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I am heavily considering moving from San Diego to Chicago for a better chance of a long-term career.
I am in my early 30's, single male, and majored in finance in college back on the east coast.
Right now I work for myself selling vintage collectibles and to be quite honest I have that down to where I can just do it on the side.
In the early 20's I worked for two major corporations, but as of the last 2 1/2 years I have been just working for myself. My background in insurance sales and underwriting with commercial insurance.
Originally I am from Philadelphia and moved to San Diego back in 2006. I have enjoyed my time in SD, but besides the weather and outdoor activities I feel the real chance of owning a house and a decent long-term career is elsewhere.
I have visited Chicago many times and their are two major conventions every year I have to go to Chicago anyway plus it is closer to my friends and family in Philly.
My questions are:
Have any of you moved to Chicago without knowing anyone and how did you adjust? nervous? lonely? regret the move?
How willing are Chicago employers to hire outside of the state?
I can pack up and leave immediately since I pretty much have zero furniture and everything can fit into my car.
I know the weather in San Diego is perfect, but careers here are very much lacking. I also much prefer a downtown view to an ocean.
I moved here after college, and so far things have been great! I knew a few people, but I've had pretty good success meeting people through meetup.com, you should start there if you are new to any city.
Chicago's pretty big, lots of people are from out of state, although many seem to be from the midwest (as am I)
If you can, get a sublease so you can check out the neighborhood and see if that's where you want to live. There are a ton of different neighborhoods in Chicago, go get lost for a day and see which one fits you. (Although I'd wait it out till spring, winters are pretty rough)
I moved here after college, and so far things have been great! I knew a few people, but I've had pretty good success meeting people through meetup.com, you should start there if you are new to any city.
Chicago's pretty big, lots of people are from out of state, although many seem to be from the midwest (as am I)
If you can, get a sublease so you can check out the neighborhood and see if that's where you want to live. There are a ton of different neighborhoods in Chicago, go get lost for a day and see which one fits you. (Although I'd wait it out till spring, winters are pretty rough)
Good Luck!
Where did you move from?
Yeah I know winters are bad, but careers in SD are worse. haha
I mean are people friendly? alot of transplants? How is the dating scene?
At 32 years old I think I need to focus on my career than worry about weather.
I also miss a great restaurant and downtown scene which I hate to say SD lacks big time.
While I love the weather and out door activities of San Diego cost of living seems 25% lower in Shy-town (except for fresh produce), and I miss not living in a city with 4 sports. (I grew a bog Jordan fan). Padres are a minor league team and the Chargers choke worse than my eagles.
Oh topic I am watching bad Teacher on HBO right now and that movies takes place in Chicago suburbs I believe and I laughing my arse off. haha
Have any of you moved to Chicago without knowing anyone and how did you adjust? nervous? lonely? regret the move?
I didn't know anyone when I moved to Chicago. There was one person I semi knew, who was the girlfriend of this guy I went to school with for a year, but I saw her maybe twice. I went from knowing everyone where I was at to knowing nobody. I mean, it was lonely at first, but eventually I made good friends (making "friends" is not hard) who I still consider my tight knit group of friends.
It wasn't anything hard though..the people I trained with were my age too and I went out with them drinking for the first 4 months of living in Chicago, but they weren't 100% what I was looking for in good friends. I'm just weird like that in that I would rather stay at home than be surrounded by a bunch of "dbag" type of guys.
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How willing are Chicago employers to hire outside of the state?
Pretty much depends on the employer. I work for a major corporation and was hired out of state and there's a lot of people I trained with who were basically in the same boat (national training, but most peoples' hometowns were not the same as where they were going to be working - about 15 from Chicago in my training class).
Yeah I know winters are bad, but careers in SD are worse. haha
If you're from Philadelphia and can put up with that, you should be able to put up with Chicago. It's about 10 degrees colder in the winter on average than Philly. Sizable, but not a massive difference. People here think there's the worst winters ever when there's a lot of worse places in the US alone that are colder and worse.
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I mean are people friendly? alot of transplants? How is the dating scene?
