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Relocating advice - New Jersey/Chicago

Relocating advice - New Jersey/Chicago

Old Oct 3rd 2013, 8:05 pm
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Default Relocating advice - New Jersey/Chicago

I would like some advice regarding the areas that we are thinking of relocating to please.
We currently live in a small Cheshire town (Sandbach) where we can walk to the schools, shops, park, leisure centre, supermarkets, etc. Ideally, as I wont be working when we move to the USA, I would like something similar when we relocate.
Having already taken a trip to look for an area to live during summer 2012 I completely fell in love with Madison NJ. It had the small town feel, walkable shops, community atmosphere, etc. At this point my husband was going to be office based in NYC and so we needed not only an area we liked and good schools (kids aged 8 and 10), but also to be commutable to NYC.
Our requirements have now changed as the company have decided that it will be a home based role. The main thing we need is to be relatively close to a main airport hub as his work will require regular travel across the USA.
Due to these changes we have decided to look again at potential areas to live.
Whilst Madison is the dream, we are struggling to justify the rental prices and tax side of living in NJ. So we are now thinking possibly Chicago suburbs or sticking with NJ but somewhere further from NYC where rental will be a little more affordable!! Does anybody have any suggestions or feedback please?!

Main requirements -
Good schools for kids aged 8 (Sept) and 10 (Sept)
Within reach of Newark/O'Hare airports
Small town feel with good community and walkable facilities available
Rental property (min 3 beds) around $2500

I understand no where will be perfect and I cannot replicate the UK, but some places we looked at were so different that I could not have imagined moving there! Thank you in advance for all of your suggestions :-)
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Old Oct 3rd 2013, 8:51 pm
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Default Re: Relocating advice - New Jersey/Chicago

Affordable, walkable areas/towns are like hens teeth in the US. I suspect that you're going to have to make some serious compromises on your wish list items. I presume that the $2,500 rent is a more or less hard limit, and you want the best educational opportunities for your children, so I think that you might need to give up the "walkable" idea. In any case what looks walkable in April or October, across much of the US, probably isn't in January or July, or both!

I also suggest that you don't confine yourself to just two hub airports, especially as New Jersey, near the airport, is among the most expensive locations on the east coast, assuming that you can even find somewhere acceptable to live within your budget. Chicago isn't exactly cheap either.

There are two other cities on the east coast that spring to mind as having family friendly areas, lots of good quality modern, affordable housing (modern detached three/ four bedroom homes around $1,500), and access to major hub airports: Atlanta, and Charlotte, NC.

Last edited by Pulaski; Oct 3rd 2013 at 9:03 pm.
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Old Oct 3rd 2013, 8:58 pm
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Default Re: Relocating advice - New Jersey/Chicago

Chicago is a nice city, we enjoyed the visit.

Don't know how walkable any of these towns are in the winter though....that tends to be limited to a few minutes at a time

As for rental, what are you looking for? A house with a garden or a condo? Will make a massive difference to the kind of budget.

To add to Pulaski's list, maybe not the most friendly, but it does hit most of those requirements, would be Boston....though for a house you'd be out in the burbs, but plenty of nice towns, Brighton, Needham, Acton, Concord, Lincoln etc, etc. Also a doable drive to NYC....though Logan airport is pretty expensive to park at and not the cheapest of flights, but it is well served.
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Old Oct 3rd 2013, 9:10 pm
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Default Re: Relocating advice - New Jersey/Chicago

Have you thought about Connecticut? Southern half, expensive, but excellent schools and good for the NYC airports. Further north, less expensive (and hopefully someone from there will be along with an opinion on schools) and Boston airport within reach. But I can speak for the southern part of the state -- you need to drive to get around, even though there are many small towns with a great New England feel!
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Old Oct 3rd 2013, 9:14 pm
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Default Re: Relocating advice - New Jersey/Chicago

Where we live, Sleepy Hollow / Tarrytown, NY, has a small-town feel (especially Tarrytown), is very walkable, has excellent rail service to Grand Central and I understand the schools are good (don't have kids ourselves). Dunno about affordable though - it's very expensive here. We were renting a 2/3 bed 1.5 bath apartment in Tarrytown for $2,150pm, and we have now bought a 3 bed, 2 bath house in Sleepy Hollow where the mortgage, insurance and property tax is north of $3,000 a month.

If you don't mind swapping a much longer commute (90 mins at peak, longer off-peak) to NYC for more affordable accommodation, somewhere further up the Hudson Valley like Cold Spring or Beacon might be cheaper - it's much less likely to be walkable though - you'd certainly need a car.
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Old Oct 3rd 2013, 9:17 pm
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Default Re: Relocating advice - New Jersey/Chicago

Originally Posted by Nutmegger
Have you thought about Connecticut? Southern half, expensive, but excellent schools and good for the NYC airports. Further north, less expensive (and hopefully someone from there will be along with an opinion on schools) and Boston airport within reach. But I can speak for the southern part of the state -- you need to drive to get around, even though there are many small towns with a great New England feel!
I lived in Westchester, NY (between NYC and Connecticut) for a while, and the journey to any of the three NY region airports from Westchester/ Connecticut isn't "good" in any meaning of the word I'd recognize, even in the absence of rush hour traffic or other random traffic/ transport issues.

