[NA] I'm Considering a Career and Location Move

My wife lived in El Paso as a kid. I doubt she'd ever go back.

I don't think anyone that has spent time in El Paso wants to go back.

However I have heard a person can get very low cost medical and dental treatment across the river in Juarez, Mexico. From American doctors that got tired of the medical insurance and malpractice insurance cost here north of the border.

I see adds here in Gallup where the office will pick a patient up in their own secured parking lot in El Paso and drive them to the office in Juarez, and back.
 
Well, it didn’t work out well for Marty Robbins. Or at least the guy in the cantina he was singing about.

But then he was heard to sing, "I get the feeling sometime in another world I lived in El Paso"

Those songs were actually part of a trilogy ...
 
I lived in Illinois once. For 16 weeks a little north of Chicago. It was summer and I remember liking the place. Then again it was part of a ritualistic brainwashing that ended with a retirement ceremony 20 years and 5 days later.

Would anybody recommend the Joliet area?
 
Find the job, then find the place to live.
 
I lived in Illinois once. For 16 weeks a little north of Chicago. It was summer and I remember liking the place. Then again it was part of a ritualistic brainwashing that ended with a retirement ceremony 20 years and 5 days later.

Would anybody recommend the Joliet area?
I grew up north of there in Naperville. Have never spent time in Joliet. Always makes me think of the Blues Brothers. I do believe KJOT is still my shortest paved runway in my logbook.
 
SE Ohio would be a good area if you like hunting deer and drinking moonshine. That’s about all there is to do.
 
Did the calculus include “has to suck”? My wife is from a nice small farming town in central IL - for all it’s charms, it’s still in IL. I’d take S.E. OH any day if those were my only 2 choices (which they would never be). But I’m from WV, so………
 
Did the calculus include “has to suck”?
Not exactly. It was more of a convergence zone of environmental factors that won't make living there suck. As much. Although I don't winter weather was included in the math. To be fair, I currently live 40 miles from nowhere and, outside of hunting and fishing/drinking shine, there is nothing to do for miles and miles. I have a warm spot in my heart for the Second City that I blame entirely on Nick Offerman, John Huges, and deep-dish pizza.
 
I currently live 40 miles from nowhere and, outside of hunting and fishing/drinking shine, there is nothing to do for miles and miles.

Sounds perfect. I will never again live in a place I can't pee off my front porch.

If you're craving city life, I can't help much, but I'd never recommend anyone move into Illinois if they have a choice. If you want a less urban existence but still close to the city I'd look at northern Indiana or southern Wisconsin. Hangars are astronomical around Chicago. @kaiser and @masloki can speak intelligently to what parts of Chicago to avoid and where to find hangars.
 
I grew up not too far from there. The dean of the college (Paul Whelan, 1981-1991) was a good family friend. My dad kept a plane at CPS from 1969 until just recently.
I remember the name. Leon Seltzer was dean when I was there; he wasn't well liked and a disagreement with him was a large part of why I left.
 
Sounds perfect. I will never again live in a place I can't pee off my front porch.

If you're craving city life, I can't help much, but I'd never recommend anyone move into Illinois if they have a choice. If you want a less urban existence but still close to the city I'd look at northern Indiana or southern Wisconsin. Hangars are astronomical around Chicago. @kaiser and @masloki can speak intelligently to what parts of Chicago to avoid and where to find hangars.

Basically as, the further from Chicago, the better you are. JOT was always a lower blue collar area. Near the cheddar curtain is nice, or south is nice.
 
Lived in Manhatten, Il, for a while. Wouldn't go back to Il unless you raised my salary about 800%. When traveling, it was easy to know if you were in Il, as the store clerks were quire surly and hateful when you said "good morning".
 
And realize that IL is in the top 3 for taxes in the country. Not in a good way, plus the FOID card requirement, if that applies to you.
 
Someone talk me out of moving to Illinois. My Wife has narrowed down our choice of the locale to Northern Illinois, or SE Ohio. This is based on a (nearly) scientific calculus involving climate, economics, and insect migratory considerations. :dunno:

Ugh. I grew up in IL and IN and while IN is better, I'd not willingly move back to either. If the mid-west/north south is on the agenda I'd consider https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oak_Ridge,_Tennessee Well educated population with good jobs / income due to the National Lab presence. No income tax, moderate weather, quite a few airports and a nice mix of rural/urban.
 
As bad as Illinois is, at least it’s not Ohio :eek:

I'd say the biggest selling point for me is the area, outdoors, and culture around the Great Lakes (well, Superior, Michigan, and Huron at least - I haven't been to the others). With that in mind, if I could pick to move today, I'd move north - Wisconsin or Michigan, either. Yeah winter is cold, but that's why they invented coats. If it must be Northern Illinois, stay out of Cook County if you can. I'm in the NW burbs and we do have nice amenities, yet I'm far out enough to not have to deal with too much Chicago crap.

