Illinois

[Markme123 0]

Later this year my family is planning on moving to closer to my mom's side of the family. They along with the older brother live in and around the Chicago area (my brother in Aurora). I was given the choice to go or stay here after I finish high school and study in San Jose, CA. I don't know jack about Illinois and now turn to you to educate me. Hopefully there are some of who know the area and can tell me which areas/neighborhoods/suburbs/ are good and which are bad in and around. Is it expensive to live in Chi-town (can't be more expensive than the Bay Area), what's the weather like, ect. Any info is appreciated. Thanks.

[ant_7000 0]

Well im from Waukegan IL about 45 mins from Chi-town, Downtown, like Navy Pier or Miracle Mile are nice spots. Southern Burbs of Illinois is mostly consist of farm land and rural areas, Northern/Central Burbs are more metro. If your old enough to go to clubs theres lots of them downtown chicago. The best malls in my opinon are in the burbs like Gurnee Mills, Old Orchard, Hawthorn, Northbrook, the one in Schamburg (I forgot the name).

 

Six Flags Great America is nice family spot during the summer. As for the weather there's only two types of weather in Illinois and that is Really Hot and Really Cold, and weather is crazy on day it could 70 degrees in febuaury day and then on the next day it could snow. Once you get use to 10 degree weather for a couple of days in a row here, 40 degree weather will feel like jacket wearing weather.

[Art Sandusky 0]

Do they still have the RF Video kiosk thingie at Gurnee Mills? That's where I got my Cactus Jack shirt.

[ant_7000 0]

Do they still have the RF Video kiosk thingie at Gurnee Mills? That's where I got my Cactus Jack shirt.

Not anymore. It was a popular stand thou with all old wrestling tapes, Now its a fake Jewelry Stand now.

[Guest Agent of Oblivion]

You moving from California to the midwest? Ahhhhh hahahaha. Welcome to hell, sucker. Go the full monty and move to Indiana with me. We can be roomies. I'm very clean.

[Markme123 0]

I'll probably end up in the Aurora area, so hopefully it won't be much of a change with family there. I am kind of afraid of the cold temps and the snow, though. Never seen it.

 

Hopefully it's more urban than, say, Landford, Illinois.

[The Czech Republic 0]

Congratulations!

 

Suburban Chicago is a great place. It has been getting more expensive in the northwest suburbs like Schaumburg and Arlington Heights (which was my hometown for many years) as a result of suburban renewal projects that have been making that area much nicer. However, in contrast to California, real estate in the Midwest, though escalating, is more reasonable. (Barring the North Shore, but we won't talk about those New Trier types. Ant knows what I mean.)

Woodfield and the Oakbrook Centre are the two best malls, indoor and outdoor, respectively. There's also Old Orchard which is like Oakbrook with more yarmulkes, and Hawthorn, but that's been on the decline in recent years.

Traffic is a bitch. I know you're not from a small town by any means and are probably used to things being busy, but trust me--traffic is a bitch. It's funny: I live right on the state line in Wisconsin now (but am heading back after graduation) and get Chicago and Milwaukee stations, and I laugh when the traffic reporters piss and moan about a five-minute delay on I-43 whilst our friends at WGN are telling me that it's 65 minutes from O'Hare to somewhere really not far from O'Hare. Luckily, we name all our tollways (sorry) and expressways so that you can specifically curse the Dan Ryan, Kennedy, Eisenhower, and Tri-State, rather than referring to numbers. There's also the Edens, Stevenson, North-South, East-West, Calumet, Chicago Skyway, and Kingery, but they're secondary to the others.

Food is great here. Steak n Shake has many outlets here, Portillo's is a staple of suburban Chicago, Luke's is great, and Culver's is slowly creeping south from Wisconsin...and that's just fast food. There are excellent restaurants all through Chicago, which is to be expected. I don't know much about the local music and nightclub scene right now, so I can't help you there though.

If you plan on being near Aurora, that should be reasonable. I haven't been there too recently, but I know that nearby Naperville and Oswego have been growly rapidly as of late. I'm a northwest suburbs guy myself. Basically you have the middle-class northwest, countrified north, obscenely rich North Shore, working-class south, and hodge-podge west.

As for weather, it is crazy, yes. Example: yesterday it was clear and 55 degrees. Today it snowed. You get used to it and learn to appreciate a blue sky and warm temperature when it comes around, and you learn to appreciate a good snowfall around Christmastime with the crapshoot that is Midwestern weather. Just hope you don't get shoveling duty.

 

If you ahve any more questions, e-mail or AIM me and I'll be glad to help you out.

[Matt Young 0]

I just moved from Moreno Valley/Riverside, CA, back home to Springfield, Illinois, so I kind of know what you're going through. However, I don't know the Chicago area, and I'm too high to explain anything right now, anyway. Get me some more pancakes and we'll talk. Otherwise, it'll have to wait til I sober up, and I've still got a while to go before that happens.

[snuffbox 0]

Whilst in Chitown, try to avoid the Lincoln Towing gestapo

[Guest Agent of Oblivion]

Hope you don't smoke, either. Much of Chicago, and all of Cook Co. have supplemental tax stamps on all their cigarettes. Can be as much as a fifty cent difference per pack.