Where I sort out the future of my family on the internet, Part Deux

When we last left off I was swinging a machete, hacking through the neighboring tall grasses of the Serengeti to get to my car.

In the last six months Kevin and I have spent more time than I care to admit house hunting online, as well as by slowly driving through one peaceful suburban-ish neighborhood after another, prompting worried residents to file restraining orders against that peculiar slow-moving Ford Explorer that plagues their neighborhood every Sunday afternoon and sometimes Friday evenings, too. What's that?  Two dead children in the back seat?  Nahhh. Just sleeping after we bored them to tears. 

So, here's what we are going for:

1. Decent commute time to work
2. Quality schools
3. No desire to buy Money Pit, Part II

We want a newer, bigger house in a safe family neighborhood with good quality schools, close to work, for a reasonable price.  Exactly what the rest of the entire freaking free world is searching for. 

Perfect.

Kevin works in downtown Chicago.  His current commute involves a 15 minute drive to the train station, a 65 minute train ride, and then a 20-25 minute walk to the office.  One way, almost two hours.  When he drives to work the time span is cut in half, but the cost goes from a $150 monthly train ticket to approximately $700 with city parking, tolls and gas.

We have our search narrowed down to anything we can afford that still allows my husband to hold down a job.  We are doing well.  See? 

I broke our options up into four general areas.  To make it easier, all of these places cost about the same amount of money, and are in our price range.  (Ok when I say in our price range, I possibly mean at the tippy top of our price range, dining only on Mac N Cheese, for one of the areas.  The rest are all on par with each other.  See if you can figure out which one could send me back to work.) 

1. Chicago Loop:

• 800 square foot completely remodeled condo with 2 bedrooms, 1 bathroom
• Commute to work would be next to nothing, but visiting family would be up to a two hour drive
• The boys would have to continue sharing a (tiny) room, and we would lose square footage; we'd likely pay for extra storage at a facility. 
• The dog would have to be walked, and the kids taken to a park since we would not have a yard
• In certain buildings, you have to buy or rent your parking space(s)
• Lots to do in the city, great diversity, great fun!
• Cost of everything is higher, from groceries to gasoline, including tuition for schools - for two kids would run higher than $15,000 per year

Other parts of the city - those that boast relative freedom from gang violence and drive-by shootings, are beyond our price range for anything in not in extreme fixer-upper status. 

Moving along!

2. Chicago South Suburbs

• 1700-2000 square foot home in need of (some) remodeling, 3 bedrooms 2 bathrooms
• Commute to work would be no different than it is now - simply would involve taking a different train
• Good quality schools and nice neighborhoods
• Distance to family, again, would be much farther

Options three and four bring us back to our current stompin' grounds.  Since we can figure commute time easily by following the stops on Kevin's current train schedule, we narrowed down the towns by school quality.  We have been obsessing over this incredible website that outlines everything from ISTEP scores to SAT scores, attendance rates to suspension rates.  With color-coded tables and graphs!

If nothing else, it will not be said that we did not do our homework.

3. Northwest Indiana, Town A

• Cuts commute time (train ride) by a half hour each way
• Best schools in the area, nice neighborhoods
• High cost of housing (since everyone wants a quicker commute and great schools, duh) offers us about 200-300 more square feet, total fixer-upper that would easily require a handful of years and another $30,000+ dedicated to kitchen and bathroom remodels, new flooring, appliances, siding, etc.  (Seriously, we are talking about yellow countertops and clamshell sinks.)

4. Northwest Indiana, Town B

• Adds approximately 10 minutes to commute
• Schools are excellent, scoring just below Town A
• Nice neighborhoods
• Being farther from Chicago, cost of housing is much lower, affording us a new/er move-in ready 2200-2500 square feet, 4 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms

So, given the info, where would you send my moving van?

Next entry: Aimlessly driving a bright yellow, oversized rental truck.  And possibly narrowing down the options.

Edited to add:  I also just remembered that it is National De-Lurking Week, so if you currently find yourself unable to solve my life's deepest dilemmas (damn you) then just say hi!

Comments

[Frema]

Option 4 it is, then!

What a fun way to compare your options. When Luke and I are in this stage of the game, I'll have to reference this entry. Sometimes, though, it feels like we'll never get there.

[Silly Hily]

I say no to #2 b/c it moves you away from family and doesn't cut back on Kevin's commute (which Dear Lord, almost 4 hours a day he spends going to and from work?).
I also say no to #1 b/c I couldn't pay more for less and I'm not a city girl (but that's just me). Plus, like you said, everything would be more expensive.

