Possibily Moving to Chicago from Scotland (Humboldt, Glasgow: insurance, high crime, neighborhoods)

[i_am_hydrogen]

A number of years ago, construction began on a transit station that was supposed to deliver express service from downtown to O'Hare. Due to escalating costs, the half-completed station was eventually mothballed. Mayor Emanuel is attempting to resurrect the project.

City Makes Another Attempt at Express Trains to O'Hare | NBC Chicago

[Scottishd]

Originally Posted by bobisinthehouse

You don't have to live in the city of Chicago. "ORD" or O'Hare International Airport is technically located out of the city. It is located just outside of Chicago, it is in the Suburbs. You can live in cities around the airport like: Rosemont, Schiller Park, Bensenville, Wood Dale, Elk Grove Village, Mt Prospect, Des Plaines, Franklin Park, Northlake. It's just a 10 minute drive from your home.

All the cities I mentioned are as close as you can get to the airport. A circle of cities around the airport.

You mentioned the city centre of Chicago. That area is called the Gold Coast, You have to be very rich to live in that area. Plus your drive time could take more then 1 hour or more during rush hour traffic to the airport.

http://www.cityofchicago.org/content...1978_11x17.pdf

Thanks

Yeah Gold Coast does look rather expensive, I think the locations you mention are the areas I will look in.

[Scottishd]

Originally Posted by jonnynonos

I am probably on the frugal side but I think if you are single you can live comfortably on $50k a year.

To answer your questions:
1. Yes. It is dangerous. I don't care what the statistics say; it is likely far more dangerous than Aberdeen in any meaningful measurement. That being said, yes, the city is hugely segregated between high crime and lesser crime areas. You will want to be careful when you move here. it is very, very navigable, but does take some time to understand. When you decide what neighborhood you want yo live in, people can be of more help with specifics.
2. Depends on your income but probably around 25%.
3. Very.
4. About $3/gallon.
5. Approximately 45 minutes.

Thanks for the reply,

I agree it is likely to be more dangerous than Aberdeen, keep your self to yourself and you will have no issues really. I'm sure Chicago will be the same in the right areas.

[Scottishd]

Originally Posted by chicagobear

Do you want to live in the suburbs or the city?

The city of Chicago is far and away the most interesting thing to see in this part of the country. There's not much to see within weekend driving distance although I suppose Milwaukee and a few small towns in Wisconsin and Michigan are worth seeing once.

I am now thinking the suburbs.

Looks like a half decent place is going to cost me $1200-1800. Does this include bills? Some of the ads state it and others don't.

Here in Scotland the rent price would exclude bills.

[jwuk45]

Originally Posted by jonnynonos

I am probably on the frugal side but I think if you are single you can live comfortably on $50k a year.

To answer your questions:
1. Yes. It is dangerous. I don't care what the statistics say; it is likely far more dangerous than Aberdeen in any meaningful measurement. That being said, yes, the city is hugely segregated between high crime and lesser crime areas. You will want to be careful when you move here. it is very, very navigable, but does take some time to understand. When you decide what neighborhood you want yo live in, people can be of more help with specifics.

Unless you've lived in Aberdeen, you can't really comment on whether it's far less dangerous than Chicago. Americans tend to have this idea of Scotland being this jolly quaint old place, but there is actually a lot of knife crime, robbery, and alcohol-fueled anti-social behaviour. I lived about half my life in the north-east of England (which is roughly comparable to cities in Scotland) and half in the US so I'm not just basing it on statistics, but real life experience. Just type "unprovoked attack" into google news search. It's almost all UK news stories. Have always felt safer in America.

[jonnynonos]

Originally Posted by jwuk45

Unless you've lived in Aberdeen, you can't really comment on whether it's far less dangerous than Chicago. Americans tend to have this idea of Scotland being this jolly quaint old place, but there is actually a lot of knife crime, robbery, and alcohol-fueled anti-social behaviour. I lived about half my life in the north-east of England (which is roughly comparable to cities in Scotland) and half in the US so I'm not just basing it on statistics, but real life experience. Just type "unprovoked attack" into google news search. It's almost all UK news stories. Have always felt safer in America.

Are you joking? Yes, it looks like they have a fair amount of "crimes of dishonesty."

http://www.aberdeencity.gov.uk/nmsru...=64566&sID=332

As opposed to Chicago, which just saw about 50 people shot and 9 murdered over the weekend.

You've got to be kidding!

