Do you sometimes think of moving out of Chicago? (Oak Park: wood floors, best cities)

[ParkerP]

For all the complainers, why did you come here in the first place? Just curious because the violence, weather, traffic, politics, etc is national news yet you still made the move here.

[Tex?Il?]

Originally Posted by MannheimMadman

Wow. This Bridgeport stuff is silly. I was eating lunch at Freddie's on 31st and there were blacks. Outside of the CVS on 31st I watched a cop help a black guy push his car out of his spot and up to the tow truck.

Seriously, it isn't 1964.

No it is not 1964. But I wouldn't be suprised that many Chicago cops are sons of the same cops that beat up the Old Town hippies at the 1968 conventions or threw rocks and bottles at MLK Jr.

Yes, things have changed, but you can stil sense a bit of that lingering hostile, parochial ignorance. Its just that now you have to be paying close attention.

[Avengerfire]

Originally Posted by Tuco

How goes life in a 500 square foot studio?

At least I did not grow up in one with 6 family members like you did.

[It'sAutomatic]

Originally Posted by mp943

I'd prefer a place with 300+ sunny days a year, mountains, doesn't take forever and a day to drive across the city, and a cost of living that won't bleed me dry.

There is nowhere in the US that has 300+ sunny days per year. You also won't find a place here with both mountains and lots of sun. If you want to travel faster, you could choose to live closer to school/work/whatever and use a bicycle.

[Ron.]

Originally Posted by Jesse69

Do you sometimes think of moving out of Chicago? This city is degenerating under Mayor Daley. Soon parking meters will be too expensive. CTA is getting way expensive. Shopping at Jewel's and Dominick's is expensive. What else is expensive?

Sometimes I think I should just move to Houston or another US city. Chicago's attractions to me is that I live in a great location in Wicker Park and that LSD is great to workout in. But shopping, groceries, and restaurants are better in Houston.

And I'm getting tired of applying to the same Chicago companies that don't even hire me. Maybe I'm not gonna last in Chicago...

I sure do.....not because of lack of opportunity. The segregation is too much for my tastes.

Not to mention it seems as if the affluent blacks have moved out of the city, for good reason. I'd prefer to live around affluent blacks and whites(Hispanics also) but I'd have to move far out of the city to find the affluent blacks.

Life is such....

[SmartGXL]

Back to the original post, yes there are times that I consider leaving, mainly when I crave sunshine, or when I crave more affordable living. I do have some level of seasonal affective disorder, and when you combine that with the dark depressing winter, and the fact that you cant get a decent 2-bedroom apartment in one of the nicer neighborhoods for less than $1900, made me want to leave for a while. Also, there was a time where my employer kept sending me to TX, and really I fell in love with that place. Dallas has a couple of smaller neighborhoods that one can describe as their version of Lincoln park/Lakeview, and to me that was enough to make me want to move. My brother now lives in Austin, and when I visit there, the elevated sunshine levels really make you feel "good". Plus, the COL in cities like Dallas is much cheaper than Chicago, and there is also no state income tax, so there are many benefits.

However, I ultimately decided to stay in Chicago. The job options, the skyline, the walkability and the great people in the neighborhoods cant be beat. Yes it is cold and sort of expensive, but that is a small price to pay, to be able to live in the cool hip neighborhoods. Yes, I know that not everyone is in a place in their life where they can enjoy that sort of thing, and I feel grateful to be able to do so, for as long as I can.

Other people have mentioned how the crime rates, traffic, etc are bad...isnt that how all of the US is? For anyone who thinks that there are problems in Chicago, most of those problems are to be found in most of the other metros, but those metros do not have killer skylines, killer beaches, awesome walkable neighborhoods, with some of the hottest broads you can find.

[andrew61]

Originally Posted by SmartGXL

...and the fact that you cant get a decent 2-bedroom apartment in one of the nicer neighborhoods for less than $1900...

That depends on how you define "decent" and "nicer".

[Jesse69]

You can get a nice 2bdr in a nice neighborhood like Wicker Park --

chicago apts/housing for rent classifieds "Wicker Park" - craigslist

Wicker Park- 2 Bedroom / 1 Bath Unit Available $1050 (http://chicago.craigslist.org/chc/apa/1809293491.html - broken link)

[Chiguy1957]

As much as I love this city, I've decided to leave. We will be pulling up stakes in a couple more months. The original plan was to be snowbirds, but circumstances have changed. We weren't able to sell our place for what we thought it was worth, so we'll still be keeping a "lifeline" here by renting it out, but for the most part, we'll be gone.

I still love you, Chicago, but I can't live with you anymore.

[Drover]

Originally Posted by andrew61

That depends on how you define "decent" and "nicer".

Yeah, no kidding. The neighborhood I live in isn't a hot spot but it's nice, clean, quiet, stable, and within easy striking distance of several nightlife areas. And I pay less than half that for a vintage 1200sqft 2-bedroom -- with off-street parking. And by "vintage" I don't mean run-down. It's well-kept with hardwood floors and crown molding and all that.