Lifelong Californians Considering Move to Chicago - Snow Questions (living in, car)

[Bellamouse]

Originally Posted by knitgirl

Bellamouse, if you really hate it here so much, I sincerely hope that you get the opportunity to move somewhere you'll be happier. My retired parents travel every winter from mid January til the end of March. They have a lot of snowbird friends in both AZ and FL.

Yes, we are aggressively working toward getting out of here. Husband has to find a job first. He is working at finding one like it's a second job - hours and hours every day applying. I would move tomorrow if he found a job that wanted him to start right away. I work from home and can do my job from anywhere, so I can go at a moment's notice. The thought of yet another winter here has me pretty depressed right now...hopefully it will be our last one though. I hear it's supposed to be a doozy.

[jwaiter]

Originally Posted by Bellamouse

I hear it's supposed to be a doozy.

Don't believe anything you hear and only half of what you see.

[chet everett]

Originally Posted by jwaiter

Don't believe anything you hear and only half of what you see.

This is pretty balanced and seems to fit with my recollections of cycles I have seen -- NetNewsledger.com - Atlantic Ocean Sucking Summer From North America

[knitgirl]

Originally Posted by chet everett

...if parents have a rare guaranted benefit retirement plan (aka pension) that sort of lifestyle is probably more achievable. Any chance they worked for a unit of government?

No, they don't have pensions, but they are able to find reasonably priced short-term rentals.

[knitgirl]

Originally Posted by Vlajos

Why would someone need to have a government pension to be able to do that? I have plenty of Chicagoland area family that do this, none of which work for any government at any level. Personally, I find AZ and FL to be depressing and would never do it, but that's just me and my wife.

I visited my parents in Phoenix a few years ago in March. I HATED it! They were in a complex that was very nice, but you had to drive everywhere. It was plopped down in a very flat, brown, ugly environment. I don't like that type of environment at all. The one nice thing about FL is access to the ocean, but of course, places near the water are very expensive.

[Bellamouse]

I hate Phoenix too - wouldn't go there. We are looking at Tampa, Orlando or Nashville. I don't mind having to drive most everywhere - I have to do that where I live now anyway. Unless you live in a really urban environment (or Europe), I think anywhere you live requires driving to get anywhere.

And regarding the weather, of course it's tied to broader cycles. But I am still expecting this winter to be a bad one. I'd rather plan for bad and be pleasantly surprised than the reverse.

[sydlee]

Originally Posted by MassVt

I'm well into my fifties....I also grew up in Burlington, VT, which is colder, and gets a bit more snow, than Chicago, so I'm qualified to say something.I had many neighbors as customers for shoveling as a teen, and the shoveling will likely continue for the rest of my life..gloves or no gloves.

The OP seems to be interested in moving to Chicago, from CALIFORNIA, which is the opposite of the usual direction, and some are bound and determined to talk them completely out of it by telling apocryphal stories. Some people have more problems with heat and humidity than cold and snow, and Chicago has not cornered the market on cold and/or snow..

Yup.

[Vlajos]

Originally Posted by knitgirl

I visited my parents in Phoenix a few years ago in March. I HATED it! They were in a complex that was very nice, but you had to drive everywhere. It was plopped down in a very flat, brown, ugly environment. I don't like that type of environment at all. The one nice thing about FL is access to the ocean, but of course, places near the water are very expensive.

Good point, at least Florida has the coast. If I was forced to pick between the two it would be Florida.

[sydlee]

Originally Posted by chet everett

Interesting perspective on relocation, the advice about a "test trip" is especially pointed --

7 Big relocation mistakes | Penelope Trunk Careers

Originally Posted by chet everett

The links I posted about why a trip is unlikely to really help make the decision easier included the comment about a skilled real estate agent being a useful resource for relocation did not strike me as "steering" but as a source of relevant info.

Most of the info I post here is similar to what I have supplied to clients -- data about schools, taxes, employers, commute times -- these can be reviewed from home. You don't need "boots on the ground" to understand that a location 30 minutes away from work via Metra leaves the same time with family as a place 30 minutes from work via CTA...

I'm the one who suggested OP take a trip out to Chicago during the winter to give his wife a chance to see winter firsthand and see if she could deal with it.

I also took a trip out to Chicago to check it out as a possible move location. I'm less concerned about the cold than I am about the heat and humidity, since the heat of southern California and humidity and mosquitoes of the tropics are what I'm trying to avoid.

Before I visited (and it was an awesome visit), I, too, read that Penelope Trunk article. Look, she writes career advice. So I take her moving advice with a grain of salt. Just because it's online doesn't make it true. I read what she said. Rubbish, I thought. All sounds great on paper, but really, there is nothing like seeing for yourself firsthand a city you're looking to move to.

Different people process information differently, and sometimes solely stats or maps are not enough to get a feel for a place. Things on paper can look great when in fact they are not, and vice versa. A train stop location and commuting time can be established online, but that doesn't tell you how safe it feels, how busy the area is around it, how hard it is to cross a busy street, how comfortable the walk actually is. You can find out what markets are in an area online, but you have to go there to check out their selection, feel the quality of their produce, and see the freshness of their meat counter. Even taking the train in Chicago feels different than taking the train in LA. (yes, we have trains), and you won't know until you ride them. Similarly, here in California we can look up Chicago winter temps online and turn on the news to hear about how crazy cold it is. But does this info tell us how we individually might fare in such weather? No. Every "body" is different.

If you have a like-minded friend who knows you well who can scout a place for you, cool. If not, then it makes sense to do the scouting yourself. And sure, you can get advice from locals by posting in places like this, but it also helps to be on the ground, talking to people on the street and listening to people on the street, which is what I did when I visited.

Heck, at the very least, by visiting during winter, the OP and his wife will get a nice vacation out to Chicago, if they decide in the end that it isn't going to work out. No harm, no foul.

[jtamay3]

Coming from a lifelong Chicagoan, if you are moving because of the weather, I suggest re-thinking. It's enough to make you miserable everyday. Especially as I get older (28 & counting), I've gotten sick of it. And I was a kid who loved snow and generally like to be colder, rather than warmer.

Chett already covered the tax portion.

Oh yeah, did they mention the violence problem we have here?