Certainly Chicago is great in my opinion. It also is a bargain for some that would consider NYC, SF or Zurich as an alternative. When what you get for a median income level home at the prices on the link show why middle class people say no thanks. And that is besides taxes, corruption etc.

https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-search/60655

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Elections have consequences.

It also goes to show how unfair it is that Chicagoans pay the same taxes for disaster relief even though they are much less likely to need it. Living on a coast wouldn't be as "cheap" if the people likely to be in the path of hurricanes had to bear the cost of that danger.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

Good point.

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Elections have consequences.

Sooner or later, an F4 or F5 tornado is going to rip through parts of Chicago. Its a question of when, not if.

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Probably. It happens about once every 8 years.

It's still nowhere near what a hurricane does to an entire area though. The Joplin tornado was about $2.8 billion. Katrina was $125 billion.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

Right. Flooding, including storm surge from hurricanes, is by far the most damaging part of natural disasters.

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The hollowing out isn't ideal. But the doom and gloom predictions for Chicago aren't realistic. The continued advancement towards a knowledge economy gives Chicago a head start. Urban areas contain a wide array and bench of knowledge jobs. The variety of industries is extremely appealing as households are able to obtain jobs in their profession or sector.

Unless remote work increases in prevalence a city like Chicago will be fine. Even then they'll be fine with their large corporate inventory.

The cat event most likely to cause uninsured damage in Illinois is a major earthquake from the New Madrid fault line. Very few homeowners have quake coverage in Illinois. It will create a huge amount of political pressure to bail out the uninsured. It is amazing that such coverage is not required by lenders akin to folks in a flood zone. Luckily, the chance is pretty rare.

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Hawaii (fuck) You

KW, the coming fiscal crisis mainly driven by pension obligations is the long term problem. A flat or shrinking population makes it much harder to pay those legacy liabilities.

As residents, we have already felt the impact of a stagnant population as housing prices have not recovered in Chicagoland anywhere near other areas of the country.

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Hawaii (fuck) You

Everyone knows what the outcome will be. Those obligations will not be fulfilled. They can't say it out loud. Similar to federal entitlements, the populace who aren't oblivious realize those benefits cannot be relied upon if your eligibility isn't in the near future.

What happens then?

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Chicago will be fine as long as there is companies poviding employment. If / when that significantly decreases...then you'll have a problem.

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over here in the QCA its pretty interesting. Homes in Bettendorf are selling 2 days on the market and davenport, its a little longer but still they are gone. Its a bidding war to buy them.

A guy at work just bought another house in illinois. his property taxes are twice what they would be had he bought in iowa but just across the river you are buying the same amount of house for like 30-50% more. So in the end he's buying the same sqr footage, bath/bedrooms, home quality and paying less in illinois for it.

We had another guy that sold the house he had in bettendorf and moved TO illinois because he sold his house for 2x what he paid for it 10 years ago in 2009. He basically bought the same home with a little more land and is paying the same amount monthly

It's going to be hard for Chicago companies to pay enough money to keep people in the 2 wards that pay like 80% of the city's property taxes.

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Then they will....

wait for it...

MOVE!

I don't know enough about the Chicago wards....I'd love to see an example and compare to what I'm paying in Lake County. I'll be my tax rate related to the house value is higher.

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houses here are a bargain compared to New York, San Fran, LA, DC, Seattle, etc. You know, places people would want to live.

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Reality is your friend, not your enemy. -- Seacrest

This is a true statement...and it is that way because Property tax rates strangle the Real Estate market from actually growing. That doesn't necessarily drive people that depend on their employment to leave the state. it drives them to perhaps move to a neighboring area where taxes may be lower.

Still....for all the hype and screaming about how bad property taxes are in IL...the job market in the Chicagoland area is still very strong. If that were to change, it's a much different story.

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I wouldn't be surprised if we ended up in Tampa or Orlando by the time I'm 50.

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@audioidkid

Orlando? Ugh. That one I truly don’t get (beyond a fun but overpriced vacation).

Tampa and Sarasota are nice though.

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“Mr. Trump is unfit for our nation’s highest office.”- JD Vance
“My god, what an !diot.”- JD Vance tweet on Trump
“I’m a ‘Never Trump’ guy”- JD Vance

Living any place not on the coast in Florida is mind boggling

If you like lakes more than the ocean it might.

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Elections have consequences.

Florida is too Hurricaney for me.

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Places with infrastructure. This board seems to be skewed toward suburban commuters doing the hellish 'burb to 'burb commute. For those that are able to rely on public transport or bicyling/walking to work...I can't ever live in those Sunbelt commuter hellscapes. Your life and soul is melting away inside a vehicle

There certainly is a trade off between someone like you and Dennis for sure. I can't say which is right and I have considered both many times in my adult life. The older I get though I seem to hate a long commute more than I used to. It also may be that I don't generally face one unless there is a bad accident, weather etc.

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Elections have consequences.

Your contempt for non-city related living is hilarious.

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I'm sorry you're overly sensitive. I've done both and have prefer one over the other.

My commute has always been easy, typically 20-25 minutes. I have never been a city person.

I am surprised how much I love the lake house and eventual retirement place. I didn’t grow up fishing or boating, but it has been great for me. It’s nice having land for my dogs. I snowmobile in the winter.

I love Chicago. I am downtown once a week. But the exodus from Illinois is real. For each person it is a different reason- jobs, weather, cost, family, adventure, etc etc. I’ll be in my Pulte for five more years. Been in suburban Chicago my entire life. No interest in retiring here. I am close enough in WI to visit my large family and go to Wrigley.

To each his own.

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Hawaii (fuck) You

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we understand you left for whatever reasons. your defensiveness or bitterness about it is really weird.

You do understand that last post is a pot kettle black situation?

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