Living in Chicago
 

I've got the opportunity to live there for the next 3 months doing some training. That might turn into a "permanent" situation.

Anyone have any opinions? Pros, cons, stories, whatever.

The town I'll be working in is Libertyville. It's pretty far north of the city.

It's my kind of town.

Never been there, actually.

But you must learn this song:

Late last night when we were all in bed
Old lady 'Leary lit a lantern in the shed
And when the cow kicked it over she winked her eye and said
It'll be a hot time in the old town tonight.
Fire! Fire! Fire!

Mr Zicato lives there.....

He can tell you were to get some good pizza.

Cold and miserable in the winters, but if you can survive that Chicago is great! I lived in Des Plaines for a couple of years, but I grew up in Northwest Indiana and Chicago was my family's goto place for fun. I love the Lake.

What do you mean by miserable? Wet and windy and perpetually gray?

I live in a moderate part of Montana. We have weeks on end of worse than -10 degree temps in the winter. Ice and snow. But there is almost always a couple of partly sunny days each month.

The best pizza we have in Helena is from Costco... Chicago's food is a big draw.

Yup, mostly. And the cold is a chilling-to-the bone damp type of cold. And the gray starts in November with lots of rain. The sun does come out sometimes though, and its really nice when it does. You will, however, miss that Montana sky...the Midwest rarely gets that crystal clear. BUT! The spring, summer and fall are fantastic after having to deal with such a winter. Summer in Chicago is a blast. You will never lack something to do.

It does get pretty cold in the winter and can get hot and muggy in the summertime. However, we often get breaks of lower humidity in the summer, which I appreciate.

Chicago has a higher cost of living than most places, so plan accordingly.

Lots to do here.

We like it where we are because our suburb is like living in a small town - sidewalks, lots of stuff in walking/biking distance.

What would you like to know specifically?

40 miles north of the city?

Am I going to be in a shit-storm of traffic pain commuting from somewhere like Waukeegan to Libertyville?

How is public transportation? I see Metra rail. Is it good*?

It looks like there are toll roads everywhere. Do they have something like EZ-Pass that works at all of them?

I know there's lots of city stuff to do. How about outdoors stuff like hiking?

The cost of living space is high, but nowhere near as high as some other places I've thought about jumping off to (SF, NYC).

I could google some of this, and will later. I'm just stream of consciousing it out here, for now.

I guess I'm also curious about what people like about living there. In Portland people have lists of things they like. Bike-friendly, food cart culture, tolerance, Powell's, friendliness etc. And dislike about it. Number of homeless people, hipsters, etc.

I see Portland as counter-culture. DC as conformist (there are a fair share of counters but they are definitely marginal). NYC as microcosm.

What is Chicago (to you, to others)? I don't have a good picture for what Chicago is about as a city.

* For the USA.

As for traffic, yes there are toll roads and yes there is an EZ Pass type deal. I'm unfamiliar with the traffic up north, but I do know the the traffic from the south and west is now even more horrendous than when I used to drive it years ago.

I think the metra rail is OK, but I've only used it as a tourist.

There are many, many Starbucks there. many.

I think that far north, you shouldn't have any trouble commuting from Waukegan to Libertyville. But I'm not sure why you would. I think Libertyville is supposed to be pretty nice.

I like Metra a lot. I commute from the western suburbs in to downtown. If I time it just right, I can make it from door to door in ~40 minutes. Plus I can read or play games on the train. But again if you're working in Libertyville, you won't need to commute very far.

The one thing you are probably not going to like is the highway system. It's crowded most of the time.

I think you named the only two places that have a higher cost of living than Chicago. I remember my first introduction to Chicago being mostly sticker shock at the home prices.

Chicago has some great food. Pizza, Italian Beef, hot dogs, etc. We have some of the best bread. Lots of ethnic food here.

Depends on what part of Chicagoland you're in, of course, but a lot of Chicago has a neighborhood feel to it. We never lived in the norther suburbs so I don't know how different that will be.

In closer to the city, there are a lot of preserves. Land that is left pretty natural excepting the bike/jogging paths. You might like those. And from where you're going to be up north, you won't have to go very far to be out in the woods anyway.

One thing - it's a big city spread out over a lot of area. I had to get used to that.

It's a mix of a wide range of cultures and economic levels. The nice part of that is that you can find just the neighborhood you want here.

You're going to be pretty far from the city proper in Libertyville or Waukegan. So you're not going to get the big-city life out there. Dunno if that's what you're looking for.

Mostly people here are really nice, but you do run into the high-income 'privileged' folks as well.

Hope some of that gives you a picture.

Hebe's Big Field Trip is to Chicago this year.

That is what I was looking for. Thanks so much for your input. It's much appreciated.

Wow, when I was in school field trips were like, the planetarium or the nature center. We never went anywhere big (every kid in the US has been to DC I think...I never have.)

Can I go on Hebe's field trip? I could be her "challenged" older cousin. :p:

Favorite field trip as a kid? Plimouth Plantation, about 3 hours away from my town in Maine.

