Lifelong Californians Considering Move to Chicago - Snow Questions (Oregon: sales, apartments)

[Deedermc]

Hi! My wife and I are considering a move to Chicago. We visited there last year and just loved it. I spent the first 12 years of my life living in snow country and fondly remember having four actual seasons, but that's very different from dealing with "grown up" cold/snow issues. My wife (63 years old) has this horrible picture in her head of spending an extra half hour getting dressed with lots of expensive clothes, then an hour digging out the driveway every day, slipping and falling and getting hurt, scraping ice and snow off the car and windshield, having to learn a whole new set of driving skills, and probably wrecking the car a few times. Not to mention just being so damn utterly freezing cold, even in your own house. She said "all they usually have are those funny little radiator things." Plus, she said, it's not really any cooler there in the summer (getting away from the baking 100 degree day after day heat is one of the reasons we're thinking of leaving.)

So what's the real story, Chicagoans? Thanks!

Deeder

[pidgeon92]

Snow every day? No. This was probably one of the worst winters I've seen in 40+ years, and we shoveled/blew the snow perhaps a dozen or so times?

Expensive clothes? I own some. Layering is just as good.

Driveway? Good luck finding a home with a driveway. Either you'll get a garage in an alley, or street parking. Both are bad after a snowstorm. Dibs if you park on the street, which is an entirely different game.

Radiators? Only in older apartments and homes. Depends on what you're looking to rent/purchase. No reason for you to be cold in your home. If you don't pay for heat, and can't control the thermostat, there's always space heaters.

Driving skills? Yes, driving in the snow takes some getting used to. I've never had an accident in the snow (knock on wood) but it can be treacherous. Drive cautiously.

Certainly it can be hot in the summer. Not this summer. But that's weather for you.

[marothisu]

LOL, yeah your wife is severely over reacting. Chicago does get snow, like 37 inches per year (Boston gets 44 inches. Minneapolis at 54 inches). Usually it's little snows and getting more than 3 inches at a time is not exactly common though it can happen. Chicago will be colder, but it's not the type of cold where you have to put on two sweatshirts or anything. Learn how to dress for it and it's quite easy. She's not going to spend 2 hours putting on clothing to go outside. If there's ever an over reaction in the world, it's that.


As far as heating systems go - Older places that haven't been renovated will probably have radiators and newer places, or renovated places will probably have more of a central heat. People unfamiliar with radiators would be surprised at how well the decent to good ones can heat a room/rooms. Some of them do too good of a job sometimes, actually.

Yes, driving in snow takes more practice, but nothing she couldn't learn. Please remind her that there's people living in Chicago who grew up in countries warmer than much of California and (a) they can deal with the cold and (b) they can drive in the cold. She'll have to be cautious, but it's nothing someone who's a decent driver can't learn to do.


Very rarely does the temperature get to 100 in the summer, though once in a blue moon it could happen. The average high in the summer is upper 70s to upper-ish 80s.

[ChicagoMeO]

I've seen people that come to my job from out of town for meetings, and some come from warm climates like california. My co-worker had to walk one middle aged lady across the street to the hotel when we had one inch of new snow on the ground downtown. yes, people who are not used to it do get afraid of the snow.

Heck even some people who live here dont know how to drive in snow! thats why when it snows or rains like today, traffic is snarled.

last year the winter never seemed to end. that was unusual. this year they are predicting another cold winter. no one knows though. just have to take your chances.

Some parts of the city and the suburbs get snowfall differently. same for the weather. you can have one kind of weather downtown and 30 miles northwest have a blizzard. also chicago is notorious for clearing snow since that one mayor in the 1970s lost the job because he did not do snow removal properly and Mayor Jayne Byrne won because she kept continually reminding us. but the city is pretty good about the main streets being cleared.

[MassVt]

Originally Posted by pidgeon92

Snow every day? No. This was probably one of the worst winters I've seen in 40+ years, and we shoveled/blew the snow perhaps a dozen or so times?

Expensive clothes? I own some. Layering is just as good.

Driveway? Good luck finding a home with a driveway. Either you'll get a garage in an alley, or street parking. Both are bad after a snowstorm. Dibs if you park on the street, which is an entirely different game.

Radiators? Only in older apartments and homes. Depends on what you're looking to rent/purchase. No reason for you to be cold in your home. If you don't pay for heat, and can't control the thermostat, there's always space heaters.

Driving skills? Yes, driving in the snow takes some getting used to. I've never had an accident in the snow (knock on wood) but it can be treacherous. Drive cautiously.

Certainly it can be hot in the summer. Not this summer. But that's weather for you.

NO SPACE HEATERS--ABSOLUTELY NOT-VERY DANGEROUS.

Otherwise, the OP's wife has very exaggerated fears. I did have to chuckle at the "radiator thingy", though..

