In the middle of the pandemic we bought a house. We moved closer to school and stayed in the city. We really tried to talk ourselves into moving to the west burbs or the north shore, and even considered moving down to Indiana to be closer to family and have a dramatically lower cost of living. I’m glad we didn’t make that choice and stayed put, and yesterday was a perfect example of why we avoided hitting the reset button.
Between our neighborhood and school we’ve managed to form a real community. We can walk everywhere in our neighborhood. Our kids see their friends often and I’ve gotten used to just making sure I have food and snacks around the house for more than just my kids. It’s worth the higher cost of living and dealing with all the challenges that come from living in Chicago.