Possible move to Chicago. If you live and homeschool there, what do you think?

[tammyw]

Here we go again! Still job searching and Chicago is coming up as a big possibility. I've never been there. How do you like it? It sounds like my husband would work mostly downtown. What areas would be nice and a good commute (30 minutes or less)?

 

We would want to rent for 6 to 12 months to make sure we like the job / city / area.

 

My kids like to do a lot of activities. Dd11 likes ballet / jazz / theater, art classes, piano, etc. ds7 likes karate, piano, etc.

 

Would love all thoughts on Chicago and living and homeschooling. We are in San Diego but I'm from western Canada so have lived in lots of winter.

 

Thoughts?

[cjzimmer1]

I'm not from Chicago but have driven through rush hour many times.  You will not be able to live in a suburb and make it to downtown in under 30 minutes.  So you would have to expect to live in Chicago directly probably pretty close to downtown itself. I know there are some okay areas and some very sketching areas someone more familiar could give you more details.  I just know traffic downtown is horrible.  You might do better planning to live out father and have him take the L  (electric train) into downtown rather than driving himself.

[Home'scool]

I believe Mental Multivitamin lives and homeschools in Chicago. I am not sure if she posts here much but she also has a blog you can probably contact her thru.

 

mentalmultivitamin.com

 

[Just Another Jen]

We live downtown- in the loop. My husband works at the willis tower and we love the fact that he walks to work. He is at his desk 10 minutes after shutting our door and most of his commute is elevator waiting. Even living in the city near the el you can easily spend more than 30 minutes commuting. Message me if you need specifics on neighborhoods.

[Wilma]

I grew up in the suburbs, and tons of people used the train to get downtown.  It might stretch the 30 minutes a little, but at least a body can DO something on the train rather than sitting in traffic.  But the commuter rail is very popular and very accessible.

[dancingmama]

Some of it will depend on what both the words mostly and downtown mean. Mostly as in one a month he might be elsewhere or mostly as in 4 out of 5 days and where would he have to commute on days he's not "downtown"? And by downtown, is that the Loop? If the Loop, would he be near enough an EL stop to be able to utilize (very likely)?

 

As for homeschooling, there are plenty of opportunities there as well as groups. Your children should have no problem finding dance and theater opportunities. I don't know about martial arts but I can't imagine it'll be too difficult.

 

I'd try city-data to try and narrow where you might consider moving. Keep in mind that it's usually faster to move around downtown on the EL then to drive and find/pay for parking but not always.

[tammyw]

I've never lived in the downtown of a large city. Are there nice / safe areas there?

[EmilyGF]

Hi Tammy!

 

We moved to Chicago (as in the City) about 18 months ago and bought a house here last June. I am happy to answer questions you have about living and homeschooling here, but I'd rather do it privately as Chicago is *very* segregated into neighborhoods and once I reveal my neighborhood, it is like telling you what small town in Iowa I live in! We lived all over the US previously, including CA last.

 

PM me and I'll give you the lowdown.

 

Emily

[EmilyGF]

Tammy,

 

One more thing - Midwesterners are *so* friendly! We lived in CA for two years and had the hardest time making friends. For goodness sake - I was raised in CA for 15 years, so I should know the culture, but it was so hard! Within 2 weeks in Chicago I was running into more people I knew that I did after 2 years in CA.

 

Where we live in Chicago, there is a culture of thriftiness, too, which is lovely. People who buy expensive strollers are likely to apologize for it ("I really needed something that could handle these sidewalks"). It isn't rare to have confusion while leaving a friend's house because no one can remember which coat is theirs vs. which coat they donated to a thrift store but that is now being worn by a friend. (That has really happened at least two times... and then the instances with shoes...) It is such a breath of fresh air!

 

Emily

[tammyw]

Tammy,

 

One more thing - Midwesterners are *so* friendly! We lived in CA for two years and had the hardest time making friends. For goodness sake - I was raised in CA for 15 years, so I should know the culture, but it was so hard! Within 2 weeks in Chicago I was running into more people I knew that I did after 2 years in CA.

