Relocating to Chicagoland, Maybe?

[Longford]

Originally Posted by Mike44118

I am thinking I will do better in the suburbs.

Better in what sense? Living within a 30-minute "El" or bus ride of where you work is doable. And for $65,000 it's doable, IMO. Two of the often talked about suburbs which are adjacent to Chicago are Oak Park and Evanston. It'll take you longer to commute from either and rents are likely to be no less than what you'll pay in the city. Then again, we don't know what your 'significant other' situation is and/or your likes/dislikes/goals as far as housing.

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by Longford

Better in what sense? Living within a 30-minute "El" or bus ride of where you work is doable. And for $65,000 it's doable, IMO. Two of the often talked about suburbs which are adjacent to Chicago are Oak Park and Evanston. It'll take you longer to commute from either and rents are likely to be no less than what you'll pay in the city. Then again, we don't know what your 'significant other' situation is and/or your likes/dislikes/goals as far as housing.

It's MORE than doable unless you have tons of debt or something. $65,000/year is $5000/month pre tax. Factor in taxes, insurances, etc, etc and it's still probably a take home of at least $3400 or $3500/month. If you didn't spend tons and tons of money outside of rent, you could pretty much live in any neighborhood you wanted to on that in Chicago.

[Mike44118]

600 W. Madison Street

[marothisu]

Unless it's a lifestyle thing, I have no idea why you'd think you'd have to live in the suburbs on that salary.

[Mike44118]

I am very accustomed to suburban living. And I am thinking that downtown living is way too expensive.

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by Mike44118

I am very accustomed to suburban living. And I am thinking that downtown living is way too expensive.

1) Why do you think you even have to live downtown? That's absurd in my opinion. Chicago is a big city with good public transit too. I hope you realize that only 4-5% of the population of Chicago actually lives downtown. That's a small percentage of the population. Most people who work downtown don't even live downtown either.

2) Your salary will afford you to live downtown if you really wanted to. I have lived downtown before on a similar salary before. If you spent $1500/month for a downtown apartment and you took home $3500/month (which is very possible) with your job, you'd have $2000/month left over. Unless you have a ton of debt and whatever - I don't see what the problem is. You probably aren't accustomed to this stuff, but if you take a step back and actually think about it and do the math, your salary is more than enough.



Also, not everywhere is big dense high rise areas. Actually most of Chicago is low rise and there's many areas that aren't extremely dense. There's tons of SFH in Chicago, but if you want a half acre yard or something then yes, go to the suburbs.

3) The other neighborhoods are cheaper than downtown - again only 4-5% of the city lives downtown. Where do you think the other 95-96% lives? Not downtown, and for a cheaper COL.

[Ace Rothstein]

You could live in a place like Bridgeport very well on that salary. It is very close to your place of employment and it isn't a super dense neighborhood.

[oakparkdude]

Originally Posted by Mike44118

I am very accustomed to suburban living. And I am thinking that downtown living is way too expensive.

If you want a big house with a big yard and driveway, then yeah, you'll probably need to live in the suburbs.

[5thgencincy]

Metra station is on Madison, that's the big trains, leather seats, comfortable. Commute like an executive, sip your coffee, do your paperwork. 500 W. Madison, that's one block.