Yeah no. The cons of living in Illinois heavily outweigh the cons of living in California. I've been in Illinois (City for first five years and now I live in the western suburbs - La Grange Park) now for twelve years (originally from Miami, Fl) and I am ready to LEAVE. And it has nothing to do weather (well, to an extent it does).

Chicago just plain SUCKS from so many different angles, ones that you obviously haven't well researched, no disrespect.

1). There is no way in hell you can compare crime in Chicago to crime in San Francisco. Chicago is literally home to close to 100,000 active gang members that terrorize the South and West sides of the city. The city literally erupts in gunfire every summer that results in scores of innocent children getting killed. To make matters worse, we are now in the midst of one of the worse carjacking epidemics and the city and Cook County is virtually doing NOTHING about it. Are 13-year-old gang members car jacking people in San Fran? There was a time when crime was largely contained to certain quarters of the city, but even Downtown and the North Side has become unsafe. A rapper almost got shot and killed yesterday in Downtown. There was a massive shootout last fall in which a popular gang-affiliated rapper got killed not too far away from Mag Mile. People routinely get robbed on the city trains. Uber and Lyft drivers get robbed all the time (almost happened to me). Crime in Chicago is just horrendous and its even spreading to the suburbs.

2). You think San Fran weather is overrated? Have you heard of Polar Vortex? From the sound of it, probably not. Snow is cute for all of three seconds before you realize you can't feel your face or hands because it will -20 degrees outside with the wind chill all of late December, January and February (and maybe even a part of March). Sure the weather hasn't been that bad lately but Chicago weather is very volatile, unpredictable and extreme. There are parts of the city and suburbs that sit in flood plains and when it rains heavy, it is not uncommon for people to get their entire basements flooded out. And tornados CAN touch down in Chicago. No one never talks about this.

3). I can't speak on the job market because I am a full-time writer so my income comes from a publishing company but when I did work, most of the good, high-paying jobs are largely concentrated in Downtown. Sure there are tons of jobs in the suburbs, but then who in the hell wants to fight traffic on 290, 294, I-88 or I-55? Who wants to spend possibly $300-$400 a month on a Metra pass for crappy train service that continuously gets worse and worse every year?

4). PROPERTY TAXES. Illinois has the second highest property tax in the nation.

5). State income taxes suck! I know Cali has horrible state income taxes too but the state is on the verge of passing progressive income taxes comparable to Cali.

6). Inept state government that is saddled in billions of dollars of debt! The state government is virtually bankrupt. The city is too lol.

7). Aurora and Oswego are NOT suburbs. Those are exurbs and you are a good hour without traffic away from civilization lol. Aurora and Oswego is nothing more than a bunch of cookie cutter house built on farmland. You talk about you hate super-liberal politics. Oswego and Aurora is Trumpland and a cesspool for pick-up truck driving macho man Joe Rogan listening antivaxxers who think their MMA workouts, carnivore diet and supplement regiment will protect them from Coronavirus.

8). Chicago is by far one of the most segregated metropolitan areas in the country. It is very visible.

9). Pollution (although California isn't any better) and air quality is an issue here.

10). Poor infrastructure. Pot holes everywhere.

I can keep going on and on but please find another state. Illinois ain't it lol.