Illinois......are you staying or leaving? (Chicago, Western Springs: renting, buy, landlord)

[Vasily]

Originally Posted by EddieOlSkool

I live in a "progressive" Southern city but most of the progressives here are inactive hippies who do nothing but revel in the fact they're better than the country bumpkins who live outside of the city. But for the most part they are few and far in between and the city has less than 1 million people and an almost 40% obesity rate. So no there aren't a lot of smart attractive liberal women to connect with just by the numbers. Chicago wins by far. Plus where I live the racist conservative element exists as soon as you get into the outer ring suburbs unlike Chicago where it doesn't come into play until you leave the metro.

You wrote: "I would go back to my home in a heartbeat if I didn't have a lease or decent job here". Then come up with a plan for getting out in a year or two and implement it.

And no, getting out of Chicago is still miles better in public transportation than in the South. At least the system EXISTS.

Regarding public transportation, you've got great options for getting into and out of Chicago, My point was: the opportunities for getting from suburb A to suburb B more often than not are limited and inferior to the Metra. Try commuting from Naperville to Arlington Heights for five years like I did - or for a consulting gig to a northern suburb near the Wisconsin border. Everything is arranged for getting into and out of Chicago proper. Many of us do not live in the city, and have no desire to do so; for us a system DOESN'T exist.

As far as segregation, nobody believes Chicago doesn't have racism. However outside of Mt. Greenwood or Beverly most White Chicagoans are nowhere near as White Kentuckians. In Chicago for 28 years I haven't heard the N word as much from Whites as I have 1 year in Kentucky.

And you don't know what the White Chicagoans are saying once you're out of the room.

You either didn't do your research and spend time in Kentucky before deciding to move there, or you decided the job offer made it worth it in spite of your misgivings. That was your choice -- if you're miserable, I suggest getting out even if it means taking something at a lower salary. If you decide to stay, spend time making friends who you can tolerate and stay away from those who aren't liberal or smart enough.

[EddieOlSkool]

Originally Posted by Vasily

You wrote: "I would go back to my home in a heartbeat if I didn't have a lease or decent job here". Then come up with a plan for getting out in a year or two and implement it.



Regarding public transportation, you've got great options for getting into and out of Chicago, My point was: the opportunities for getting from suburb A to suburb B more often than not are limited and inferior to the Metra. Try commuting from Naperville to Arlington Heights for five years like I did - or for a consulting gig to a northern suburb near the Wisconsin border. Everything is arranged for getting into and out of Chicago proper. Many of us do not live in the city, and have no desire to do so; for us a system DOESN'T exist.



And you don't know what the White Chicagoans are saying once you're out of the room.

You either didn't do your research and spend time in Kentucky before deciding to move there, or you decided the job offer made it worth it in spite of your misgivings. That was your choice -- if you're miserable, I suggest getting out even if it means taking something at a lower salary. If you decide to stay, spend time making friends who you can tolerate and stay away from those who aren't liberal or smart enough.

Wasn't asking for advice honestly. I have a plan for getting out. I was simply explaining that the South isn't for everybody and that lower COL doesn't necessarily sell someone in my situation.

Also, you do realize many times one can never get a feel for somewhere until they actually live there. I spent 4 months living where I do before I even decided to move. It still didn't give me enough of a real expectation of what life there was like. Sometimes moving somewhere is really the ONLY way to know whether it is for you or not.

I DO NOT regret moving however. It taught me enough to learn what I like about a city. I wouldn't trade this experience for anything. It made me mature to levels I could not have imagined without experiencing it. Makes me appreciate Chicago THAT much more!!!

[flamadiddle]

Originally Posted by EddieOlSkool

Wasn't asking for advice honestly. I have a plan for getting out. I was simply explaining that the South isn't for everybody and that lower COL doesn't necessarily sell someone in my situation.

I would agree with that! I was in Atlanta for quite a while and hated it.

[EddieOlSkool]

Originally Posted by flamadiddle

I would agree with that! I was in Atlanta for quite a while and hated it.

Apparently Southern sympathizers tend to take it personally when some of us Northerners don't like the South. Hey! The South is great for a particular kind of person. I am not such a person.

Heck I don't even discount all of the South. Just the place I live. My point was that I would rather go back to "evil, corrupt, Democrat failure" Illinois than be stuck somewhere like this.

[EddieOlSkool]

Originally Posted by Bellamouse

Moving didn't take away from my job. I work from home. Husband had vacation time due at the time he quit his job so he still got paid for the couple weeks before he had to start his new job. Our church was our life and we didn't need to ask for help - they just volunteer. That's the way it works in a real church. We didn't belong to some big, impersonal church where you go in, sit by yourself in the pew and run out after service and you don't know anyone. Our entire social life revolved around our church, and our church was our family.

