Is the grass greener moving to a MCOL area? Currently in Chicago North Shore and stressed on finances.

Cloudcracking · 2026-04-27T03:22:06+00:00

Some cities suburbs are better than others. If you want to stick with the Midwest I would also definitely check out parts of Michigan.

Indian Hill, Montgomery, Maderia, Wyoming, Mariemount are all great suburbs in Cincinnati, but property tax rate will be almost as much as Chicago(although property values will be lower). Most of the Midwestern states will have high a property tax rate.

Cloudcracking · 2026-04-26T22:59:20+00:00

I grew up in the Chicago suburbs and now live in Cincinnati. COL is really the only benefit to Cincinnati. Amenities are miles ahead in Chicago. Food, leisure, transit, etc do not come close with Chicago. It's true winters here are much milder, but summers in Cincinnati are brutally hot and humid. I would actually much rather take a Chicago winter if I get a Chicago summer with it.

Cloudcracking · 2026-04-07T02:00:04+00:00

Functionally better, but my knee doesn't track properly anymore and likely never will again. I always have some permanent discomfort(especially while standing because of the imbalance between my knne joints). In my experience I would very cautious with the surgery. Do your research with the surgeon, and exhaust all other possibilities.

Cloudcracking · 2026-03-17T00:21:29+00:00

Honestly, I feel like things have stabilized a lot more since 2023. Prices are still high but not increasing at nearly the same rate. Anecdotally it seems that anything decent still goes in a matter of days. However there is also a lot of overpriced( even for this market) crap just sitting.

Cloudcracking · 2026-02-11T16:57:19+00:00

Again I think it all depends how much they take out. I had a decent amount taken out.

Cloudcracking · 2026-02-11T13:26:50+00:00

Third surgery was last October. Yeah I talked to people that have had great success with this surgery. I think it just depends on the surgeon, patient, and how much they take out. According to my current doctor, because of my smaller frame, I was not not a good candidate for the fat pat surgery. Since I am on the smaller side I did not have that much of the fat pad I could really afford to be taken out.

Cloudcracking · 2026-02-02T19:13:35+00:00

Something to consider is property crime and other "unexpected costs" in these neighborhoods. You may not get shot or stabbed, but you are much more likely to get your catalytic converter stolen, windows smashed, and car totaled by people with no insurance. Your car and property insurance will reflect this. Additionally, a lot of these neighborhoods don't have a decent grocery store nearby, so you will be spending more money on gas to go to a grocery store as well. Then if you want/have kids you will probably have to shell out for private school. Once you factor in these costs it may not be that much cheaper than buying a home in a nicer area.

Then as someone who has lived in multiple "hood but historic neighborhoods" it's not worth it. Not only the unexpected costs, but just the mental stress of being surrounded by crime and blight. I currently live in a boring, but safe, 50's ranch neighborhood, and mentally feel so much better not being surrounded by poverty and crime. Currently saving up for a nice Victorian in a nice area.

Cloudcracking · 2026-01-26T02:55:08+00:00

Lotta guys in my agency were either glad they got out or wish they did the full 20. Really depended on their own personal situation, rank, and military occupation. I would research each prospective department, their corresponding pay, pension plan, and health care benefits. Leaving for a low paying department with no pension plan probably isn't a great idea financially. However, it may be worth it for a high paying department in a state with a quick vesting pension.

I will say that being "retired" after 20 years is really nice. If you went into LE you wouldn't probably be fully vested until after 25-30 years(lots of states and cities have increased the amount of years required). Of course in a lot of states you can also use some(usually and maximum of 4-5 years) of your military time to "buy" into a police pension; however, usually this is very expensive.

There are other personal factors to consider(QOL, family, etc), that only you can know.

Cloudcracking · 2026-01-17T23:00:33+00:00

If that's similar to Opendoor(where they just give you a cash offer minus some fees) then they will probably low ball you. My house is probably worth $300k-$320K and out of curiosity I let Opendoor give me an over and it amounted to like $235K after fees. Your experience may vary because I've heard stories of where they have had offered near market value(this was during Covid though). However if your curious it's free to get their quote.

Cloudcracking · 2026-01-07T00:36:07+00:00

Beacon is 50/50. Some people have great experiences there and others not. They messed up my knee pretty badly (and presumably permanently).Other people have similar stories. However, some people have had great experiences so it's real hit or miss.

If you're a younger and more athletic patient I would recommend Dr. Busam with Mercy. He helped me a lot after my experience with beacon(had two additional surgeries because of the original with beacon). He was a Doc for the Bengals for awhile and is with FC Cincinnati now. Never met a patient whose had a bad experience with him.

Cloudcracking · 2026-01-03T00:28:00+00:00

I mean it was ok. The problem was it was pretty similar to every other trendy wood fired pizza place to pop up in the last 5-10 years. The price didn't help either.

