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Old 02-19-2013, 09:37 AM
 
5,347 posts, read 10,164,034 times
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Chicago has always been underrated so to speak. The lake setting is ideal and its flatness is a plus in my book. I think people coming from the east coast are amazed at Chicago's prices. But let's keep it 100. Chicago has high taxes, high gasoline prices, high food prices, high hotel rooms, enormous fines and DMV fees, etc... Just like east coast cities. It's not cheap by any means.
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Old 02-19-2013, 10:10 AM
 
Location: Upper West Side, Manhattan, NYC
15,323 posts, read 23,937,691 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DC's Finest View Post
Chicago has high taxes
Agreed. Not THE highest but it's up there.

Quote:
high gasoline prices
Agreed but you don't have to own a car here if you live in a number of areas. I don't own one, and never have here and I know many, many others who don't. So yeah high gasoline prices...sucks but I've almost never had to even deal with it and many others haven't either.

Quote:
high food prices
Very much disagreed on this. There certainly are a number of splurge places in Chicago, but to say the food is expensive means you haven't gotten outside of River North/Streeterville/West Loop/South Loop much. I know loads and loads of places where I can get a ton of food for under $6. In fact, one of my favorite lunch places while I work will give me about 2-2.5 pounds of actual high quality "middle eastern" food for under $8. Even then in Near North Side, Lincoln Park, etc there are cheap eats if you know where to go. I can get a huge gyro sandwich in the Gold Coast for under $5 or $6 still. Outside of the downtown and yuppified areas, groceries can be pretty cheap too if you know where to go. Go up to Albany Park and tell me your groceries are going to break your bank.

As my cousin who's a wealthy CEO says (and does not live in Chicago) "Chicago is one of the only cities where you can have a great $400 meal, a great $40 meal, and a great $4 meal."

It's just like NYC. People who hit up the more "downtown" areas think everything is expensive there. No, not true. There are TONS of places for cheap.

Quote:
high hotel rooms
Yes and no. If you try and book when there's a huge conference/festival in town then sure, but I have relatives who have stayed at pretty nice hotels in River North/Streeterville for under $110/night. In fact, especially if you use a site like HotWire, it's extremely easy to stay in the Loop for under $80/night and in the Mag Mile kind of area you can get it for under $130/night. If you have any corporate or AAA type of rates too it brings it way down.

On the outside things look really expensive, but there's easy ways around this.

Quote:
enormous fines and DMV fees
Are you talking about car-related fines? If not, then yeah...I've never been fined for anything. If you're talking about car related things, then again..you don't have to own a car here in a number of places. For people who do own a car, then yes you can get parking fines pretty easily if you aren't careful. However, it can be avoided if you are careful about things. My girlfriend drove for a long time and only racked up 1 fine ever for like $15.

DMV fees? Yeah $35 for a license one time if you're moving out of state.. Big deal. Wheel tax of like $80. Parking is free in a number of areas, and the areas it's not free on the street, it's $25/year.



Is Chicago expensive? Maybe compared to smaller cities and less urban big cities like Phoenix or Dallas/Houston. Compared to NYC, San Fran, Los Angeles, DC, and Boston? Hell no. Not even close. You can still find pretty cheap (especially compared to the other cities just mentioned) rents in Chicago (even cheaper if you have a roommate), cheap eats all over the place, you don't need a car in a number of areas, etc.
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Old 02-19-2013, 11:42 AM
 
Location: NY
778 posts, read 999,145 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DC's Finest View Post
Chicago has always been underrated so to speak. The lake setting is ideal and its flatness is a plus in my book. I think people coming from the east coast are amazed at Chicago's prices. But let's keep it 100. Chicago has high taxes, high gasoline prices, high food prices, high hotel rooms, enormous fines and DMV fees, etc... Just like east coast cities. It's not cheap by any means.

Most places that have low taxes or no tax are in the South and places I wouldnt wanna live anyway. Americans love to ***** about taxes, but when you visit a place like Thailand and see garbage and filth everywhere, you learn to appreciate the things we have like waste management and other public services. Chicago definitely has tax policy issues, but im grateful for other things it provides.

High gas prices? Cool. I dont drive.

High hotel rooms? I dont use hotels.

High food prices? No. Marothisu elaborates on this. For arguably the top food city in the country?

Enormous fines and DMV fees? I dont get fined and I dont have a car.

Im coming from Upstate NY mind you. "The Vampire State."
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Old 02-19-2013, 11:46 AM
 
Location: NY
778 posts, read 999,145 times
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Frankly, Chicago has the real estate cost of bargain cities like Dallas, Atlanta, etc. and the cost of living and amenities of NYC, SF, Boston, etc.

