Walkable Burb, Bigger Lot, Smaller Home

[Vlajos]

Not sure what the motivation is, but Evanston seems to make the most sense.

[WanderIL]

Thank you for the help.
We found a nice home in Evanston. The location was awesome and the seller aacepted our offer. The inspection (Carey Seidner) was extremely helpful and uncovered tremendous potential for problems. We will keep looking.

Thank you again.

[chet everett]

Hmm, sorry to hear that you decided that the "potential for problems" was so great that you had to cancel your offer. I hope the report had enough details that everything was clearly documented and that the areas for concern were not mere speculation on the part of the inspector. Evanston , like many towns, has a wide range of housing stock and some of the older homes are quite sound. Of course if things have not been maintained it could shift a "bargain" into the "money pit" category. So too can poorly done renovations, the signs of an incompetent "flipper" tend to be easy to spot...

[AZgarden]

Have you considered Glen Ellyn? Wonderful walkable downtown and the train goes right thru it. Used to live there and there was bus service to the train that went right to my front door. Also the trees and older homes were unbelievable. I had a back yard that was HUGE. It was a dream living there and I wish I had stayed. Taxes in Dupage Co were not cheap though. Good luck.

[sgresident]

The walk-ability factor when you get further out in the suburbs goes down tremendously. While some suburbs that have been mentioned previously have areas of walk-ability, the majority will not satisfy your request. Very few have the walk-ability to the grocery store. At least, not the usual full-size grocery. St. Charles has some of the things you are looking for in walk-ability. It is also scenic in the downtown river area. They also have the Blue Goose independent grocery.
There are numerous restaurants, bars, library, shops, doctor and dental offices, history museum and churches.

[Vlajos]

Originally Posted by WanderIL

Thank you for the help.
We found a nice home in Evanston. The location was awesome and the seller aacepted our offer. The inspection (Carey Seidner) was extremely helpful and uncovered tremendous potential for problems. We will keep looking.

Thank you again.

Sorry to hear that. You'll find a place, though many of the best will probably be off the market soon. May have to wait until spring.

[chitownperson]

With the list of desires, Oak Park could also work for you. Diverse in every sense (not only race) and integrated (lots of areas have a diverse population on paper, but can also be very segregated), lots of smaller houses (the ones on larger lots are a lot more expensive). There's a Whole Foods and Trader Joes on the west side of its down town, plus farmers markets during the warmer times of the year. It has an active downtown area, lots of nice parks, and good schools. Has 2 El lines, and one Metra line in the center, another Metra line in Galewood (just north of the northern border of Oak Park. It's close to the loop, closer then some areas that are actually in Chicago. And it's very walkable.

It's somewhat comparable to Evanston on a lot of aspects, so you may want to check it out also.