Moving from Australia to Chicago (Schaumburg, Oak Park: for sale, real estate, car insurance)

[Melbourne]

Hi,

My husband has been offered a job with his company's Chicago office. The office is located in Burr Ridge. How far is this from Chicago? What are some good areas for a young couple to live, early 30s, no children, both executives?
Any help would be most appreciated.

Thanks,
Natalie from Australia

[AnonymousCoward]

You might get better information by posting this in the Chicago (or perhaps the Chicago Suburb) part of the forum. I live downstate, and and not an expert on that part of the world, but from what I know of that area it is safe, suburban and relatively expensive.

Burr Ridge is about 20 miles out from downtown, but even "reverse" commutes from downtown to the suburbs are known to be difficult. My advice to anyone living in or near any large US city is to find as nice of an area close to work as you can afford and avoid long commutes. You will want a car, it might even be a requirement since Metra (the local commuter rail) and other public transit options don't always link up well between home and work. Still, being close to a Metra link makes it easy to get downtown and enjoy what Chicago has to offer.

[prairiestate]

Check out LaGrange, if you can afford at least $400,000 for a home. Beautiful town, with a thriving business district, home to both local stores and chain stores. It's very close to Burr Ridge, and it's a fairly quick ride on Metra (commuter rail) into downtown. It's also near the Stevenson Expressway, which is generally the least congested of the Chicago area expressways. Neighboring Countryside may be a bit cheaper, and is nice, but a bit more bland suburbia. The most important thing is to be near your job. You'll be spending a lot more time there then enjoying the city. Especially when you add in the time you'll need for chores and errands on the weekends, you'll be much better off commuting to fun, rather than to work. Traffic in Chicagoland is staggeringly, almost incomprehensibly, bad.

[Drover]

Every Australian has thanked me for this warning: you need to brace yourself for winters. Get a thick heavy coat by October. No kidding. This past winter we already had snow on the ground by the end of October. It didn't last long, but that should give you an idea of what you can expect on any given day in late fall. The temperatures this winter got down to -25c. Be warned: Winter here is like nothing you've ever experienced unless maybe you've been to Helsinki in December.

[JALP]

I would also suggest LaGrange. Other areas you could look at are Western Springs, Countryside, Willowbrook, Darien or Hinsdale. Depending on your budget you could also look at Lemont, Palos Park - you may get more home for your $$ in those areas.

It does get cold here, mostly due to the windchill :-)

[Well Travelled]

If you are two single executives - downtown Chicago is the place to be!
You can reverse commute to Burr Ridge and be at work in roughly 30-40 minutes. Granted - you're cost of living in the suburbs of Chicago (Burr Ridge, Hinsdale, Clarendon Hills,Western Springs, LaGrange) are less than in the City of Chicago - but you have SO much more to see and do downtown. You can always move to the suburbs when & if you have kids.
If you must move to the suburbs - then move to the communities listed above in that order. Another consideration - if you move and buy property - any property purchased in Cook County will be higher than other surrounding counties for property taxes. Good Luck!!
P.S. My husband has been offered a job in Brisbane - any information on what is the most desirable area within the Gold Coast to move??

[gardener34]

I thought cook county property tax rates were lower than Dupage?

Although I do know when I moved from dupage to cook my car insurance rate was much higher.

[prairiestate]

Cook County residential property taxes are lower then DuPage. As for commuting from downtown to Burr Ridge, working somewhere near the Stevenson is about the only place where a reverse commute would be practical. The Stevenson has the least horrible reverse commute of any expressway except the Ryan (when it's not under construction), though there are few jobs along the Ryan, I-57, Bishop Ford corridors. The commute won't be great, but at least much more tolerable then trying to get to Oak Brook or Schaumburg from downtown.

[irvineap]

This post may be too late but ... here's my "two cents":
LaGrange is very nice, as are other options people have suggested. But depending on where you live in Melbourne, you might find the suburbs a bit tame (and I say this as one who lives in the west suburbs). You might also consider checking out Forest Park and Oak Park, which would roughly be a halfway point between Burr Ridge and downtown Chicago. They're also a bit more "urban" than some of the other surrounding suburbs. The advice about the winters and the traffic is solid.
Either way, welcome to America! Give a shout if you're looking for a Yank who's spent a fair bit of time in Oz.

[ChicagoWeekendFun]

Hi, I used to live near Burr Ridge and think the closest suburbs are Darien, Claredon Hills, Downers Grove, Willowbrook and Oak Brook. Oak Brook and Burr Ridge are the most expensive by property values, Darien and Willowbrook are the least expensive. There are a ton of homes available in those areas due to the mortgage crisis, so you could buy something for a lot less than market value right now. Check out those suburbs on Realtor.com or look up the towns on Craigslist.org under real estate for sale to find specific places to live. Overall Burr Ridge is a nice place to live and has good schools. It is one of the smaller lesser known sw suburbs but still a good place to come live in the suburbs of Chicago. It is about an hour or more to the city by car on I-55 depending on traffic. There is lots of shopping at Oak Brook Mall and all along Rt-83 that should be useful and there are many social things to do too. I hope this helps!

Chicago Weekend Fun