People are friendly on average. Of course it's a large city so there's your fair share of unfriendly people, but overall I've found people to be pleasant. There's a lot of transplants...some from not too far away (midwestern) and some from far away. I have friends from all over the spectrum - Chicagoans, midwesterners, East and West coasters, foreigners from all continents...
Dating scene...pretty much depends on what you go for. I wouldn't say it's hard to get a date here. There's a lot of single people since it's a city. You just have to put yourself out there and ask people out pretty much.. Plus as you kind of alluded to, a lot of great restaurants. It's not hard to meet someone at a bar or club if you do that, but there's a fair amount of competition. Some of those places is just a market, but there's plenty of other places to meet people - beach, gym, restaurants, meet up groups, bike/running path, friends, super market (Whole Foods ;-) ), etc etc..just like any other big city.
I can't speak for the 30 something dating scene, but my friends in it are fine..even my friends in their 40s still go on dates all the time. It's just how you go about meeting people I guess..
And if you're into just hooking up of course there's loads of bars/clubs where that's all many of the women are looking for
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While I love the weather and out door activities of San Diego cost of living seems 25% lower in Shy-town (except for fresh produce), and I miss not living in a city with 4 sports. (I grew a bog Jordan fan). Padres are a minor league team and the Chargers choke worse than my eagles.
Hah, the Cubs suck, but they manage to sell out pretty much every game. Wrigley Field is the world's largest beer garden basically...
If you're from Philadelphia and can put up with that, you should be able to put up with Chicago. It's about 10 degrees colder in the winter on average than Philly. Sizable, but not a massive difference. People here think there's the worst winters ever when there's a lot of worse places in the US alone that are colder and worse.
People are friendly on average. Of course it's a large city so there's your fair share of unfriendly people, but overall I've found people to be pleasant. There's a lot of transplants...some from not too far away (midwestern) and some from far away. I have friends from all over the spectrum - Chicagoans, midwesterners, East and West coasters, foreigners from all continents...
Dating scene...pretty much depends on what you go for. I wouldn't say it's hard to get a date here. There's a lot of single people since it's a city. You just have to put yourself out there and ask people out pretty much.. Plus as you kind of alluded to, a lot of great restaurants. It's not hard to meet someone at a bar or club if you do that, but there's a fair amount of competition. Some of those places is just a market, but there's plenty of other places to meet people - beach, gym, restaurants, meet up groups, bike/running path, friends, super market (Whole Foods ;-) ), etc etc..just like any other big city.
I can't speak for the 30 something dating scene, but my friends in it are fine..even my friends in their 40s still go on dates all the time. It's just how you go about meeting people I guess..
And if you're into just hooking up of course there's loads of bars/clubs where that's all many of the women are looking for
Hah, the Cubs suck, but they manage to sell out pretty much every game. Wrigley Field is the world's largest beer garden basically...
Cubs stink, but your Blackhawks beat my Flyers back in 2010. ......
I have been lucky to been plenty of dates of here in SD. I keep myself pretty good shape as I am an avid runner and go to the gym regularly. I have done well with online dating, and since Chicago has a couple million people in the general area I would assume the same dating prospects are available in Chicago.
What do you do for a living if I may ask?
I want to thank you for your reponses, and I hope you are having a nice holiday season.
What I have noticed a lot in my trips to Chicago is just how nice the city is. The city has amazing architecture that reminds me of philly, but with a very modern style as well.
IMO Chicago is smaller NYC with all the amenities once can need for a world class city, but at more 65% less cost of living.
Some the apt's have amazing views and rent is a little cheaper than same apt's in downtown SD that have less scenic appeal.
While winters I always dreaded back east, I value culture, career advancement, good restaurants, vibrant downtown, vintage architectural , and overall people that are not as uptight as my east coast neighbours (Philly, NYC, Boston, D.C.) over San Diego's beaches, amazing weather, and lack of job careers here. So unless I am not thinking straight it would seem Chicago fits the bill quite nicely.
Cubs stink, but your Blackhawks beat my Flyers back in 2010. ......
I have been lucky to been plenty of dates of here in SD. I keep myself pretty good shape as I am an avid runner and go to the gym regularly. I have done well with online dating, and since Chicago has a couple million people in the general area I would assume the same dating prospects are available in Chicago.