That leaves us with #3 and #4. And that's a give and take. Would you rather have Kevin at home with you and the boys that extra hour/day and have less sq. footage and another fixer upper? Or would you rather add approx. 20 minutes to his commute and have more sq. footage that you don't have to fix up?
I would say #4 hands down. We moved away from the city and could afford more land and more house but it put us further away from everything. However, now I realize I don't have it that bad because I can still make it to work in 30-40 minutes (add 10 if I have to drop the kids off). I thought that was a long time. But 2 hours? 2 HOURS? My goodness. I don't know how he does it. Annnnd, working downtown? It would cost $700/month to park downtown? Seriously. That's just crazy. There is no way I could handle a big city like Chicago.

With all of that said, I would probably go with #4. BUT maybe you could get lucky and find a gem in #3? Maybe? Hopefully?

[Beth]

Don't have a blog and found you on my sister's blog roll - check you out all the time and you said to send a Hello, so Hello !!

[debra]

Hi! If it were me, I would *heart* a condo downtown but not so much with two little ones and a pooch. And since I don't have a DIY bone in my body, it would have to be #4.

Good luck in the search!

[Bethany]

I would pick #3. Less commute time, more time home.

[Cindy]

Hey, if you pick #4...can I come live with you too? I could share with Sant?!?!

[Stacey]

Ooh, me too! #4! Sounds awesome...this is so exciting! Since our last move was horrendous (we did it with a 6 week old and a 19 month old *scream*), we are not going anywhere anytime soon, if ever, so I shall live vicariously through you. And this will totally make for some damn good blogging!

[Emma]

I'm all for number 4 as well. What's an extra 20 minutes? And it's a beauty. It always amazes me that people can work in one state and live in another, I forget they are very compact!

[Lord Shannon of Madison]

First off, hello and thanks for the Christmas card.

Might I go a different route and plump for #2. I do this having absolutely nothing against "the Region."

This comes primarily from me being a product of the South Suburbs of Chicago (well, perhaps that is more of a curse than an endorsement).

I liked where I grew up, and not being sure exactly where #2 is (South Suburbs being a rather broad frame of reference), I cannot comment exactly. I thought that the schools were good (my parents did too, apparently).

As for the commute, here again, from where I lived my commute was a five minute drive to the station and then forty minutes to La Salle Street. It must also be said that the trains on the Illinois side run more frequently and with more express service and are much, much more dependable (especially in bad weather) than the South Shore.

Apart from the neighborhoods and schools, you are close to the interstates for travel to parts away and you are close enough for runs downtown if need be.

Perhaps drop me an email and I may continue my advocacy for wonderful Suburban Cook County.

Will Shannon
Late of Oak Forest, IL 60452

[Rachel]

I would go with either #2 or #4. Both would be about the same commute for Kevin and much more space for your family. Just choose the one that is going to make you both the happiest because you don't want to be stuck with a house that you realize you really don't want.

[Amy W]

Option #5 - Move to North Carolina? What, that wasn't an option?

Those commute times and such remind me of Northern Virginia...

Ummm, option #4? How does your husband handle the commute? Is ten minutes more going to really drag him down? Or you?

[Jazzy]

My vote is 4 as well, but I'm not the one having to commute. Thanks for stopping by and de-lurking today!

[That Chick Over There]

Sadly, I am no help for your current issue as Jason and I continually drive around looking at things that are in escrow, you know, the next day. Because our neighborhood is pretty much full of crackdens.

But I wanted to say hi! In honor of DeLurking and all.

[SJ]

Man, tough decisions....I don't know what to tell you. When we moved we really focused on the schools our kids would attend. But really, who likes to commute?

[TasterSpoon]

Wow. I dread the day when I'll have to make these compromises.

I'm in favor of the city, and downsizing stuffwise (because stuff is always replaceable). I recently relocated to be very near my work and it has changed my life. HOURS in the day! Years on my life! Hours together as a family, or doing things (walking the dog?) out of the house. But I'm a city gal. And commuting to Indy 2hrs is a super drag, but it's 1-2 days a week versus 5.

I'll also give a shout out to a town I used to live in many moons ago - Lockport, IL. It's southwest of Chicago, near Joliet, the train into Union Station is less than an hour, and there are subdivisions popping up like (and where) the corn used to, so I'm assuming there's fresh housing. Dunno the statistics, but the school facilities *look* fantastic.

I'm a fan of the train commute - you can sleep, work and/or decompress - none of which really apply to car commuting.

[debi]

I didn't get in on this the other day. I am throwing my 2 cents in now.# 4 seems great. Kids got to have a yard to ride and dig in. I cannot even imagine what a life with more than 1 bathroom would be like.Several years ago we had 10 people in our 3 bedroom 1 bathroom house.Even if you waited till 3am to pee,there was always a damn line. I know you will make the perfect choice.