The Sticks

I am a suburbanite, there is no way I can deny that. I have lived in the burbs for most of my life. I like my area and I am not going to apologize for living where I do. Sure, there are any number of things to pick on, but in the end, I like the location. One of the biggest selling points to me is that we are still 15 minutes from the city and live right by I-55 and I-294.

So, if you are going to be a suburbanite you might as well live in a place that is still in Cook County and you can still take advantage of all the city has to offer. In my mind it is kind of a best of both worlds. I am staying my ground and where I live now is about as far south as I am willing to live.

Sadly, a lot of friends and family have decided to move out to the far sticks. I now have either friends or family living in Plainfield, Manteno, Olympia Fields, Lake Zurich, Frankfort, and Crete. For the life of me I don’t understand this logic. What I hear from everyone that does it is, well you get more house for your money. OK, let’s say that is true. What are your property taxes? Also, if you are going to move to a community that is growing it is going to need to build more schools and better roads. Just how do you think they are going to get that money?

To me location is more important then anything. I like living in an area that is lived in and has a history to it. There is any number of places to order a pizza from or grab a taco. Plus if I want to go out to a restaurant, my choices are more then Chili’s and Appleby’s. This is why I live where I live. I may live in the burbs but at least I am not in Siberia.

Personally, moving out to the boonies just makes no sense. First every house looks exactly the same. The new model to home building is to make sure your house looks exactly like your neighbors. There is no more individuality. A builder comes in with one layout and just regurgitates it over and over again. On top of that these towns are all run by home owners associations.

I will never, and I mean never buy a house that is part of a home owner association. If I am paying a mortgage no one is going to tell me I can’t plant a tree in my back yard or that I can not have a flag pole. My boss who lives in Plainfield and belongs to a HOA, told me that he went to a three hour meeting and all it involved was people bitching about the sand being to course in the playground and such.

Well, no thanks. If anything, if and when we move it will be closer to the city not further. Once I get tired of the grind of maintaining a house, Joyce and I will move into the city. I hate driving so, that will be another plus, as the city has great public transit. As anyone who has ever been forced to take a Pace bus can attest, transit out in the burbs is a fucking joke. At least we have Metra.

I guess to each their own. It is all a trade off. For me living where I do makes sense. My house is big enough and it is not that a big a deal to get to the city for work. If I didn’t work in the loop, I’d more then likely move into the city. Too much suburbia would drive me nuts.