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We will be moving to the Chicago area this winter from Ann Arbor, MI. My work will be at Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge, IL. We have 3 kids (age 4, 2, and newborn in September) and are trying to decide where to live. Park Ridge seems like a great area, but not sure about diversity? We were thinking either Morton Grove/Skokie area or Elmhurst (not sure how that commute would be). Ideally, we'd like to live near a mosque (there is a large one in Morton Grove and one in Villa Park that both seem nice), but I also want a close commute. As a runner, I'd also like somewhere with nice running trails/paths as well. Initially, we will probably rent a 3-4 bedroom house/condo/apartment in the $2500-$3000 range and hopefully buy a couple years thereafter. Thanks in advance, and we are looking forward to all that Chicagoland has to offer.
Depending on your budget I might include a slightly wider range of towns. I assume you are a physician that has completed your residency.
While I like Park Ridge and Elmhurst a whole lot my experience with co-workers and former clients would perhaps make me a little leary of focusing on either location if it is your desire to also be active in a mosque. Areas like Oak Brook have a larger percentage of affluent Muslims, though you trade walkability as even the most basic shopping needs cannot really be accomplished without driving.
The trends of affluence don't really favor the Morton Grove / Skokie area either.Beside Oak Brook the largest concentration of affluent Muslims is very likely in the Naperville area, a bit of drive to Luthern General but again it does offer a lot of nice options for walkable neighborhoods closer to its well developed core.
Thanks for the reply, Chet. You are right in assuming I'm a practicing physician. Oak Brook does seem like a nice area, do you know how long of a commute that would be to Lutheran General? I'd have early hours so I would probably beat the morning rush, but I would probably be coming home during evening rush hour. Also, regarding Naperville, how long would that commute be? Also, would some of the nearer western suburbs like Glen Ellyn and Wheaton be good alternatives to Naperville (I feel Naperville is quite a ways out, but I may be wrong?)? Thanks again.
I'll second Chet's recommendation to include a wider range of towns. What is your commuting tolerance (in mins)? Any other specifics that you are looking for? Wheaton and Glen Ellyn are both great alternatives for a family shopping Naperville, but they aren't going to save you much time on a commute to Park Ridge.
There is a brand new mosque on Wheaton's northern border with Carol Stream (ICW Online) but I don't believe there is a sizable Muslim community in Wheaton yet. Wheaton has long been known for its prolific Evangelical Christian community. I've read that ICW leadership would like to establish roots in Wheaton -- but for the time being I think the congregation is mostly drawn from Carol Stream and Glendale Heights. Huge upside for Wheaton is that the downtown serves as the hub for all three branches of the Illinois Prairie Path (Illinois Prairie Path: North America's first successful rails-to-trails conversion. Founded 1963.) (IPP Color Map) which is a marathoner's dream come true. Endless running routes for miles in every direction.
The trip from Wheaton/Glen Ellyn/Naperville to Park Ridge is roughly 26 miles and would be ~35 mins in the early morning and ~50 mins on the way back if you hit traffic.
Oak Brook and Elmhurst are also great options, and both have slightly shorter commutes than the Naperville area. Yet another option might be the Southwest suburbs -- Chicago Ridge south to Orland Park to be specific -- which is home to a very sizable Muslim community. The region is only about 28-30 miles south of Park Ridge and the commute would be entirely on 294. Probably 35-40 mins in the morning and 50-55 mins on the way back. Certainly something to keep on your radar. I personally prefer the look and feel of the Western burbs and their charming downtown districts (I live in Wheaton) but everyone has their own preferences. Many people appreciate how much further their $$ goes in the Southwest.
I would recommend plugging any town you're considering into a live-traffic app during your expected travel times to get a better idea of the actual commute time. Chet usually recommends Waze, but you can get a pretty good idea using the built-in live traffic feature on Google Maps.
My opinion is you should try to look in Park Ridge or some of the northwest suburbs. I don't know much about mosques there, I do know there are some in the western suburbs as mentioned. But the drive is too far for commuting. Park Ridge is lovely. Western suburbs and southwest suburbs are too far for the commute. Remember we get really nasty weather in the winter so my advice would be to live closer by. You would be better off looking into Mt. Prospect, Glenview or Arlington Hts.
I agree with Toria that you're better off staying in the NW suburbs. The commute time from the other suburbs may only be 35 - 38 minutes on google maps, but even if it's accurate, which many times it is not, when it rains, snows, or there is an accident, or even just a squad car pulled off to the shoulder, commute times increase considerably. I would consider Glenview or Northbrook, the latter of which has a mosque.
I like Park Ridge very very much and reccomnd it often. My reservation with regard to the Muslim community is that in my experience there are some pretty wide cultural / ethnic / socioeconomic divisions between the various communities coming from DesPlaines or Morton Grove/Skokie and other places. From conversations I have had with co-workers the sense I get is that the mosques in DuPage Co are generally more family oriented / families that include more high skill / high income traditions. The exception may be Northbrook, but depeninding on where they find a home the actual time savings between Luthern General and Northbrook or Glenview compared to Oak Brook may be a wash. Again, it is worth the OP investigating on their own but that is the sense I have from folks that themselves are active in their community...
The suggestion of Naperville is one I made with reservations as I know that even in the best conditions it will likely be more than 30 minutes and in the worst conditions probably about double that. That said it is lovely town and may very well be worth the trade off. Further the odds of finding alternative employment in or near Naperville where the population and demand for medical services is still growing is far better than in more established area that are best flat in population...
