Anyone live in Chicago or Nashville?

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punisherthunder

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I’m seriously considering moving to one of these two cities, but I’m torn as to which. If anyone can testify as if to one is better than the other, then I would certainly be appreciative. Thanks!
 
I don’t live in Chicago… but in a Suburb about 40 miles from the city. We love it here.

The Pro’s: Great schools, lots of traditional Catholics, very midwest family type place with TONS of programs for kids (park district type things) 4 distinct seasons, Metra train system is wonderful… we can hop a train 5 min. from our house & be in the city in about an hour. Chicago has awesome sports teams… (this is the year the CUBS will win the World Series!) Every ethnic restaurant you can think of- fantastic theater district - lots of culture - the BEST Marathon in the Fall.

The Cons: Housing - expensive IMO - although probably no more so than other major cities? (We moved here from Florida so WE had sticker shock.) The winter can seem LONG - it can be very cold without a lot of snow which isn’t so fun. Northern Illinois is very flat - sort of boring in that regard.

So there you have it. Good luck making a decision. 🙂
 
I live about 2 1/2 hours south of Chicago. This is a great place for raising kids with traditional Catholic values. We have 5 Catholic Schools in the county and 1 High School (built about 6 yrs ago). From what I have seen, Chicago has some good schools too but, and here is the big but, our governor and state politics will drive you crazy with their very liberal laws and at times very anti-catholic stances. A few that come to mind are the phamacist thing…our governor has made it so that even Catholic ones have to dispense abortifacents to women and another is a couple of years ago they tried to deny accreditation to all our Catholic Schools so that kids that went to Catholic Schools could not compete for grants and scholarships…it was repealed but not before I pulled my son who was a senior from Catholic School and made him go to public school that year. Another thing, as a non chicago resident…all monies go to Chicago, they think they are the only part of the state that counts…in fact they think anyone that doesn’t live in the city is a farmer and redneck. Too funny considering we have a high rate of technology companies downstate.
 
We are in Chicago and I can tell you we wouldn’t live anywhere else. Chicago is a city of neighborhoods. People connect to where they have grown up. In our archdiocese there are 366 parishes, where mass is said in many different languages.
archdiocese-chgo.org/

Our downtown skyline is incredible. We have museums, opportunities and much more. Like all things, being a large metropolitan area there is poverty, traffic and crime, so you need to be aware and not take chances. But by in large, the people are friendly and hospitable. We live near Midway airport and blocks from US Cellular Field, which everyone calls Sox Park instead…and we know all our neighbors and generations have lived in this community and now our kids attend school here. My only suggestion is before you relocate, visit us and visit your other choice. Don’t forget the cost of living can vary depending on the area you chose to live in.
 
Chicago is a great place to live. In fact if it weren’t for the winter it would be perfect. Even with the winter I can only think of one other place in the world I’d rather live but that place isn’t in this country. I’d love to live in Jerusalem.

CDL
 
I live in Chicago. There is so much to do here, you will never be bored! Plus we’re home to the 2005 World Series champs! 👍
 
I live in the far west suburbs and I grew up in the northen ones. I have mixed feelings.

Chicago is certainly a world class city from the social and cultural point of view, as noted above.

But if you are an outdoors kind of person, forgetaboudit! The land is FLAT. Very little variety. The “forest preserves” are a joke if you know what real forest is supposed to look like. These are mostly groves of immature weed trees growing on land that once was prairie, not woods.

Traffic is appalling and home prices have gone so high, so fast that I can’t help but wonder if we won’t be the next bubble to burst.

I love camping, so maybe living in the land of 5 month long winters and boring topography isn’t the best fit for me. If you enjoy city life, you may just love it.
 
I used to visit Nashville on work quite often. It is a beautiful city, the area is goregous - the people are so friendly, business is good. If my company had requested it, we would have moved there in a heartbeat!
 
