I finally gave in on living in the suburbs after 3 years of fighting it

Moved to Chicago from Seattle 3 years ago and swore I'd never leave the city. Loved being able to walk to the L and hit up bars in Wicker Park anytime. But last month my girlfriend got a job in Naperville and we tried the train commute for two weeks straight. Realized I was spending 4 hours a day on transit just to stay in the city. We moved to a place near the Naperville train station two weeks ago and honestly the extra space and quiet is nice. Anyone else make the jump out of the city and regret it or not?

3 comments

3 Comments

alicecooper2mo ago

Ha, welcome to the club! I did the exact same thing a few years back. Moved from a city apartment to a house with a yard, and honestly the quiet at night is worth the trade-off. I don't miss stepping over trash on the sidewalk to get to my car. You get used to the train ride, especially if you can zone out with some music or a book.

pat_coleman2mo ago

Wait wait wait, you said "stepping over trash on the sidewalk"?? That's wild! I thought you were exaggerating about city living but are people really just leaving trash out like that?

christopher_wells41mo ago

Echo what alicecooper said about zoning out on the train, it's a game changer once you get the hang of it. I picked up a Kindle and now I actually look forward to the ride, it's like a forced hour of reading time I never had in the city. Plus you can pregame your podcast queue or even catch up on sleep if you're not morning person like me (I just lean against the window and hope nobody sits next to me). The trash thing is real though, I used to play sidewalk frogger dodging mystery stains and broken glass on my walk to the L.