 

Where we live in Chicago, there is a culture of thriftiness, too, which is lovely. People who buy expensive strollers are likely to apologize for it ("I really needed something that could handle these sidewalks"). It isn't rare to have confusion while leaving a friend's house because no one can remember which coat is theirs vs. which coat they donated to a thrift store but that is now being worn by a friend. (That has really happened at least two times... and then the instances with shoes...) It is such a breath of fresh air!

 

Emily

 

Emily, I pmd you.

[Harriet Vane]

I grew up in the Chicago suburbs and lived in the city proper for fourteen years. Feel free to pm me any specific questions.

 

Off the top of my head:

 

Living downtown is really expensive.

 

You should definitely try to live near the Metra or the el. Commuting is a way of life for Chicagoans, but at least on a train you can read.

 

There are tons of homeschooling resources. I know of several groups in different spots around the suburbs.

 

PM me and we can go from there/ :)

[energy2c]

We homeschool and live in chicago. A lot of people mention the El but if you commute from the suburbsor parts of chicago the metra is excellent! For all the activities you mention it would depend on wwhether youd like to drive close, far or be able to walk. My area is like a black hole for decent activities my daughter is interested in. We are constantly driving to lincoln park, evanston, and niles.

[EmilyGF]

The key is to live where DH can commute on el or Metra to work, since you can't park downtown. :-)

 

Energy2c - are you actually in Chicago?

 

Emily

[jelbe5]

I grew up in Evanston, just north of Chicago and lived in the city for a time. We now live an hour north of the city, closer to the IL/WI boarder. Housing is less expensive in Lake county and the Metra is a good transportation option. Lots of opportunities (still close enough to the city) and homeschool groups. IL is a very homeschool-friendly state.

[energy2c]

EmilyGF - yes I am. I am as far northwest as you can almost get. Ohare and Park Ridge are my neighbors lol

[MBM]

Keep in mind that you can have a commute to a train station or bus stop and then another commute once you get off the train or bus.  You will definitely want to plan this out. Once you have an idea where your husband will be working, then you can check a map to see which CTA and Metra train lines are nearby as well as buses.

 

To give you an idea of an in-city commute, i used to take an express bus from the John Hancock to the Willis Tower, which took 40". It took so long because of all the lights the bus hit. It also took me about that long to walk.

 

You also have to take into consideration areas where there is more crime.

[bethben]

My mom and 2 sisters live in Mt. Prospect which is a 30 minute express train from downtown.  It is an older neighborhood that feels like a small town in a lot of ways.  There is a central "hub" with the library, ice cream shop, and other cute stores and a suburban feel outside of that.  My mom moved there in the past 3 years and loves it.

 

Beth

 

[dirty ethel rackham]

I live in the far SW suburbs and we have a vibrant homeschooling community here.  We are under 40 minutes to Union Station via express trains, but the milk runs are about 70 minutes.  If your dh will have a regular schedule, the commute is very doable (dh did it for years.) 

[tammyw]

Okay, it's not Wheeling after all. It would be downtown.

 

Feeling nervous!

[dancingmama]

That's a whole 'nother ball of wax. That's the NW 'burbs. Depending on what you're looking for in a suburban neighborhood, you can do Wheeling, Buffalo Griove, Inverness, Arlington Heights, and a few other suburbs. Karate won't be a prob. There's a martial arts place in many strip malls in the area. There are multiple dance studios in the area. I'm not as familiar with the NW suburbs and homeschooling but I'm sure there is stuff around. The area is nice. Of course it has it's pockets, as any area will, so you do want to check it out but it's quite suburban.

[cdrumm4448]

I grew up in the NW suburbs. There are TONS of activities and people. We now live in the SW suburbs as it's more rural. The NW suburbs are quite built up. I spent lots of time as a kid in Woodfield Mall. I went there recently and felt like I was on another plant, it had changed so much.

[tammyw]

Thanks for all the thoughts so far. My husband will spend two full days interviewing at the end of next week, so I will have more info when he gets home (and whether he thinks it will be a good fit)! I'm sure if he wants to go forward with it, I'll have a million more questions. We've mo e around a fair bit, but some cities are just more intimidating!