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BlestOne:
Another thing, as a non chicago resident…all monies go to Chicago, they think they are the only part of the state that counts…in fact they think anyone that doesn’t live in the city is a farmer and redneck. Too funny considering we have a high rate of technology companies downstate.
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Typical anti-Chicago Illinoisan rhetoric. The reality is that there is an urban-suburban-rural (called downstate, even if it’s upstate) divide with the various factions pretty much despising the others.
 
I consider myself a displaced Chicagoan living on the west coast. We LOVED our years in Chicago, (we left as north shore suburbanites) are still very close to our friends there. One of my more unhealthy pasttimes is scheming about when/how we could move back. The people are the BEST, neighborhoods really exist and mean something, parishes are strong, vibrant and socially active and while the winter can be long, it has the most beautiful autumns anywhere. Did I mention the Cubbies!?
 
Hi I live in a far south suburb now. However I lived in the city of Chicago for about 17 years while raising kids. It is a city of neighborhoods and strong parishes. Not all are as faithful but they are all very active.

I love the south suburbs and I am a White Sox fan. However, when the Cubs are in the playoffs I do root for them. We have many teams to go and root for, and it is a very active city.

I think you can find areas that will be extremely expensive, and then more moderate. Our salaries often compensate for the higher cost of living. Teachers here earn almost twice as much as smaller cities, for example.

I live Chicago, but I am beginning to hate the winter. I visit the south at least three times a winter lately. I may have to retire to a warmer climate.

Downtown Chicago is the best. Come visit and see for yourself. It is impressive and so much fun.

Crime? Yes we have crime here, but they really work at cutting down on crime. We are vigilant and careful. Politicians? Yes, they are very spirited here, and something to behold. I would not even know how to describe Chicago to an outsider. Sometimes it is embarrasing.

Good luck in your decision. I don’t know Nashville except for driving through it. I am sure we have some posters that live there that will fill you in.

P.S. There is some resentment between downstate and Chicago. I don’t think of my fellow Illinoisians as rednecks, however there are some battles in the state government. Many times our mayor of Chicgo does not get along with the governor.
 
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Fitz:
Downtown Chicago is the best. Come visit and see for yourself. It is impressive and so much fun.
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And we have Marshall Field’s (um, I mean - ick - Macy’s)!
Crime? Yes we have crime here, but they really work at cutting down on crime. We are vigilant and careful. Politicians? Yes, they are very spirited here, and something to behold.
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Ah, it’s not so bad. Nothing like the days described in Lords of the Levee.
I would not even know how to describe Chicago to an outsider. Sometimes it is embarrasing.
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But once you’re a part of this particular patch, you can never love another – like loving a woman with a broken nose, you may well find lovelier lovelies, but never a lovely so real.

~Nelson Algren, City on the Make
P.S. There is some resentment between downstate and Chicago. I don’t think of my fellow Illinoisians as rednecks, however there are some battles in the state government. Many times our mayor of Chicgo does not get along with the governor.
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Right now, I don’t think ANYBODY anywhere in the state gets along with the governor! lol
 
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chicago:
Right now, I don’t think ANYBODY anywhere in the state gets along with the governor! lol
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That was my thought as well. We’ve had some real clunkers for Governors… but I really like the Mayor of Chicago. I don’t even care that all of his friends get the jobs… I think we have an awesome city.
 
Nashville you get the accent and the music. :banghead:

I used to live in near Chicago, my dad used to live in it. I loved the city, but rarely went there. Now I live in Lexington, Kentucky. Kentucky has hot summers, almost nonexistent winters, people say y’all way too much, people enjoy country music :eek:, but all in all it’s not too bad. But I really don’t know much about Nashville. Chicago is probably dirtier, has more crime, and more traffic, etc but I would still prefer Chicago. Some of my best memories are of going to museums and zoos and resturants in the Chicagoland area.
 
