Which are the best suburbs close to Chicago? (Waukegan, Evanston: real estate, to rent) - Chicago Suburbs - Illinois (IL) - City-Data Forum

Cityfolk · 06-03-2006, 11:08 PM

My husband will soon be starting work near Cook County Hospital area. We currently live in the city. However, we would like to move to the 'burbs now - not that we don't like city life - we love it, but need more space.

Which suburbs would be best as far as closeness to the city, good schools and eliteness are concerned?

dexivoje · 06-09-2006, 11:41 PM

Oak Park would definitely fit your profile.
It's only 9 miles from the Cook County hospital, excellent public schools, enterainment, sports, you name it its there. The public library is truly awesome. It' s built in 2003 and has everything you would ever need, particularly for kids. Even DVDs are free to rent and movies are quite recent. Free internet, too.
As you would expect, real estate and taxes are high, It' s hard to find a decent 3- bedroom house for less than 450K with taxes around 8-10k a year.
Condos go for approx 300-350 for 2bdr 2bath.
Hope this helps.

crissyfm · 06-29-2006, 08:50 PM

Try the south suburbs. The Orland Park/Tinley Park area has the best schools, both elementary and high schools. The transportation is great - Metra runs all the time and goes downtown all day and night. Plus, it's near all major expressways which run into downtown Chicago. Another plus is you have a better chance of getting a nicer, bigger house for less money in the south suburbs.

OuttaDodge06 · 08-07-2006, 06:53 AM

Have secured a place in Lake In The Hills. Unfortunately, trying to find a good neighborhood, w/o the slightest idea of what and wehre everything is in Chicago, was too difficult from long distance. I will now rent this condo for 1 year and in the meantime, start looking for something closer to doewntown. I'm will be moving from Tampa to LITH, working in Elmhurst. Can you suggest some areas I should start researching upon my arrival to so that I'm better prepared for a move from LITH to the City? Looking for nightlife (not 20 something), health clubs, and a general "city life" with affordability.....will LITH be tolerable for a year or will I want to committ hairy kairy??

batman · 10-20-2006, 11:21 PM

if you want ANY kind of nice hospitality, your best bet might be st. charles.

AthmaGirl · 10-22-2006, 02:18 PM

If you don't mind moving a bit north, Lake County has a lot of great areas, good jobs, lots to do, lower crime overall, and you can commute to Chicago on Metra because it goes way up into Lake County.

Barrington, Barrington Hills, Kildeer, Buffalo Grove, Lincolnshire, Riverwoods, Deerfield, Highland Park, are all just north of Cook county in the far south end of Lake County. However, these areas are a bit pricey. You have to go farther north in Lake County to find cheaper houses.

VALT · 10-23-2006, 06:44 PM

We visited Oak Park from Vermont because my wife might be working at one of the hospitals starting in the summer, and we were hoping to spend no more than 350. Is that realistic, if not, what about rents- or maybe another neighboohood like it- Evanston? WE have a 2 year old and it would be nice to find a real community with a lot of good people.

JohnValt and family from VT

chicagoland · 10-30-2006, 04:43 PM

It is realistic to not spend more than 350, depending on where you would like to live. Some northern suburbs that would fit this criteria would be Evanston, Morton Grove, Niles, Skokie, Lincolnwood, Park Ridge, and Des Plaines. If you don't mind living a little further north which is further away from Chicago, then I suggest Waukegan, Gurnee, Libertyville, Mundelein, or Vernon Hills. Don't even think about Deerfield, Highland Park, Glencoe, Winnetka, Wilmette, Northfield, Northbrook, or Glenview because these suburbs are the more expensive ones.

SonySegaTendo617 · 10-30-2006, 10:52 PM

if you're going to work at Cook County Hospital(i don't and won't ever acknowledge its 'name'.), you probably should focus on near west suburbs of Chicago.

i'd say, noting you're looking for places with good schools, you should look into La Grange, Riverside(and/or Brookfield), and River Forest. maybe Elmwood Park and Franklin Park, which albeit are both nice and quiet, ratings i've read of schools in these communities are mixed.

if you go to the Chicago Tribune's site, it has a guide to how well schools in any Chicagoland community were rated last year:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/busine...0285.htmlstory

hope that helps, and good luck with your search.

NSH · 10-31-2006, 03:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by VALT

We visited Oak Park from Vermont because my wife might be working at one of the hospitals starting in the summer, and we were hoping to spend no more than 350. Is that realistic, if not, what about rents- or maybe another neighboohood like it- Evanston? WE have a 2 year old and it would be nice to find a real community with a lot of good people.

JohnValt and family from VT

Beverly/Morgan Park neighborhoods share the same qualties of Evanston and Oak Park. The only difference is location. Bev/MP are on the south side of chicago. $350-400 will get you a nice home on a huge wooded lot in East Beverly. Taxes are also low (about $3-6K per year)