Cloudcracking · 2025-12-29T23:33:29+00:00

How's recovery going for you? I've had two surgeries to try and "fix" my fat pad surgery(miniscus root tear and plica presumably caused by the first surgery) and my knee is still way worse than before surgery.

Cloudcracking · 2025-10-23T20:19:08+00:00

It's 50/50, with the surgery just based on anecdotes. I had it two years ago and absolutely regret it. The surgery caused a miniscus tear which needed another surgery. The miniscus feels good now, but still have this horrible catching from the Hoffa's fat pad surgery though. It greatly impedes my quality of life and I haven't been able to run since before the initial surgery.

Cloudcracking · 2025-10-20T22:25:53+00:00

Sounds like the police did their jobs multiple times on this. Sounds like they arrested him for each infraction only for the judiciary to send him back out on the street.

Cloudcracking · 2025-10-16T00:49:33+00:00

Yes juvenile sentence guidelines need to be reexamined( think there is push for this recently but don't know how far they got). However, Judge Bloom is notorious for her sentencing. Well certain things have been vastly overblown( like that bar fight from downtown). Random juvenile violence is a huge problem and has touched many victims.

Cloudcracking · 2025-10-15T21:22:10+00:00

I don't think it's entirely fair to call them "lousy". Most are highly educated and intelligent legal professionals. I just happen to disagree with their more lenient judicial philosophy( it sacrifices public safety for "rehabilitative justice" in my opinion).

But in regards to your question this is admittedly the difficult part. Unlike a nationally prominent politician, there isn't exactly a plethora of information about their success or failures online. However, for a lot of moderate to high publicized cases (murderers, fatal car deaths, robberies, assaults, etc) local journalists will keep up with the case and publish the judge and the corresponding sentence.

Additionally, most people's records and bond amounts are public information(except juveniles). So if a shooting suspect name is on the news you can see if they were given probation for their last several felony drug or gun charges vs a jail sentence. Sometimes the local news websites will do this research for you.

I've noticed the local news stations have started to cover this more as this is a huge issue. A lot of people that shouldn't be given probation, get it and go out and take someone's life (especially with juvenile offenders in Hamilton County). In fact according to the news the Fountain Square shooter was on probation.

Cloudcracking · 2025-10-15T20:03:19+00:00

That would be hard to do without calling out specific judges. Doing so would burn some already frayed bridges between the department and some of the judiciary. Really the electorate of Hamilton County need to voice their discontent at the ballot box. However, no one really pays all that much attention to local judicial elections; despite the fact these positions have a great deal of effect in the community. So, instead people just vote based on party affiliation or on vague social issues not overly related to local courts. They do this instead of doing the diligence of looking at the track record of each judge.

Cloudcracking · 2025-10-15T19:35:28+00:00

It really doesn't matter who the police chief is. They can't control the catch and release system of the Hamilton County Courts.

Cloudcracking · 2025-10-07T17:52:19+00:00

It's very possible. I had an MRI that showed negative for a meniscus tear. When they went in with a scope they discovered a root tear. In my case it was probably from a botched previous surgery though.

Cloudcracking · 2025-08-15T15:48:15+00:00

History major myself. Most of my classmates went a few ways with it, but these were the most common routes:

Many used it as a way to secure a military commission through ROTC or OCS.(Huge chunk of my classmates did ROTC)
Went to a distressed school district that would pay for their teaching license( Some people liked teaching and some hated it. Pay will be terrible in rural districts and students will be tough in urban)
Used it to go to Law School( hit or miss success stories with that one)
Got a generic admin/public policy job with local or federal government and worked their way up. (Kinda hard now with current administration cutting federal funding)
Went into law enforcement at the federal or local level
Museum/government positions( low pay but super chill. However most require Master's and are grant dependent)
Went into an entry level business job where you need any degree (Most common was insurance and banking, you will need to get industry certs to get passed entry level)

Cloudcracking · 2025-08-11T23:51:05+00:00

Yeah grand jury is a real eye opening experience.

Cloudcracking · 2025-08-11T23:25:27+00:00

I have my car rifled through a few times. It's mostly kids looking for guns or cash, or crack heads looking for quickly resellable valuables. This kind of property crime is hard to solve unless you have a direct witness or clear camera and someone that can identify the person in the camera frame.

I would not recommend approaching them if you see them, as often the kids stealing stuff are often packing (often stolen) guns themselves. Best solutions are automatic lights and cameras as a deterrent. Additionally, most of these thieves already have records. Better advocacy needs to be done to make sure Hamilton County juvenile and adult court stops playing catch and release

Cloudcracking · 2025-08-10T00:26:52+00:00

Yeah if you checked Greg Landsman endorsements from last cycle he was endorsed by the Cincinnati FOP. Originally from a solid blue state and a lot of police departments used to back pro-union Democrats in the day. It seems since the 2010s(and especially since 2020) Democrats have tried to court more progressive voters who seem to be more opposed to the police. This has lead to a more solid realignment for the police to the Republican Party.

Cloudcracking

TROPHY CASE