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Old 06-07-2010, 03:58 AM
 
Location: Not where you ever lived
11,535 posts, read 30,125,587 times
Reputation: 6423

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It is not a pain and it is feasible if this is what you want to do. Providing 1-You can afford the expense of two rentals/utilites: $2200 US per month would not be unreasonable, 2- you don't mind a looong week-end commute, and 3- you buy a NOAA weather radio that runs on electricity or battery and you use it. Our winters can be very brutal with deep snow and artic like cold temperatures. .

By the way, if you are bringing a favorite appliance you will need a UK to US female to male convertor. The UK and US electrical outlets where you connect your appliance to the power supply are not compatible. The clothes press, curling iron and blow dryer you use in UK won't work here without it.
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Old 06-07-2010, 06:47 AM
 
Location: Hoosierville
17,019 posts, read 14,284,024 times
Reputation: 11310
This is insane. Seriously.

It's a 300 mile drive that will be tough to swallow in good weather but a HORRIFIC (to put it mildly) drive during snow season of December through March.
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Old 06-07-2010, 10:20 AM
 
Location: Denver, CO
818 posts, read 2,162,164 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Chuckity View Post
This is insane. Seriously.

It's a 300 mile drive that will be tough to swallow in good weather but a HORRIFIC (to put it mildly) drive during snow season of December through March.
To add, during winter months, you will commonly encounter Lake Effect Snow on this drive, usually somewhere between Chesterton, IN and Kalamazoo, MI.

Unfortunately, Detroit is kind of a dying city right now, and it not that interesting. Farmington Hills is simply a suburb that has somehow managed to maintain itself despite the fact that the city it was originally a suburb of has basically lost half its' population/ half it's jobs (if not more).

As was mentioned above Ann Arbor is an interesting town, home to both U of M (University of Michigan) as well as EMU (Eastern Michigan University) and has some more stable employers in the area (tech, energy, etc.). However, it is a much smaller city than Chicago. Chicago= 3 million city, 8 million metro. Ann Arbor is closer to 200,000 city and 400,000 metro. If you start out by settling in Michigan, you can check it out to see if it will due before going to Chicago.

Having a place in both Farmington Hills and Chicago can be done depending on how much money you make (2 rents/mortgages, esp. in Chicago +gas and/or airfare adds up), your work schedule/flexability, your tolerance for traveling (min. travel time is 4.5 hours, but traffic and lake effect snow can add to it easily).
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Old 06-07-2010, 11:50 AM
 
Location: Houston
279 posts, read 757,354 times
Reputation: 157
If you can afford to pay 2 rents / mortgages and the costs of gas each week then this could be feasible. It really wouldn't be that much different than the lifestyle of many consultants who live in Chicago and travel each week to work elsewhere - except you have to pay for the travel out of your own pocket.

I'd also try to see if you can arrange something with your employer that allows you to work a flex schedule - i.e. working from home or half days on Fridays and spending more time at the office Monday through Thursday.

Then you'd get yourself a small apartment in Chicago and your main home (maybe a slightly bigger apartment) in Michigan. If you get on the road right away after work on Thursdays or Fridays and leave really early in the mornings on Mondays, you could still spend a decent amount of time in Chicago during the weekends. During times when the weather is really bad in the winter, you just don't go to Chicago and stay in Michigan because the drive would take forever.

It could work, but obviously requires quite a bit of $$ and two 5 hour drives each week. I'd get settled in Michigan at first, check out the area and see what you think before pulling the trigger on renting or buying a second apartment in Chicago. Then maybe sublease something at first for a few months to try it out and see if you think it's worth it.
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Old 06-07-2010, 01:41 PM
 
5,951 posts, read 13,043,625 times
Reputation: 4813
Yes,

This idea is crazy. Just live in SE Michigan. Chicago may be in way better economic shape and has way more cultural atttractions, but seriously, Farmington Hills is a Detroit suburb centrally located to fun towns such as Ann Arbor (U of M), Royal Oak, Ferndale, and Birmingham, and yes even downtown Detroit.

Plus, the cost of living has fallen so much there. Just live in a funky area of SE MI like Royal Oak, Ferndale, Ann Arbor, and the small nice area of downtown Detroit and fly or drive to Chicago once every 4-6 weeks to do the things you can't do in SE MI. It would be totally financially worth it. Seriously.
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Old 06-07-2010, 01:42 PM
 
Location: Chicago
4,688 posts, read 10,066,890 times
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If anything, you'll come to Chicago one, maybe 2 weekends a month. Just stay in a hotel. It will be cheaper, nicer, and you won't have to make your bed.
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Old 06-07-2010, 01:46 PM
 
Location: Chicago
15,585 posts, read 27,455,856 times
Reputation: 1761
This thread need to be merged with this one:

//www.city-data.com/forum/chica...ton-hills.html


There are two seperate discussions going on about the same topic!
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Old 06-07-2010, 07:58 PM
 
Location: Wicker Park, Chicago
4,789 posts, read 14,704,171 times
Reputation: 1966
Detroit has enough attractions there to keep you interested and it's a LARGE CITY. Driving 273 miles / 4 hours to Chicago is not worth it. Just visit Chicago every 6 weeks or so at a hotel. I drove in Dec 09 from Chicago to Detroit to pick up a Stargate video arcade machine and the winter drive home was not nice... ice on the road and I counted about 12 accidents / car by the ditch when going home.
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Old 06-07-2010, 08:13 PM
 
16,365 posts, read 30,083,242 times
Reputation: 25410
Why stay in an apartment in the Detroit area? You can get some pretty fine hotels on Priceline (Residence Inns, etc.) in the ballpark of $30-35/night + tax and fees and you need not bother with hassles like utilities, cable and the like.

I know a couple of people who work in Chicago every week and commute home to St. Louis on the weekends.
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Old 06-07-2010, 08:15 PM
 
Location: Chicago - Logan Square
3,396 posts, read 7,178,162 times
Reputation: 3731
Quote:
Originally Posted by OrangeAndBlue View Post
If you can afford to pay 2 rents / mortgages and the costs of gas each week then this could be feasible. It really wouldn't be that much different than the lifestyle of many consultants who live in Chicago and travel each week to work elsewhere - except you have to pay for the travel out of your own pocket.
This pretty well sums it up. There are plenty of consultants who do it, and it gets really old very quickly. When I lived in Boston I worked in DC and Chicago for long periods (which is why I moved here), and I've worked in NYC while living in Chicago. It might seem OK for a few months, but your travel plans will always get screwed up. Flights get canceled/delayed by snow in the winter and thunderstorms in the summer. Driving is too far, and it is impossible to work while driving (which is a must if you're traveling that much). Trains in the US are pretty slow, and they don't run that frequently.

It is possible, and people do it, but it sucks. As others have suggested, getting a place in Detroit and trying a few trips to Chicago would be your best bet to see if it bothers you.
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