So maybe our situation wasn't "typical", but I'm just telling you that just because people earn good money doesn't mean they MUST spend it unnecessarily. We found spending 5 or 6 times the amount we spent to hire professional movers unnecessary. Some of the richest folks in the world do things on the cheap (which is how they got rich).

If people would rather hire "insured" movers, good for them. I saved $10k. Even if my big dining room table got ruined in the move (for example), I could replace that for $5K and still have saved another $5K. Smart people do cost/risk analyses.

Also, we didn't drive the 18 wheeler. We shipped it FREIGHT. I said that. You aren't paying attention. We drove our cars and the stuff showed up a week later. Clearly you don't understand how shipping items "freight" works....

If church is life I agree the South is better for you. Those of us who don't dedicate our life to groupthink prefer to stay in the cold liberal wasteland.

[EddieOlSkool]

Living away from my Midwest element has gotten me to appreciate it much more. I love my job in Kentucky so much though that staying doesn't frustrate me as much. So everywhere you go you can the most of in this country.

[IrishIllini]

Everyone, repeat after me. The COL in the south is now on par with the COL in Chicago. Denial does not alter reality. Chicago and Illinois are undergoing a large scale demographic shift where lesser educated/affluent residents are forced to find work out of state and educated/more affluent ones are awash with opportunity. I believe fewer than 40 percent of those who leave Illinois earn six figures or more while the number who ENTER earning six figures or more is 65 percent. We all have our opinions on whether this is good or bad, but ultimately it's a national trend. It's just more exaggerated in the north. It'll happen down south too. Trump isn't bringing any jobs back, and truthfully I stand to gain more from him being in office than many of the people who voted for him.

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/reale...-vacancy-falls
http://www.chicagobusiness.com/reale...es-15-year-low
http://www.chicagobusiness.com/reale...-low-can-it-go

[EddieOlSkool]

Originally Posted by IrishIllini

Everyone, repeat after me. The COL in the south is now on par with the COL in Chicago. Denial does not alter reality. Chicago and Illinois are undergoing a large scale demographic shift where lesser educated/affluent residents are forced to find work out of state and educated/more affluent ones are awash with opportunity. I believe fewer than 40 percent of those who leave Illinois earn six figures or more while the number who ENTER earning six figures or more is 65 percent. We all have our opinions on whether this is good or bad, but ultimately it's a national trend. It's just more exaggerated in the north. It'll happen down south too. Trump isn't bringing any jobs back, and truthfully I stand to gain more from him being in office than many of the people who voted for him.

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/reale...-vacancy-falls
http://www.chicagobusiness.com/reale...es-15-year-low
http://www.chicagobusiness.com/reale...-low-can-it-go

You know it good sir. The South is elevated to god status among salty Chicagoans. I used to be one of those until the South smacked my Yankee face harshly and said "you stay in your place boy!"

The problem with the South is even if you have a lower COL you make much less due to the "business friendly " climate which really means stingy companies who can get away with paying peanuts due to higher amounts of destitute people who won't throw a fit.

[Taco1234]

Originally Posted by IrishIllini

Everyone, repeat after me. The COL in the south is now on par with the COL in Chicago. Denial does not alter reality. Chicago and Illinois are undergoing a large scale demographic shift where lesser educated/affluent residents are forced to find work out of state and educated/more affluent ones are awash with opportunity. I believe fewer than 40 percent of those who leave Illinois earn six figures or more while the number who ENTER earning six figures or more is 65 percent. We all have our opinions on whether this is good or bad, but ultimately it's a national trend. It's just more exaggerated in the north. It'll happen down south too. Trump isn't bringing any jobs back, and truthfully I stand to gain more from him being in office than many of the people who voted for him.

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/reale...-vacancy-falls
http://www.chicagobusiness.com/reale...es-15-year-low
http://www.chicagobusiness.com/reale...-low-can-it-go

Repeat after me: to live in a four bedroom 3000 square-foot house with excellent schools where we are moving we will be spending close to $2000 less a month for housing and making the same salaries that we make in Illinois. So, you are wrong. Our cost-of-living will be drastically lower. May not be the same for everyone, or if you take a huge pay cut, but you cannot make a blanket statement and say that cost of living is on par. Especially not when you're going from $17,000 property taxes to $2500 property taxes.

[EddieOlSkool]

Originally Posted by Taco1234

Repeat after me: to live in a four bedroom 3000 square-foot house with excellent schools where we are moving we will be spending close to $2000 less a month for housing and making the same salaries that we make in Illinois. So, you are wrong. Our cost-of-living will be drastically lower. May not be the same for everyone, or if you take a huge pay cut, but you cannot make a blanket statement and say that cost of living is on par. Especially not when you're going from $17,000 property taxes to $2500 property taxes.

Too bad the South for the most part doesn't have great schools.