Moving from Northern Virginia to Chicago (Washington: how much, townhome, living)

[meseca]

I live in Virgina work in downtown DC, I have a very good job oppurtunity in Chicago, but I am afraid of weather in chicago, I am unable to decide it its a wise to move or not.

Virgina Avg home costs atleast 500k in herndon area(townhome)

My job in Chicago is in Cook county(deerfield), I dont how much a average home costs there, which is better place to search for homes.

[Zippy7fo]

stay in dc.....


Chicago a great city. Lots of things to do but Metro hands down does it for me and ton more career opportunities. Midwest winters are only bad for like a month now where it gets under 20 and occasionally minus but you learn to deal with it...

[LIS123]

Deerfield is expensive and is also one of those places where $500K buys less than one would think. That said, one of the nice aspects about the Chicago area being so spread out is that the various sections (Northern suburbs, NW suburbs, South suburbs, etc.) tend to have communities with a range of housing prices.

I think Deerfield maybe split, with part of it in Cook county and part in Lake. It's right on the border. You may find less expensive housing by looking in some of the areas further from the Lake (i.e. West). Buffalo Grove is one town; Lake Bluff (not Lake Forest) may also be more reasonable. The Libertyville/Vernon Hills area should also be less than Deerfield.

Winters in this are can be frustrating. This is exaggerated by the fact that most people have to drive quite a bit for daily life (except those who live, work and play all within close proximity to downtown Chicago). The temperatures are not always that bad. Even if the temps are low, it's much better than lots of snow and ice everywhere. In most cases, living near DC maybe more convenient than living near Chicago, since the Metro covers much of the area and it's just less spread out in general. Please do not underestimate the difficulty in dealing with snowy and icy winters in a place where driving is a necessity. Maybe one can 'learn to deal with' the temperatures, but dealing with the snow and ice is very frustrating. I'll take 95 degree+ heat any day over the snow and ice!

Overall, the cost of living is much higher in and around DC than Chicago.

[TrippingJay]

Personally, I would choose Chicago anyday over Washington, especially Northern Virginia. Housing is definately more affordable, there is traffic but not as bad as NoVA, and Chicago has great restaurants, shopping, sports teams and outdoor activities that are comparable and in some cases better than DC.

Deerfield is on the North Shore, which is the perhaps the most expensive part of the Chicagoland. However; you certainly get more for your money. Affordable housing options can be found in places like Evanston, Skokie, Schaumburg, Arlington Heights, Mt Prospect.

The only downside is the weather in the winter. Chicago is much colder than DC, and due to the promixity of Lake Michigan, recieves more lake effect snow and ice. While the DC area gets 1-2 "huge" snow storms, Chicago can get 3-4 with colder temperatures.

Summer temperatures though, are much more bearable than DC's.

You may want to post in the Chicago forum to see if anyone who has moved from DC can share their insights.

[SmerkyGrl]

Shouldn't you be posting this on the chicago board?

[LIS123]

Originally Posted by SmerkyGrl

Shouldn't you be posting this on the chicago board?

Good question, though the OP did post in the Chicago forum as well.

[meseca]

I did it on both the places

[valleys_of_hills]

Just my opinion... personally I don't think it's a good idea to choose where to move primarily on housing costs. There is so much more to a place that matters. Money is enticing but it might let you down.

[LIS123]

The above post is correct. When one area has relatively low housing prices, that means the prices are low for a reason (as prices are a market driven phenomenon). That said, there seem to be places that are both more expensive and less expensive than they 'deserve' to be.