I'm flying out to interview for a job in Kenosha, Wisconson (in between Chicago and Millwaukee) next week. This is going to be a big climate change for me if I end up taking this job having spent most of my life in Florida and a couple of years here in the Bay Area. But it may too good of job to turn down, even though its in some place I never thought I'd move to.

Are there any R folks up that way? Is there much in the way of autocrossing/track days in the area? How does the car handle the winters there? Any suggestions on nice places to live in the Kenosha area or even further south (towards Chicago)? I may actually end up living a little closer to Chicago because that's where most of the possibilities exist for my girlfriend to get a job. Anybody commute from Southern Wisconson/Northern IL to the Chicago area? any input on living in Wisconson versus living in Illinois? Any input would be greatly appreciated.

 

There are a good group of us in both Chicago and WI. We get together a few times a year and towards the end of the summer have our annual ITR meet. Last year we had about 15 or so, this year there should be more. We'll also be attending local Auto-X events in both IL and WI and Speedtrial events as well. Hope to see you around

Oh, and if you move to IL you get to make fun of the Packers and their fans.


[Modified by OG Bizzle, 8:37 AM 2/14/2003]

 

i'm not an R owner but i can list off several wi/il R owners on this board. they'll prolly respond soon, being the h-t junkies that they are

there are lots of auto-x and track events upcoming this year. i know for a fact in southern il (urbana) they have local auto-x events that usually have small showings, which means you can get lots of runs in... and there are plenty of other events in northern il and wisconsin. i got a SCCA schedule saved somewhere on my hard drive....

not too familiar with nice places to live in northern chicago or southern wisconsin... it depends if you like a quieter area or you are looking for ready access to the city of chicago. chris N lives north, and king of the turds lives even closer to wisconsin. if you or your g/f are going to be looking for jobs in chicago, i'd suggest finding a place closer to the city. the commute will be a nightmare...

as for weather, no one here likes it but we deal with it. if you live out in the burbs you'll have a better chance of finding a place with a garage. garages are key... but yeah if you get yourself a good set of snow tires and drive with common sense, you'll do just fine.

hope this helps

 

I will definitely be working out of Kenosha. We haven't really checked yet, but I imagine there will be more job possibilities for the girlfriend out of Chicago than Kenosha or Milwaukee.

 

one of you will have to be doing a lot of driving... unless she finds a job in kenosha. dont know how many opportunities are out there...

good luck, drop us a line when you get out here

 

You've got R owners up in milwaukee, WI, you've got them north suburbs of chicago, west suburbs, south side. I think you'll find a welcoming group around here. I'll send an IM to some people i know in you area and have them reply to ya about job stuff.

With autoX stuff, you'll be closer to Milwaukee for AutoX and stuff. They do have a good crew up there from what I hear. MugenMike is a exec rep for the Mil group i believe. BrewCityR is up in Milwaukee. King of the turds is in kenosha area sorta(he changed his name to that recently.... um...yeah...) Then you've got Chris N and myself on the northside along with a few others. I'm not an R owner but ah well.

 

There's alot of good places to live in the northern burbs of chicago, not that far from kenosha. Actually there are some nice condos and town homes in kenosha, too. Just not the most 'residential' town. I guess it really depends on your price range, renting/buying, etc. I"m about 45 minutes south of Kenosha, and know the area between here and there pretty well.

Oh, there's a good group of R owners in the area. 10 that I can think of right now. You'll want to talk to Mugen Mike about Milwaukee Autox. I'll be autoxing up there, because chicago autox is way too far from my house... more than 90 minutes away. We're all planning on doing some track events together, and theres a hanful of tracks within a days drive.

I've lived in the northern burbs all my life, so let me know if you need any info about the area.... feel free to im me or aim (cnicastr) me and we can talk.

BTW - R doesn't like the winter, but its fine. I made it on S-03's, and my one 'incident' did not involve snow anyways. Snow tires and you are set!


[Modified by Chris N, 9:55 AM 2/14/2003]

 

Definitely welcoming group of R's here in the Chi-town/milwaukee area

Not so sure about the real estate and jobs outside of my immediate area, but good luck, and welcome

 

Yes, a huge number. Here's a small sampling:



There are various groups that do autocross. There are no race tracks in the immediate area (less than an hour), but within three hours you've got Road America, GingerMan, and Blackhawk Farms, and within five hours you've got half a dozen more. There are various groups that hold track events at these tracks, including BMW CCA (which doesn't require that you own a BMW), and CGI (GingerMan only).

Just fine. Just slap on a set of winter tires. You can get a decent set from the Tire Rack for around $320 for the tires plus another C-note for a set of steel wheels, and you're good to go. They'll mount and balance them for free when you buy them as a set, and then you can put them on and take them off yourself.

There are many, many different towns to choose from, with lots of different types of homes (apartments, houses, townhouses, etc). Just keep in mind that the closer you get to Chicago, the higher the housing prices. Close to Kenosha you will pay much less for housing then further in towards the city.

