Indianapolis vs Chicago Suburbs (Naperville, Cicero: find a job, neighborhoods, buy)

[tjb122982]

I know this is perhaps a apples to apples comparison but I am just trying get a feel of what it is like. I currently live in north metro Indianapolis I like Indianapolis and but I have always wanted to live in Chicagoland. It's just hard to meet people outside of work and my work friends are all married and have kids. While I would prefer to live in the city, I realize I might need to take a job in the suburbs. So here is my question: are the Chicagoland suburbs like the Indianapolis suburbs or is there much more diversity in types of suburbs? I know the inner ring is much more urban but is the outer ring just like Indianapolis? I'm not trying to decide which one is better; I'm just trying to get a feel for different locations that might be right for me.

[Hiruko]

You should not need to move in order to change your friend circle. Indianapolis is not a city of just a few hundred people. There are plenty of single adults in Indiana.

[tolovefromANFIELD]

I'm assuming you live in Carmel/Fishers or thereabouts? Naperville would probably be most similar. If you're looking for a more urban suburban environment where you'd find some singles, really any suburban downtown with high density housing that's on Metra would be ok. Nothing compared to the city, but still.....

[movin1]

Living in "Chicagoland" is not at all the same as living in the city of Chicago. It takes time and effort to get to the city where there are an infinite number of things to do and places to go to meet people. Cost of living in Illinois will eat you alive. Make sure you know what it costs to live there, property taxes etc if you will buy a home. There are lots of great neighborhoods and suburbs of Chicago and many threads on city-data discussing them.

[TheTimidBlueBars]

Originally Posted by tjb122982

I know this is perhaps a apples to apples comparison but I am just trying get a feel of what it is like. I currently live in north metro Indianapolis I like Indianapolis and but I have always wanted to live in Chicagoland. It's just hard to meet people outside of work and my work friends are all married and have kids. While I would prefer to live in the city, I realize I might need to take a job in the suburbs. So here is my question: are the Chicagoland suburbs like the Indianapolis suburbs or is there much more diversity in types of suburbs? I know the inner ring is much more urban but is the outer ring just like Indianapolis? I'm not trying to decide which one is better; I'm just trying to get a feel for different locations that might be right for me.

Grew up in Chicagoland, family is mostly from the north Indy area (Carmel/Fishers/Whitestown/Zionsville). I'd say the outer-ring Chicago suburbs are still a bit more interesting and denser than the Indy suburbs, but you want to live as inner-ring as you can if you want a social life. Preferably in the city.

Fortunately, Chicagoland's commuter rail system, Metra, makes it doable to live in the suburbs and get into the city, or vice versa. It runs trains every ~half-hour or so, maybe every ~hour on weekends. You could live halfway out --- say you have a fully in-person job in Naperville, you could live in Brookfield or Berwyn, take Metra to work, and still be able to hang out in Chicago at night. You wouldn't be living in a complete cultural desert --- Brookfield has Galloping Ghost, a very popular arcade full of retro games (that draws people from out-of-state) and the Berwyn/Cicero/Oak Park/Forest Park area has a good amount of townie bars and a solid music club (Fitzgerald's), and Oak Park has a lot of progressive activism type stuff.

I would really try to find a job in the city, though, or one that's as close to the city as possible and/or is remote or hybrid.