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One thing: Chicago definitely sprawls (which is understandable for 10 million people), but I don't see the sprawl as much of a problem because, with the CTA el, bus lines, PACE buses, Metra, and Amtrak, public transit covers the sprawl better than any other Midwestern city, in my opinion.
I think the only drawback for Chicago is that it has a higher cost of living and some parts of the city aren't safe, but there is *tons* of urban housing, and plenty of the city is just as safe as any other city.
I love Chicago and voted it as one of the top cities for the OP to go to, but sprawl is DEFINITELY a problem if you don't live in/near the core. Just commuting from Villa Park to Schaumburg to Geneva, where the majority of my family in Chicago lives/lived was hellish almost no matter the day or time of day......and they're generally all in the same quadrant of the metro. If you had to get into the city from the suburbs you'd better give yourself at least an hour, but more likely 1.5 hours or so from many of those suburbs. Most of my family members (originally from the city and moved to the suburbs) avoided downtown like the plague until my family moved into the city about 10 years ago. The primary reason was traffic/commuting.
It's certainly a dense urban core with great transportation options, but unless you live within that network getting to/from the city, or even suburb to suburb, can be an adventure few people like putting up with on a regular basis. At least, this is what we've come to find (and is only one perspective).
Again, Chicagoland is a great place to live, but transportion is both a pro AND a con, depending on the perspective. Just one of the perils of living in such a large city!
I love Chicago and voted it as one of the top cities for the OP to go to, but sprawl is DEFINITELY a problem if you don't live in/near the core. Just commuting from Villa Park to Schaumburg to Geneva, where the majority of my family in Chicago lives/lived was hellish almost no matter the day or time of day......and they're generally all in the same quadrant of the metro. If you had to get into the city from the suburbs you'd better give yourself at least an hour, but more likely 1.5 hours or so from many of those suburbs. Most of my family members (originally from the city and moved to the suburbs) avoided downtown like the plague until my family moved into the city about 10 years ago. The primary reason was traffic/commuting.
It's certainly a dense urban core with great transportation options, but unless you live within that network getting to/from the city, or even suburb to suburb, can be an adventure few people like putting up with on a regular basis. At least, this is what we've come to find (and is only one perspective).
Again, Chicagoland is a great place to live, but transportion is both a pro AND a con, depending on the perspective. Just one of the perils of living in such a large city!
Yeah sprawl in general is just a con, but I feel that Chicago does a better job at covering the suburbs with transportation options than any other Midwestern city. Certainly you need to live near a transportation node, and not every connection will be made, but if transportation is *really* and issue, then you have to make an educated decision about where to live when moving to a new city.
Of the places I am fimiliar with St. Louis, Minneapolis, and Chicago would fit what you want the best. Each of them would have pluses and minuses unique to them. Spend a weekend in each.
Yeah sprawl in general is just a con, but I feel that Chicago does a better job at covering the suburbs with transportation options than any other Midwestern city. Certainly you need to live near a transportation node, and not every connection will be made, but if transportation is *really* and issue, then you have to make an educated decision about where to live when moving to a new city.
Totally agree with this notion. Chicago traffic has just done me wrong one too many times, and I'm not even a native/lifer!! I can't imagine sitting in that crap day in and day out for decades and not building incredible resentment towards the city.
If you are looking for which Midwest city will meet your criteria Chicago is your #1. I would also choose Minneapolis and Indy as a distant third. Chicago is the unofficial capital of the Midwest for a reason.
If you are looking for which Midwest city will meet your criteria Chicago is your #1. I would also choose Minneapolis and Indy as a distant third. Chicago is the unofficial capital of the Midwest for a reason.
Agreed.
However if the OP doesnt have the money than Minneapolis/Staying in Indy would be the OP's best bet.
Downtown Indianapolis is very affordable. more so than similar sized/bigger cities. Plus as the OP mentioned you could live in Fall Creek Place. Its a very nice neighborhood that was just revitalized and rebuilt.
Another thing the OP has to consider is job security. if you have a well paying job in Indy do you think relocating will cause you to lose that job?
