I’m excited to announce I’ll be joining the Chicago Tribune News Applications team next month. It’s a team of epic badassery and I’m honored to join them.

Their dedication to showing their work, hacking their CMS and committing great journalism really appeals to me. Not to mention they’re one of many leading the charge for how we can do awesome news online and reshape our journalistic destinies. In case you’re wondering, I’ll be helping them research, design and build online news products. It’ll be a mixture of front end coding, PHP/Python smacking, server fiddling and CMS punching. I’m looking forward to it.

And now the sad part. This means I have to leave Boston. This place has been my favorite city I’ve ever lived in. Not to mention that I’m having a good time at the Boston Globe. I get to work with super smart people on a daily basis and connect with a vibrant newsroom that runs two of the best journalism websites in the country, all the while still putting out an amazing newspaper. I am a lucky duck to have had this opportunity.

But as some may know, I’ve been trying to get closer to home. My dad’s had some health issues over the years that have recently gotten worse. My older sister just had her first kid. And my mom’s tweets make me homesick. So I’ve decided I need to be closer to my family. Flights to them will take about an hour, not to mention I’ve already got family living in Chicagoland.

The city of Chicago has always been this elusive metropolis. I grew up listening to the Lawrence Arms croon about the city. I didn’t actually visit until just a few months ago, which made me understood more what those songs were about. The place has a shine and a Midwestern grittiness that appeals to me.

While I’m sad to be leaving my friends and colleagues in Boston, I can’t wait to make new ones in Chicago. The next month will involve lots of packing, flying and general life disorder. But I’m looking forward to it.

Wish me luck.