Aviation here is lighter than some of the meccas like FL, AZ, Denver, etc - but it's supported and respected. You won't find advocacy groups trying to shutter airports. Rather, the sad news is when no one sticks around to support airports and they get into disrepair or get sold off (C81, C02, 5K6, etc). As far as hangars - avoid the Chicago area. Airports that have availability are KPWK ($550 min), KDKB, KUGN, KENW, and maybe C81, 10C, C77. Anything closer has waitlists - KDPA is full, 06C has an 8 year waitlist. Sometimes one will come up for sale at 3CK. Plenty of community hangars and FBOs here though.. just need $$$$$.
 
Would anybody recommend the Joliet area?
Lived there for a while. Don't see no problem.
Illinois in general can be strange - it's been 40 years - but at the time there was no branch banking, abundant toll roads (that hasn't changed), strange liquor laws, currency exchanges where they think you are some kind of wacko if you want to exchange Canadian currency for U.S.
Chicago (and immediate suburbs) were good if you want to use public transportation and not drive everywhere. When I was in Forest Park (near western burb) and worked downtown, I only used the car once or twice a week. Commuting was great. OTOH, if you are within the actual Chicago city limits, parking and city licenses, uh, yea...

Joliet area - medium size town in on the edge of farm country - my apartment had a good view of Stateville :) Seemed OK to me at the time. You could get into the big city if you wanted, but open space isn't far away either.
 
I don't know the whole country, but, in my opinion, you could do a whole lot worse than SE Ohio.
I'm an Ohio native myself - grew up in the Cleveland area, and now live in West-Central Ohio, just north of Dayton. My daughter goes to college in Portsmouth, OH, which is South-Central Ohio.
SE Ohio is very pretty country. Marietta, OH is a beautiful Ohio River town, right in SE Ohio. I'd move there in a minute if there was a reason to. The winter weather in Southern Ohio is considerably milder than Northern Ohio.
Yes, SE Ohio is fairly depressed - a lot of the old industry (coal mining and steel production) is gone, but if you don't have to work, you can live in a nice place because property values are fairly low. There is also a lot of access to state forests and parks if you are a nature lover or hunter.
I highly recommend at least giving it a visit. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.
 
I'll add to my previous remark, the entire state of Illinois is not that bad, it does still have its pearls.

The problem it encounters, like several other prominent states, is that its population is centered in one or more major cities. The political policy of the cities control the entire state, and those policies, which may or may not make sense for a highly populated city, make zero sense in the much larger, but less populated, rural areas.
 
I live close by in Frankfort Il .. suffice to say I only go to Joliet when I absolutely have to …
 
Uhh .. do you want to pay $12,000 in property taxes on a $450k home - that’s IL.

And most of Texas now. At least we still don’t have an income tax. For now.
 
Illinois - Chicagoland or outside, you will be able to find a place you enjoy living. We've got pretty much the whole range of communities around the state, so if there is something you are looking for, or looking to avoid, let us know and we can get you pointed in the right direction.

All the other stuff noted above is true to a varying degree. You can find reasonably affordable cost-of-living places or spend an astonishing amount on taxes with a good enough income or nice enough property (hello Kenilworth!). Aviating outside of the Bravo is good. 4 seasons are for real: cold, colder, cold and wet, road construction.
 
Southern Ohio is gorgeous. Hills everywhere, river towns, bridges, and the Hocking Hills area. West Virginia is a stone’s throw with its skiing, rafting, hiking and other activities. You know nothing @Rgbeard, I live in the state Capital, ride a sport bike and drive a sports car. Haven’t had a ticket in memory.

That said I do agree with the fellow who said job then move. And southern Ohio is a very depressed area, so don’t expect to get one when you arrive.
 
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but ‘gorgeous’ has certainly never been a word I’ve used to describe Ohio. We all live in various places for some reason or another, but I can’t see myself ever intentionally seeking out the mid-west as a viable place for relocation, except maybe Michigan, which frankly has many areas that are pleasing to the senses.
 
To each their own. I love the Midwest. You'd have to pay me MLB superstar money to ever live in Texas again. We all like what we like.
 
If I knew what I was looking for this process would be much easier. I have lived all over these United States and still haven't found what I'm looking for. I think I'll try the middle this time. It is looking more like Chicagoland actual. Thanks for feedback.

P.S. I will get the job first.
 
....... You know nothing @Rgbeard, I live in the state Capital, ride a sport bike and drive a sports car. Haven’t had a ticket in memory.

....


We each have different experiences that bring us to our current level of knowledge and opinion.

To say that I know nothing, makes quite a few assumptions, and in this particular case, I can assure you they're faulty.
 
I'm over in NW IL, near Moline. The Quad Cities is a nice area. Easy to hop onto I-80 to go to Chicago if needed. If you don't like IL taxes or politics, you can live on the IA side of the Mississippi.

What kind of job are you looking for? John Deere seems to be hiring a lot.
 
In what world is the climate in SE Ohio a draw?

I have also never seen peeing off of a porch quoted as a joie de vivre item, so there's some proof that it takes all kinds to make the world go round. :D Just don't walk barefoot up to some of their front doors I guess.
 
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