MAYBE moving to IL

[fiatdude]

The Wife hasa job being dangled in front of her at her companies corporate headquarters in Illinois. I'm sitting here in my shorts and t-shirt here and it's 12* there. I really don't know squat about living where it is cold. (except for a couple of years living on Nantucket back in the 70's, which shouldn't count LOL) Both the wife and I are natives out here in SoCA, but we are up for an adventure -- Work has been nonexistant for me for the last year, sooooooo.

What things do I need to consider or take into consideration about moving back there??? Trying to figure out what the company needs to put on the table to make this transfer make sense.

Most important -- where the nearest drag strip to Bloomington?? LOL

I really would appreciated any input guys -- am I going to need a 4WD car etc. What kind of a house should I be looking for??? Blah Blah Blah -- What are houses going for back there?

Thanks for any input

[Chip Birks]

Do you own your house? I spent some time out in the general area, Missouri, a few years back. Housing was dirt cheap compared to Utah prices at the time. I knew plenty of folks from Cali that would move out there and more or less retire. Not sure how it is in Ill, but I'd assume that it's close to the same.   Cold kinda sucks, but it's just part of life. 4wd is not a bad choice ever when it comes to snow. Buy a nice coat.

[Dominick Luppino]

I can tell you one thing, it will not be like the Dale on Thursday night!

[David Ward]

I made the move from So CA to the Chicagoland area back in '96.  Born and raised So CA (Orange County).

E-mail me and I can fill you in on what we found.  For us, it was the best thing that could have happened.

My first winter we experienced -22 degrees.  A 4x4 or FWD car is definitely a good investment.  Some things are way less expensive than CA, while others aren't (property taxes being one). 

There is a neat VW community in IL and there are a few shows.  Import (and one VW race) races occur just over the border in Wisconsin.

Again, e-mail me and I'll share our experience.  If you decide to leave So CA I think you'll be surprised when you go back to visit how you ever lived there.

[fiatdude]

email sent to you Dave -- Thanks A lot

[Kafer_Mike]

Check out the Harsh Winters VW Club site -- http://harshwintersvw.com/wordpress/. They can give you some insight into the area and local VW scene. US-131 Dragway in MI holds two VW races (Spring/Fall) along with Mofoco in WI. Both are reasonable drives...