Originally Posted by rpjs
..... If you don't mind swapping a much longer commute (90 mins at peak, longer off-peak) to NYC for more affordable accommodation, somewhere further up the Hudson Valley like Cold Spring or Beacon might be cheaper - it's much less likely to be walkable though - you'd certainly need a car.
We looked at several locations south of and as far north as Beacon and concluded that an achievable door to door commute to my office, which was just a couple of blocks from Grand Central Station, was two hours, so getting to the airports using public transport would be additional to that. That is one of the reasons we didn't settle there.

Last edited by Pulaski; Oct 3rd 2013 at 9:27 pm.
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Old Oct 3rd 2013, 9:38 pm
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Default Re: Relocating advice - New Jersey/Chicago

Originally Posted by Pulaski
I lived in Westchester, NY (between NYC and Connecticut) for a while, and the journey to any of the three NY region airports from Westchester/ Connecticut isn't "good" in any meaning of the word I'd recognize, even in the absence of rush hour traffic or other random traffic/ transport issues.
Then I must be inured to it! I only go to JFK these days and -- granted I avoid rush hours -- don't find it as horrendous as you apparently did. Very busy, slow moving in areas, but that's a fact of life in NYC. I lived in the vicinity of LGA and drove up to Putnam/Fairfield counties and back every weekend for ten years, using the route I do now for the Queens airports, and lived to tell the tale.
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Old Oct 3rd 2013, 10:33 pm
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Default Re: Relocating advice - New Jersey/Chicago

I agree with Pulaski about Charlotte. It has a great airport, easy to get to and good connections. If you like planned communities - there is Baxter Village, Fort Mill which is to the south of Charlotte and easily accessible for the I-77. You could get a 4 bed there for about $2.5k - no land but quite quaint area.
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Old Oct 4th 2013, 12:58 am
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Default Re: Relocating advice - New Jersey/Chicago

Hi,

We moved to NJ in June of this year. We also had similar requirements - 12yr DD and a dog and the added bonus that I can't drive (although we do have a car). A commutable distance (by train) to NYC & airport access was needed for hubby - I am not working. We also looked at Madison, Westfield, Summit, Montclair and Ridgewood. We are now living in Ridgewood. We are 5 mins walk from school and about 7 mins from the train and town centre. So far all is good...

As you are finding though, any town that fits your requirements will have premium priced property. You would need to allow a minimum of $3000 for a house and even then it may be a couple of miles away from everything. We are currently paying $2300 to rent a 2 bed apartment due to it's location.

It's also worth checking out the NJ section of City Data which may point you in the direction of other towns that could meet your requirements.
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Old Oct 4th 2013, 3:17 am
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Default Re: Relocating advice - New Jersey/Chicago

Elmhurst is a really nice small town west of Chicago that might meet your criteria.
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Old Oct 4th 2013, 3:27 pm
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Default Re: Relocating advice - New Jersey/Chicago

Must be.

I grew up and lived most of my adult life in the NYC metropolitan area. I live in the midwest now, and much as I miss the Jersey shore and Cape Cod there's no way I'm ever going back.

Regards, JEff
Originally Posted by Nutmegger
Then I must be inured to it!
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Old Oct 4th 2013, 4:23 pm
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Default Re: Relocating advice - New Jersey/Chicago

Be aware that Chicago is going to be really cold in winter ...
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Old Oct 4th 2013, 4:41 pm
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Default Re: Relocating advice - New Jersey/Chicago

Originally Posted by md95065
Be aware that Chicago is going to be really cold in winter ...
And, compared to the UK, hot in the summer. Over 90°F (low 30°s C) is relatively common, and over 100°F (close to 40°C) is not unheard of .

Last edited by Pulaski; Oct 4th 2013 at 4:44 pm.
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Old Oct 4th 2013, 4:49 pm
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Default Re: Relocating advice - New Jersey/Chicago

Originally Posted by Pulaski
And, compared to the UK, hot in the summer. Over 90°F (low 30°s C) is relatively common, and over 100°F (close to 40°C) is not unheard of .
NJ ain't going to be that different either though...
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Old Oct 4th 2013, 4:59 pm
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Default Re: Relocating advice - New Jersey/Chicago

Originally Posted by Bob
NJ ain't going to be that different either though...
Right, and neither NJ nor Chicago will be "walkable" for much of December-March or June-September!
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