Is it feasible to live in Chicago and work in Farmington Hills, MI?? (Oak Park: apartments, to rent)

[Nicolebaba]

I will be relocating from Europe to the States and the company is located in Farmington Hills, MI. However, instead of finding a suburb around Detroit area, I am thinking of living in Chicago (as the base of my home) and only stay in Farmington Hills during the weekdays.

This might sounds crazy or totally not feasible?! But as a single professional woman in early 30s who love to live in the cities, I would like to have easy access to nice interesting activities, theatres, culture events to meet people and make friends.

Any ideas or tips whether this idea is feasible: having a nice apartment close to the lake or downtown in Chicago (as my home base where I spend weekend) and work in Farmington Hills, MI (during weekdays rent a small apartment there only). Or any other advice you might have to solve this problem? Or this is too much of a pain which does not worth the efforts considering the commute each week and the extra costs of keeping two apartments?

Highly appreciate any advice or ideas!!

Thanks!

[Nicolebaba]

I will be relocating from Europe to the States and the company is located in Farmington Hills, MI. However, instead of finding a suburb around Detroit area, I am thinking of living in Chicago (as the base of my home) and only stay in Farmington Hills during the weekdays.

This might sounds crazy or totally not feasible?! But as a single professional woman in early 30s who love to live in the cities, I would like to have easy access to nice interesting activities, theatres, culture events to meet people and make friends.

Any ideas or tips whether this idea is feasible: having a nice apartment close to the lake or downtown in Chicago (as my home base where I spend weekend) and work in Farmington Hills, MI (during weekdays rent a small apartment there only). Or any other advice you might have to solve this problem? Or this is too much of a pain which does not worth the efforts considering the commute each week and the extra costs of keeping two apartments?

Highly appreciate any advice or ideas!!

Thanks!

[Avengerfire]

You are going to have to be making a lot of money to do that.

[surlycue]

What about Ann Arbor or Windsor, ON?

[Chicago60614]

Are you flying? Then it wouldn't be as big a deal, just go from Detroit to Chicago on Friday afternoon and back early on Monday morning.

I had a friend who was a consultant who commuted every week to places like Maine, Jacksonville, Florida, San Fran, etc. It kinda sucked, but he didn't lose his mind. You just have to be the type of person that's ok with that.

If you're driving, it would suck quite a bit to do that every week. The cities might be in the same region, but the USA is huge compared to Europe as far as how far away the cities are.

That would be like driving back and forth between Amsterdam and Hamburg for work each week. It would be 5 hours or so.

[chirack]

Originally Posted by Nicolebaba

I will be relocating from Europe to the States and the company is located in Farmington Hills, MI. However, instead of finding a suburb around Detroit area, I am thinking of living in Chicago (as the base of my home) and only stay in Farmington Hills during the weekdays.

This might sounds crazy or totally not feasible?! But as a single professional woman in early 30s who love to live in the cities, I would like to have easy access to nice interesting activities, theatres, culture events to meet people and make friends.

Any ideas or tips whether this idea is feasible: having a nice apartment close to the lake or downtown in Chicago (as my home base where I spend weekend) and work in Farmington Hills, MI (during weekdays rent a small apartment there only). Or any other advice you might have to solve this problem? Or this is too much of a pain which does not worth the efforts considering the commute each week and the extra costs of keeping two apartments?

Highly appreciate any advice or ideas!!

Thanks!

Unless you telecommute, this is probably not very feasable. About the only way it could be feasable is if you made a ton of money, lived downtown and took amtrack to/from detriot. And downtown chicago rents are not cheap! Major mid-west cities are furthur apart than most east coast or european cities. By train it is around 4-6 hours. By car, you risk getting caught in snow storms in winter.

[OrdoSeclorum]

People live in Chicago and work all over the country, flying or driving home on Thursdays or Fridays, so it's certainly possible. I'd recommend getting settled in in Farmington Hills and then visiting Chicago and looking into renting a small place or sub-leasing. Good luck!

[prairiestate]

Well, honestly, the idea is completely crazy. It's a minimum five hour drive between Detroit and Chicago, not taking in account rush hour traffic, constant construction and weather (hint, lots of white flakes fall out of the sky in the winter).

On the plus side, Detroit does have big city amenities (it is a big city), but there's really nothing in the way of interesting neighborhoods to explore. Check the Detroit board. There are a couple of suburbs (Ferndale, Oak Park) that do have older, walkable neighborhoods. It won't be ideal, but hopefully it at least might be tolerable. You could always get a cheap flight on Southwest once a month to Chicago.

[mikedoyleblogger]

I agree with Ordo, you're better off coming here and settling into Michigan first, then exploring residential options in Chicago later. I know of people who work in Chicago during the week and go home to St. Louis (300 miles away--a similar distance) on the weekend. It's doable, but you really won't be spending much time here in Chicago--you'll be driving for 10 hours or spending a similar amount of time waiting in and traveling to/from airports every weekend (or a whopping 12 hours on Amtrak.)

[Kobber]

Maybe there's someone who works in Chicago and lives in Farmington Hills who would be delighted to come to some sort of arrangement with you... after all, no point in both of you maintaining two homes. And it's not like you'd actually both be at the apt/house at the same time. It's probably a long shot but still worth a bit of research.