New Job in a New City!!!

[mrs.b]

Since you know the Chicagoland area, do you have any specific recommendations for suburbs? I've looked north and northwest, but am still not sure..

I'll toss out some options, but we moved away about ten years ago, so a lot can change in that time and we have not kept up with the status of the neighborhoods. Our friends have visited us here; we have not been back (though I would like to at some point).

The south side has a bad reputation, but if you live further out, it can be quite nice. We lived in the Park Forest and then Monee suburbs and there's a metro station right there on one of the lines that does not see many delays; the run itself was only about 45 minutes to an hour. Still, as I mentioned, it constituted a 2 hour commute - the travel to the station, and then from the other station to the office took just as much time. That was 4 hours of our day traveling. When it was just my husband and me, it was fine; we spent a lot of time together on the train, at the station, etc. Once our son came along, though, it was too much of a drain on time with our newly expanded family and that was a big contributor to our decision to leave the area. Matteson, Orland Park, and Tinley Park were also fine.

West side is also something I would consider if we ever moved back. Aurora, Fox Valley, etc. are all fine. Anything north of Joliet.

A lot of north side is also nice, but the price tags reflect it.

Honestly, you need to consider where your office is located, and scout out the travel routes you would like to take - available metro into the city, and also how far the metro station in town is from your building. Driving is an option, and sometimes it can save you time. Just as often, the traffic can cause even more of a delay and the parking and fuel expenses can be insane over time. (We would drive in once or twice a month if we ran late and missed our train, but it was not Plan A.) Also, where are your friends? You'll want to see them once in a while, and if they live in north suburbs and you live in the south, it can take you two or more hours to get there for an evening hang-out. You might find the most fantastic house, but if it includes an insane commute, it won't be so fantastic after a while.

Let your realtor know where your office is and where your friends' neighborhoods are, and use them for good advice on minimizing your commutes while putting you in a neighborhood that meets the safety and comfort you want.

On the moving dilemma...to piggyback on cook's advice, we had the pro movers do all the heavy lifting, but we also pared down all three households and sold a ton. When we were done, all three households were effectively one. It saved a lot of cash and would have saved even more if it were just one household! The difference in $$ can go a long way at IKEA to refurnish.