I made the suggestion of Oak Brook based on the ABSOLUTE CERTAINTY that it will NOT be a miserable commute. The suggestion that this would take 50 minute is NONSENSE unless the roads are literally impassable with unplowed snow. I have driven this route many many time in normal rush hour and it will NOT take 50 minutes.
The biggest advantage to Oak Brook is the schools --portion of Oak Brook served by D53 schools is among the most diverse and desirable spots in the whole region, people of all ethnic / cultural backgrounds live in nice homes and enjoy access to not only THE TOP RANKED schools based on not just test performance but also extremely favorable student:teacher ratios and a truly superlative range of offerings driven by the affluent / well educated parents. Further the recreational opportunities of Oak Brook are without peer, the town is ccompletely inter-linked with the most extensive network of running / bicycling paths that are well used / completely safe but uncrowded. Additionally Oak Brook has a first rate public library, extensive parks / forest preserves, one of the nation's most well regarded indoor & outdoor municipal tennis facilities, large aquatic / fitness facilites and of course a nationally known destination retail mall. About the only thing it lacks is a walkable "town center" and the kinds of 'routine' grocery type stores that are parts of some traditional town's core such as Elmhurst...
My reservation about Elmhurst is actually less strong than that toward the other near NW suburbs becuase my understandng is that there are probably more families that would be simialr to the OP. That said the relative time saving for a commuting to/from Elmhurst vs Oak Brook are negligible and the relative value of Oak Brook, especially given the exceedingly good value that property taxes in Oak Brook tend to be...
IN stark contrast the value represented to homebiyers in the S/SW is not very good and in many cases is actually in a terribe spiral of increasing taxes AND decreasing property values. This is a "death spiral of doom" and will soon impact schools and other public amenities in a hugely negative ways...
Honestly if I were in the shoes of the OP I would spend a considerable amount of time weighing the options. Their situation is unique enough that they may want to make a few extra trips. Stay in a nice hotel for a week or so before schools start. Visit the communities. Seek out the various mosques. Get a feel for the kind of drive you could tolerate and th trade-offs that may have to be made.
This region is much different than Ann Arbor and if the whole family is going to be happy the time invested upfront is very important.
Last edited by chet everett; 08-01-2014 at 09:38 AM..
You can get to Glenview in about ten minutes from Lutheran General - maybe 18 in traffic. Ten more to Northbrook, maybe 25 or so in traffic. The ramp going to Wheaton/Glen Ellyn is about a mile away, so it can take a while just to get to the expressway from Lutheran General. According to bing maps, which I've found to be fairly accurate, the trek from the hospital to Wheaton is 28.3 miles, 38 minutes now, 47 with traffic. To Glen Ellyn, it's 26.3 miles, 33 minutes, 40 with traffic. So Glen Ellyn may be off the "50 minute" mark, but Wheaton isn't, apparently, and that's on a good day without bad weather.
I, do agree, though, that while Park Ridge is lovely, it's not the best fit for the op.
Honestly I would tell the OP to drive the routes. I have personally driven from Butler National Golf Course in Oak Brook to Advocate Luthern General Hospital in 20 minutes and as fate would have had to meet someone that was driving from Kraft's Corporate Campus in Glenview. It was the same time of day and it took both of us almost exactly 20 minutes despite the fact that is more than 3x farther. Yes it was an "emergancy" and both of us were trying to get there as quickly as posible but neither of us were in a vehicle with flashing red lghts or anything, one was driving on the fairly congested and traffic light equipped surface streets and the other was on the tollway for all but the last mile or so...
My point is that depending on tolerance for relative swfitly moving tollway traffic, which truly will be the case for the OP's early morning commute (many physicians that I know have a schedule that starts with surgery before 6AM) and likely not too bad for the PM commute as the stretch from Dempster to Cermack has very little truck traffic and benefits greatly from the routine "open road tolling" at the two plazas accessed... During the "low point" of speeds / high point of congestion that typically peaks around 5:30PM or so this stretch still has many cars moving at / above the limit.
You can get to Glenview in about ten minutes from Lutheran General - maybe 18 in traffic. Ten more to Northbrook, maybe 25 or so in traffic. The ramp going to Wheaton/Glen Ellyn is about a mile away, so it can take a while just to get to the expressway from Lutheran General. According to bing maps, which I've found to be fairly accurate, the trek from the hospital to Wheaton is 28.3 miles, 38 minutes now, 47 with traffic. To Glen Ellyn, it's 26.3 miles, 33 minutes, 40 with traffic. So Glen Ellyn may be off the "50 minute" mark, but Wheaton isn't, apparently, and that's on a good day without bad weather.
I, do agree, though, that while Park Ridge is lovely, it's not the best fit for the op.
These are the same rough estimates I gave for commute times. While there are definitely plenty of good options closer to Lutheran General, everyone has different commute tolerances and you never know what kind of perceived, intangible qualities will make a person/family fall in love with a community. If the OP falls in love with everything Glen Ellyn has to offer, the commute might not matter at all. I have a neighbor here in Wheaton that commutes to Northbrook everyday, and he tells me it's not that unusual, he knows others. I wouldn't count Naperville/Wheaton/Glen Ellyn out solely because of the commute -- the OP would need to list a few more must-haves before making definitive statements about what would or would not work.
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Endless running routes for miles in every direction.
