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Old 08-15-2007, 11:31 PM
 
Location: Arizona
124 posts, read 412,917 times
Reputation: 31

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Any good advice from people before we move from AZ to Chicago. We are hoping to be there in Jan I know it will be cold but we are doing that on purpose. Let me know your opinions Good or Bad.

*Schools
*Weather
*Suburbs
*People
*Food
What things will we have to adapt to the most coming from AZ to Chicago? Is life pretty fast pased there? Us Arizonians are pretty slow and calm. Thanks for your opinions.
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Old 08-16-2007, 06:52 AM
 
474 posts, read 2,534,646 times
Reputation: 114
Dear Friend:

In my opinion, the hardest to adapt to will be all of the rush hour traffic congestion. That is providing you have to be in traffic during 05:00 to 09:00 and 14:00 to 18:30. That also assumes that you have to travel a distance of at least 15 miles one way and up.
Initially, new people to the Chicago scene are very cautions. However, the seasoned drivers tend to become reckless and dodge in and out - - speeding up and slowing down. Doing so has a higher risk of accidents and there are many Chicago area accidents each day. Of course, it is much better to ride the METRA railroad system to one's employment. But that is not easy to arrange. It would depend upon where you live and where you work.
The railroad systems of Chicago are arranged similar to bicycle spokes out of Chicago.

Carter Glass
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Old 08-16-2007, 07:55 AM
 
2,329 posts, read 6,619,562 times
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1) transit: take public transportation whenever possible. unlike a lot of cities, most residents use some form of public transit to get around (over 300,000 suburbanites utilize Metra on a daily basis). although the El is nowhere near the level of the NY or London subway system (then again what is), its still very easy to get around w/o a car. the city itself is also very walkable. while in the suburbs it seems foreign to walk a mile or so, most people who live in the city couldnt imagine pulling out a car for that short distance. There are 11 Metra commuter lines with over 200 stations that serve the suburbs in every direction to and from the city. The CTA/El serves the downtown/inner neighborhoods. a couple El lines run 24 hours. metra stops running around midnight. if you must take the expressways, allow plenty of time for accidents, congestion, etc. You can tune into traffic reports and most news radio stations give travel times every 10 minutes. Also, most Chicagoans refer to the expressways by their given name rather than number (i.e. the Kennedy, the Dan Ryan, the Eisenhower, the Stevenson, the Circle Interchange, etc). Most travel within the city is given in minutes: i.e. it will take 10 minutes to get from point A to point B, whereas the suburbs its usually: "its 3 miles from here to there"

2) people: friendly and helpful, but not afraid to tell you if you're being a complete idiot. hard working and typically not obsessed with celebrity and trends as NY and LA tend to be. down to earth and practical. overwhelmingly democratic within the city (the machine is alive and well), somewhat republican the further out you go. residents take great pride in Chicago and have pretty much been raised since childhood that its the best place on earth.

3) food: obviously, any type of restaurant you could ever desire is within reach. chicago is a hard nosed, working town, and the fast food reflects that. italian beef sandwhiches, deep dish pizza (as well as excellent thin dish, which is far more popular on a day to day basis), chicago style hot dogs (made with vienna beef), etc. There are more independent hot dog stands in the city than McDonalds, BK, and Wendys combined. There is also some of the best fine dining in the world: Charlie Trotters, Skip Bayless' Frontera Grill, Alinea (rated best restaurant in the country). You could eat out for years on end and never double up.

4) suburbs: there are over 250 suburbs of chicago. each and every one has its own unique identity and offers something different. many of the inner suburbs are indistinguishable as being seperate from the "city" and remain on the chicago grid. many inner suburbs comprise the "bungalow belt" which the city is famous for, while sprawl has reached 60 miles away from the city center. the north shore has victorian "great gatsby"-esque multi acre estates along the lake. some of the near west suburbs like riverside resemble quaint new england type towns. it all depends what you're looking for. along those lines, chicago itself is a city of neighborhoods, and if you ask someone living in the city where they're from, they will reference the neighborhood. there is a great amount of pride and ownership that people take in where they live and the area they call home. chicago still has many strong old world ethnic enclaves (some of the highest german, polish, czech, bohemian, and irish populations outside of those repsective countries. also mandarin chinese on the southside), as well as a huge growing mexican population. during the summer virtually every neighborhood at some point has a free festival. we will look for virtually any excuse to block off some streets, serve beer and food, and have bands play. its a rite of summer.