What do you do for a living if I may ask?
I want to thank you for your reponses, and I hope you are having a nice holiday season.
John
Yeah, 2010. The Blackhawks historically haven't been good.. haha but nonetheless, even though sometimes the teams suck, people are always all about them.
Yeah, good way to meet people. 9.7 million people in the Chicago area to be exact, but yeah sure, a few million eligible women I'm sure (1-2 million maybe?). I do stuff with software engineering, but consulting work around it. I do business stuff too
What I have noticed a lot in my trips to Chicago is just how nice the city is. The city has amazing architecture that reminds me of philly, but with a very modern style as well.
IMO Chicago is smaller NYC with all the amenities once can need for a world class city, but at more 65% less cost of living.
Some the apt's have amazing views and rent is a little cheaper than same apt's in downtown SD that have less scenic appeal.
While winters I always dreaded back east, I value culture, career advancement, good restaurants, vibrant downtown, vintage architectural , and overall people that are not as uptight as my east coast neighbours (Philly, NYC, Boston, D.C.) over San Diego's beaches, amazing weather, and lack of job careers here. So unless I am not thinking straight it would seem Chicago fits the bill quite nicely.
Yeah definitely. For awhile the building of skyscrapers stopped, but in the last year or so it's started up again. Not as much as say 10-12 years ago, but there are a large handful of 450+ foot buildings going up and there's some talks about some more going up closer to 600+ feet.
Chicago is a city of neighborhoods. Downtown (Loop, part of the West Loop, River North, Streeterville, part of the Gold Coast) is like NYC in parts of course. Then you have other neighborhoods that might remind you a little bit of parts of DC, Boston, Portland, etc. That was my Uncle's first thoughts on his first visit to Chicago. He's originally from Queens and lives in Los Angeles. He absolutely loved the city and said he would move here in a heartbeat if the winters were warmer (he's been spoiled by LA now). Of course, NYC has superior public transit, but nobody else in the US does. The train system here is probably the 2nd best in the US after that and there's a good bus system too. It's true though, way cheaper here than in NYC for living.
Those two places aren't bad, but the problem is they're in meh neighborhoods. The W Madison one isn't bad, but both are essentially in the Loop. Comparable though. I live in Gold Coast and pay just over $1300/month for a pretty good 1 bedroom. I have a grocery store about 100 feet away, restaurants, a few cafes, bars, bus stops, a train stop, and walking distance to way more stuff.
If you're into the downtown thing and can afford those prices ($1250+/month) then I'd look into River North or Gold Coast. Here's the view from my apartment and the sad thing is, it could be way better
While winters I always dreaded back east, I value culture, career advancement, good restaurants, vibrant downtown, vintage architectural , and overall people that are not as uptight as my east coast neighbours (Philly, NYC, Boston, D.C.) over San Diego's beaches, amazing weather, and lack of job careers here. So unless I am not thinking straight it would seem Chicago fits the bill quite nicely.
Yeah. I'd say you can definitely get ahead in a career in Chicago. Architecture of course you know about already, people are pretty laid back here (not always..like during a morning commute maybe not). Chicago has arguably a food scene right up there with NYC too (although of course NYC has way more restaurants, but they're also 3X the size of Chicago). There is a lot of culture here too, although again not like NYC, but there's people living from all over here. You will see a lot of American-esque bars, but then again you can see other stuff. There's a lot of intelligent people in Chicago, but you might not find as many stuck up bars on average here than in DC or parts of NYC.
P.S. Chicago has beaches and actually the water temp in the summer is in the low 70s. In fact, this summer it was so hot the water temp read 85 a few times..no joke (but that's definitely not normal). The lake is a lot warmer than people think in the summer. Actually Oak Street beach area is kind of like Waikiki in Honolulu for the fact that you have the beach area with a bunch of tall buildings right outside of it. Most of the shoreline in Chicago is actually public land so there's only one private building for miles. I'm actually a fan of some of the beaches up north like Montrose Beach.
This video starts way south and works it's way up north (i.e. towards downtown and beyond):
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