Young Professional Relocating for Job to Vernon Hills (Chicago, Buffalo Grove: apartments, homes)

[hogie21]

I am considering a move to the Chicago area for a job in Vernon Hills. I am in Raleigh, NC currently and am very unfamiliar with the area. I will be visiting for one night this week. If I do take the job, I would need to be there by September, which is going to make this a very fast and furious move. Any suggestions on which suburb to live in? I'm not crazy about heavy traffic and long commutes. Does anyone have any recommendations for searching for apartments/roommates? I have of course looked at craigslist and sites like forrent.com and roommates.com, but thought there may be a more local source for finding a place to live. Any suggestions would be very much appreciated! Thanks (in advance)!

[Chicago0304]

I don't know about finding a roommate, but Vernon Hills itself is nice.. So is Libertyville. May as well be close to work..

[Al Hung]

Unfortunately, I think heavy traffic is a way of life in Chicago, like harsh winters, and short summers.

My wife just recently had her work place relocate to Vernon Hills from Buffalo Grove. She commutes daily from Bloomingdale, and its absolutely brutal she says. At a minimum its 55 minutes right before rush hour. At worst its been 1:30. It of course depends on what time she leaves, but it also depends on what rout she takes. She's still experimenting but the best she's found is 55 minutes.

On the other hand, when we were looking for our first place, Lincolnshire was pretty high on my list. It was a while ago, but I remember it being a very good neighborhood with great schools. I have customers in the area so I've spent some time driving around there, as well as Buffalo Grove and Wheeling. The homes we saw in our price range were older than we'd like in Buffalo Grove and Wheeling, and while the ones in Lincolnshire were more our style, they were slightly out of our price range.

We settled on Bloomingdale due to the relative distance from my workplace which is in Elk Grove Village. To give you some perspective, in theory I should be able to get from EGV to Bloomingdale in no more than 16 minutes. On a good morning, it takes me 25 minutes to get to work due to road construction and general congestion. And so the more towns you pass through, the more town-specific construction and congestion you deal with - it adds up.

[AuDiBelle]

Prepare yourself for insane traffic/congestion and a much higher cost of living relative to NC. Add in the horrible weather 6 months of the year and then decide if the job is really worth it to you, monetarily and otherwise. If so, I would try to live as close to the workplace as possible.

[jlawrence01]

Originally Posted by Chicago0304

I don't know about finding a roommate, but Vernon Hills itself is nice.. So is Libertyville. May as well be close to work..

Agreed.

The traffic in Chicago is a hassle ONLY if you move a long way from work. If you live close to work, you will get there pretty quickly.

The mistake that a lot of young people make when relocating to this area is that they want to live in the "fun/exciting" areas. That is great BUT you have to commute to work five times a week and commute to fun only once or twice a week.

One warning. A twenty minute commute in September can easily turn into a 60-80 minute commute during a snow storm/ ice storm in February.