if you're walking around in a blizzard in SW Minnesota). Parka-type hoods to precisely that, allowing you to breathe and see (at least straight ahead) while keeping your face out of the direct wind (and keeping a pocket of warmer air next to your face), and or course ski masks of various types are made for protecting the face. But most of the time, even on -15 or -20 days, you don't need it when outside for only a short time (15 minutes or less). Most areas of the Twin Cities are relatively free of the strong winds that can make wintertime a real burden in other parts of the state.

I used to get the mail at our townhouse in Eden prairie wearing only slippers, PJ shorts, and a t-shirt, and walking a few hundred feet wasn't a big deal even in -20 temps (which are fairly rare in the Twin Cities, BTW).

[pirate_lafitte]

Originally Posted by rcsteiner

Your breath doesn't freeze on your nose. Heck, it took me a long time even on the coldest days to get a nice ice covering on my beard so I could impress my wife with my "explorer" look.

There are lots of ways to protect the face if you ever need to (say if you're walking around in a blizzard in SW Minnesota). Parka-type hoods to precisely that, allowing you to breathe and see (at least straight ahead) while keeping your face out of the direct wind (and keeping a pocket of warmer air next to your face), and or course ski masks of various types are made for protecting the face. But most of the time, even on -15 or -20 days, you don't need it when outside for only a short time (15 minutes or less). Most areas of the Twin Cities are relatively free of the strong winds that can make wintertime a real burden in other parts of the state.

I used to get the mail at our townhouse in Eden prairie wearing only slippers, PJ shorts, and a t-shirt, and walking a few hundred feet wasn't a big deal even in -20 temps (which are fairly rare in the Twin Cities, BTW).

Wow, PJ shorts in -20F. Amazing, to me anyway. Actually, I learned to love cold weather, oddly, through National Geographic. When I was 15, I read an article about a man who lived in Quebec City,QC who chopped a pond out of ice and immersed himself in it in subzero temperatures. I filled my bathtub with cold water and then put ice in it,then immersed myself in it. That man was my inspiration for trying the experiment.
As for cold weather, well, your advice is true. Dress in layers. One thing I learned was never wear cotton or nylon socks in cold weather. I did that and when my feet got wet, they nearly froze off. Wool socks are better.

[pirate_lafitte]

The TC area and Chicago have one thing in common:Relatively cold winters. Chicago is bigger and on a lake. Mpls and St.Paul are smaller and have lots of lakes inside them, but not situated on them. One thing about Mpls to love is the nature. You have Minnehaha Falls in the Longfellow neighborhood of Mpls. You also have St. Anthony Falls northeast of downtown Mpls. St. Anthony is the only natural major waterfall on the Upper Mississippi River. There is Lake Calhoun, the biggest lake in Minneapolis. There are alot of natural things in Minneapolis. There is a reason its name means "water city". You can go sailing, kayaking, windsurfing. You can go fishing in Minneapolis.

[Chicagoland60426]

If you want a safer environment, less crime, less concentration of section 8, chose Minneapolis. I think Minneapolis is way less segregated than Chicago, which is a flaw IMO about Chicago. Chicago is better in everything else though.

[Ghengis]

Originally Posted by pirate_lafitte

...There is Lake Calhoun, the biggest lake in Minneapolis. There are alot of natural things in Minneapolis. There is a reason its name means "water city". You can go sailing, kayaking, windsurfing. You can go fishing in Minneapolis.

Lake Calhoun, Harriet and Nokomis have produced quite a few Muskies and Muskie-hybrids. Sometimes the muskies fight back. Be afraid, be very afraid!

Muskie Likely Bit Boy In Lake Calhoun - wcco.com

-and-

this is probably about 4 miles "as the crow flys" from the center of Downtown Mpls
from Welcome to Localism ...

[pirate_lafitte]

Originally Posted by Ghengis

Lake Calhoun, Harriet and Nokomis have produced quite a few Muskies and Muskie-hybrids. Sometimes the muskies fight back. Be afraid, be very afraid!

Muskie Likely Bit Boy In Lake Calhoun - wcco.com

-and-

this is probably about 4 miles "as the crow flys" from the center of Downtown Mpls
from Welcome to Localism ...

Mpls, good for fishing, as well as other things.

[Aylalou]

Originally Posted by pirate_lafitte

The TC area and Chicago have one thing in common:Relatively cold winters. Chicago is bigger and on a lake. Mpls and St.Paul are smaller and have lots of lakes inside them, but not situated on them. One thing about Mpls to love is the nature. You have Minnehaha Falls in the Longfellow neighborhood of Mpls. You also have St. Anthony Falls northeast of downtown Mpls. St. Anthony is the only natural major waterfall on the Upper Mississippi River. There is Lake Calhoun, the biggest lake in Minneapolis. There are alot of natural things in Minneapolis. There is a reason its name means "water city". You can go sailing, kayaking, windsurfing. You can go fishing in Minneapolis.

This post is my personal favorite because it describes exactly why I LOVE the Twin Cities - so much lush foliage and green (acres and acres and acres) right in the city.

My niece attends the Dodge Nature Center in West Saint Paul (preschool) It's situated in a very woodsy, rural part of West Saint Paul almost hidden by all the trees around it. Everyday they trek outdoors where they learn all about plants and animals. I picked her up from school last week just after they had gone berrypicking.

This is just one example of the lush natural beauty that is so very easy to come by here.