Should I just pick up and leave Detroit for Chicago on $300-$500?

Question

I have no job. I've been unemployed for nearly 3 years. I live in urban Detroit. I am going to a community college for Information Technology. I have $300 in the bank and my fiance has around $500. It's hard to find work here and without work, I can't get an apartment or car. I am seriously considering just picking up and moving. Any thoughts?

Answer 1

Nope, because then not only would you still not have enough money for housing or a car, you'd also be on unfamiliar grounds.

If you are in school studying I.T., make sure you get your degree BEFORE you pick up and leave. That way, you will be able to qualify for a real job when you do move. You won't get an apartment most likely, cuz they'll look at your unemployment as a risk. The way it is now, you only have enough to spend a week or so in a motel and then what? Even if you found a cheap apartment available, where's the money to put down a deposit or at least first month's rent?

I live in Detroit, too, and while I don't hate it, I know I will be leaving it sometime soon. But if we're not prepared, we won't suddenly find relief and happiness somewhere else; the same problems will go with us.

Try to get the degree, then move. Yeah, there are more jobs elsewhere, but the ones that pay enough to survive will hire someone else over you with a degree. If you find housing a problem here, you may have to do what many others have done and find temp men's housing or shelter. Basically just somewhere to live until you finish classes. I've been to Chicago a couple of times and I hear rent can cost a lot there, but I'm not sure.

Have you tried Michigan Works First or a temp agency? For a man, it is usually easier to get a job that involves lifting boxes or driving trucks, too. You probably have tried things, but keep trying to look for something. Let your fiance keep her money in the bank, as she never knows when she may have her own personal emergency.

Answer 2

Before you do anything - get that schooling done and get your certificate/diploma degree so that you have a credential. That will help you no matter where you go.

If you're going to a community college, have you asked around the school on the job situation? Do networking, if you haven't done so already. You may want to talk to the instructors about where are good places to consider applying for jobs. Ask your friends, family, old school friends, relatives for advice and job leads.

Really weigh out whether Chicago is a better place for you. Do you have friends, relatives, other contacts there? That will often make the difference whether you can secure employment there promptly. Remember, about 70% of the jobs available are not advertised and are obtained through word of mouth or referral. And if you don't have any entry or leads getting into Chicago, you're pretty much starting out from ground zero.

Remember, it's going to take money to move to Chicago - that $300 in the bank and $500 from your fiance is going to be used up pretty fast for a rental apartment - first months rend + security deposit!

Just a thought - think out your options carefully and don't be rash.

Answer 3

You will need more than $800 to live for even a month, and no one will give you credit unless you have a job. So unless you have someone to stay with, look for a job in Chicago without leaving Detroit. Check out the Internet and newspapers, and call or send resumes. You can do this while you continue in school. From everything I have read about Detroit's economy you should leave. Economists are puzzled by the number of people who stay when the opportunities are so much better elsewhere.


Afterthoughts. You should also check out Chicago schools where you can finish your degree, if you move before graduation. Also you will probably get homesick. Most people do when they go to a strange city alone and it will be much worse if you are worried about getting a job.

Answer 4

I would say it depends on how strong the attraction of Chicago is for you. Are you running AWAY from something (Detroit) or TOWARDS something (Chicago)?

The answer to THAT simple question can make all the difference in the world.
My late husband tended to blame his failures on whatever place we were in at the time and get the irresistable compulsion to move on. After a couple of years, the same thing would happen again, and off we'd go once more. This went on for over a decade, till this kind of spontaneous moving around became too expensive and impractical to continue. Granted, we got to see a lot of places we might not have seen otherwise, but without solid roots, we were always too poor and struggling too hard for basic existance to ever really enjoy any of them.
If you are running away from a situation in life, the chances are that you WILL take it with you. If you are going towards a new and desirable situation, with specific expectations of improvement, then you are probably making the right decision.

In January of 2000, I left Las Vegas, alone, with two duffle bags full of clothes and $600 in my pocket, and climbed aboard a Greyhound Bus to Portland, Oregon.
When I first drove into Las Vegas, six years before that, (because my husband had wanted to go there), my first thought was "Oh My God! WHAT have I DONE to myself? I'm committed to LIVING in this place for at least a few years!"
However, when that Greyhound Bus pulled into Portland, my first thought was, "WOW! THIS is the place I SHOULD have been all my life!"
I have successfully built a new and vastly better life here. I have a good job that I have been on for more than 6 years, and am engaged to marry an incredibly wonderful man.

However, that has all come about because I came TO Portland, not because I ran AWAY from Las Vegas. Had I just wanted to flee Las Vegas because I didn't like it - and, make no mistake about it, I certainly did NOT like it - I would have fled blind (as he had so often done) as soon as his ashes came back from the crematory and not cared much WHERE I landed.
As it was, I hung on for three years after his death till the right time and opportunity presented itself. I waited till I KNEW - without having to wonder about it - that I was making the best choice.

Hope this gives you some nourishing food for thought, and I wish you the best of luck.

Answer 5

The Lions don't want to kick to Hester but will so he'll bring at least one back for TD. The ones they kick away from him will put the Bears in good field position and the offense will use that to their advantage cause they are playing better. Although Detroit put 34 points on the board in the 4th quarter of the last game, the Bears D held them to 3 points the first 3 quarters. The Bears are not going to allow 34 points like that again. Bears D was really banged up after the Cowboys game. Tillman sat out that game and he will be playing this time. He can be a play maker. Bears 34-10

Answer 6

I'd finish out your IT degree before blowing town, if at all possible. You might end up in the same situation in Chicago, so it might be smart to take it slow and really research your options before you jump. I think if you can make it in Detroit, you can pretty much make it okay in any other city, but doing it with some sort of education might be easier.

Answer 7

go for it. There are PLENTY of jobs in Chicago. Maybe a change is exactly what you two need.

Answer 8

What do you have to lose. it sound like there is not a lot of hope where you are. Go for it I say.