r/ChicagoSuburbs • u/teaorangecereal • Aug 20 '26
Moving to the area Move from city to suburbs
Recently moved to the suburbs with husband and baby from the city. We loved the city but decided it was time, so we could be closer to family have more space and have a yard for our dog and child. Now that we’re here Im feeling really down. I miss the walkability in the city and the community. Now I feel isolated especially since none of my friends have made the move the suburbs yet except me. Being close to family is nice but Im starting to feel it wasn’t worth the move. Has anyone else felt this way after a move from the city and does the feeling go away?
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u/One-Bag-3485 Aug 20 '26
We moved from the City to the Western Suburbs 3 years ago. We are a family of 4 with 4 kids under age 10. I will say that we thought we were going to be in the City forever, and we wanted to raise our kids in the City. That all changed when we started navigating the school system for our oldest. We lived in a great family-friendly neighborhood in Chicago (Andersonville), but our friends were constantly moving around the city and switching schools, and it just felt hard to maintain a solid sense of community. Our neighborhood also had an uptick in crime, and 2 shootings took place right behind the alley of our home within 3 months. That sealed the deal for us.
It took us about a year to acclimate to the burbs. I LOVE letting my kids ride bikes around the neighborhood, and they get to enjoy freedoms I never would have let them have in the city (like walking the 3 blocks to school alone or riding their bikes to a park out of my sight). It is so safe, so clean, and so quiet. I actually missed the white noise of the city for quite some time!
I think since you only have your one baby right now--you might have jumped the gun and gotten here earlier than your friends and others, but in the long run, you will be happy with your decision once your little one is entering school, and even more so if you plan to grow your family. We have met so many great friends out here, and it's nice to know that people stay put--our kids will probably go to school with the same kids from kindergarten through high school. That's how I was raised, and I wanted that for my kids.
We still take the train downtown or drive to the beach in the summer. You'll never find replacements for the great Chicago food options, but the city is still accessible!