Move to the US - Chicago

[BlauVogel]

We ve an opportunity to move to Chicago on family immigrant visa, which means both me and DH will be able to work etc. Though i am not sure abt many other things like standard of school education (public school), Cost of living (compared to a subuaban London town in SE) and other long term prospects for my 2 kids (6 and 9 yrs).

I know this has probably been discussed before but due turbulant times thnx to Brexit and Trump, things may be slightly different. I somehow dont see a bright future for my kids here but am also a little scared of losing the safety net. I am 39yrs of age, have a post grad degree and in a professional job here.

Hence i would be interested in hearing abt your experience / opinion of the whole thing

Thanks!

I live in Chicago, we moved from the UK at the start of the year. So far we really like, it’s very family friendly. The jury is still out on whether we want to stay indefinitely as it’s still early days. We are loving the summer and the beaches, we may not be quite so enthusiastic when winter hits!

Cost of living is a tough one, compared to the UK it’s cheaper but since you’ll be getting paid in USD the cost of things back home is largely irrelevant. Chicago is fairly expensive by American standards though. A lot will depend on how much you expect to earn and where you want to live.

My child is younger so I don’t have personal experience of the schools but all of our friends with school-age kids have moved out to the northern suburbs for good school districts.

Good luck making your decision!

Hi everyone, we thought this thread would be better off in Living Overseas so we'll be moving it there shortly.

Thanks Anya for moving it to the right forum and Thanks Lichen for your input.

I think @mathanxiety lives there. You could PM her.

It is a gorgeous city.

Hello! Thanks for the @ notification!

Happy to answer any questions.

My personal experience is of living in a very close-in, old by Chicago standards, suburb of the city. Far out suburbs are a different kettle of fish and I really can't even imagine what that life would be like 'out there'. In decent residential areas of Chicago itself life is quite similar to my experience with the addition of city buses as opposed to the suburban bus system, and there are more rail lines criss crossing, plus Chicago police and Chicago snow 'plowing'.

Schools - better off suburbs have better schools, and there are some truly excellent Chicago schools in better off neighbourhoods of the city, and there are strategically located magnet schools that have highly selective admissions (Michelle Robinson Obama went to one such magnet school, Whitney Young). There are decent private schools too, and also mediocre ones.

I am left with only one DC in school now - the rest are either in university or have graduated.

Start with jobs. You need money coming in and living costs are higher here in the NY area. We live a financially careful life and with both DH and I working we spend $10k a month just to keep everything going. That includes daycare which costs about $3500 a month. We have 3DC aged 7, 5 and 2. Youngest is in daycare and the other two are in aftercare.

Find out exactly what you're allowed to do on the visas you'd get. Each different visa type has different restrictions. The one that DH travelled on meant he could only work for the company that sponsored him and my spousal visa meant I could not work at all, even as a volunteer.

Then find out how much people in your professions typically get paid. I'm a teacher and teacher salaries vary hugely around the nation.

Then find out cost of living etc.

Chicago is a great BIG city - but it is big city living, and each area is different. There are definitely bad areas, where you would feel (and probably be) quite unsafe, particularly with a notable accent. Schools also vary hugely, according to district, and where you live defines which school your kids go to, so find that out first.

I live in a small town in Michigan, so have a different style of living. In almost all ways it is 'better' than the UK, but I still get homesick, even after 10 years. Sometimes all the planning and getting a better lifestyle can't help you.

The visas are the family based immigrant visas, which means we'll get the GC on arrival. So i dont think there will be any restrictions on work etc.

I am bit surprised abt 10k$ on outgoings, this is quiet a bit higher than what we spend here in the UK. I knew the rents are comparatively higher but wasnt sure abt the rest. I ve been to Chicago a few times to visit family but after a while start finding it a bit bland and soul less (not stayed there too long on any occasion).

Anyone got any idea abt schools and other costs in these suburbs: Skokie, Schaumberg and Deerfield?

Thanks

You could get away with far less than $10k in outgoings, but childcare is expensive.

