ORD easy commutes and alternative cities for a millennial

I moved to Chicago on eagle FO pay. I now live five minutes from the blue line and it takes me about 45 minutes from door to KCM.

Living in base is worth it if you have no reason to commute (partners job, kids, etc.).

Seriously.
 
BigZ said:
General ORD area does have some outdoorsy stuff not too far away. Mostly in Wisconsin though. Door County is beautiful, and so are few other spots here and there - Devils lake comes to mind..
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Devils Lake was one of my favorite places when I lived in Wisconsin, and one of the main things I miss about Wisconsin. I highly recommend going, I think it would be a 3-4 hour drive from Chicago.

adk said:
If you're outdoorsy / active and don't need a big city, check out Madison WI. Very active people there, and the demographics skew young thanks to the University.

If you're willing to commute by Air, Knoxville may be worth a look too. Nice and warm and right next to the Great Smokies.
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jtrain609 said:
If you want to stay in the northern Illinois/Wisconsin area, move to Madison.

As for 2-4 years to get to the majors, good luck. Took most guys I know around 10.
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Not surprised to see people recommending Madison. @RamRise based on what you said Madison sounds like what you might be looking for, and it's around 300,000 people so at the bottom of the range. Keep in mind it is fairly expensive for a city its size though, although still probably cheaper than Chicago. I believe quite a few of the MSN-ORD flights are SkyWest so that might help with commuting.
 
Taxes are generally higher in Dane County (ie Madison) However, if your into driving a little, the surrounding counties are very affordable (for rent etc..)
 
Nark said:
Taxes are generally higher in Dane County (ie Madison) However, if your into driving a little, the surrounding counties are very affordable (for rent etc..)
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I'm from one of the surrounding counties. The cost of living is very reasonable there. Not sure if it's exactly what the OP is looking for since he specified a 300k-1 million city with a downtown core but I suppose Madison itself would be close enough.
 
jtrain609 said:
If you want to stay in the northern Illinois/Wisconsin area, move to Madison.

As for 2-4 years to get to the majors, good luck. Took most guys I know around 10.
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I've heard the sweet spot is 4-6 k hrs, hopefully I can build that in under a decade. But I chose skywest because I'd rather be stuck here than any other regional.

Thanks for the all the helpful comments. Guess I got some 'splorin to do in wisconsin.
Looking for a place to hang my hat for a few years is all.
 
RamRise said:
I've heard the sweet spot is 4-6 k hrs, hopefully I can build that in under a decade. But I chose skywest because I'd rather be stuck here than any other regional.

Thanks for the all the helpful comments. Guess I got some 'splorin to do in wisconsin.
Looking for a place to hang my hat for a few years is all.
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If only total time was all it took.
 
Welcome to SkyWest. For what its worth I was in your shoes not too long ago, after commuting from SoCal for 6 months I moved to Chicago for SkyWest on the 175 in March of 2015. I Spent the first 2 years living in Irving Park off the blue line and it wasn't bad, but it wasn't great, the city wasn't really my thing. I moved to the NW suburbs in February and its been much better. I live in Mt Prospect, which is about 20 min to employee parking, or an uber drop off at the terminal. Nearby there are a few outdoor options, nothing like SoCal or some of the smaller towns but not bad for 20min from base. Check out Busse Woods, great running paths and you can even rent canoes / kayaks / rowboats.

Pm me if you have any questions.
 
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