Who's moving back to Illinois? Where from and why? (Chicago: apartment, condo)

[ngrome]

This is mainly for people who left Illinois and decided to come back. I know many are probably from Chicago or the suburbs, but interested in those who left Illinois, regardless of how short or long ago, and then came back, then let us know where outside of Illinois you returned from and why you came back.

For me, I've been in Orlando, FL for the past 13 years and plan to head back to the Chicago suburbs within the year. I never adopted Orlando as my home and look forward to heading back, despite having a decent job here and basically a mortgage-free home, I grew weary of the heat and humidity and the horrible and discourteous drivers and people down here, I don't care about the cold, I want to live back where I grew up.

[Pebbs78]

I was born and raised in South Florida, moved here in 2002. I love it here and would never move back. The quality of life here is much better, the education system is good, and people here are actually nice. Yes, the drivers in Florida are rude and drive without regard, they remind me of cab drivers in Chicago.

I do not understand why people complain about the cold weather - it is such a nice change. Like you mentioned above, the humidity is so bad in Florida, I remember not going outside to the beach or excersize during the summmer months.

The city is great, and jobs I have pay me significantly more here in Illinois than in Florida. I have not moved out of Illinois and moved back, but I can tell you, I do not want to move out of state anytime soon.

The best thing about living in Illinois: the holidays!

[ngrome]

Originally Posted by Pebbs78

I was born and raised in South Florida, moved here in 2002. I love it here and would never move back. The quality of life here is much better, the education system is good, and people here are actually nice. Yes, the drivers in Florida are rude and drive without regard, they remind me of cab drivers in Chicago.

I do not understand why people complain about the cold weather - it is such a nice change. Like you mentioned above, the humidity is so bad in Florida, I remember not going outside to the beach or excersize during the summmer months.

The city is great, and jobs I have pay me significantly more here in Illinois than in Florida. I have not moved out of Illinois and moved back, but I can tell you, I do not want to move out of state anytime soon.

The best thing about living in Illinois: the holidays!

Like your post! Yes, at least the rude drivers in Chicago are limited to the cab drivers unlike the citizens down here in FL who are in a rush to go nowhere. You have great points about the changing seasons (being able to exercise in them, and enjoying the holidays). Much props to you for adjusting to the cold despite being born and raised in Florida!

[Drover]

Family is the last thing pinning me to Illinois. I've moved away twice and came back twice, once to resume college and once to be closer to family. God's honest truth, I wish my parents would just get a retirement condo in Florida or some place so that I had no particular reason to be here any more.

[linicx]

I was born and raised in Illinois. I lived various places for various reasons. I last lived in a charming, scenic town in Missouri with abysmal health standards and a embarrasing ignorant crop of doctors and employees who worked in a dirty hospital. The health standard degrades quickly outside of St. Louis --the city with the only Top 25 ranked hospital near Illinois. Barnes-Jewish ranks in the middle amongst hospitals like Mayo Clinic and the NYC and California hospitals.

When neither a doctor or a radiologist could tell the difference between a shadow and lung cancer and neither had the sense to order more X-Rays I hightailed it back to Illinois. I closed the MO house @ 2pm and the IL house @10am the next morning and moved just as the housing bubble burst and the economy tanked. I am no worse off financially but the medical care is 1000% better plus IL has senior benefits such as tax breaks not found in other states.

[ngrome]

Originally Posted by linicx

I was born and raised in Illinois. I lived various places for various reasons. I last lived in a charming, scenic town in Missouri with abysmal health standards and a embarrasing ignorant crop of doctors and employees who worked in a dirty hospital. The health standard degrades quickly outside of St. Louis. This icty has the only Top 25 ranked hospital near Illinois. Barnes-Jewish ranks in the middle amongst hospitals like Mayo Clinic and the NYC and California hospitals.

When neither a doctor or a radiologist could tell the difference between a shadow and lung cancer and neither had the sense to order more X-Rays I hightailed it back to Illinois. I closed the MO house @ 2pm and the IL house @10am the next morning and moved just as the housing bubble burst and the economy tanked. I am no worse off financially but the medical care is 1000% better plus IL has senior benefits such as tax breaks not found in other states.

That's nice to know! As we are moving back to Illinois as we enter the twilight of our lives!

[north4life]

Just moved back to Illinois after being born and raised here. I lived in Arkansas and Memphis, Tennessee and absolutely hated it and never knew why. I guess because talking about the differences between north and south are so taboo that one tries to avoid thinking anything like that, but it is the truth. The people in the areas I lived don't even know they are being treated differently than the rest of the country, they don't see that they don't have access to the same things, better quality things, than we do in the North because they are just used to having less their whole lives. The standard of living where I was at, was extremely POOR and along with that are POOR attitudes towards other people, aggressiveness, hostility, rage, my car being randomly vandalized numerous times, practically every part of any kind of value stripped away from my vehicle.. and that's in Midtown Memphis.. where it's supposed to be "nicer" for us high-falutin' white people. The black people there are extremely racist and good luck finding a job if you're white or a woman... WOW. The ostracization and victimization of whites and women through law enforcement, the justice system, institutions such as the church, workplaces, etc are enough to make one horribly depressed, hopeless, and angry. No wonder the crime rate is so high in Memphis... the residents are abused by their own system... and yet, are still proud to live there (only because they are too stupid to move out, to know anything better).

I'm glad I had to opportunity to leave and comeback.. I think it's really made me appreciate where I'm from. I'm very happy to be back in the country after thinking the "liberal" city life was for me.. well, it's much more liberal in the country in Illinois than a larger city South of the Mason-Dixon line.

The only way one could still bear living there is if they were drunk or so numb to their emotions and surroundings that they couldn't even recognize what was happening to them. I don't consider Arkansas or Tennessee to represent "the south," but if I did, I would say that Southern Hospitality crap is a LIE.

The thing that doesn't get discussed enough when it comes to "the south" is how differently white people are treated there compared to the North... AND, if you speak with any kind of self-suredness or confidence, as a woman, that is not tolerated and they will definitely know you are from somewhere else (A cop once asked me "Where are you FROM?" when I was telling him how I was not OK with my neighbors grilling on their 2nd floor balcony and their smoke and lighter fluid smells coming into my apartment, which was not only a fire hazard, but an obvious health/safety issue... this was after living there for nearly 5 years!) You will come to realize there are things that are just unacceptable to us Yanks that those in the South just bend over and receive without any thought whatsoever. They are so aggressive because they are so passive.

[Maintainschaos]

Just moved back to Illinois after living in Wisconsin for five years and Massachusetts for four years before Wisconsin (but I grew up in central Illinois). I love all three of these states, but I got a job at a university in Illinois, and my partner got a job at a corporation in Chicago, so we just moved into the Chicago area and love it!

[fireandice1000]

I'd like to come back to IL. I currently live in SD and this is one BAD place to live now.

[linicx]

Originally Posted by Maintainschaos

Just moved back to Illinois after living in Wisconsin for five years and Massachusetts for four years before Wisconsin (but I grew up in central Illinois). I love all three of these states, but I got a job at a university in Illinois, and my partner got a job at a corporation in Chicago, so we just moved into the Chicago area and love it!

So how do you manage jobs 200+ miles apart? Do you live downstate part time?