[Harpaint]

I wouldn't recommend a change like that at this point in life. Many Californians who move to Oregon think its cold here and it is no where near Chicago weather! There's a reason people in their 60's leave cold climates completely or at lest become snow birds! Good Luck in whatever decision you make!

[ChicagoMeO]

oh those radiators are the best thing when you come in from out of the cold! you can sit on one if they are wide enough, and its like the toastiest feeling! also great for drying out your gloves and scarf and boots! i remember those when i was little. so nice!! i love radiator (steam) heat whenever i find an apartment with one. its the perfect form of heat!!!

[TheSunshineKid]

You're gonna die. Seriously. Stay in CA.

Okay, I wasn't serious. Whenever people are concerned about the cold here, I just say "Move here first, and after your first winter - if you're still worried about the cold weather - either decide to stay or look for a warmer place." There's nothing much else to say besides buy good winter gear and a good shovel.

[chirack]

Originally Posted by Deedermc

Hi! My wife and I are considering a move to Chicago. We visited there last year and just loved it. I spent the first 12 years of my life living in snow country and fondly remember having four actual seasons, but that's very different from dealing with "grown up" cold/snow issues. My wife (63 years old) has this horrible picture in her head of spending an extra half hour getting dressed with lots of expensive clothes, then an hour digging out the driveway every day, slipping and falling and getting hurt, scraping ice and snow off the car and windshield, having to learn a whole new set of driving skills, and probably wrecking the car a few times. Not to mention just being so damn utterly freezing cold, even in your own house. She said "all they usually have are those funny little radiator things." Plus, she said, it's not really any cooler there in the summer (getting away from the baking 100 degree day after day heat is one of the reasons we're thinking of leaving.)

So what's the real story, Chicagoans? Thanks!

Deeder

You won't likely be cold in your own house, but the rest of it are possibilities. Falling and getting hurt, yeap. Scraping ice off the Car and windshield, yeap. Damned cold and freezing outside, yes.

[chet everett]

Originally Posted by Harpaint

I wouldn't recommend a change like that at this point in life. Many Californians who move to Oregon think its cold here and it is no where near Chicago weather! There's a reason people in their 60's leave cold climates completely or at lest become snow birds! Good Luck in whatever decision you make!

There are lots of youngsters on these boards that are simple so in love with the fact they can drink craft cocktails at some hipster bar until 4AM and then catch a ride home on the Blue line that nothing else matters to them.

The fact is that if you spent your whole adult life driving your car from you garage to where you need to be and parking easily in some lot maintained by that business it is almost certainly NOT going to be a easy adjustment to deal with the arcane and capricious anti-car policies of Chicago. You will spend a small fortune on private parking, city parking permits and still rack up huge fines. Not fun at all. Even if you should decide to join up with the car-free hipsters be prepared for a different lifestyle -- instead of knocking out a trip to the grocery store once a week or so be prepared to tote home just a bag or two essentials on the bus and make multiple trips per week.

Are there folks that live in Chicago that have homes with garages? There certainly are but they generally fall into two narrow categories -- the super rich that can afford a home with a garage in a costly part of Chicago near the exciting resturant and nightlife or the city workers compelled to live inside the corporate limits of the city as terms of their employement that have made these farther out neighborhoods as quiet and boring as the suburbs that exist across the city's borders.

Coming from California high taxes should come as no shock to the OP but the degree to which Illinois' politicians have failed to address the massive give-aways to the state pension systems means the Illinois is the MOST underfunderd of ALL states and given the fact that the very judges that ruled the shortfalls could not be eliminated through reductions in promised benefits are also covered by those same underfunded plans the result will be skyrocketing taxes. For anyone, even the well off, facing that prospect, especially later in life when changes in cost of living are harder to plan for, that makes Illinois a very poor choice.

As if the state's budgetary shell game is not galling enough it is also worth looking at the employment prospects of anyone contemplating moving to the region. It is undeniable that hordes of kids right out of college do flock to Chicago to take advantage of the party atmosphere that existing in some north side areas. This has the result of making it realtively easy to staff up with eager young people for roles that are essentially "sales trainees" and firms like google and Yelp that need large sales staffs have captured headlines as Mayor Rahm Emmanual falsely claims this is some kind of rennaisaince for the city. Reality is that the hostile business climate and favoritism that sees insiders get huge tax breaks / incentive grants makes Illinois and Chicago undesirable to many businesses and contributes to the persistently high unemployment that makes us stand out compared to all other metro regions...

In short, if you are not transfering here with a very well paid position that will allow you to take advantage of some of the nice things that the city does hold while not having to live in fear that the enormous potential for crushing taxes will wipe out your ability to live out a pleasant retirement I cannot recomend relocation.