[chicagoshannon]

There are a ton of homeschool groups and opportunities in the area you're talking about. It is very easy to homeschool here. You don't have to report to anyone. Just keep your own records in case anything ever comes up (extremely rare).

 

I think if I were to work in Wheeling I'd want to live in Buffalo Grove.

[MBM]

I second Buffalo Grove. It's a nice, safe, affordable suburb. Wheeling is just south and a little east of it.

 

[Harriet Vane]

I used to live right on Wheeling's border.

 

Wheeling itself isn't the nicest, though there are pockets that are fine. It is surrounded by lovely suburbs though. Mount Prospect, Arlington Heights, Buffalo Grove, and DesPlaines are all lovely. In DesPlaines you are more likely to find a nice home for a lower cost. When I lived there and was considering a purchase, I preferred Prospect Heights because I could get more land for the same money.

 

There are an absolute TON of homeschoolers in the area. Check out CHAMPS and ChangeEast. There is also a great homeschool support network through The Orchard EFC in Arlington Heights. When we lived there we found that there were more good resources than we could possibly use.

 

If you go out to visit, get in touch and I can recommend several good churches as well as fun places to eat. Also there is a nice little comedy club that is clean and reasonably priced at Woodfield Mall--that would make a really fun date.

[JFSinIL]

NW suburbs - you need to watch for two things - O'Hare flight path (noise!) and DesPlaines river flood plan.  Folks too close to the river get flooded basements , while the noise from O'Hare is an on-going concern.

 

There may be a reason houses are cheaper in DesPlaines!

[MBM]

Yes. Definitely watch for flooding. Des Plaines River Road is sometimes (often) not drivable because of the flooding. I live in a northern suburb on the lake and at least 80-85% of houses flood during bad storms even with sump pumps. As the storms have worsened over the years, so has the flooding. Research the area to see if it is prone to flooding.

 

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2013-09-24/news/ct-met-flood-proofing-20130925_1_flood-plan-jeff-zuercher-u-s-army-corps

 

ETA: Flooding occurs all over the Chicago area but some areas are worse than others. Sewers also back up in some suburbs.

[JFSinIL]

Another thought - train lines.  Wheeling has a Metra station ( handy for jaunts downtown - we use Metra from Elgin).  Check out where he works and where you want to live and try to not have the Metra lines in between - or, worse, FREIGHT lines.  While Metra trains don't hold up traffic for long, freight trains can!  You don't want to be either on the "wrong" side of the tracks or too close - here freight trains are required to blast their horns, day and night, when approaching an intersection. 

 

Just something to be aware of.  Floods, planes, trains. 

[tammyw]

Small update - he's been there since Thursday (it's a long interview!) He'll be home tonight. Things seem to be going well.

 

It WILL be downtown (they are moving the location to downtown).

 

So if we go, he'd have to commute to downtown. Feeling nervous!

[Just Another Jen]

Move downtown! You can walk to the Harold Washington library! 

[JFSinIL]

Pick a Metra line and look for housing along it - we are in Elgin, and hubby walks 12 minutes to the stop. Then he listens to his music, reads, chats with fellow commuters, naps - beats driving. We call Metra our "second car". 

 

His folks lived in Elmwood park - closer in along same line - BUT there was O'Hare noise (not as bad as some places) and the freight line cut through town and often backed up traffic a lot!

 

Northern suburbs or around St. Charles/Geneva are good, too.  Just be close to a Metra station unless he HAS to drive everyday.

 

Living downtown is more expensive and hard to park, run to grocery store, etc. 

 

Evanston might be nice - I went to Northwestern for a graduate program and walked around that town a lot. 

 

[Just Another Jen]

Living downtown isn't more expensive than the suburbs. It's just different.That is just everyones impression.We have 1300 sq ft,2 indoor parking spaces, and a doorman for the same price as 1300 sq ft and a half acre lot in mount prospect. I can drive/ walk one mile to every big box store there is. No shoveling or monthly train pass required. There are trade offs but it depends on your comfort zone and priorities. Ours are all about family time. No commute, no household chores and projects. The city is our yard and we don't have to maintain it. Now if only spring would hurry up and get here so we aren't constantly freezing it would be perfect!

