I HATE the suburbs and have a chance to leave. This is long..more experienced parents help?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op sitting here reading every response and literally tearing up. I hate it here so much. Thanks to all the Chicagoans for chiming in.

honestly, this doesn't look that bad:

https://www.mountprospect.org/community/about-mount-prospect

your reaction suggests that you have some other issues going on. i say that as life-long (50 years old now) city person, and a psychologist. it's ok to move to a place that suits you better, and not all places are the same. but moving 20 miles is unlikely to be a major fix for anything.

[Anonymous]

Chicagoan here -- my kids are teens and love being able to get around the city on CTA (I do worry about safety but driving is risky too). One of my kids is a music and theater type and has had some really neat performance opportunities around the city. My other kid is more academic and most of his activities are through his high school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op sitting here reading every response and literally tearing up. I hate it here so much. Thanks to all the Chicagoans for chiming in.

honestly, this doesn't look that bad:

https://www.mountprospect.org/community/about-mount-prospect

your reaction suggests that you have some other issues going on. i say that as life-long (50 years old now) city person, and a psychologist. it's ok to move to a place that suits you better, and not all places are the same. but moving 20 miles is unlikely to be a major fix for anything.

I live in the city and used to work in the suburb next to Mt Prospect - it’s not that bad but it’s really different from the city. I think a lot of people who grow up there move back and fall back into established friendships and maybe that is why OP is having trouble connecting. And she is correct - you really need to drive everywhere.

It’s not bad and for a lot of people it’s perfect but sounds like op has given it a try and it’s not for her.

[Anonymous]

leave

[Anonymous]

Your problem is that you’re too far out…that’s like true suburbs. Why wouldn’t you look at park ridge or glenview/wilmette rather than the city? All of our neighbors used to live in roscoe- it’s a pretty short metra ride downtown if you want, you can theoretically drive over to the CTA in Evanston…and still have space / better schools / plenty of stuff to do. Super cute downtowns in wilmette, park ridge, winnetka..glenview revitalizing. We are walking distance to two playgrounds, a pool, the library, etc. we moved from Arlington and it’s honestly an amazing place to raise kids - tons of kids in the neighborhood, festivals all summer, etc.

[Anonymous]

If you can handle the transience of it (knowing this is likely a solution for just a few years), go for it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Chicago?
I’d move in a heartbeat. We had moved to a more suburban part of NW dc and hated it. Moved back to the city and life is easy again. We walk everywhere and now that my kids are getting older, they have so much independence.
One suggestion would be to keep your house and rent it out. Then you’d still keep your mortgage and keep building equity. Otherwise you’ll pay so many transactional fees to sell and then would pay capital gains.

Yes, Chicago. I thought about trying to rent our house, but it's so outdated I'm not sure how that would pan out. Everything is in good working condition and there's no gross carpeting or anything, but the kitchen is from the 70s and the bathrooms are from the 90s.

An outdated house is perfect for renting. Renters can be really rough on a house.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Definitely rent out your current home. People can't afford to buy a house right now due to interest rates and since it's not newly remodeled. It won't matter if the tenants are a little bit rough and you need to change things to move back in in a year or two. Or fix it up and sell it at some point down the road?.
I would move in a heartbeat and the size wouldn't matter if one of us worked outside of the apartment, but I don't know if my husband and I could be together all day every day in under a thousand square feet. Be a relationship could be very different than ours. I love him but my goodness I need some breathing room.
Is he on board with this? Because it might be kind of hard to rent in the winter, so you may need to carry a mortgage for a while.... Might not be the worst thing while you move to the city and see how it goes..... If you don't like it, move back before spring

Being in the city means work from home is actually “work from the local coffee shop” or “work from the local book store”. OP doesn’t have to stay in her home to work!

[Anonymous]

I don't understand what is wrong with chain restaurants and coffee shops. They have all grown to be chains because what they offered was good.

[Anonymous]

OP what suburb are you in? We live in Evanston and have a great neighborhood vibe with more walkability than you describe. Maybe you could consider trying another town?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op sitting here reading every response and literally tearing up. I hate it here so much. Thanks to all the Chicagoans for chiming in.

Do it, OP. I lived in Chicagoland for seven years and would love, love to move back there. We’re generally happy in our close-in DC suburb but I get so wistful thinking about living in Lakeview or Lincoln Park or one of the many other great neighborhoods in Chicago. It’s such a great city.

(Also, yeah, Mount Prospect is a schlep. You probably would like one of the North Shore suburbs or Oak Park better, but those are still not the city.)

[Anonymous]

Sorry in the Evanston PP and just saw you’re in Mount Prospect, sorry I agree that’s pretty dull. I honestly think Arlington Heights would be better, it has a nice downtown. Park Ridge has a great quasi-urban center with public transit. Wilmette, if you can afford it, is fantastic. If not, come join us in Evanston lol, I spent the morning with my kids at the beach today. And I know all of my neighbors even though I’ve only lived here 2 years. Tons of little kids everywhere.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Chicago?
I’d move in a heartbeat. We had moved to a more suburban part of NW dc and hated it. Moved back to the city and life is easy again. We walk everywhere and now that my kids are getting older, they have so much independence.
One suggestion would be to keep your house and rent it out. Then you’d still keep your mortgage and keep building equity. Otherwise you’ll pay so many transactional fees to sell and then would pay capital gains.

Yes, Chicago. I thought about trying to rent our house, but it's so outdated I'm not sure how that would pan out. Everything is in good working condition and there's no gross carpeting or anything, but the kitchen is from the 70s and the bathrooms are from the 90s.

An outdated house is perfect for renting. Renters can be really rough on a house.

+1
it's better to rent a house you don't like than the house you do like!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sorry in the Evanston PP and just saw you’re in Mount Prospect, sorry I agree that’s pretty dull. I honestly think Arlington Heights would be better, it has a nice downtown. Park Ridge has a great quasi-urban center with public transit. Wilmette, if you can afford it, is fantastic. If not, come join us in Evanston lol, I spent the morning with my kids at the beach today. And I know all of my neighbors even though I’ve only lived here 2 years. Tons of little kids everywhere.

Why would OP consider another suburb when she clearly has expressed a preference to live in the city and has a great opportunity in front of her?

[Anonymous]

You're going to let them go to a Chicago public school? That sounds interesting...

I basically have this set up in a DC 'burb with good schools and walkability (Falls Church City). So I see the pluses. We do still use our car a ton, though. Walkability in the rain and winter is tough with kids.