Hazelmn

I've been offered a new position in my company, that is more of a regional director type of role. I'll be establishing an home office base, and travelling around a 5-state area from there.

Cities that work for us to live in, geographically, are Chicago, Milwaukee, Des Moines, Minneapolis, or Omaha. I am crossing Des Moines and Omaha right off the list, and am not inclined to live in Milwaukee given the time I've spent there.

I've been to Chicago and Mpls many times, and like them both for different reasons. I realize that either place will have cold winters, and that doesn't bother us.

We're a family, looking for decent schools and good quality of life. While we aren't worth millions, I think we can afford a decent ($500K) home in either place.

Any strong opinions from the Fodors crowd?

mariemom2

You should be able to do well with that amount in Minneapolis. Minneapolis public schools are having some tough times. There are some excellent public schools in the southern, western and eastern suburbs. Southern suburbs would only put you a max of 20-25 min. from the airport. There are also several excellent private schools. I'm more familiar with high schools, but there are private grade schools too.

I live in a small town 60 min south of downtown--45 min south of the airport. Used to fly out weekly. Excellent schools, two colleges--great small town atmosphere close to metro arts & entertainment.

What ages are your kids? Any special interests? Prefer to be close to any special areas?

Abby43

With no offense to Minneapolis, CHICAGO is where it's at. I lived there for 8 years and loved loved loved it. I have to be honest and say I only know about city-housing prices, but I am quite knowledgeable about the schools as I"m a college counselor and worked in a few. The North Shore has excellent public schools-esp. Highland Park, Deerfield, Glenview, Northbrook, Lake Forest, Skokie, Niles. That being said it isn't cheap to live up there. There is also Naperville which has seen massive expansion and has excellent schools as well. Or Lyons Township, Hinsdale (also very chic)so many to choose from. Great restaurants, lots of culture, O'Hare, totally terrific. Good luck!

wliwl

I'd probably choose Milwaukee. I just prefer a smaller city, and Milwaukee is a coming up place.

tomboy

In the previous century, when living in Chicago, I had an opportunity to interview for a job in Minneapolis. Flew there, slept, next morning the wind chill was 48 below zero. Never been so cold before, nor since (35 years later). I wondered why I was there. If you could get used to that as a not abnormal temp, Minneapolis appears to be a fine town. I preferred Chicago.

TheWeasel

"Flew there, slept, next morning the wind chill was 48 below zero. If you could get used to that as a not abnormal temp, Minneapolis appears to be a fine town."

Oh good god, that is not a typical temp here. You make it sound like Antarctica.

HonestAbe

"If you could get used to that as a not abnormal temp, Minneapolis appears to be a fine town"

Not abnormal? I live in Minneapolis, and I can tell you that -48 would be a big, big deal. In fact, I just checked the weather statistics, and we haven't seen -48 yet this century. And I didn't go back into the 90's, but I'm guessing it has been at least a decade since we've had that cold ONCE.

The all time record low (non-windchill) was -34. And Minneapolis isn't statistically as windy as places like Denver or Chicago, so windchill doesn't lower things by that much.

Hazelmn - If you were comparing Minneapolis to San Diego, I'd say weather should be a factor. But between Minneapolis and Chicago? It is not going to be a vast difference.

lls

I was born and raised in Chicago. With the exception of four years away at college, I spent my life in Chicagoland until nine years ago when we moved to Mpls/St. Paul (I was 35 at the time).

I grew up in the northern suburbs (Northbrook), which is a nice town with good schools. After college I lived in Lincoln Park (fun city neighborhood) and after getting married we moved to Edison Park (a nice family community just within the city limits). As our family grew and we needed more space and wanted more amenitites from our city, we moved up to Gurnee (40 miles out). After a few years we got tired of my husband spending way too much time working and commuting, so we packed up and moved to his hometown of Minneapolis.

We now live in a wonderful suburb (which reminds me a lot of Northbrook) north of St. Paul . Our life here is so much easier and the cost of living is much lower. We can go to a Twins game, leave in the top of the eighth inning and be home to watch the end of the game on television. It's so much easier to do things here! Also, the state of Minnesota in general has excellent schools. With three kids, I personally would stay out of either Minneapolis or St. Paul unless you plan to send your kids to a private schools.

