Leaving Chicago for Cincinnati.. (Schaumburg, Evanston: lofts, home, neighborhoods)

[MOD220]

thanks for the feedback everyone. I've asked plenty on the Cincy forum, so thought I'd get the Chi to Cincy perspective as well. As was mentioned alot of this is driven by my wife, but she only would go if I had an equal or better career oppurtunity, which I do. in fact, I will probably make a better living, with a lower cost of living to boot. Leaving Chicago will be very hard, but we hope to visit a few times a year for the triathlon, marathon, holidays, etc. We have enough friends doing a quarterly weekend trip won't be too difficult.

any other Ohioans with feedback please speak up!

[Tex?Il?]

Originally Posted by MannheimMadman

Skyline Chili is ridiculously over rated. boo.

I love it. You can get it at Meijer superstores around here

[Tex?Il?]

Originally Posted by MOD220

Wife has been in Chicago ten years and I have been here for five, and we LOVE the city. By far the best city in the country and we have lived everywhere coast to coast (So Cal, Denver, NYC, even Italy) so we feel like that's an educated statement. But now that we are married and parents, reality has set in, we aren't utilizing the city. We don't do the bar/club thing anymore, we don't do ballgames, and since we have zero family here, getting help has been tough. So we evaluated the suburbs as we need more living space, and my clients are all out in the burbs. We quickly realized none of the suburbs were too exciting. Hinsdale and Naperville would be our first two choices, but a home we want would fetch $1-2M, and we just aren't comfortable making that type of commitment.

We then figured instead of moving to the burbs, why not move to a city that has spacious lots and bigger homes. This search took us to my wifes hometown of Cincinnati. This gets us to a city far less expensive than Chicago, less traffic, more hills, milder weather, and most importantly into a community with family we are so missing.

Now, I'm well aware Cincinnati is not Chicago, heck not even an Evanston, but it does seem to have some upscale communities (i.e. Hyde Park), pro sports teams, boutique shopping and restaurants, and a modest theatre district. We have done a great job convincing ourselves were making the right move...

So I ask those of you familiar with Cincy, are we nuts?????

Cincinnati in at about the same "league" of city as Milwaukee, or St. Louis. I however like it a bit more than either. Its one of the most underrated secrets in the US. You will be suprised what Cincy has, including museums, architecture, and performing arts, and the riverfront.

Watch a concert at the amazing Music Hall sometime, check out the parks and stadiums along the waterfront, go to the countrys largest oktoberfest, etc. Back in the mid-1800s, Cincinnati was one of the countrys premier cities, the 5th largest, but the civil screwed over, which gave Chicago the advantage of being the new "porkopolis"

People just think because it borders Kentucky, they think its backward.

[bellhead]

Having lived in the Nati before..

With your price point at $1 million you can get into Indian Hill if you choose. Granted you may not have a mansion but you can have a 3,000 square foot house with 3 acres minimum. Granted this may be a 50's ranch but it's still low taxes. The advantage to this neighborhood is

1.) Land
2.) Shopping
3.) Top 5 public schools in Ohio. They spend around $13k per student on average.
4.) NO crime, they don't have a police force just park rangers.
5.) Super low property taxes for your price point.

Another great neighborhood is Wyoming and their school district. They may have the best public school.

[aragx6]

Smaller cities like St. Louis and Cincy have been gaining many young professionals -- especially those looking towards starting a family -- since the beginning of the recession, and I think it's great.

I wish I knew Cincy better as I've heard awesome things and from the couple of short visits I've really liked it. And the surrounding area? Gorgeous!

Our plan had always been to stay in Chicago for 5-7 years and then move to St. Louis where we could buy a gorgeous, historic single family in the city for the same price (or less!) as a Chicago condo.

Being closer to family is nice, but for us it was always beyond that -- the city is just an all-around better fit for us long term. Now of course, we ended up moving to KC for the SO's career, but the plan has remained exacty the same -- St. Louis or bust.

[MOD220]

Cincy may be doing a great job marketing this, but they seem to really be turning a page. the Banks project sounds really neat, OTR is being gentrified, etc. They have incredible resources to build off of, sounds like economics and politics set them back, but hopefully they clean it up and bring it to another level, as the oppurtunity is there.

[MOD220]

ps - if anyone wants to buy a profesionnally decorated and designed Wicker Park condo, fully furnished with a home theatre room. let me know!

[chet everett]

I don't really follow the movement of young professionals too closely but I don't see how the down turn makes smaller cities more desirable -- prices may have fallen there, but they have fallen in larger cities too.

Similarly for every 1000 jobs lost in a smaller city that is a bigger percentage drop than an equal number of jobs in big city...

Don't get me wrong, I think that Cincinnati is not a single employer town, but I really doubt it has the range of employment options of Chicago. I would say the same thing of any city that is smaller...

Is this "migration" to smaller cities so that folks don't have to pay for child care if retired parents are available? That might make sense. I would actually encourage that.

OTOH if folks are willing to move where only one partner has a job, or even to move back home and live with parents those do not seem like encouraging trends...


(I wonder how much the home theatre room explains why they don't get out as much? Among real estate clients there are some that report having such a dedicated space makes them feel compelled to stay in and use and of course the costs of some of these things means you gotta eat Mac and cheese for a few years to help pay for it .. )

[MOD220]

Originally Posted by chet everett

I don't really follow the movement of young professionals too closely but I don't see how the down turn makes smaller cities more desirable -- prices may have fallen there, but they have fallen in larger cities too.

Similarly for every 1000 jobs lost in a smaller city that is a bigger percentage drop than an equal number of jobs in big city...

Don't get me wrong, I think that Cincinnati is not a single employer town, but I really doubt it has the range of employment options of Chicago. I would say the same thing of any city that is smaller...

Is this "migration" to smaller cities so that folks don't have to pay for child care if retired parents are available? That might make sense. I would actually encourage that.

OTOH if folks are willing to move where only one partner has a job, or even to move back home and live with parents those do not seem like encouraging trends...


(I wonder how much the home theatre room explains why they don't get out as much? Among real estate clients there are some that report having such a dedicated space makes them feel compelled to stay in and use and of course the costs of some of these things means you gotta eat Mac and cheese for a few years to help pay for it .. )

well the home theater route is far cheaper than dropping $40/show for 2 people, 2 drinks and 2 popcorns!

as far as small cities and young professionals, I don't think the job markets are any better. I just think in uncertain times people gravitate to a cheaper cost of living, and more family support. and a market like Cincinnati has a large number of Fortune 1000 companies, so you can get a corporate job with a major firm, while maintaining a reasonable monthly budget.

[aragx6]

The points MOD220 hit in make a lot of sense.

This USA Today article is really about a larger all-around issue of the young, college educated set moving back into the cities, but some of the percentage increases in the rust belt are pretty telling. Urban centers draw more young, educated adults - USATODAY.com