1/20/2020

“Just Outside Chicago, There’s a Place Called Illinois”

Move your business and home to downstate

“Just outside Chicago, there’s a place called Illinois.” The State of Illinois developed this catchy slogan for it’s tourism marketing program to encourage Chicago-area residents to visit the Illinois south and west of Chicago, instead of visiting Wisconsin and Michigan. The strategy aimed to keep tourism and the dollars it generates in Illinois.

The strategy need not stop at tourism, though. Communities in downstate Illinois should employ a similar strategy when attracting businesses and economic development. Outside of the Chicago metropolitan area, the cost of home ownership and renting is tremendously cheaper. The cost of doing business is also much less. Congestion, often cited as a quality-of-life issue, is virtually non-existent: “rush hour” in smaller communities is often the “rush minute”.

Demographic trends indicate that the problem is only going to get worse in Northeast Illinois. Of Illinois’ population of 12 million people, 8 million citizens live in or around Chicago. By 2030, Illinois is projected to grow over 15%, but of the 2 million more people living here, most will be living in or near metro Chicago.

While growth is encouraging, it also comes with associated costs. Both Chicago and Illinois would be better off if some of the projected growth occurred in other Illinois communities. The addition of two million more people to the Chicago area will create more traffic congestion and air pollution. This will require increased capital expenditure at the federal, state and local levels as the transportation, protective and educational infrastructures swell to accommodate this growth. The increase in taxes need to manage this growth is rarely appreciated by citizens.

Illinois communities outside of Chicagoland could accommodate and welcome this growth. Many communities are at best experiencing moderate growth, while many more are losing population. These smaller communities often have housing stock, roads, schools, and other infrastructure that have capacity sufficient to the task.

This potential is illustrated by comparing two large metropolitan areas in Illinois. The moderately-growing Peoria metropolitan area is the second largest metro area in Illinois. However, as the following table demonstrates, there are significant advantages to locating or relocating “downstate”:

Chicago Peoria
Median Home Price[1]
$ 274,700 $ 114,900

Average Commute Time (2000)[2]

35 minutes 20 minutes

“Cost of Doing Business” Rank[3]

90th 47th

Cost of Living Index Composite[4]

103.9 96.9
Student-Teacher Ratio[5]

16.40 14.40

Relocating Businesses and Employees Downstate

More and more people are controlling their own job location. The Internet permits more people to work remotely. Telecommuting allows mobile professionals to flee large, congested metro areas and work and live in a pleasant environment. Free lance writers, advertising executives, entrepreneurs, artists, computer experts and even salespeople are typical of employees who often have control of their work location. Jack Manahan is a perfect example. Manahan left the Chicago suburbs for Peoria. As a home-based computer consultant to government, he simply drives 10 minutes to the airport when he needs to visit a client. "I saved half the cost of my auto insurance and got a much nicer home in Peoria when I left Chicago. And the rush hour is much less than in Chicago. Peoria is a pleasant place to live and work, without the hassle of a really big city. "

Long gone is the requirement for manufacturers, agencies, sales forces and consulting companies to be located in a large metropolitan area. In fact, the cost of doing so might well outweigh the benefits. The same connectivity that permits telecommuting allows business leaders the flexibility to move their entire company to smaller, more attractive communities where both the quality of life and the cost of doing business are better. The marketplace is no longer local – it is global and requires little more than a strong technology and transportation infrastructure. This trend is accelerating and will likely continue to be popular, especially as congestion increases.

Attracting a Retiree Migration South

Moving to a downstate community can also be an excellent retirement strategy. Retirees can achieve substantial savings from the sale of their homes. With Chicago’s real estate market rocketing skyward, retirees can often turn the sale of one home into the purchase of two: A home in a moderately-sized downstate community that offers proximity to family and friends and offers all the amenities of city life, and possibly a second home for the winter months in the Sun Belt. This move is especially appealing to those individuals who grew up downstate but moved to larger metropolitan areas for work reasons.

One budding strategy in attracting retirees is to build housing communities in conjunction with universities and colleges. The housing can be privately developed, with alumni and faculty targeted as purchasers. The partnership is a win-win situation: Alumni bring a love of the institution and serve as natural source of volunteers, donors, event boosters and even students in continuing education. The city gets more homeowners and consumers in the local economy, but does not need to concern itself with these new citizens taking high-paying jobs or additionally taxing the local public school system.

Craig Harlan Hullinger, AICP, is the Economic Development Director for the City of Peoria. Craig has a BA Degree in Public Administration, a Master s Degree in Environmental Planning. Contact him at (309) 494-8639 or chullinger@ci.peoria.il.us.

Christopher Setti is an Economic Development Specialist with the Economic Development Department of the City of Peoria. Chris has a BA in Political Science and a Master’s Degree in Public Administration. Contact him at (309) 494-8618 or csetti@ci.peoria.il.us.

[1] National Association of Realtors: http://money.cnn.com/pf/features/lists/nar_3q05/price.html#table
[2] Arbitron “Average Travel Time to Work Comparison.” www.arbitron.com/outdoor_companies/travel_result.asp
[3] Forbes Magazine, “Best Places for Business and Careers.” May 5, 2005.
[4] ACCRA Cost of Living Index, 2nd Quarter 2005
[5] www.money.cnn.com. “Best Places to Live 2005.”