As far as the weather is concerned, they're very similar. Global warming or El Nino or something has made the winters here not as bad as they are known to be. Chicago has had much more snow so far this year (we've had about an inch). It can get cold but it doesn't seem so bad here for two reasons. In Chicago you get that cold, damp wind that just chills you to the bone. In Minnesota when it's really cold, it's that nose-freezing cold, but not the bone-chilling cold. It's not so damp here. Also, because of skyways and less dependency on public transportation, you don't have to spend as much time outside here if you don't want to. I used to walk four blocks to the subway and then another eight blocks after I got off the train to get to work every day, so I got cold! Now I hop in my car and drive four miles to my job. Summers here are gorgeous with plenty of outdoor recreation.

Also, you'll get a lot more house for your $500k here than anywhere in Chicagoland.

Chicago is absolutely a great city, but I've found it's a better city to visit than to live in. Now we take annual trips to visit family and then we spend a few nights downtown and do all the wonderful things that you don't get to do everyday even when you live there.

Check the Places Rated Almanac and do a head-on comparison of the things that are important to you and your family.

I vote for Minneapolis!

lynnejoel1015

Chicago, hands-down.

It's one of the most "happening" cities in the US, and the people have a pride and a warmth that I've never experienced anywhere else. There's more culture than you could ever tire of in a lifetime, great sports teams, excellent universities, a plethura of endlessly interesting neighborhoods, etc. etc.....

My brother, who was born there and lived there until he moved to San Fransisco 4 years ago has decided to move back. As great as life in San Fran is, it doesn't compare to Chicago!

marilynl

I don't agree about the weather being similar in both places--I think it is significantly colder in Minneapolis, and you sometimes get that black glare ice for days to weeks, making driving hazardous. Yes, you can probably get more house for your money, and things may be easier in a smaller city.

I think that air travel may be harder from Minneapolis, just because there are so many fewer flights. I know my sister is always complaining about prices, etc., when it comes to trying to book the family vacations.

fun2travel

Can I ask why you are crossing Des Moines off the list? I live near Chicago and love it but my first reaction was choose Des Moines! Have you been there lately? It is a city on the move (especially West Des Moines) with great schools, city opportunities, shopping, an airport that won't give you hassles, less traffic and a small town feel with being "hickish", is that a word? You'll get a beautiful home for 500K too !

TheWeasel

"you sometimes get that black glare ice for days to weeks, making driving hazardous"

That's BS. You may believe it with all your heart, but I live here and we do not get black glare ice that last for days and weeks. Believe it or not, Minneapolis has heard of putting salt on the roads.

Let's leave the weather to people who live in the respective cities.

angethereader

I'd pick Milwaukee - but I'm biased.
We move away, and moved back.

You won't be able to get nearly as much house in the Chicago area as you would in the Minneapolis area.

My SIL lives in Evanston - no halfway decent house in a nice area for much under $750,000. They had to move as the 2 bedroom house in a very nice area, small yard sold for just that much.

Of course that would buy a mansion on lake drive here. (My boss has one, 5 bedrooms, lannon stone, 3 stories in Shorewood - paid $550,000.)

DS goes to school in Minneapolis and they average about 10-15 degrees colder a day in the winter. The upside is spring comes sooner, this big lake we live next to keeps us cooler in spring.

We visit BIL in Minneapolis a couple of times a year. Housing is more pricy than here, however property taxes are much much less.

TC

IMHO Minneapolis has all the "happening" to offer that you'll find in Chicago, just on a more managable scale. Parks, museums, world class theater, schools, pro-sports, water activities, dining, shopping, major airport -- we've got it all, but it won't take you an hour and a half to drive from one to the other or a fortune to park once you arrive.

HonestAbe

I've lived in both places. The best parts about each:

Minneapolis:
- More manageable size.. less than an hour from one end of the metro to the other
- Better public schools. A boss from out east used to say that his kids got a private school education in the public school system when they moved to Mpls
- Recreation. I believe that Minnesotans are more devoted to their outdoor spaces. Trails, parks, lakes.. you'll live near a few no matter where you are. In fact, if you didn't insist on being close to the metro, $500K might get you lakefront property somewhere.
- Quality of Life. I've lived in 6 places over 20 years, and Minnesotans are the most devoted to having a good quaility of life.. and most of them are willing to be involved in the community to make it happen.