Aberdeens violent crime rate is barely measurable:

http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2003/01/15950/15146

Your "advice" is liable to get somebody killed.

[jwuk45]

I never said Aberdeen had less violent crime than Chicago, just more overall crime. Aberdeen is less dangerous than Chicago, but then again it depends where you live. Bad areas in the US are a lot easier to define/avoid than they are in the UK. 50 people shot and 9 murdered over the weekend, and where did those take place? Somewhere like Lincoln Park? where there hasn't been a single murder in the past 365 days? Or somewhere West Garfield Park, where there's a murder every month? Presumably the OP is going to be living somewhere other than the ghetto, so why try to frighten him with murder/shooting stats? Not to mention that Chicago has a population 10 times that of Aberdeen.

I mean, look at the difference in crime stats between the best and worst neighbourhoods, it's INSANE

Crime in Chicagoland -- chicagotribune.com

There are neighbourhoods in Chicago where you're 50 times more likely to be murdered than others. That just doesn't happen in the UK, there are bad areas but crime is spread a lot more evenly.

[emathias]

Originally Posted by jonnynonos

Are you joking? Yes, it looks like they have a fair amount of "crimes of dishonesty."

http://www.aberdeencity.gov.uk/nmsru...=64566&sID=332

As opposed to Chicago, which just saw about 50 people shot and 9 murdered over the weekend.

You've got to be kidding!

Aberdeens violent crime rate is barely measurable:

Review of Scotland's Cities - The Analysis

Your "advice" is liable to get somebody killed.

Math's not your best subject I'm guessing.

Even on the gov.scot site you reference, total crime rate in Aberdeen is listed at 1,500 per 10,000 residents ("Aberdeen City had the highest crime rate with over 1,500 crimes per 10,000 population" - direct quote from that article). Chicago's crime rate is a fraction of that according to the statistics on city-data.com - in 2001 Chicago's total crime rate (violent crime+property crime) per 10,000 was 140 - referenced on that page as about 1,400 per 100,000.

For "non-sexual crimes of violence," Aberdeen - on the page you reference - is at 42 per 10,000 residents. Chicago's total violent crime rate, which includes rapes, was 89 in 2001 but 59 in 2011. Certainly higher than Aberdeen, but we're not talking magnitudes more, especially considering how much larger Chicago is than Aberdeen, which is less than 10% as populous as the City of Chicago. In other words, the North Side of Chicago is bigger than all of Aberdeen, and if you only take statistics from the North Side of Chicago to compare to Aberdeen I'm quite certain that the North Side of Chicago is safer on average than Aberdeen as a whole is.

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by Scottishd

Is the city a dangerous place to be or is it only some areas?

It is only some areas - you will sometimes hear it is a tale of two cities. Some parts of town can be very dangerous while other big parts of town are not at all.

How much is taken from the salary in tax etc?

Illinois takes out 3.75% of your income every paycheck. Then there's the federal government taking it out for income tax, medicare/medicaid, social security, etc. Personally, after everything including purchasing stock, 401K, health insurance, etc - I get somewhere between 37 and 40% of my paycheck taken out. It varies per person especially since what I just quoted you includes 401K.

How busy are the roads around the airport?

During rush hour, they can be very busy both ways. I go from ORD to downtown twice a week (Monday mornings and Thursday or Friday evenings) and it usually takes the cab an hour (or sometimes more) during those rush hour periods.

Is it expensive to run a car? In Aberdeen we pay around £1.15($1.80) per litre

Gas is expensive in the US and Chicago compared to that. If you live in a walkable area, and work at O'Hare, I don't think there's any reason to own a car especially when the Blue Line runs 24/7 and yes it's safe to take at night.

How far is it from the city centre to the airport on the train?

45 minutes usually. However, the city is spread out in its residents and activities. In no way is the centre the only place of action. In reality, only 5% of the population of Chicago lives downtown. And while there's many tourists downtown, you can imagine there are many other areas of action the the actual majority of the population.



You could easily get a 1 bedroom place along the blue line for under $1200 or $1300/month in an area like Logan Square. You can find 2 bedrooms in those areas for under $1700/month. I honestly don't know why you'd look at the suburbs unless you don't want to live in a walkable environment.

[jwuk45]

Originally Posted by marothisu

Gas is expensive in the US and Chicago compared to that.

Inexpensive, you mean? Gas is more than $6 a gallon in Scotland.

(possibly you mistook litres for gallons. There are almost four litres in a US gallon)