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locket:
Nashville you get the accent and the music. :banghead:

I used to live in near Chicago, my dad used to live in it. I loved the city, but rarely went there. Now I live in Lexington, Kentucky. Kentucky has hot summers, almost nonexistent winters, people say y’all way too much, people enjoy country music :eek:, but all in all it’s not too bad. But I really don’t know much about Nashville. Chicago is probably dirtier, has more crime, and more traffic, etc but I would still prefer Chicago. Some of my best memories are of going to museums and zoos and resturants in the Chicagoland area.
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If you have not been to the city for some time, then you will be amazed at how clean Chicago is. It is a very clean city. I am not saying that all areas of the entire city are, but the downtown area is very clean.
 
carol marie:
That was my thought as well. We’ve had some real clunkers for Governors… but I really like the Mayor of Chicago. I don’t even care that all of his friends get the jobs… I think we have an awesome city.
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No, our last two governors have been bad. I like Mayor Daley personally, but the city is steep in criminal political action. The city could not be more beautiful, and much of that is due to the Mayor and his wife Maggie. I don’t especially care so much about the patronage jobs, but the outright theft and people pulling paychecks that aren’t even working is sick. The Chicago public school system would take its own thread to discuss. Most people I knew in the city used private schools. I did use a magnet school for one of my daughters and it was excellent. However, on the average, Chicago public schools are bad. The suburband schools are usually very good.
 
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Fitz:
No, our last two governors have been bad. I like Mayor Daley personally, but the city is steep in criminal political action. The city could not be more beautiful, and much of that is due to the Mayor and his wife Maggie. I don’t especially care so much about the patronage jobs, but the outright theft and people pulling paychecks that aren’t even working is sick. The Chicago public school system would take its own thread to discuss. Most people I knew in the city used private schools. I did use a magnet school for one of my daughters and it was excellent. However, on the average, Chicago public schools are bad. The suburband schools are usually very good.
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That’s true… it has only been the last two Govenors… I’m hoping Oberwises gets in next time.

I don’t know too much about the Chicago Public Schools… but I wonder if they are any worse than the other major cities? I thought that some study a few months ago showed that Cleveland had the WORST schools (could be wrong about that?) and my friends from Michigan say Detroit schools are the pits… maybe that’s just the way it is… big city schools need an overhaul in general.

I love our suburban schools… but even better still is our Catholic Parish School… no child is denied a Catholic Education despite the parents’ ability to pay the tuition. It is prayerfully up to the parents to pay what they can afford. You’d think that wouldn’t work… but it actually does. Such a blessing!

P.S. To the OP… have you ever had a Chicago Style Hotdog? Honestly, a slice of heaven. Really… try one & you’ll forget all about Nashville. I bet THEY put ketchup on their hotdogs? 😛
 
Just wanted to give a little feedback on Nashville. I live about an hour from there and it’s got some really good points. First, I don’t consider saying “ya’ll” a drawback at all, in fact I say it several times a day. There is just no denying the South has a very friendly, welcoming and warm attitude. So that is a plus. Nasville has a lot to offer. They do have museums (not just country music ones) and theatre, professional sports, a wide variety of foods, and yes, a wide variety of music ( I am not a fan of country music but have seen concerts by Tori Amos and Dave Matthews Band in Nashville). It is clean and culturally diverse. There are many Catholic churches ( although no TLM yet) and Catholic schools. I have lots of experience with Vanderbilt Children’s hospital and think they are amazing. I think Nashville is a great place to raise a family. As a caveat, I have never lived anywhere near Chicago, so I cannot do a comparison. Good luck on your decision I hope the best for you no matter where you choose to live.
 
Around here, it seems that all school board members are corrupt and my g/f is a teacher and she barely pulls in $28,000 a year doing it. When I made a comparison in looking at these two places, both of them seem to offer a lot money and people who run the places aren’t that crooked.
 
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punisherthunder:
Around here, it seems that all school board members are corrupt and my g/f is a teacher and she barely pulls in $28,000 a year doing it. When I made a comparison in looking at these two places, both of them seem to offer a lot money and people who run the places aren’t that crooked.
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Are we talking Chicago, Illinois? 😛

Isn’t this where the phrase “vote early, vote often” was first coined?
 
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