Schaumburg and Deerfield are among the blandest and most soulless of Chicago's suburbs. Skokie is less so. Deerfield and Schaumburg are fairly recently built up areas, while Skokie was developed between the 1920s and 1950s. Homes are solid and not huge. There are apartments in older, purpose built buildings.

I wouldn't live in Schaumburg if my life depended on it. It is blandness and soullessness personified. It has an IKEA and a huge shopping mall. It was basically all fields until the 1960s. Has Metra service.

Deerfield is not bad but definitely a newer suburb overall, with quite a few McMansion developments, with a few older neighbourhoods, and dotted with office parks that host the HQ of quite a few major corporations. It's a long way out from Chicago, but it has its charms. If you wanted a night in the city it would be a long one, and commuting to the city would be murderous. There is a Metra line out to Deerfield, and two stations iirc. Deerfield has very good schools.

I would live in Skokie, but Evanston, its immediate neighbour to the east is nicer. Both Skokie and Evanston have good schools. Evanston has a lot of Victorian charm and a lakefront (house prices rise with proximity to the lake and the further north you go). Skokie has EL train service to Chicago (Chicago local train service).

Deerfield and Skokie are probably more diverse than Schaumburg. Both have sizeable Jewish populations and other communities are also well represented.

www.paysa.com/cost-of-living/skokie,-il--l

www.paysa.com/cost-of-living/deerfield,-il--l

www.paysa.com/cost-of-living/schaumburg,-il--l

www.paysa.com/cost-of-living/evanston,-il--l

Public schools are free (paid for by property taxes) and good in all three places (and also Evanston). You would be daft to pay for private school unless you particularly wanted a Jewish, Lutheran or Catholic school. Or Montessori.

You would very likely need two cars for all of the places you are thinking about.

Would there be a commute to Chicago or is the job in the suburbs? Are you open to any other suburbs or living in Chicago?

Thank you very much for the input. I have family living in Albany park and the job will probably be in Lake Forest.

Are you sure about the 'getting a green card' thing?

I have no experience of the family visa, but people I know who married Americans (they are British) had to wait a couple of years before their GC applications. They were on work visas that allowed them to work, live & marry, but they had to actually have got married first, then apply for the GC. Otherwise, they would have had to go through a longer process taking a few years.

You sound a little vague/blase about the visa/GC, and maybe you just can't be bothered to give details online - fair enough. But unless you are 100% sure, don't assume anything.

No i am not being vague, just wrongly assumed that it might be known to others. Spouse and Marriage based visa and Family sponsored immigrant visas are slightly different. In case of a marriage based visa you probably have to wait a few years until you get the permanent GC in your hand. Where as in other family sponsored categories (parents, children, siblings etc) your relationship with the US sponsor is already established.

In my case i am sponsored by my mother, who is a US citizen (its called F3 category). I have already been waiting in a queue for 12 years. So afaik when one lands in the US, they are directly issued with a 5 yrs GC that has no job or other restrictions. Same rule applies on the Spouse and children (derivatives).

Hope that makes sense.

Second Schaumberg not being somewhere you’d like to live. Only go there for Ikea and unless there’s a whole other part to it that I’m missing then it’s not very nice. Don’t know Deerfield at all. Haven’t been to Stokie personally but I’ve heard good things.

Also suggest you speak with an immigration lawyer if you haven’t already. I’m no expert but I know Brits married to Americans and none of them got green cards on arrival. Apologies if I’m repeating what you already know but also unless you’re married to a US citizen or you’re the parent of a US citizen aged over 21 then there are strict quotas for the family immigrant visas and it can take years depending on which preference group you fall in to. Lots of luck though!

Ah sorry x posted with you, sounds like it’s well overdue you get your visa if you’ve been waiting 12 years already!!

I would absolutely consider Evanston (as well as Skokie) if the commute is to Lake Forest. Both places have rental options aplenty so you could get your bearings while looking for somewhere more permanent. Both also have a wide range of house prices if you decided to buy. Solid schools. Evanston has its own high school district while Skokie joins with Niles and Morton Grove, iirc.