You cannot beat that.

Youre not married to your job just paying rent in Chicago, which is probably the #1 benefit it has over the coasts, above all else.
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Old 02-19-2013, 01:39 PM
 
5,347 posts, read 10,164,034 times
Reputation: 2446
Quote:
Originally Posted by Heyooooo View Post
Frankly, Chicago has the real estate cost of bargain cities like Dallas, Atlanta, etc. and the cost of living and amenities of NYC, SF, Boston, etc.

You cannot beat that.

Youre not married to your job just paying rent in Chicago, which is probably the #1 benefit it has over the coasts, above all else.
I agree. I think people see Chicago real estate prices and think that the city is cheaper across the board.
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Old 02-19-2013, 02:07 PM
 
1,750 posts, read 3,392,902 times
Reputation: 788
Quote:
Originally Posted by Heyooooo View Post
Frankly, Chicago has the real estate cost of bargain cities like Dallas, Atlanta, etc. and the cost of living and amenities of NYC, SF, Boston, etc.

You cannot beat that.

Youre not married to your job just paying rent in Chicago, which is probably the #1 benefit it has over the coasts, above all else.
At an apples to apples comparison, Chicago is significantly more expensive than Atlanta and Dallas; but your point is correct.
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Old 02-19-2013, 04:46 PM
 
Location: roaming gnome
12,384 posts, read 28,524,349 times
Reputation: 5884
Quote:
Originally Posted by Heyooooo View Post
Most places that have low taxes or no tax are in the South and places I wouldnt wanna live anyway. Americans love to ***** about taxes, but when you visit a place like Thailand and see garbage and filth everywhere, you learn to appreciate the things we have like waste management and other public services. Chicago definitely has tax policy issues, but im grateful for other things it provides.

High gas prices? Cool. I dont drive.

High hotel rooms? I dont use hotels.

High food prices? No. Marothisu elaborates on this. For arguably the top food city in the country?

Enormous fines and DMV fees? I dont get fined and I dont have a car.

Im coming from Upstate NY mind you. "The Vampire State."
It's not all about you. What he said is true. Learn to take some criticism, geez. Chicago has super high sales tax, some of highest gas in the country also. And Chicago is known for giving out parking tickets like crazy.
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Old 02-19-2013, 08:02 PM
 
Location: Cleveland, OH USA / formerly Chicago for 20 years
4,069 posts, read 7,321,711 times
Reputation: 3062
Quote:
Originally Posted by marothisu View Post
DMV fees? Yeah $35 for a license one time if you're moving out of state.. Big deal. Wheel tax of like $80. Parking is free in a number of areas, and the areas it's not free on the street, it's $25/year.
Don't forget city stickers. How much are they up to these days? I've lost track since I haven't owned a car in 12 years now. Back then they were either $60 or $75 per year, I forget.
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Old 02-19-2013, 08:35 PM
 
Location: Upper West Side, Manhattan, NYC
15,323 posts, read 23,937,691 times
Reputation: 7420
Quote:
Originally Posted by andrew61 View Post
Don't forget city stickers. How much are they up to these days? I've lost track since I haven't owned a car in 12 years now. Back then they were either $60 or $75 per year, I forget.
Ah yes..I think most sedans are just under $60, some more luxury or bigger SUVs are around $100, motor bikes are around $30 and some of the large large trucks are a few hundred..maybe some of the middle trucks are around like $125 I think. So a regular sedan you pay around $140/year in fees to the government. I mean it's not perfect, but $140/year is not bad. At least it helps keep some of the roads un ****ty.

The city loves to hand out parking fines (I've never been to a city that doesn't like to actually), but it can easily be avoided if you are careful about it.
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Old 02-19-2013, 09:41 PM
 
Location: Chicago
1,953 posts, read 4,962,511 times
Reputation: 919
Quote:
Originally Posted by marothisu View Post
Ah yes..I think most sedans are just under $60, some more luxury or bigger SUVs are around $100, motor bikes are around $30 and some of the large large trucks are a few hundred..maybe some of the middle trucks are around like $125 I think. So a regular sedan you pay around $140/year in fees to the government. I mean it's not perfect, but $140/year is not bad. At least it helps keep some of the roads un ****ty.

The city loves to hand out parking fines (I've never been to a city that doesn't like to actually), but it can easily be avoided if you are careful about it.
Im pretty sure that regular cars are 90-100. I vaguely remember paying 125 for the sticker + permit, however it sure as hell beats the $200 ticket for not having one.
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