I can't decide whether to chaperone or not. It's 4 days. But they're not doing the touristy stuff so much. Each group will study one quarter/area/neighborhood in detail -the history, ethnicity, architecture... and plan a trip to lunch there.

Our school is all about field trips -it's a very large part of the program -getting out into the world and bringing the world into the classroom. Community education. Hebe graduates from the school this year, so this is the "big bang trip" Most other schools in the area go to DC. We have grades 7 and 8 together, so they do this trip every other year. Last year we went to an outdoor camp with an environmental-themed syllabus

I think it's great. Heck, chaperone, it'll be a great experience for you as well.

Have you been to Chicago?

It's another city I'd love to see, along with Philly.

yes, several times.

Sole responsibility for half a dozen teenagers and I don't get to choose which ones? :eek:

This is why we fundraise so much. Everyone goes.

That actually sounds like a nifty project and a neat learning experience. Any idea which neighborhoods?

I don't find the traffic in Chicago as bad as what it must be in Cali. Certain times of the day and its like an interstate. I don't live there but I do go to o Hare allot.

Not yet. I think they pick their own. I'll keep you informed if you like. 1st week of June is when all y'all had better batten down the hatches. We're staying in college dorms right down town. Assuming I can find the bravado to come. Last year near killed me, and we were in the middle of nowhere.

294 isnt so bad, but the Dan Ryan from the Borman during rush hour is a killer. Or so my brother tells.

Let me know if you do decide to come in. Maybe we could do lunch.

That would be cool, but I bet I'd get in trouble for having my group meet a stranger from the internet :lol:

Yeah, I figured you might be a leetle busy, but thought I'd offer.

Well I'll see if I can get away ...and it is the hippy school, they might be cool with it.....

Wait... are you a musician for a living or a hobby/sideline?

Hobby. I write software for a living.

I must have dozed off. How did music come up?

Well field trips are all about culture too..... :D

When I was a kid we use to go to the museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. I remember it was fantastic. And they had a captured U-Boat. Big stone lions out front. Great memories.

Where? What kind?

The opportunity I'm considering is a software craftsmanship apprenticeship at 8th Light.

Java mostly with some C++. I work on a major statistical software package.

Well, then I can guess which one that is. Color me impressed.

Our Pete is wicked smaht! :)

:blush:

Libertyville is very nice, and you don't want to live in Waukegan anyway. Libertyville has a lot of "small-town" feel to it, with a single main street with restaurants and shops, even a movie theater. If you're working in Libertyville, find an apartment nearby and you're all set. You should be able to find a nice place within five or ten miles. Waukegan has gone downhill quite a bit in the last 10 years, it's still a good 10 or 15 minute drive to Libertyville, and there are plenty of better options closer.

I grew up in Barrington.

Okay, so this has been dredged up again. The company I turned down in March has come knocking at my door again. It's a pretty prestigious company and it will be a very fulfilling job.

If I can scrape together enough pennies, I'm going to come out for a week in October or November to check things out in person, both the office environment and places to live.

It's hell deciding what I want to do. Stay here in my comfortable dead-end job that gives me plenty of room to play around in the shop or pop off for a killer career move that will limit the shop play (likely just because of where I'll need to live). Honestly, I'm going to burn out in the types of job I've had so far in my career. I need to either take this or continue pushing for a stark career change (i.e., starving artist).

If they are head-hunting you, they should wear the cost of your trial visit.

You must be good at whatever it is. Not a lot of people are having jobs chase them, nowadays.

This is a very good position to be in.

But of course you have to decide what standard of living you want.

In my experience, it's easier to work hard and focus on work/career when you are young. When you get older, families start to play into it, and you are going to want to be leaving at 5pm to be home with the family.

Get a lawyer to read your contract very carefully. Make sure that you are in the driving seat. Don't be drawn by the $.

Thanks for the reminder. I made that mistake when I took that short-lived job in Portland. Total waste of time.

Money isn't the primary motivator. In fact, it's probably 4th or 5th on the list. I've got fairly low capital requirements. I'm going for fulfillment and work-life balance.

Are you referring to their three month apprenticeship program after which they say they'll help you find employment; but, don't guarantee employment with them?
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"We are educators.

We offer three month apprenticeships that will push the limits of your knowledge and help prepare you for a career in software development."
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"Complete our program, and we'll help you find a job."
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It's a tailored program. The way mine is setup, I'd do the 3 month apprenticeship remotely, while I'm still working my day job. Then the paid residency phase starts, which is another 3-6 months the end goal of which is becoming an 8th Light craftsman.

The way I see it working is that I'll go out there for the paid part, and if all goes well, we'll then sell our house and move to Chicago for real. Minimizes any downside risk.

Pete and I went through a thing where she did a ton of travel for a much higher salary, which didn't turn out to be as high as advertised. We learned that it wasn't worth it, but we'd never have known without the try. It sounds like you have an out if it won't work... but only you can answer the question. Good luck! It is good to have opportunities no matter your choice.