Relocating advice.
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10/15/2007
If you are thinking about moving to chicago and want some advice, let me give you my point of view.I was born in the suburbs of chicago and have been here for 25 years., the schools are the same as any where else in the country, you have the rich schools poor schools and private.Chicagoland has some of the best teachers in the country but its not the school district fault for the downfalls.Its the parents,in certain parts of the city schools have lots of bad apples because of the students homelife not because of the school.I went to joliet central high school which had its gang bangers,druggies and i never had a problem,i had freinds from all groups.If a student is having problems 9x,s out of 10 its because of their own mistakes.I graduated high school and didnt have the money for college so i started working construction at a beginning wage of $26.00 hr in 1999 and was $33.00 in 2006(Chicagos payscale is the highest in the country) their are 14,260 jobs available in the chicagoland area as of today in just career builder, and the reason for a lotof unemployment is because a lot of jobs are being shipped out of country just like every where else in the u.s. I agree that our winters are terrible but you have to give up some things to get others. Someone wrote that our summers are miserable....What are you from alaska.... I moved to Nashville,Tn this year and Chicago never was this hot all summer nashvilles beem above 100 degrees with nasty humidity. Chicago rarely goes above 95 degrees but a few days in august.as for crime ..my wife and i lived downtown for 2 years, we would walk from navypier, granr park..etc at 2:00 am and never had a problem, in fct their are lots of people out still anyways..of course the 3rd largest city in the country by population will have crime but compared to cities a fraction of the size chicago is one of the safest big cities in the world trailing new york by 6 positions. The metro city of nashville is 1.2 million people and the crime rate 4x,s higher than the metro population of chicago at 9.8 million. Of course there is the traffic, by no means is chicago the worst, South california,atlanta, new york, and new jersey have far higher driving times than chicago, but the roads are changing, lots of expansion to be completed by next summer.Ok it all comes down to what you are looking for, i have lived in nashville,Tn now for 14 months and am crying to get out. i am moving back to chicago and will never leave again!!Chicago is a big city the 2nd largest urban landscape in the country trailing new york by a mere 10-20 sq miles. Downtown is a fast paced enviroment 24 hours a day. Chicago hs every thing you can think of the most diverse city in the country passing new york even...a systematic city where you dont need to own a car with the largest 24 hour public transit system in the country, yes chicago is semi corrupt but no where near as atlanta L.a new york or nashville even. I lived in the suburbs most of my life and then the city and besides a little more agressive driving downtown, people are the same. Its called courtesy that I havent seen any where else in the country. I moved to Nashville,Tn and opened a chicago style restauraunt and have regretted it. I thought at the time that i had it with chicago the population,winters,and traffic but by me living in another city its taught me to apprediate more. I dont want to get into the whole thing unless you ask me but i have sold my store in nashville and am opening one in chicago. If this helps im happy if you have any questions feel free to write me.
Dimitris | Joliet, IL