<p>S has researched and weighed all the advice and decided that he will not need a car in Chicago. He and two friends who are going to schools on the east coast are going to rent a U-Haul and make a fun trip of the move east. They will drop him off in Chicago and continue on. </p>
<p>Thank you for all the wide-ranging opinions and ideas. That is what I love about CC.</p>
<p>I’m glad… after Theresa’s post I thought you would be nuts in any case. (Son takes the car, in your name, so you spend hundreds of $$ for parking tickets he keeps getting because of all those rigged meters – yikes!)</p>
<p>Before I read that post I was going to tell you, from a legal standpoint, that you definitely do not want your adult offspring driving a vehicle in your name in another state – he should have any future vehicles under his own name, with his own insurance. But I agree with everyone else that a car is probably far more hassle than it is worth in Chicago.</p>
<p>I totally agree about not needing the car. My husband and I both went to grad school in Chicago (Northwestern Medical and Chicago-Kent Law) and never needed one. We lived on a bus route and spent our lives riding the 151 Sheridan.
What a great city - he will have a wonderful time.</p>
<p>My son is currently a grad student in your home town (well, La Jolla, which is pretty much the same thing, right?), and he relies on Zipcar when he needs to drive somewhere. Luckily, he found a place to live for this academic year where he does not need a car to get to campus every day. Unfortunately, though, he may need to move soon, probably to a place where he will have to have a car, which will greatly increase his expenses. </p>
<p>I would worry, too, if my son was moving to an area with snow. He learned to drive in the Washington, DC, area, where there is occasional snow but he never had to drive in it because all of life comes to a screeching halt at the first sign of a snowflake. Winter driving is a different skill, and it’s something that people new to northern climates need to learn, no matter how old they are.</p>
<p>Absolutely right decision! He will be able to take public transportation from any neighborhood on the north or northwest side (where he will undoubtedly be living) to Roosevelt!
Another Chicago mom here to add to your contact list, operamom.</p>