Our Suburban Migration
It’s true, we’re moving to the burbs! My husband turned 40 and we bought him what he always wanted…a house in the burbs! While this is sort of true here is the real story…My husband and I are longtime city dwellers and genuinely love the city of Chicago…it has so much to offer yet, here I am sharing a bit about our decision to leave. To stay or to leave…I think this is a question that many families ask themselves no matter what city they live in. Despite the fact that we love our community, the culture, our school and friends it’s been something that we have been grappling with for a couple of years.
If I’m being honest we’ve been short on space for three years, ever since our youngest and third child was born. I have been consistently looking for a larger home for over a year and a half but hadn’t really narrowed it down to the city or the burbs until this summer. Regardless of the pandemic we felt that we were coming to a precipice in terms of the kids ages and had to make a decision to leave or stay for the long haul as soon as possible. Without the pandemic I’m not sure I would have been able to leave the city but once we realized that the pandemic was here to stay, our life in the city was permanently changed and working remotely would become a long term option the decision became a little bit easier. Our fate was sealed when after a year and a half I fell in love with a house with loads of charm and appropriately, a built in office perfect for e-learning.
I’m sharing some of the key factors that drove our decision…
Space - We have a three bedroom condo in the city and while the kids could have shared a room, their rooms were pretty tiny and we just needed more space for them to grow into young adults. Our youngest has shared a room with us her entire life, so having space for her to have her own room and for us to have our room back was a top priority.
Spending Time Outdoors - After sheltering in place in the city and being confined to a postage stamp sized yard we realized how much spending time outdoors was grounding and important for all of our mental health. Moving to a far north suburb means that we were able to get a larger yard in our price point which will come in handy if shelter in place becomes a possibility again. We also have access to more forest preserves, bike trails and beaches than we ever did before.
High Schools - Students need to apply to high schools in the city…it’s somewhat akin to the college application process and the seventh grade year is very important. The possibility of having three kids at three different high schools wasn’t appealing to me…I can barely maintain their schedules while all at the same school.
Proximity to Family - We don’t have any family in Illinois so moving to a northern suburb puts us closer to family in Wisconsin and hopefully an occasional babysitter or two! Cutting our commute to the lake by forty five minutes is a major bonus.
Despite the fact I feel a little bit like we’re giving up on the city that we love so much, we’re excited yet nervous for the move but mostly grateful to have a sense of focus during this time of uncertainty. We will all be starting from scratch in the burbs so taking on this new adventure together is thrilling - here’s hoping my family will want to partake in all my renovation and decorating projects for many months to come!