Goodbye, ILLinois

Well foot in the middle of the gravy...Here we are in NC...Doing well....

 

California is now proposing a tax on drinking water. The next 4 years will be fun to watch.

BTW, you may know this but for those that do not, more people move to Texas from Illinois than from California.

 

Yep, pretty much all of Inglewood will be in Texas by 2025. Enjoy your good fortune.

 

I left IL for NC nearly 10 years ago.

Prop taxes on my home there (was in DuPage County, but right near the border, so Cook more than once tried to bill) was something like $7500 on a house valued right around $300k.

Home here is valued at $180K. Prop taxes are something around $600 or so.

State income tax keeps creeping up, but still not to the level of IL.

Local/state sales tax in my area is right around 7%.

What do I miss about Illinois? Some friends, some family. LOTS of world class restaurants and museums in and around Chicago. That's about it. OH - also miss having ANY kind of food place that delivers. Yeah - no kidding? Even the Pizza Hut where I live does NOT deliver.

 

After Chicago, does Pizza Slut even count as pizza? There are very few places anywhere that can hold a candle to our restaurants. That is the one area where we are spoiled.

 

Interesting point. It seems some of the worst cities in America have great restaurants. SF, NYC, Chicago. I used to live near SF. I figured if I had to suffer through going there for some reason I would at least stop and have a decent meal. Still, not nearly enough reason to live in one of them.

 

We will probably leave after the kids are out of school and settled. If either of the kids stay here, we’ll probably keep our three flat. Otherwise....who knows. Warm and near a beach. A lot of the property tax issues depend on the school district. My taxes are fairly low, my tuition bills are another story. BTW, Austin has SOME good restaurants Is Threadgills still open?

 

Closed in December.

The food here is good but not great. Hard to find better BBQ but there is a limit to that. We have great Indian food thanks to the tech industry and some good steak houses but it thins out after that. Outside of BBQ it is not a food destination where Chicago SF and NYC are. Central Texas has a lot going for it but at this point food isn't really one of them. Just a guess but I suspect Dallas and Houston have a wider, deeper restaurant scene.

 

I always loved the vegetables at Threadgills. A buddy of mine moved to South Lake from Chicago about five years ago and says the number of quality restaurants has been increasing. BBQ and Tex-Mex are still their strong suit, but at least now he can get good Thai and Mediterranean. He also told me there are so many Chicago transplants that some of the bars now have Malort.

 

Oddly enough we have pretty good Thai but not Chinese. There are some bars, and sometimes pretty "Rustic" places with an impressive selection of liquor.

 

My cousin’s husband taught at UT in the 90s, and I always enjoyed the bar/music scene. The Malort is a Chicago joke. We pass it off on unsuspecting tourists. There’s a video somewhere of the founder’s grandson trying to take a shot for a commercial and hurling. The only thing in Chicago that will make you feel worse than Malort, are our politicians.

 

One of the few things I REALLY miss!

Funny... Austin is considered a "foodie" down. There are only so many ways to use fried chicken....
A serious lack of true ethnic food!
Brian... try Taste of Ethiopia in Pflugerville. Go for lunch... the buffet is amazing! I eat there at least once a month!

 

Hey Mike miss your life yet? Well it finally went to a better place. Sold it another friend and picked up a newer one. One that more adjustable for a slanted garage floor. Brian/Leslie invited me down to your neck of the woods. Hopefully when I retire next year I'll come down for F1. See you and miss you buddy. PS: I''' bring down some Italian beef, Chicago style pizza, and Eli Cheese Cake.

 

Hey Rick!
all good here!
LMK if you make it to Austin!

 

Us too Rick. Get in touch if you come to town. F1 weekend is one time of the year we can get into one of the great BBQ places here. Mike and his whole bunch and Leslie and I wound up there same night last year.

 

Ok Mike, you are looking more and more like a genius. While I questioned Austin (seemed like moving to Evanston), cannot argue with Texas.

 

Hey Jerry!
ahem.... I think you meant super genius!
the city of Austin is a blue dot in a sea of red. We live outside the city.
Definitely changing even in the 7 years we've been here.
A lot of economic (or otherwise) refugees from places like ILL-annoy....
however, lots of libs who now can't stand places like CA / NY / ILL, but want to salt the earth here, as they salted it there...
TX will (I'm convinced) be one of the best places to live.... weather (hot is better than cold, IMO), lower taxes, etc.

 

If it was not for family living nearby, we would join the exodus out of Illinois.

 

I like the hilly backland around Austin. Fredricksburg is one of my fav vaca spots.

 

Not to interrupt, but from Illinois now down here in NC near Charlotte. Not much here for Ferrari. Drove down for the 1st F1 race. Well. Knew more here...Please be thankful for what you have in the club. Like not much here...less money what else...Gee like Ferraris...

 

Come on up to Wisconsin... growing like crazy...

 

ah.....
in a few weeks it will be 7 years since we packed up the family and moved to Beverly.... um, Austin area!
only regrets:
not doing it sooner.
no fresh Lou Malanti's (have to stick with frozen in the mail)
Portillo's (can get by mail too!)
Greek Town.
the occasional really nice weather day on the lake.