NerdWallet's cost of living calculator

This nice calculator helps you compare the cost of living between two cities.

https://www.nerdwallet.com/cost-of-living-calculator/compare/seattle-wa-vs-asheville-nc

The Example below compares cost of living in Seattle, WA, with Asheville, NC. Smaller cities are usually much more affordable then large cities. Salaries are usually lower as well. Most of the difference in cost of living are housing costs.

10 Most Affordable Places to Live in North Carolina

With so many amazing career opportunities and a wide array of outdoor activities, it’s no wonder that North Carolina is constantly among the top 10 most populated states. However, with a higher population comes higher living costs.

But don’t fret; expensive housing won’t stop you from moving to the Tar Heel State. How? Because we did the research for you and found the 10 most affordable areas in North Carolina!

Before making this list, we considered a few factors such as earning potential, the city’s cost of living, quality of life, attractions, and employment rates.

Cary

Having a low unemployment rate is just as important as a city’s affordability. Speaking of low unemployment rates, the city of Cary has an unemployment rate of 5.6 percent, which is the lowest of all the cities that are on this list. Furthermore, those who are employed are privy to a remarkably high annual salary. In fact, the median household income in Cary is $90,250. Cary also provides ways to cut costs such as multiple public transport options.

Durham

Durham is a city that has everything wrapped into a single location, all the while maintaining its affordability. Almost 70 percent of homeowners spend less than 30 percent of their monthly income on housing expenses. Also, Durham has an average monthly rent of only $852! However, living cheaply doesn’t mean you have to throw away quality. Case in point: Durham has some of the most affordable health care in all of North Carolina. It’s also been named the “Foodiest Small Town in America” by Bon Appetit.

Concord

A lot of U.S. homes cost up to $300,000 to $400,000, making homeownership almost unattainable. However, Concord is the place to make your dream of owning a home into a reality. The median house price in Concord is extremely low at $168,300 and the average mortgages average 1,441. Concord residents also enjoy a reasonably high household income, with a median annual salary being $53,000. what’s this mean for you? You get to spend less on house expenses and more on living the way you want.

Click to read the full article:

https://onqfinancial.com/10-affordable-places-north-carolina/

13 Major U.S. Cities Where You Can Live Well on Less Than $50,000 a Year

Can't afford $4,100 for a Manhattan apartment? Consider these alternatives.

Money experts from Warren Buffett on down all say the same thing: If you want to live a happy, comfortable life, make sure to keep your daily expenses in check, so that your salary will more than cover them. That's great advice, but it's increasingly difficult to follow as living expenses, particularly for housing and health care, continue to climb. This summer, average U.S. average rent reached an all-time high of $1,405 a month. In Manhattan, the most expensive rental market in the country, average rents climbed to more than $4,100, and in San Francisco, the second priciest, they were more than $3,500.

What you need is a major city with lots of opportunity but affordable rent and living expenses. Believe it or not, such places do exist. The personal finance site GOBankingRates recently highlighted 35 cities where you can live comfortably for $50,000 a year or less. They calculated this using the 50/30/20 rule in which half of your income goes for necessities including housing, transportation, groceries and health care, another 30 percent goes for luxuries such as sports or entertainment, and the last 20 percent goes to savings. By that logic, any place where you can get the necessities for half your income or less is likely a place where you can live a comfortable life.

Click to read the article

https://www.inc.com/minda-zetlin/cost-of-living-phoenix-detroit-baltimore-vegas-most-affordable-cities.html

Blue-Collar and Service Workers Fare Better Outside Superstar Cities

How much money do workers have after paying housing costs? For working-class and service workers in superstar cities, the affordable housing crisis hits harder.

RICHARD FLORIDA

MAY 21, 2019

America suffers from a deep and worsening housing crisis, especially in the nation’s superstar cities. It would take the average worker in the Bay Area—a place that is flush with rich venture capitalists and highly paid tech workers—more than a decade of wages and income to afford the median home price. That’s more than four times the typical benchmark of 2.6 years of salary for housing affordability.
While much has been made of the housing struggles of middle-class and professional families in expensive cities, the housing affordability crisis hits much harder for the nation’s low-paid blue-collar workers.

Click to read the full article:

https://www.citylab.com/equity/2019/05/costs-of-living-map-home-price-salary-wage-premium-city-data/589894/

Salary You Need to Afford The Average Home

HowMuch, a website aimed at helping people understand money, put together an infographic that illustrates just how much your annual salary needs to be in every state if you’re interested in buying an “average” home in that state. The results might make you squirm.

Unsurprisingly, the East and West Coasts are home to the most expensive, well, homes in the United States. In California, you need to make more than $120,000 a year in order to buy an “average” home. Meanwhile, over in Michigan, the least expensive, you need to make $40,000. In Hawaii, which tops the list, you need to pull in $153,000 a year to buy a home — the average cost of which is more than $600,000.

Click to read the article:

https://www.fatherly.com/news/map-average-cost-house-each-state-us/