[JFSinIL]

Living downtown isn't more expensive than the suburbs. It's just different.That is just everyones impression.We have 1300 sq ft,2 indoor parking spaces, and a doorman for the same price as 1300 sq ft and a half acre lot in mount prospect. I can drive/ walk one mile to every big box store there is. No shoveling or monthly train pass required. There are trade offs but it depends on your comfort zone and priorities. Ours are all about family time. No commute, no household chores and projects. The city is our yard and we don't have to maintain it. Now if only spring would hurry up and get here so we aren't constantly freezing it would be perfect!

 

Where, and how much., I'd love to get out of Elgin!

 

[MBM]

Definitely get a map and mark where your husband will be working downtown. Then go online and look for train stations/stops and bus routes. Find the ones that will be closest to his work. That is how I would start.

 

In the suburbs you're more likely to get a yard and your kids can probably bike and run around on their own at some point.

 

In the city you might have a little yard, but you'll still have parks, more diversity, a lot of activities, the Lincoln Park Zoo, museums and cool stores and restaurants galore. Right now, Shakespeare Theater is gearing up to begin their play for kids which I highly recommend (Feb 22 to March 22). You can still get to these from the 'burbs, of course.

 

If I could do it over again, I would force my husband to live in the city in the Lincoln Park neighborhood. It has the CTA and multiple bus lines and even the Metra Clybourn stop. It also has a lot of trees and green areas. You can find townhomes on the low end in the mid-$400s but keep in mind that you'd probably have home owner associations (HOA) dues which can vary.

 

I like to check places out on Redfin.com because you can find out HOA dues, taxes and past sales histories easily.

 

[MBM]

Where, and how much., I'd love to get out of Elgin!

 

 

I know a few empty nesters who sold their suburban home and moved back into the city and they are so happy they did. We are thinking of doing the same thing ourselves once my high school junior leaves. Blues bars, watch out!

[chicagoshannon]

I wouldn't choose to live in the city. It's just not my preference. There are some nice suburbs south and west of the city. You just have to make sure you're near a Metra line. Wheaton is a good choice. Also Naperville, and Aurora (a bit of a less expensive option). We live in Plainfield, which is a really great place but there is no train.

 

If you live downtown you will be in Cook county. If you decide to move to the suburbs I would try my hardest to avoid Cook county.

[tammyw]

I appreciate all of the feedback. I'm still scared because I'm concerned that its not the lifestyle I'm looking for (and I hate sounding like such a complainer!) having to look for a house on a train line sounds crazy to me! And I've never lived in the city, so that makes me nervous. I'm not crazy about the idea of living in attached housing. My good friend recently rented a town home that was swarming with termites and they wouldn't fix the problem because they couldn't get approval for all attached owners to treat, so they moved. Details like that scare me about attached. I want a house with some propert to have privacy. I already hate the lack of privacy we have in california because they build the houses so close together in the suburbs. I grew up in a small town but I like the amenities of the city. Ideally I would have the space of a smaller town with the amenities of the city! And trying to get that with a 30 minute commute to downtown Chicago sounds impossible.

[MBM]

Living somewhat close to a train is really important if your husband will be commuting that way into the city. You will be glad you took the time!

 

You might like Evanston which has a population of about 80,000 and Northwestern U and all the fun things a college town brings. The pros: both the CTA train and the Metra train have multiple stops there. The CTA also runs the Purple Line express during weekday rush hours. Evanston is also on the lake -- nice beaches, cooler in summer. The cons: it's a college town which means certain areas can get rowdy with drunk college kids. The south side near Howard Street (the dividing line between Chicago and Evanston) and an area in the very southwest seem to have the more serious crime. There is a bit of gang activity, too, but nothing horrible from what I know. The northern part has nice houses with yards.

 

Another choice you might like would be Oak Park which is west of Chicago, and I think it also has both the Metra and CTA trains. It's a a nice-sized town (about 50,000) with cool, hip stores and a lot of the housing is very pretty.

 

Another resource for you is city-data.com. You'll get all kinds of information on the forums.

