Help me sell my wife on NW Indiana. (Hammond, East Chicago: to rent, car insurance)

[hindukid]

Wife is taking a job in Hammond. I work from home but go to Indy about 20 times a year. Due to my work I need a lot of space in our home. My wife is really not even considering leaving Chicago but the numbers I just calculated are pretty striking.

To get space we need in Chicago in a trendy neighborhood like Wicker park will be about $2400. I looked at craigslist and found a nice place in highland for $1400. My wife will spend an extra 40 minutes per day commuting. If her time is worth $30 an hour that's 5K. She will spend an extra $1000 in gas and me an extra $400. I'll lost about $1200 of my time.

In total that's $19,600 over 1 year. I'd guess that we did maybe 40 "city life" things in the past year and that includes eating out. So that's about $500 for every event. Kind of staggering if you see it that way.

Maybe there are places that she wouldn't hate.

Is there anywhere with a walkable downtown with cute restaurants, coffee shops, stores etc.

Is it possible to have some sort of beachside place and be close to hammond. Most of the ones I have seen are a good 40 minute commute.

Any other positives to stress. Keep in mind the positive would need to apply to a 25 year old married woman with no kids or plans for kids who thouroughly enjoys living in the city.

Let me also state that I am not trying to trick my wife or force her decision. I just think that maybe she really knows nothing about northwest Indiana and a little education couldn't hurt. Outside of Hammond and a pit stop at Portillo's in merrillville, I am pretty sure she has never even been there.

[gimme it]

OMG! I read your title quickly, and I thought it said, "Help me sell my wife in NW Indiana". I am so glad that I made a mistake. Whew!!!

[richb]

I'll give it a shot.

First things first. N.W. Indiana isn't trendy or hip in the "sense" of many that inhabit the the north side of Chicago. Probably never will be. I think that most of those (including myself) that live here (in indiana) are OK with that or prefer that it isn't. So if she loves that trendy hip neighborhood its going to be a hard sell. Even though there are many more white collar people living here now then in the past the area still has a blue collar feel. Nothing wrong with that, since most cities seemed to have washed that feel away a long time ago but some folks don't like that at all.

Walkable downtowns are small here (you have to drive to them). Crown Point's the largest, with the old courthouse the center of it. There are shops and restaurants (some come close to being nightclubs but are more bar then club), and a movie theater. Nothing really trendy in the Chicago sense, but a nice old fashioned downtown.

Highland has a small downtown as well. It has a few restaurants like the Langel's Pizza-Rodneys Bar combo thats popular with the 20-30ish people, they have bands and a new outdoor area on the sidewalk. But it is still mostly the more practical type businesses there. There are gift, craft type shops but again nothing real trendy. There is a theatre (the town) that sometimes shows an art film(but the owners have been ill so it hasn't been open for a while). Both Highland and Crown Point work hard at keeping the small town feel even though they are both very suburban.

If she isn't so set on the hip urban life those places could be enough for daily life. I live in Highland, and if it isn't rush hour, I can be in downtown Chicago in 35 minutes (Ok, I drive too fast). If you are only doing 40 or so "city" things a year, that's not too far or any more inconvenient (far less inconvenient then the daily commute) then a city neighborhood. Plus if you aren't paying the high costs of living in Chicago you can actually afford to do the stuff there.

Many of my friends that insist on living in the city find they don't do all the "city" stuff very much because after paying the rent and the taxes etc, they don't have the money left to do anything "hip"(not that there aren't cheap things to do in the city). They really can't afford to live in the city. Sounds like thats not so much a problem for you, but it sure is a lot more expensive to live in the city. Even if you can ditch your car, which most find they can't do. I really don't understand why people seem to like to live in crowded, expensive places like that, but it's sure is popular at the moment. Indiana isn't THAT far from the hotspots. You have to get the idea out of her that its far or too far because it isn't.

On to the beach part. Most if not all of the NW. Indiana beaches aren't able to be walked to. They are working on opening more areas to the public along the lake, but that in the future so it doesn't do you much good now. But there are small beaches in Hammond and East Chicago, you just have to know where to go to find them. So most end up going to the Indiana Dunes in Porter County. So they are as far as going to some of the city beaches (though its easier to park at the Indiana beaches and are less crowded for the most part).