Minneapolis has a decent job market.
Chicago doesnt though. Chicago's unemployment rate is above 9% well Indy is at 7%.
Just a clarification: while the city of Chicago's unemployment rate is above 9%, the entire metro area is at 8%. Still a lot of people out of work, though...
Greetings all. I'll start with a little background on our situation. My wife and I are in our mid-twenties. She is a CPA, and I graduate with my DPT (doctor of physical therapy) in May. We have both lived in Indiana our entire lives, and we currently live near, but not IN, downtown Indianapolis. The great thing about our situation is that while we love Indy, we are in a position to explore all of our options and make the best decision for our young family (just us, no kids for 3-4 years.)
The cities listed below are what we are considering at this point. I'm definitely open to others, so mention them if you feel they would suit us. These are in no particular order.
- Indianapolis
- Chicago
- Cincinnati
- St. Louis
- Pittsburgh
- Minneapolis
Here is something of a list regarding our main criteria.
SIZE OF HEALTH CARE JOB MARKET - I'm in it directly, and would most like to work at a hospital. A large children's hospital is a huge bonus, as that would my ideal facility. My wife is a CPA, but specializes in health care.
LACK OF SUBURBAN SPRAWL - The main thing I hate about Indianapolis is that the only reasonable places to live are downtown or outside of I-465 (generally speaking). We live close to downtown now (15-20 minute walk), and if we stay in Indianapolis would likely move TO downtown. This leads me to my next point.
WALKABILITY - Self-explanatory. We are still young without kids, so we kind of want to experience living in the heart of a city. We'll worry about schools in 5 years or so. So, a safe, walkable downtown is key. Great, small neighborhoods that are self-contained near downtown will also be considered; an example of this would be Mt. Adams in Cincy. Walkable and lively in-and-of-itself.
SAFETY AND FEELING OF SAFETY - This ties in with the above two. Safe and lively downtown area. Cincinnati is also an example of what I don't want here. We stayed for a night earlier this year and went to a Reds game. Aside from the game traffic on foot, downtown (4th street) was rather grungy and empty. I certainly don't want to come across as somebody who wants to hide a city's homeless, because I don't, but I was somewhat uncomfortable there. There has to be a healthy ratio of local patrons to loiterers to impart a feeling of security. In Indy, downtown has become a place that is nearly always buzzing, and this feeling of unease is now limited to certain bus stops, etc. This is more applicable to my wife, as I am usually better prepared to defend myself if adverse events unfold.
TIME OF TRAVEL TO INDY - I'm OK relocating away from family, but my wife is less-so. This, along with having a worse winter, are the only two reasons Minneapolis isn't the obvious choice for us. She didn't like the idea of being 10+ hours away by car.
ATTRACTIONS, SPORTS, ENTERTAINMENT - The more there is to do, the better. This all ties into having a healthy, lively downtown where folks actually enjoy being.
PUBLIC TRANSIT - We currently have two cars, but would slim to one given the opportunity. Chicago is an obvious example of a great system, but the light rail in St. Louis could be an asset.
SUPPLY OF NEWER LOFTS AND CONDOS - See post #3.
That's it for now. If I come up with more, I'll add it to the discussion. Thanks for any and all help!
Cincinnati has one of the best amusement parks in the world, currently cincinnati is building lots of lofts and condos downtown, we are very close to Indy only a hour and a half, next year we will have the worlds largest health care center...or something like that...we have the reds and bengals, we are currently building a dtreetcar system and soon a light rail that will go all around cincy in about 5-10 years....probalby 6 years, we have lots of saftey in the walkable areas like mount adams that overlooks cincinnati and is on top of many hills with views you would love to see of cincinnati and its very very safe and liberal and yes you will feel safe, again we will soon have the worlds largest health care thing. and we have a very low cost of living.
Just a clarification: while the city of Chicago's unemployment rate is above 9%, the entire metro area is at 8%. Still a lot of people out of work, though...
While we're clarifying things, the Twin Cities unemployment rate as of September 2012 was 5.3%.
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