 

[Harriet Vane]

I appreciate all of the feedback. I'm still scared because I'm concerned that its not the lifestyle I'm looking for (and I hate sounding like such a complainer!) having to look for a house on a train line sounds crazy to me! And I've never lived in the city, so that makes me nervous. I'm not crazy about the idea of living in attached housing. My good friend recently rented a town home that was swarming with termites and they wouldn't fix the problem because they couldn't get approval for all attached owners to treat, so they moved. Details like that scare me about attached. I want a house with some propert to have privacy. I already hate the lack of privacy we have in california because they build the houses so close together in the suburbs. I grew up in a small town but I like the amenities of the city. Ideally I would have the space of a smaller town with the amenities of the city! And trying to get that with a 30 minute commute to downtown Chicago sounds impossible.

 

With this feedback, I would say to avoid living downtown or on the North side (even though they are fun places to be).

 

Definitely look for a home along the train line. This should be non-negotiable. Commuting by car in a place as congested as Chicago can be a soulless misery.

 

Oak Park is closer in and would provide a shorter commute. It also feels more like a city (not a sprawling suburb), which may be a downside or an upside, depending on your perspective. It's a pretty town with a great little downtown district, but property values are fairly high and yards are small.

 

You will get more yard for your money if you go a little further out. Some nice places are Naperville, Mount Prospect, Arlington Heights, Wheaton, Glen Ellyn, Winfield, Carol Stream, Lombard. If you post a query about a specific town or train line, I can gladly answer questions.

 

[JFSinIL]

I appreciate all of the feedback. I'm still scared because I'm concerned that its not the lifestyle I'm looking for (and I hate sounding like such a complainer!) having to look for a house on a train line sounds crazy to me! And I've never lived in the city, so that makes me nervous. I'm not crazy about the idea of living in attached housing. My good friend recently rented a town home that was swarming with termites and they wouldn't fix the problem because they couldn't get approval for all attached owners to treat, so they moved. Details like that scare me about attached. I want a house with some propert to have privacy. I already hate the lack of privacy we have in california because they build the houses so close together in the suburbs. I grew up in a small town but I like the amenities of the city. Ideally I would have the space of a smaller town with the amenities of the city! And trying to get that with a 30 minute commute to downtown Chicago sounds impossible.

 

Elgin has old houses with lots of room (our five bedroom 1906 full two-story is less then $200,000 ) and newer and new homes with larger yards (Elgin is huge and keeps gobbling up farm land) too. It is itself a small city with a symphony orchestra, world's best library, rec center, and easy access via tollway or Metra to Chicago....or a few minutes drive in the other direction and you are in the country.

Hubby takes the train that does not make all stops and it is about fifty minutes to Union Station downtown.  Since he is not driving he reads, naps, does paperwork or listens to podcasts and zones out.  Since Elgin is the end of our line he always gets a seat going to work..  Folks climbing aboard closer to Chicago end up standing,

 

My sister-in-law lived in a HUGE Victorian in River Forest - if you can afford it, that place has massive old houses and a faster Metra ride to downtown.  But it is a lot more expensive - the closer in to the city the more it costs. 

Of course, there are bad areas to consider, crime-wise.  The west side of Chicago (near Garfield Park, which is a gem surrounded by urban blight) is to be avoided.  Even Oak Park may be getting iffy (hubby grew up just east of Oak Park before the neighborhood went downhill fast.)  Go a bit south of the Loop and, again, can get iffy.

 

Just keep checking in here when you find potential neighborhoods and someone here will be able to give a thumbs up or down.  :-)

 

[oneddmanybooks]

Just a note about living "on the train line." I'm fairly certain that when people say this, they mean to live close enough to a train station to walk to it or a short drive to the station. It does not mean that you will see the station out your picture window. :)

 

I think I said this before but oh well. :) I really think you would love Arlington Heights. It's one of the nicest suburbs anywhere. Lots of families, community activities, music, one of the best libraries in the world, etc. etc. :) We live not too far from Arl. Heights and we feel very blessed to live around here. I say to my dd regularly that we are so blessed to live in such a beautiful area, with so many trees, forest preserves, etc. I also like that I don't have to drive long distances to hardly anything. Dd's wonderful violin teacher is about 8 minutes away, lots of hs activities are within 20 minutes, concerts and plays are within 10 minutes, etc. I have super-nice neighbors and most people around here seem like friendly, very family-oriented people.