Schaumburg would be quite a distance to cover, with the routes quite congested. I would knock it out of the equation if I were you. A commute from Deerfield to Lake Forest would be very workable.

In addition, the North Shore communities of Winnetka, Wilmette, Highland Park and Kenilworth might be worth looking into. They are very pricey though, and rentals might be hard to find, but schools are fantastic, and they lovely places to live. House proves are extremely high.

Or to begin with, the northern reaches of Chicago proper might work. Albany Park would get you onto I-94 north. Lincolnwood is also convenient to I-94.

Forest Glen/Sauganash/Edgebrook are three blended Chicago communities that are very nice, also close to I-94. Good schools, nice quality of life, city fun not too distant. Also nice is North Ravenswood.

As you may well be putting down roots, high school quality choice would be a factor in your decision about an ultimate home.

Within Chicago the selective magnet schools are top tire, nationally. Neighbourhood schools in prosperous Chicago neighbourhoods are also really good but you are still dealing with the vagaries of a massive school system that has periodic funding crises. Evanston is really, really good. New Trier, a massive high school district with multiple campuses fed by the North Shore suburbs of Wilmette, Kenilworth, Winnetka, Glencoe, most of Northfield, and parts of Glenview, is another top tier district. Highland Park, Deerfield, Bannockburn, Riverwoods and Highfield form their own HS district, which is really good.

If you decide to stay, or even stay a while and then return to the UK, it might be a good idea for the whole to get citizenship. You can be dual citizens (at least for now...) This would make university choice, loan entitlement, federal aid entitlement, and maybe even financial aid for individual universities more straightforward for your DCs.

• top tier, not tire...

• whole family to get citizenship...

To give you more detail regarding our budget, we have property taxes of $22k a year which we don't mind paying because the schools are ok. We have a good Rec program which is good value but not cheap.

Monthly outgoings are:
Housing: $3,500
Childcare: $3,500
Food: $1000 (we don't pay for pork)
Kids activities: $500 (we have 3 kids and it adds up quickly)
Alcohol: $500 (DH is a big drinker and we spend more than this but his employer covers some of the cost)
Clothing, hair cuts, shoes: $250
Other expenses such as eating out, toys etc takes up the rest of the budget. This is the category that gets managed closely if we have been spending too much.

OP - I’m very jealous. I love Chicago, it’s one of my favourite US cities. My SIL use to live in Highland Park.

If you're still reading, OP.

Property taxes can be HUGS - there's no comparison to council tax. Want2Be's cost of $22,000 per year isn't that unusual.

I live just outside of a small town in a fairly sleepy/quiet area. I have a nice but not luxurious house and my taxes are over $6,000 per year, plus $1050 for local costs of trash collection etc. If I lived in town it would cost more.

You'll need to factor that in when working out a budget.

The other thing with our budget is that our housing costs are low because we have rental income of about $4k a month to offset the cost.

We feed a family of 5 on $1k a month and we have to meal plan to keep to that budget. Food is very expensive here. As an example, apples in the supermarket are $1.99+ per pound. A good able is $2.99/lb and Whole Foods apples are $3.49/lb. We buy the cheap bag of apples at Costco which are 89c/lb. Aldi is my back up at $1.25/lb. We could easily spend double.

Want2bSupermum

Do you have Market Basket in your area?

Nope they are New England only. I'm NYC area so Aldi and Costco are my cheapest options. Shoprite is the best supermarket available in our area in terms of price. We have a Wegmans now which is a 45min drive away but it's not cheap.

Nothing to add to what the other posters have said, except to say that I am another person who loves Chicago. It has everything a great city has to offer and Midwestern friendliness to go with it. I was lucky to live and work there for a time when I was young and single. My son-in-law is from there so we do go back periodically to visit.

What I do know, as others have said, is that it is important to live a reasonable distance from where you work. Where my daughter and son-in-law lived in one suburb was a full two hours driving distance to where his parents lived in another suburb. I always found it very daunting; from where I live in the US, I can be well into another state in 2 hours.

Whenever I visit Chicago I'm always shocked by how brusque/rude people are - but then I'm in a small midwestern town.