Anyone else thinking of leaving NYC? (New York, Boston: fit in, condo, crime)

[amy_cate]

i am moving at the end of august - been in the nj/nyc area my whole life and my husband and i are both very excited about starting our lives elsewhere. we're moving to chicago. about 2 months to go and we are taking care of all loose ends. i will always probably consider nyc home and will be back to visit various friends/family often enough. the things i love about it will probably always be here so i'm ready to go. i'm getting bitter and i don't think i should be at this age. it's time to go explore elsewhere. we've both always loved chicago and like the slower pace but also city atmosphere, cleaner, more affordable,etc.

incidentally, i will miss being farther from areas i love to visit in new england area - boston, vt, ri, etc. but can always visit, just a little more challenging for a weekend.

[scatman]

Originally Posted by amy_cate

i am moving at the end of august - been in the nj/nyc area my whole life and my husband and i are both very excited about starting our lives elsewhere. we're moving to chicago. about 2 months to go and we are taking care of all loose ends. i will always probably consider nyc home and will be back to visit various friends/family often enough. the things i love about it will probably always be here so i'm ready to go. i'm getting bitter and i don't think i should be at this age. it's time to go explore elsewhere. we've both always loved chicago and like the slower pace but also city atmosphere, cleaner, more affordable,etc.

incidentally, i will miss being farther from areas i love to visit in new england area - boston, vt, ri, etc. but can always visit, just a little more challenging for a weekend.

Word from people I know is that Chicago is one of the most segregated cities in the US.

But don't let me or anyone discourage you. Best to you and your husband.

[amy_cate]

Originally Posted by scatman

Word from people I know is that Chicago is one of the most segregated cities in the US.

But don't let me or anyone discourage you. Best to you and your husband.

every city has its issues - lesser of two evils i suppose.

et merci.

[NooYowkur81]

Chicago is intriguing, as a place to move to, but isn't really expensive as well amy_cate? If you don't mind me asking.

Best of luck on your move.

[arel]

Originally Posted by mom2gurls

Kudos for looking before you leap...and VT isnt that far anyway!

You're right. Vermont is not that far away at all. Southern Vermont is a 4 hour car trip (plus or minus an hour depending on where your're going in NYC. It takes 4 1/2 - 5 hours to get to Brattleboro from Brooklyn. To and from Burlington is much longer by car, but only 1 1/2 hours by plane out of JFK, and the fare, I am told, is only about $50. Plus, there is a train that goes right from Essex Junction to Penn Station. It stops in downtown Brattleboro.

I've been researching my head off and I have been seriously decluttering in preparation for moving. I will know inside when it is time to take the bigger, more irrevocable steps. Probably soon, I hope.

[EugeneBKLYN]

Originally Posted by wanderlost

Having recently spent a year in Kansas I wanted to mention a few things that you will never see again once you move to the midwest (not including Chicago): delis, bakeries, diners, bagels, seafood markets, produce markets, buttered rolls, pizza parlors (Pizza Hut yes), real Chinese food, any food delivery service after 9 pm, corner stores, family owned businesses (all franchise chains), NY sports teams on TV, street fairs, parades, the beach, beautiful autumn colors, big bridges.
On the positive side you'll also never see crowds or NY traffic jams.
Good things you'll see: stars, cool storms, wide open space, cowboys, good fried chicken and Mexican food.
You can tell I miss the NYC food more than anything. I'd pay 10 dollars for a buttered roll.

That's a tradeoff I'd be willing to make. Most of that stuff, I really don't even need. Not big on seafood, bagels, pizza, or chinese food. I never order delivery after 8pm. and I'm not too big on New York sports (considering this is a baseball town, and I hate baseball).

I do hear that that part of the country has good barbecue culture.

[JiminCT]

Local Vermonters can be really down on the "flatlanders", so if youy move up there...you had better blend in. NYC and environs is not the best word to mutter in Vermont.

[amy_cate]

Originally Posted by NooYowkur81

Chicago is intriguing, as a place to move to, but isn't really expensive as well amy_cate? If you don't mind me asking.

Best of luck on your move.

not nearly as much of a ripoff slap in the face as nyc has become, nope. i'd like to be able to live in the city again, not pushed so far out in brooklyn, i may as well be in nj again... i can afford to do so in chicago - the apts i've seen are at least $500-600 less/month than i pay here with closer proximity to anything resembling a city. sorry, i really dislike where i live presently and am extremely bitter and disgruntled. guess it shows.

[Chi2NYC?]

Originally Posted by scatman

Word from people I know is that Chicago is one of the most segregated cities in the US.

But don't let me or anyone discourage you. Best to you and your husband.

it's segregated compared to nyc (really it's the black/white segregation that's most pronounced), but standard american city compared to most other places i've been. there are some *very* mixed neighborhoods (e.g. albany park, rogers park, hyde park, logan square), typically in outer areas that visitors would have no reason to stumble across.

keep in mind that part of this segregation isn't simply prejudice. chicago has pretty strong neighborhood identities, and in a good number of hoods the neighborhood identity centers around ethnicity. so a good part of it (at least for white/non-black segregation) is the classic case of people choosing to be around those of the same ethnicity, because they don't know english, it's familiar, family is there, etc.

as far as i know, it's only been a hostile issue in the mexican-ameican neighborhood of pilsen, which is not far from downtown (valuable location) and is staunchly "anti-gentrification" (read: anti-white. they harassed a white EMT friend of mine living there who makes about 18k per year. ironically, "pilsen" was czech community a century back).

as a general rule, folks of the "wrong" ethnicity are welcome to spend time in the ethnic hoods, (recommended to take advantage of the cuisine).

Originally Posted by NooYowkur81

Chicago is intriguing, as a place to move to, but isn't really expensive as well amy_cate? If you don't mind me asking.

Best of luck on your move.

my impression, and i believe a quick look at the data on this website, shows that chicago is still pretty cheap for a non-southern city of its size. from my visits to nyc, i'd say the biggest difference is in housing (and it is a big difference) and not so much daily expenses. if i weren't getting well-subsidized housing to go to school in nyc, i couldn't really justify leaving chicago this august.

my biggest grip is just that upper midwest winters are too insanely intolerable.

[mhogan10010]

Grew Up in Detroit
Lived in South for 17 years
I ain't going anywhere anytime soon.