Moving to Chicago soon

all,
after serving my country and navy for almost 10 years in jacksonville, i will be moving to chicago to teach electronics technician "a" school. i would like anyone who is from/lives there to give advice for someone who has been in the south for almost 10 years. also include decent places to live if you know of any.

Dylan


btw- thanks to falooza for the 3rd dot!!

I have not live there, but I have visited. I have been told you need to buy your winter clothes there. A coat from FL .will not keep you warm. The wind (hawk) will just laugh at you and cut right through you.

rman said:

I have not live there, but I have visited. I have been told you need to buy your winter clothes there. A coat from FL .will not keep you warm. The wind (hawk) will just laugh at you and cut right through you.

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we concur. we are going to spend the next 3 or 4 months of salary on winter clothes.

do you want to live with in the city limits? or would you prefer the burbs?

I moved to the burbs of Chicago 3 months ago. You are right to invest in a good coat. I would also recommend a good winter hat and gloves.

it needs to be between the city and the navy base. burbs not to bad, but the wife would probably be driving to the city for her job and she does not like to drive.

I've lived in the west suburbs my whole life. Now, I live just out of the city in the near west suburbs. I was planning on moving not too far out from the loop but the place is a little too large for me.

hmmm... What can you afford or do you want to pay a month? Or do you want to live near where you work? Do you want to live in the city and depend on the buses and the "el" or do you have a car?

Prices will range from $500 in the ghetto to $1200+ in a rich neighborhood. I need to know what you're willing to pay or where you want to live to help.

well our house pymt now is less than $900 and we have 2 cars. 1300 a month is right at a little too much for us, but it is manageable. a 45 min drive is long for either one of us, but i am willing to drive further if needed..

It takes me 25-35 mins to get to work downtown. I wouldn't move far past the very near suburbs to get where you want to be in 45 mins.
I was going to move to Old Town. It's just outside the loop and the place I was looking at was $685 for a very large studio. It's right by Cabrini Green which is not so nice place to live.
I like Old Town, Gold Coast, Wicker Park, and Lincoln Park. They're all very close to downtown and you should be able to find a 1 bedroom for $900 a month.
I think my place is like $750 for a 1 bedroom. It's got a parking garage but they only allow one car I think.

Atrium Village - Where I was looking to go. It's got a pool and a tennis court. Plenty of parking too. 530 sqft is too big for me. I think mine is only 350 sqft and it's a little too large.

I like using apartments.com. Give that a try.

you going to be at the great lakes navy base?

sanity1082 said:

you going to be at the great lakes navy base?

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yes!!

A friend of mine is leaving the base come April.

You can check the Glen View area and Morton Grove

sanity1082 said:

you going to be at the great lakes navy base?

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That just brings up some unpleasant memories....

sanity1082 said:

A friend of mine is leaving the base come April.

You can check the Glen View area and Morton Grove

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thank you

What should be done to prepare our vehicles for much colder weather?

fearlessfreap24 said:

What should be done to prepare our vehicles for much colder weather?

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Snow tires definitely if your going to be moving their relatively soon.

The Vindicat3d said:

Snow tires definitely if your going to be moving their relatively soon.

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not at least for 9 months

Well it looks like either way you'll be getting there around the snow season and I don't know much about cars but I can definitely tell you that you are going to need snow tires.

I hope the move goes smoothly for you.

I've heard the winter weather can get just as rugged out there as in The Great White North... So look for -40˚ C/F clothes, boots, etc.

The Vindicat3d said:

Well it looks like either way you'll be getting there around the snow season and I don't know much about cars but I can definitely tell you that you are going to need snow tires.

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I don't know about that. I know only one person that actually uses snow tires in IL. I still got my sport tires on my itty bitty little Honda and I don't have a problem. I didn't get stuck last year when it was really bad and snow was up the bottom of the door jam, about 2 ft. Chicago snow plows do a pretty good job keeping the streets clean.
I would recommend a new battery if it's 2 yrs old or more. I just replaced mine and I'm glad I did. It was 0 degrees F Wednesday when I left for work. Maybe use some of that stuff you put in the gas tank to get the excess water out of the tank and fuel lines. It's a little yellow bottle and it's called *eet" or something. I remember 2 e's and t in the name. Veet maybe...
If you have a pickup truck or a RWD vehicle with little weight in the back, get some bags of sand, litter or something to keep the back down.

yeah, i'm in minnesota, and i don't know many people who use snow tires; just make sure you've got good all season tires.

agreed with bry on the battery. also flush/fill your antifreeze when you get there, they'll do the right balance of water/antifreeze in chicago. and make sure your windshield washer fluid is filled with something that won't freeze. you may want to consider "winter" blades too. they come encased in rubber so the arms don't freeze - which can leave them molded in resting position and leave huge expanses of dirty windshield unreachable by the arched blades.