Niles or Morton Grove (Skokie: apartments, homes, neighborhood)

[eatscake]

Hello,


When I last asked what suburb might be good due to proximity, price range and family amenities, schools I was recommended Skokie and Niles, Skokie being the one posters thought was the better of the two. We spent some time in Skokie this weekend and my spouse didn't think it was a fit.


Now I've searched through threads and these towns tend to not get a lot of attention. But now I'm wondering is one better the other? Is one thriving more than the other? Have more young families? Better amenities? Any thing good or bad I should be aware of (besides the smaller homes)?


My spouse would be driving and parking at a CTA or Metra stop to get to work is that helps any.


thanks

[fusillirob1983]

Originally Posted by eatscake

Hello,


When I last asked what suburb might be good due to proximity, price range and family amenities, schools I was recommended Skokie and Niles, Skokie being the one posters thought was the better of the two. We spent some time in Skokie this weekend and my spouse didn't think it was a fit.


Now I've searched through threads and these towns tend to not get a lot of attention. But now I'm wondering is one better the other? Is one thriving more than the other? Have more young families? Better amenities? Any thing good or bad I should be aware of (besides the smaller homes)?


My spouse would be driving and parking at a CTA or Metra stop to get to work is that helps any.


thanks

What makes it not seem like a fit? Is it the older/smaller homes, which is understandable. My wife and I went through a similar discussion last year. Unfortunately, there's only a handful of places within the desired commute to get to the Edgewater neighborhood at that price range.

[MSchemist80]

Morton Grove is the obvious choice with the metra stop. Although I live in Niles, I believe Morton Grove is a bit nicer. Niles is very blue collar not a ghetto by any means, but lacks a lot of ammenaties that desirable suburbs have.

[IrishIllini]

Morton Grove > Niles IMO. Skokie has a lot more apartments east of Skokie Boulevard, but overall I don't think there are any huge differences between Skokie and Morton Grove. Skokie is all over the place with housing whereas Morton Grove is almost entirely SFHs.

[eatscake]

Ok that is helpful. I had read other posters say Morton Grove is nicer than Niles. I just began to wonder since there have been some who mentioned that Niles was voted best place for families. I don't know who makes up these ratings and how accurate or inaccurate they may be but I thought maybe that designation would lure a lot more families and family like amenities.

[MillennialUrbanist]

I second the notion that Morton Grove is better than Niles. It has a more traditional layout, with streets laid out in a grid and businesses lining major streets, rather than confusingly winding streets and malls in a sea of parking lots. The Metra station is a great bonus too. Morton Grove's demographics are more family-oriented, with mostly middle-aged adults (young adults, less so). Niles, on the other hand, gets lambasted for being half nursery, half nursing home.

If you go with either of these suburbs, stay east of Harlem Ave., to get into the Niles Township school district. Otherwise, you will find yourself feeding into Maine East, which is meh, as far as schools go.