 

On a different note, I have friends in Des Plaines and would not recommend it, partially because of the river, and also for other reasons. But I'm only slightly familiar with one section, so I really don't know for sure about the whole suburb.

 

Years ago, we lived in Arlington Heights and I took Metra downtown. I walked to the train station and usually took an express train that was (I think) about 33 minutes to downtown. I never had to stand, but would voluntarily stand the last several minutes so I could get off quickly (only had a few minutes to walk from the station to work). A Metra commute beats a car commute in SO many ways. I usually read, listened to music, etc.

 

I'm looking forward to your updates. :)

[tammyw]

Just a note about living "on the train line." I'm fairly certain that when people say this, they mean to live close enough to a train station to walk to it or a short drive to the station. It does not mean that you will see the station out your picture window. :)

 

I think I said this before but oh well. :) I really think you would love Arlington Heights. It's one of the nicest suburbs anywhere. Lots of families, community activities, music, one of the best libraries in the world, etc. etc. :) We live not too far from Arl. Heights and we feel very blessed to live around here. I say to my dd regularly that we are so blessed to live in such a beautiful area, with so many trees, forest preserves, etc. I also like that I don't have to drive long distances to hardly anything. Dd's wonderful violin teacher is about 8 minutes away, lots of hs activities are within 20 minutes, concerts and plays are within 10 minutes, etc. I have super-nice neighbors and most people around here seem like friendly, very family-oriented people.

 

On a different note, I have friends in Des Plaines and would not recommend it, partially because of the river, and also for other reasons. But I'm only slightly familiar with one section, so I really don't know for sure about the whole suburb.

 

Years ago, we lived in Arlington Heights and I took Metra downtown. I walked to the train station and usually took an express train that was (I think) about 33 minutes to downtown. I never had to stand, but would voluntarily stand the last several minutes so I could get off quickly (only had a few minutes to walk from the station to work). A Metra commute beats a car commute in SO many ways. I usually read, listened to music, etc.

 

I'm looking forward to your updates. :)

 

Thank you for this response. I will definitely look into Arlington Heights! My biggest concern with living in the suburbs would be commute for DH, but as you said, at least on the train, you can get work done.

 

[MollyAnn]

We live downtown- in the loop. My husband works at the willis tower .

I think you mean the Sears Tower.

 

I grew up in Cary. Small little town when I lived there, I wanted out the whole time I was growing up. After living in a multitude of places I realize how wonderful it was. Lots of parks, easy commute to the city, plenty to do in the surrounding suburbs, I walked or biked everywhere.

A lot of the dads worked downtown and took the train.

[dirty ethel rackham]

Definitely look at the train schedules to see how long they are.  Farther out suburbs can be cheaper and can be doable if you are able to take advantage of express trains.  However, if your dh will be working unpredictable hours, the commute will be longer due to the frequent stops.  I live in the far SW suburbs and the express train here is 30 minutes.  Then you add in the transportation time to and from the train to home and to the office.  I loved commuting by train into Chicago.  I got a ton of work done on the train (everyone had birthday cards on time, bills were organized, grocery lists taken care of.)    When my office changed locations to a suburb, my 45 minute commute was wasted time.  I didn't feel comfortable listening to audio books because I needed to hear traffic updates.  I am very familiar with the west and SW suburbs - Union Pacific West line and the BNSF line. 

[Tangerine]

We lived in the city while my DH was working and in school.  Now we have moved back out to the suburb I lived in as a teenager for the reasons you're outlining.  We live in the far western Suburbs, and DH has a very long commute (to Schaumburg in this case).  For me, everything is too close together closer to the city.  Because it makes me happy to live here because of the space we have and the vicinity to my friends, DH does the crappy commute.  I don't like that that is the way it has to be, but that's what worked for us.

[Just Another Jen]

I think you mean the Sears Tower.

 

I grew up in Cary. Small little town when I lived there, I wanted out the whole time I was growing up. After living in a multitude of places I realize how wonderful it was. Lots of parks, easy commute to the city, plenty to do in the surrounding suburbs, I walked or biked everywhere.