So the biggest lure for you will be the saving on your pocketbook and being closer to work. If the rent costing half as much, the car insurance being far less expensive, not having to rent a spot to park that car(s), not having to pay Illinois income tax, food isn't taxed as high, you would be probably saving more then the $19,600 that you came up with. Think about how you could save more money by living here, or how you could invest it in something that would make you more in the future instead of paying bills in an expensive place you really don't need.

[LIS123]

Originally Posted by hindukid

Wife is taking a job in Hammond. I work from home but go to Indy about 20 times a year. Due to my work I need a lot of space in our home. My wife is really not even considering leaving Chicago but the numbers I just calculated are pretty striking.

To get space we need in Chicago in a trendy neighborhood like Wicker park will be about $2400. I looked at craigslist and found a nice place in highland for $1400. My wife will spend an extra 40 minutes per day commuting. If her time is worth $30 an hour that's 5K. She will spend an extra $1000 in gas and me an extra $400. I'll lost about $1200 of my time.

In total that's $19,600 over 1 year. I'd guess that we did maybe 40 "city life" things in the past year and that includes eating out. So that's about $500 for every event. Kind of staggering if you see it that way.

Maybe there are places that she wouldn't hate.

Is there anywhere with a walkable downtown with cute restaurants, coffee shops, stores etc.

Is it possible to have some sort of beachside place and be close to hammond. Most of the ones I have seen are a good 40 minute commute.

Any other positives to stress. Keep in mind the positive would need to apply to a 25 year old married woman with no kids or plans for kids who thouroughly enjoys living in the city.

Let me also state that I am not trying to trick my wife or force her decision. I just think that maybe she really knows nothing about northwest Indiana and a little education couldn't hurt. Outside of Hammond and a pit stop at Portillo's in merrillville, I am pretty sure she has never even been there.

It's hard to argue that NWI is trendy and will offer an of the cultural amenities (dining, entertainment, etc) to match Chicago. IMO, people prefer NWI to Chicago and south suburban IL b/c it's cheaper and safer.

You should focus on the convenience of a shorter commute and cost savings. If you want to go to Chicago for food, etc you can. Otherwise, the argument will not hold water if you try to make NWI out to be something it is not (trendy, etc.)

[cd771]

I was exactly like your wife at that age and it took me a long time to leave the city. We left Chicago last fall and at age 38, I do miss alot of things about living there. FYI - I lived in Bucktown my last 5 or so years there and I doubt you will find a Wicker Park like area in NW Indiana. I don't know if I would try to convince her because she may end up being miserable. When she starts working in Hammond she can see how she likes the area and the people and if she can handle the commute from Chicago daily. Maybe then she will consider a move, however if she is anything like I was at that age I wouldn't hold my breath.

[domergurl]

Originally Posted by gimme it

OMG! I read your title quickly, and I thought it said, "Help me sell my wife in NW Indiana". I am so glad that I made a mistake. Whew!!!

I did the same thing!!!! Whew!

It will all depend on what's important to her. If living in a trendy area like Wicker Park is the bee's knees, no matter the price, chances are she won't budge and that's too bad. For you, I understand being closer to 65 for you going to Indy, Highland would be very very convenient.

There are just some people who cannot fathom leaving Illinois and money doesn't matter. You can bottom line it, graph it, put it on a billboard, but if being in the thick of it all is tantamount to happiness, oy ... as they say in O Brother Where Art Thou, you're in a tight spot.

You're not going to find a Wicker Park-y type place in NW Indiana. But you'd sure be saving a lot of money!

Best of luck. I hope you get your way because, after living in and around Chicago for many years, moving to NW Indiana was a no brainer finance wise. Chicago is there, it's not going anywhere and by living in NW Indiana, you'll have more money to spend there! I remember when we started telling our Chicago friends that we were moving to NW Indiana, the looks they gave us were like we were moving to the hinterlands of nowhere. When, in fact, there are people who live in Illinois who have longer commutes than those who live in NW Indiana.