Commuting traffic is really heavy only once you get south of where the Tri-State spur feeds into the Edens Expressway, just south of Highland Park; north of there it's not too bad at all. It's also worth noting that Kenosha is the end of one of the commuter train lines into Chicago. So if your GF got a job in downtown Chicago or near one of the stations along the train line, she could take a train to and from work, and avoid the traffic and avoid putting miles on her car. If she works somewhere away from the train line, then the train isn't really an option though. More commuter train information at http://www.metrarail.com

Chicago is a hella great town to live near. There's always tons of stuff to do - clubs, shows, museums, restaurants, bars, etc. Here are some useful websites to check out:

- Chicago Convention and Tourism Bureau

- City of Chicago Office of Tourism

- Metromix (a guide to the latest happenings in food and entertainment)

 

Ah, you chicago guys shut up(hahaha).
Us Northern IL people have ways to commute the city(cough big city folk AJ cough-hehehe). But yeah, If you decide to live this far north(Kenosha or in my area Zion,gurnee, waukegan). You can jump on the train in the morning and head to the city.

Which is alot easier than driving to the city in the morning(thats for your girl). As for you, I live like 15-20 minutes from kenosha and 35-40minutes from chicago. In my Area, I think you would like the gurnee area. Very nice, lots of malls and stores and all that blah blah.

But to sum it all up, you can pretty much talk to anyone on this thread about the area/areas your thinking about living in. I would say Chris N's area is kinda a halfway point from the kenosha area and the city. My area is closer to kensosha&milwaukee. But more time to get to the city.

HTH

 

Income tax is higher in Wisconsin (6.5 percent, vs 3 percent in Illinois) but you might have to pay Wisconsin rates regardless of where you live, since that's where you'll be working. Sales tax is higher in Illinois (6.25 to 8.75 percent, but only 2 percent on food at the supermarket) than in Wisconsin (5 percent).

BTW, if your employer is close to the train station in Kenosha, or if there's a shuttle bus to meet the trains, another option might be for you to live close to Chicago and take a train to work. Just a thought.

More links:

- Kenosha Area Convention & Visitors Bureau

- Kenosha Transit Information



[Modified by nsxtasy, 10:38 AM 2/14/2003]

 

Ohhh...another R for the area, nice!

Oh...and as for the sales tax, it varies by city in IL (only 7.25% in E. St. Louis for example, 8.5% in Niles, IL).

You'll love the summers here, the weather is usually pretty reasonable, and very comfortable at night.

...but I'll let the R owners talk to you more. I live in the city, and it would take me between 35 minutes to 2 hours to get where you are depending upon traffic.

 

I'm about 1/2 north of Kenosha (in Milwaukee). I'm quite involved in the autocross scene here. Feel free to hit me up via IM here or on AIM (mugenmike). I'd be happy to tell you more

P.S.: Bring warm clothes

 

Hey thanks guys for all your input. It certainly makes me feel better about the area. Someone mentioned Kenosha was not the most residential of areas, what do you mean? Does anyone know where the airport is in relation to trains, etc.? Kenosha site isn't very helpful about this. That's where I'll be working near. As for where the girlfriend is going to have to commute to, we'll have to see what she is able to find out about jobs in the area.


[Modified by hecklervtec, 9:45 AM 2/14/2003]

 

Kenosha Airport (9900 52nd Street) is about six miles west of the train station (5414 13th Ave.), so commuting there by train isn't really practical.

Also, keep in mind that the airport is right off the interstate (I-94) so that makes it convenient to anything near the interstate, north or south of there. That means you are less tied to finding a place to live right in Kenosha. In fact...

You might want to wait until she finds a job before you decide where to live. That way, she can look in Milwaukee and Chicago. If she finds a job in Milwaukee, you can live north of Kenosha; if she finds one in Illinois, you can live south of Kenosha.



[Modified by nsxtasy, 12:20 PM 2/14/2003]

 

All i can say is you will enjoy your stay here. Damn, we got the friendliest, funniest, and down to earth people up here. Oh, same thing goes to the Wisconsin peeps lol.. Also, I have to say we host the baddest bbq meet last year wohoo!! I can't wait for another bbq event.. *Any plans for a spring bbq meet guys?*. So welcome and hope you will enjoy your stay here..


[Modified by 4thGSi, 11:19 AM 2/14/2003]

 

I'm about 15min outside of Milwaukee. There are autocrosses just about every Sunday between the 3 clubs that hold them in Mil. SCCA and WAI hold theirs at Miller Park and TSSCC holds theirs in Burlington(40min from Mil). As for track events, there are a few as stated by nsxtacy and RA rocks. The ITR/Honda group from WI and IL are very nice people. I don't know how the people from IL deal w/their traffic, seems like it takes an hour to go 15 miles.

 

you can be like J's roommate's brother.... who's just renting a hotel room till he decides what he wants to do hahaha

 

A friend of mine and his wife live about 10 minutes east of the airport in Kenosha. They both commute to IL for work, he drops her off at the train station, then drives to work. He's never complained about the commute before to me FWIW. As far as living in the area, it seems to be developing quite nice. I had always thought it was a crappy area until he took me for a drive around town.

 

If you're looking for R owners, you should Visit Chicago, around the Chinatown Bridgeport area, ITR's are a dime a dozen down here. I got like 5 or 6 of them that live within 5 blocks of me, and that's including mine.

 

HAHAHA, that guy is in a class of his own.

 

the whistles go woooooooooooooooooo

 

Naperville crew respresentin'

 

I'm the next town over, so I'll throw up for the ville!!! Screw da Northsiders

 

I think what we'll probably do (at least initially) is rent something in Kenosha. My girlfriend would probably not more out right away and would probably stay in the Bay Area and keep working ar her job out here until until I get settled in the job, make sure its right, and maybe have a better idea where she'll be working.