A lot of the dads worked downtown and took the train.

 

 

Yes. Well, she is new and I didn't want her thinking there were two. ;)

 

We have friends who live in Cary. It's a great town. 

[Just Another Jen]

I know a few empty nesters who sold their suburban home and moved back into the city and they are so happy they did. We are thinking of doing the same thing ourselves once my high school junior leaves. Blues bars, watch out!

 

 

 

That is exactly what happened to us. We found this place and thought- Perfect for retirement.

Then we started thinking- with only 2 kids left at home, we could do this now. Seize the Day and all that.

We may not live here forever, but it is checking an item off my bucket list and so far we love it. It has trade offs, but we both grew up in a small tiny town and then lived in sprawling suburbs for our grown up life. This is just so different that it is wonderful. And luckily, the 2 youngest kids that are with us are our least outdoorsy so we don't feel horrible that we took away their access to the wild. Plus after we sell our house in the suburbs we can always rent this place out and make money on it. Then we can move on to a new adventure. We really are very blessed to have this opportunity.

[Karen A]

I live in a north/northwest suburb, and recommend this area too.  The Metra commute from here is not too long.  I don't know what you consider affordable housing, but some of Glenview and Morton Grove home prices are decent.  .I can't link the Metra website, but look at the map and timetables to get an idea of commute time.

 

 

[tammyw]

We would have a pretty good budget for housing. My biggest worry is quality of life. In the city, the busyness, the small spaces, the crowding. In the suburbs we could have a good house / yard, but if DH is commuting 2 hours a day (one hour each way), that seriously affects quality of life.

 

I'm sure we will be able to figure it out if he decides this is the position for him, but we both wish it was in a different location (denver, seattle, or San Diego). Guess you can't have everything :(

[Harriet Vane]

We would have a pretty good budget for housing. My biggest worry is quality of life. In the city, the busyness, the small spaces, the crowding. In the suburbs we could have a good house / yard, but if DH is commuting 2 hours a day (one hour each way), that seriously affects quality of life.

 

I'm sure we will be able to figure it out if he decides this is the position for him, but we both wish it was in a different location (denver, seattle, or San Diego). Guess you can't have everything :(

 

It sounds overwhelming when you just quantify it by the hours. However, train time is totally different, which is why so many of us are advocating living on a train line.

 

I spent a couple months commuting downtown during college, and I actually treasured my train time. I used the time for work or paying bills or whatever, OR I used the time for reading and resting. As a regular part of my day, it was something I planned for. If planned and used well, it can feel like an oasis, believe it or not. I'm very, very good at blocking out distractions so I was able to make it work really well.

 

My dh would say the same. He spent fourteen years taking the el downtown. He loved being forced to take a short walk before and after work (4 blocks from home to station, then about six or seven blocks from station to office). He found the fresh air and movement refreshing. He used one of his commutes to read the Bible and pray, and the other one to deal with phone business or read.

 

Both my dh and I have had jobs that involved 45-60 minutes of car commuting, and both of us would say that that was mindsucking misery. We tried to mitigate it by listening to books or sermons on tape, and that helped. Driving in Chicago traffic was ugly, though. Train time felt much different.

 

Having said that, I had a hair dresser who used to commute almost an hour from the far west suburbs to Oak Park. He loved it. In warm weather he enjoyed driving his motorcycle. In cold weather he had a whole ritual with getting gourmet coffee and listening to rock music. He didn't mind the commute. Some people do adapt and do fine with it.

 

Because the car commute was so nasty for dh and I (when we had those seasons), we have made it a priority to not have a long, ugly commute. We lived in one location for two years and dh took the Metra (45 minutes commute). We lived in the city for fourteen years and dh took the el . When we moved to a third location, we purposely lived within a ten-minute drive of dh's office. Now we live in another state and dh drives 25 minutes, which is the upper end of what we would consider acceptable. (Our current city does not have train system, unfortunately.) We wanted a shorter commute, but prefer living in an area with bigger yards and more pretty country, so dh compromises with his slightly longer commute.

 

The bottom line is that the quality of life question really does come down to more than just the amount of time spent.