Lot of questions regarding Chicago

sdewangan80 · Dec 6, 2014

Hi ladies,

I'm relocating to Chicago early next year with my son who will go to grade 2 . My office will be in South Riverside(loop).

Can you guide me on which areas are safe to reside in & has good schools & very close to Metra line with Indian community.

How does one select a school? Do the schools provide transport ? Do they charge for transport ?

What about daycare/ creche post school hours , what are charges for it? Do schools provide these facilities for parents to pick children around 6 PM?

Does every locality have Indian shops or is it restricted to certain localities?

Please advise on what is a preferred mode of comute (car/ train) if I choose to live in downtown & not in city?

What is the difference in terms of rent between Downtown & Central chicago?

Please help

DKI · Dec 6, 2014

First off, welcome to Chicago.

Apartments in the suburbs are any day cheaper than in the city. That being said, the following suburbs are good with lots of Indians - Naperville/Aurora, Schaumburg, Buffalo Grove. Schools are also good in Chicago. To check on the schools here you can use this link: Illinois Report Card You can check based on what area you are going to. As for transportation. The basic rule here is that if the school is within 1 or 2 miles (depends on the school district) of the school, there is no bus. Otherwise there is bus facility and it is free.

Before and after school care is available through most schools. If not there are usually day care centers near schools that provide this facility. You drop and pick your child from the daycare. They provide the transportation to and from school. You can get a list of day cares from your school, or you can ask the day cares near your home if they operate from the school

Please remember that in the US, the school your child attends depends on your address. So when choosing an apartment, do so in a locality where there are more Indians - mainly because somebody before you would have done the homework and figured out which schools are good.

If you decide to stay in downtown Chicago, you will not need a car. Public transportation is very good. But if you live in the suburbs, you will need a car - not to commute to work (Metra is the best for that) but because public transport in suburbs is almost nil.

Moving to a new city is tough always. And moving to a new country is even tougher. But if you do your homework, the transition will be smooth.

sdewangan80 · Dec 9, 2014

Dear DKI,

Thank you for your response. My company is offering me a package of 60K.

Can you help me with breakup, please advise if the below is correct or less.

[TABLE="width: 239"]
[TR]
[TD]House rent[/TD]
[TD]1250[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Daycare[/TD]
[TD]1000[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Grocery[/TD]
[TD]1000[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]miscellaneous+emergency[/TD]
[TD]350[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Metra(transport)[/TD]
[TD]192[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Medical Insurance[/TD]
[TD]135[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Electricity[/TD]
[TD]100[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]TV+internet+landline[/TD]
[TD]100[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Mobile[/TD]
[TD]60[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Garbage[/TD]
[TD]40[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Laundary[/TD]
[TD]40[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]
Can you please advise if i have missed out any expenses or are these correct[/TD]
[TD]4267

[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]