Chicago -
- Big city adrenaline. Chicago's "scene" is unparelleled. If you want a good restaurant, you get the best in the nation. If you want good entertainment, you'll get many Broadway-quality productions. It is a fun place on a Saturday night.
- More old neighborhoods. While Minneapolis has some charming, quaint neighborhoods, Chicago probably has three times as many to choose from (if old and quaint is your thing)
- Lake Michigan. In Minnesoa, you have access to hundreds of neat lakes. In Chicago, there is one big lake, and it resembles an ocean. The Lakefront is a neat place.
- Weather. While Chicago and Minneapolis have comparable weather, Chicago undoubtedly has more moderate weather during the winter. There are exceptions (this year, for example, Minneapolis has been the much milder winter) but the general rule is that a winter day in MInneapolis will run 10 degrees cooler than Chicago.

Both are great cities, with neat history and great civic pride. You can't go wrong.

Hazelmn

Thanks, all. Compelling cases for both. The reason we crossed Des Moines and Milwaukee of the list are personal... we've spent time in both, and they just aren't "us". Nothing against those cities, but they aren't under consideration.

marilynl

Well, dear Weasel, I guess my sister, who lives in Mahtomedi, then is just a whiner. My black ice comment reflects many winters of phone conversations with her.

TheWeasel

"I guess my sister, who lives in Mahtomedi, then is just a whiner"

That'd be my guess.

marilynl

I've often wondered about your choice of screen name, weasel. Now I know.

JJ5

You've gotten some good comparisons.

I would be most apt to REALLY consider what you "think" is a long commute or a short commute, or how often that airport commute would be. Are you driving throughout 5 states? Not only house pricing but commuting times are different between those two cities. But since you are traveling a 5 state area anyway- that daily commute to company position location may mean "less" in your eyes. Regardless, the travel times to other parts of the city or just to the burbs are immense now in Chicago. Commuter trains are ok, but not frequent enough either, IMHO. It just IS harder to get around in Chicago and is much more $$$ than Minneapolis to live here. For everything.

I have found that people with children end up in the burbs at least 90% of the time, and those that stay city are usually 1 kid private school or shipping "out" the kids to a reverse type commute to private schools outside of the city to North, SW, or West. Very expensive proposition. Either way, everyone in the family will "travel" more than they will in Minneapolis just for the primary functions. The areas mentioned above here are not $500,000 housing anymore. And with new property owner taxes- add another $6,000 to $12,000 on per year to that base buying price. Per year tax for each and every year you own it, before you even pay a water bill- not to any mortgage principle- just off the top of your salary. This does not include highest state income taxes, sales taxes, and also highest electrical bills in the entire country-that will now soon be raised again between 22 and 44% from last year.

But honestly, the people are great in both places, and MN winters ARE worse- colder. You need ski underwear layers and good boots. I survive here without either as we seldom hit the single digits. They do.

If you are going to get into this market as a renter or city dweller, that's another whole story. But coming in now as a home owner: be prepared to sacrifice lots of space and/or house livability for the perks of the downtown or neighborhood scene you think you may appreciate and experience, or don't count on getting "down" there much. It's been my experience that all the Bucktown, Wrigley, Hyde Park, River North, downtown, or near Northside neighborhood people I know all move back to the burbs when they have kids. Lots of reasons. My one cousin just got out- he couldn't even get his grandkids in/out without parking and fees. Thought he would love it and did for awhile. 3 years later, he is out. Double the money you will need to live anywhere else in the Midwest.

Totally agree with the poster who says that Chicago is a great city to visit, but easier to visit than live here. Absolutely true. Business competition is as fierce as NYC, but with MUCH lower salaries. And also we have far, far more corrupt politico's and components/structures ingrained here. Right now too, that aspect is at an all time high feeding trough. Yes, even worse than the Al Capone era.

The Cook County Board and two other top end offices are literally being run by people not elected to those posts, but by their children. In one case with the parent getting a $160,000 a year pension after 4 months work. If you live in Cook County, you will be paying triple dippers' salaries and also for immense waste, some of it strongly supporting gang business and base structure. The same gangs that the police issue map books on for territories' information. One hand washs the other. Chicago IS wonderful people. It is also strongly this. Sometimes I think we are so nice, because we are so used to being reamed and as such have reached a rather serene relative nirvana.

Visiting a city to see what it is like is totally unlike living in one. My parents have lived in Chicago for their entire long (80 yrs old plus)lives, and in one case died there. All city workers, all civil servants. It is the city that works, but for some much more than for others.