5) weather: the severity is overblown, but if youre not used to the cold you have to adapt pretty quick. summers are typically in the 80s and humid. fall and spring can vary greatly, but when they do roll around are wonderful seasons if you've never gotten to experience them before. the crispness in the air in autumn is a thing to behold, as is the first thaw in spring. winter can be bitter and often overstays its welcome. however, i enjoy it for the most part. you definitely get to experience 4 distinct seasons. we realize how fleeting the warm months are, therefore we appreciate and take advantage of them more.

7) schools; depends where you live. illinois finances its schools via property taxes. therefore, you see some of the greatest disparities between haves and have nots. there are some of the best schools in the country, as well as some of the worst. there are also excellent private schools (for a cost).

Last edited by via chicago; 08-16-2007 at 08:07 AM..
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Old 08-16-2007, 09:05 AM
 
474 posts, read 2,534,646 times
Reputation: 114
Default Comments To 'via Chicago'

Dear Friend:

Your above thread comments are very excellent and I completely agree with what you say. I assume that you have a "DSL" system and not dial - up like I do. If I were to compose such a beautiful thread like yours, I would most likely get kicked off line before I finished.

Best Regards,

Carter Glass
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Old 08-16-2007, 09:06 AM
 
Location: Phoenix metro
20,004 posts, read 77,241,319 times
Reputation: 10370
Quote:
Originally Posted by HOWELL_STREET View Post
Dear Friend:

Your above thread comments are very excellent and I completely agree with what you say. I assume that you have a "DSL" system and not dial - up like I do. If I were to compose such a beautiful thread like yours, I would most likely get kicked off line before I finished.

Best Regards,

Carter Glass
Its called Comcast High-Speed and I highly recommend that you pick it up.
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Old 08-16-2007, 09:16 AM
 
474 posts, read 2,534,646 times
Reputation: 114
Default Hello Steve - O

Hello Steve:

Thank you for your comments regarding Com Cas High Speed. Both of my two sons are more familiar than I am. Since they are not here at the moment, then would you pemit me a question or two?
I have read (Chicago Daily Tribune article) that once you change to a "DSL" system, then the telephone company also insists that they disconnect your copper phone line wiring system in your house. Then they install fiber - optical cables? If that is true, I have also heard that fiber optical cables are easier for someone to ease drop (wire tap). I belive our president has stated that they can legally wire tap. Although I am innocent of any wrong doing, it is the principal of wire tapping that I do not agree with. I feel that is is my right to privacy.
We have already been wire tapped by someone. When I signed off of the dial - up Internet, I discovered about one half hour later that our line was still live with the telephone microphones still operating. I eventually disconnected our telephone copper wire cable to disconnect that wire tapping. Although I am a retired electronics technician, my expertise is with hardware power supply systems and not software.
I would appreciate your comments.

Best Regards,

Carter Glass
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Old 08-16-2007, 10:21 AM
 
Location: Phoenix metro
20,004 posts, read 77,241,319 times
Reputation: 10370
Im not sure how that works. DSL is different than Comcast High Speed, thats all I really know. As for the fiber-optic cables, Ive never heard of that being done before, unless at your request. I could be wrong though. And the whole eaves-dropping thing is new to me, I dont think fiber-optic cables would make a difference, but then again Im about the furthest thing from a tech guru there is. haha
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Old 08-16-2007, 02:36 PM
mdz
 
Location: Near West Burbs, IL
622 posts, read 2,615,940 times
Reputation: 199
We've got dsl, and a house from 1923, ATT didn't have to do anything inside the houes to get us set up.

It works well about 80% of the time--pretty frustrating. When it works, it's great. the other 20% I think there's line interference (likely from other people in the neighborhood being on the dsl) and it's hard to maintain a connection. I'm thinking of going to cable but the cost difference is huge--right now I'm at 20 bucks a month and cable standard is something like 50 for the line.
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Old 08-16-2007, 03:36 PM
 
474 posts, read 2,534,646 times
Reputation: 114
Default Thank You For Your Comments

We have ATT.NET dial up with our Internet connections. I have queried ATT in the past about our problems and although they were sympathetic, they said that nothing can be done. That's because it is a contract - agent with ATT that actually operates our Wheaton ISP dial-up. Although Naperville has about three dial up systems, Wheaton only has one. During popular times when most people are at home - - before work or after work - - our system becomes so overloaded that sometimes I can't even get on line.
Wheaton is a great city, but this is one of the few headaches, here.

Best Regards,

Carter Glass
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Old 08-16-2007, 04:43 PM
 
Location: Arizona
124 posts, read 412,917 times
Reputation: 31
Im not to worried about traffic we've got alot here to. Thanks via chicago for the info that was a great thread.
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