Naperville? What else? (Chicago, Evanston, Wheaton: for sale, condo, homes)

[Suburbanmom76]

You have gotten some good ideas. Other possibilities: Park Ridge, Arlington Heights, and Glenview all have very good access to O’Hare, and fairly good commute into the city.

[Burbmama]

Definitely worth checking out oak park and Berwyn. In oak park, the blue line will get you to O'Hare or you can hop on the Eisenhower. it's not a bad drive to Midway airport either. There's a few train options in (metra and the el) for a short commute to the city. Car traffic normally makes the train more attractive.
Both Berwyn and oak park have large lgbt populations. I believe oak park would have the larger Jewish population. Berwyn is just south of oak park and in the middle of the Eisenhower and Stevenson to commute to the city. There's also a metra line into the city, the same line you would take from Naperville but a much shorter ride. The Berwyn downtown area is not quite as thriving as oak park or some other burbs mentioned like Lagrange but it has a few coffee shops and such.
Good luck!

[RamenAddict]

If I were in your situation, I’d probably avoid the more north suburbs. Anything on the BNSF line will get you into downtown quickly and will have decent access to both Midway and O’Hare. I would say LaGrange is a great option- reasonably close to Midway but still a short commute to O’Hare. Downers Grove has a somewhat smaller but still nice downtown area. Naperville, LaGrange, and Downers Grove will have more of what you are looking for with a cute downtown area- DG and LaGrange both have movie theaters and a good array of restaurants. Naperville is huge and I think you’d want to focus on the NE side to remain closer to the downtown area/Riverwalk.

[ToriaT]

Lots of bad advice here. Naperville is nice, its a huge suburb. There are many others, as nice or nicer such as Glen Elly and Wheaton. I don't know how important to you to be around other culturally Jewish people, but they are not found much in the above western suburbs. If its not important then you have a good opportunity to move anywhere. But they are found predominately in northern suburbs. I'm not trying to steer you there but just stating some info that you might want to be aware of. Places like Evanston, Glenview, Highland Park, etc. would be places to look.

Berwyn is a predominately hispanic blue collar town and I think your price point is above, and they don't really have modern townhouses or any real selection of town houses there. True about the LGBT community there though. Good place if you wanted diversity and to buy a vintage two flat or historic bungalow or house. Skip the Fox Valley such as St. Charles, Batavia, and Geneva. Charming but just a bit too far from the city to make the trip in. Some lack closeness to major highways and train stations.

Oak Park is an older, great and diverse suburb. High taxes for somebody with no kids. Very historical but not much modern housing, some new condos in the city center. I suggest you take a trip here and visit a few places before making your decision.

I would visit towns on the north shore, especially Evanston, and the ones I mentioned, and you might want to go to Oak Park, if you want to come back and look further at Naperville, I would also visit Glen Ellyn too.

[fusillirob1983]

Based on the info you provided:

-Price point
-Commute under an hour
-Amenities and whatnot in town
-Commutes to airport(s)

1st tier: Oak Park/River Forest and LaGrange
2nd tier: Park Ridge

[actualize81]

I too am thinking of making the move to the midwest and grew up in the area of NYC region the OP mentioned. My mother is 100% from Michigan so I have a good idea for the culture and the behavior of midwestern folk. I like them a lot.

If the OP he is culturally jewish from NY I hope he realizes that people in Chicagoland are outgoing, friendly, make eye contact, talk to strangers....etc...which is not predominant in this area of the suburbs in NY/CT. I'm not sure if he is aware there is a drastic culture change (for the better) where people are decent to each other and sustained eye contact is encouraged.

[CamThomas]

3k a month? You may be able to live in a high or mid rise downtown.

[Kmanshouse]

At 50 years old, with a solid budget, you have a lot of options.

Naperville is a very nice place (I lived there for 17 years), but better if you have kids. Almost everyone there will have children (divorced or married) and their lives will revolve around them. This will be true for most suburbs, but especially true in Naperville - people move there for the schools, specifically. The downtown is very nice, has everything you'd want. So for the lifestyle you live, it would work, but if you are looking to make friends or find a partner, I'd say it would be more difficult because you won't have as much in common with the people there. Single people your age aren't flocking to Naperville, and the single people who ARE your age there are going to be divorced people who still have kids to deal with. And if you are just looking to make friends, most will be couples, which may be a bit tougher.

In your shoes, I might go inner ring suburbs with robust downtowns, and live walkable to the downtown. Some were mentioned above.

Or you could move to a Chicago neighborhood like Logan Square or Andersonville. Logan is a very hip/artsy area of Chicago, easy access to the airport. Most people will be younger than you, but it's not "bro-ey". Andersonville is an idyllic, extremely gay friendly neighborhood on the far North Side. A little less convenient to the airport, but under an hour. I LOVE that neighborhood for people a little older than "post college 20s/30s" as it's a mix of ages. And you'd find a lot of common ground there.

Good luck

[DigitalMilford]

Originally Posted by Burbmama

Definitely worth checking out oak park and Berwyn. In oak park, the blue line will get you to O'Hare or you can hop on the Eisenhower. it's not a bad drive to Midway airport either. There's a few train options in (metra and the el) for a short commute to the city. Car traffic normally makes the train more attractive.
Both Berwyn and oak park have large lgbt populations. I believe oak park would have the larger Jewish population. Berwyn is just south of oak park and in the middle of the Eisenhower and Stevenson to commute to the city. There's also a metra line into the city, the same line you would take from Naperville but a much shorter ride. The Berwyn downtown area is not quite as thriving as oak park or some other burbs mentioned like Lagrange but it has a few coffee shops and such.
Good luck!

Thanks! This is very helpful!

[DigitalMilford]

Originally Posted by actualize81

I too am thinking of making the move to the midwest and grew up in the area of NYC region the OP mentioned. My mother is 100% from Michigan so I have a good idea for the culture and the behavior of midwestern folk. I like them a lot.

If the OP he is culturally jewish from NY I hope he realizes that people in Chicagoland are outgoing, friendly, make eye contact, talk to strangers....etc...which is not predominant in this area of the suburbs in NY/CT. I'm not sure if he is aware there is a drastic culture change (for the better) where people are decent to each other and sustained eye contact is encouraged.

I know this will come as a shock, but, most NY'ers are decent to each other. Being more reserved and busy doesn't make people indecent.