HELP! Trying to decide between burb of Nashville and Burbs of Chicago!! (Naperville: roughest, house prices)

[NcerfromNY]

Have job offer in Chicago (downtown) and Job offer in Nashville. Both are with different subs of same company.

Hubby and I can't decide - please help with pros or cons of moving to Naperville or similar suburb!!

Helpful stuff -
housing costs (average - not slum and not McMansions!)
schools (are they better in different burbs - let's use naperville as a yardstick)
commute times
cost of living - taxes, property tax, fuel, heating, etc.
friendliness factor -we're moving from raleigh where people are so friendly, we'll miss it like crazy!
open spaces / parks
accessibility to youth sports and activities
churches

thank you so much -- we're pressed into making our decision today, though we've been working on this for a while!

(we hope to live comfortably at about 100k)

[kindrakindra]

Having lived in Nashville for a few years, and now living in Chicagoland (and I am originally from the NY area), I would definitely say Nashville. Better weather, some good public schools, fewer school funding issues that are plaguing Illinois. Regarding the latter, TN actually funds gifted education, and creates an IEP for gifted students.

Why pick a Nashville suburb and not Nashville itself? I have friends in Green Hills, Belmont, and near the Percy parks (Percy Warner and other one).

Obviously, Nashville is not Chicago; but it does have some nice restaurants and cultural attractions. My friend is the curator of the newer art museum there; it's in the old Post Office.

[NcerfromNY]

Originally Posted by kindrakindra

Having lived in Nashville for a few years, and now living in Chicagoland (and I am originally from the NY area), I would definitely say Nashville. Better weather, some good public schools, fewer school funding issues that are plaguing Illinois. Regarding the latter, TN actually funds gifted education, and creates an IEP for gifted students.

Why pick a Nashville suburb and not Nashville itself? I have friends in Green Hills, Belmont, and near the Percy parks (Percy Warner and other one).

Obviously, Nashville is not Chicago; but it does have some nice restaurants and cultural attractions. My friend is the curator of the newer art museum there; it's in the old Post Office.

that's some of the best feedback (pretty specific!) I've ever gotten on a website ! Wow! We don't want to live in a downtown area, we'd both prefer burbs for our kids and ourselves. Cool Spgs and Brentwood are our speed. Same salary regardless of where we'd be - just south of 100 on paper - with benefits a bunch higher (like a car etc.)

[Caver Girl]

I don't know for certain, but I imagine the cost of living is less in Nashville ... concerning property taxes and house prices.

[NcerfromNY]

Originally Posted by Caver Girl

I don't know for certain, but I imagine the cost of living is less in Nashville ... concerning property taxes and house prices.

there's no question that the cost of living and our lifestyle will be better in Nashville. The problem is that in Nashville, hubby will be away for a minimum of 6 weeks a year - and at least 2-3 nights a week. We have 3 kids, only 1 is school age. (the other two aren't in school yet!) So - do I want him home every night, able to help with the grind in the AM and help me refresh and get my bearings back in the evening - knowing full-well we'll live in a smaller community - or is it more important to live in a smaller town with less to offer, but way better weather and no personal income tax (still pay fed and still pay property tax)

With Chicago, he'd be home every night - but would face a hellish commute into the roughest sections of chicago every day. (he be working as a contractor within CPS)

[Caver Girl]

Oh, the decisions! I personally have never been to Nashville, but the Smoky Mtns and south central Kentucky are beautiful and you're very close to both down there in TN!

Let's see ... 6 weeks a year and 2-3 nights a week he'd be gone? And you have 3 small children? It would be very helpful to have him home, but a nightmare commute every day might render him useless anyway! At least in Nashville when he's home, he can "be there" 100%.

As for the weather ... yes, it gets cold here in the north, but the humidity in the summer is worse in the south. :-)

[cubssoxfan]

I have been to various CPS schools and never had a problem.
Depends on your priorities: Higher COL in Chicago with longer daily commutes or a husband who is gone 45+ weeks of the year with 6 being all week and the rest being gone 2-3 nights. I can't answer that but traveling every week gets VERY OLD VERY FAST! I'm gone parts or all of 10-12 weeks a year and that's more than enough travel to give me & the wife space and provide the "honeymoon all over again" feeling. Raising kids with 3/4 of a husband will be more challenging. Why do I say 3/4? Because of the time away and the exhaustion from travel.
Nightmare commute every day? Come on!! If you live closer in, instread of all the way out in Naperville this won't be as big of an issue. There are many very good suburbs to live in that would put him closer to the city and have lifestyle and benefits similar to Naperville. If he's a contractor chances are he won't be in the schools 8AM to 5PM every day anyway. Schools may want him in after kids arrive and with school dismissing 2:30 to 3 there will be days when he may get out ahead of the traffic. Would you rather deal with airports, security lines, weather delays multiple weeks of the year? Sorry, I'd rather deal with a Chicago commute and be home for supper with my family every night than deal with airport commutes and missing so much family time. But that's me, everyone is different.

[kindrakindra]

Agree with above. Why choose Naperville and make your commute bad? From your original post, I didn't know about the hubby travelling. That would be a dealbreaker for me, notwithstanding my obvious love for Nashville. There are tons of closer in suburbs where his commute wouldn't be as bad. In fact, a more centrally located suburb might be better if he needs to go to the south side AND north side schools. And one last point - not all CPS schools are in hellish 'hoods.

You should look into Elmhurst.

[NcerfromNY]

we've been dealing with it for the last 3 years. I'm at my wits end - an entire hour getting 7 yo to his bus (and back to the house, after waiting) in the morning, plus the time getting the other two fed, dressed, diapered, snacks, yada yada yada. He's out the door at 7:45 and we re-do in the afternoon, with my SECOND grader home at 5:00 pm. I freaking HATE it. However - the COL is significantly higher in Chicago - and while he'd still be gone, it wouldn't be as bad - and he'd be using Nashville as his home base, instead of flying there every Monday and returning to RDU every Thursday night.

The Budget issues in CPS and in the burbs concern me - will we be taxed out of living in a house that is large enough with some property so I can grow some stuff (herbs, vegees, flowers?) Will the cost of winter clothes - which we don't really own now - kill us? The heat and humidity we deal with now - and being from the north, the humidity in the summer is way worse than the cold in the north. I'd much rather snuggle up to a fire than an air conditioner!!

without going into the specifics of what he does, he'll be in and out of about 140 schools regularly. He prefers burbs, and we want a larger home than we can afford closer to the city. (unless I'm missing something ?? HELP!!

[cubssoxfan]

we've been dealing with it for the last 3 years. I'm at my wits end - an entire hour getting 7 yo to his bus (and back to the house, after waiting) in the morning, plus the time getting the other two fed, dressed, diapered, snacks, yada yada yada. He's out the door at 7:45 and we re-do in the afternoon, with my SECOND grader home at 5:00 pm. I freaking HATE it. However - the COL is significantly higher in Chicago - and while he'd still be gone, it wouldn't be as bad - and he'd be using Nashville as his home base, instead of flying there every Monday and returning to RDU every Thursday night.

Not sure what that means?