Thinking of moving from suburbs to city...what neighborhoods?? (Chicago: homes, living)

[Brian45919]

If you want quiet neighborhood I would consider Dunning west of Harlem Ave, but I think Clearing/Garfield Ridge also has a great location and housing stock and lots of city employees. Lots of mentions about Portage Park here but remember that it is older and much more urban than the areas I am listing. Since you have been living southwest out in Naperville and don't mind staying south, Mount Greenwood and Beverly are also great neighborhoods.

[FleeTheRustBelt]

Originally Posted by chet everett

Honestly if you don't like the lack of yard space and such that go along with Portage Park and still want a commute that is maybe 30 minutes the only option I can think of is NW Indiana.

Homeschoolers are probably hard pressed to deal with cramped quarters for three active boys under nine and your money will go farther in NW Indiana.

You can get from NW Indiana to the near north side in 30 minutes? From north Hammond or Whiting, maybe.

[hleemba99]

Driving is most convenient for him, but he'd be open to using public transit if it's more efficient. The thing is, only the brown line goes right to where he works.

[tonythetuna]

Originally Posted by hleemba99

Driving is most convenient for him, but he'd be open to using public transit if it's more efficient. The thing is, only the brown line goes right to where he works.

Stick near the Brown Line.

[BRU67]

Originally Posted by hleemba99

Hmm, interesting. I have seen houses in Oak Park in that price range that seem to be along the lines of what we would be looking for; are there no other neighborhoods that we could consider other than NW Indiana? Our kids spend a ton of time on the weekends in Evanston, Buffalo Grove, etc., so NW Indiana doesn't really help us with needing to be closer to those locations. Thanks for the input, though!

Berwyn, Forest Park, Riverside and River Forest are Oak Park's neighbors and may be worth looking at too. The latter two have higher priced housing and higher property taxes. Berwyn probably feels most like a City neighborhood of the four. All would put you easily within your commute range and are easily accessible to I-290, and have commuter train access to the Loop.

[tomcho]

Originally Posted by hleemba99

Driving is most convenient for him, but he'd be open to using public transit if it's more efficient. The thing is, only the brown line goes right to where he works.

Unfortunately, you'd be lucky to find a 4 bedroom house anywhere along the brown line for under $450,000. Lincoln Square sounds like a good area for you, but the price of entry, especially for a nicer 4 BR house is closer to $600,000.

[emathias]

Originally Posted by tomcho

Unfortunately, you'd be lucky to find a 4 bedroom house anywhere along the brown line for under $450,000. Lincoln Square sounds like a good area for you, but the price of entry, especially for a nicer 4 BR house is closer to $600,000.

This place, and a few others like it, are in the Albany Park or western edges of Lincoln Square area. That listing says 3 bedrooms in the headline, but has five defined in the listing itself. It actually looks pretty nice, but the Brown Line ride itself would be 30 minutes on the train, so actual commute would be closer to 40 minutes most days. On the plus side, since you'd be commuting from the end of the line, you'd always get a seat on the way to the office. Driving *might* be possible in 30 minutes, although at rush hour it'd be close.

You can also find places like this one in the East Village/Wicker Park area. It'd be an easy driving commute to River North, and even a bus commute wouldn't be too terrible if your husband needed to sometimes. This particular property is also within a few minutes walk of the actual Wicker Park park using only side streets, so when your kids are old enough to walk a few blocks on their own if the backyard is too small they can make their way to the park pretty safely. To be honest, if this property had been on the market when I was looking for a place to buy, I'd have given it serious thought. It needs some fixing up, but with the savings over your limit, you can put some decent money into it and still come out ahead and own a single-family-home in one of Chicago's most desirable neighborhoods. It's also just a few blocks to a Blue Line subway stop, for both easy access to the Loop (10 minute train ride) and to O'Hare (probably a 35-minute train ride from there). Despite the fact it needs work, I think this is a great property in a great location.

[chet everett]

Trulia's photo of the 1234 Marion Ct property is not accurate -- that is from the HGTV "potential"...

Looks cool, but I suspect that investment would price you out of the neighborhood.

Originally Posted by emathias

This place, and a few others like it, are in the Albany Park or western edges of Lincoln Square area. That listing says 3 bedrooms in the headline, but has five defined in the listing itself. It actually looks pretty nice, but the Brown Line ride itself would be 30 minutes on the train, so actual commute would be closer to 40 minutes most days. On the plus side, since you'd be commuting from the end of the line, you'd always get a seat on the way to the office. Driving *might* be possible in 30 minutes, although at rush hour it'd be close.

You can also find places like this one in the East Village/Wicker Park area. It'd be an easy driving commute to River North, and even a bus commute wouldn't be too terrible if your husband needed to sometimes. This particular property is also within a few minutes walk of the actual Wicker Park park using only side streets, so when your kids are old enough to walk a few blocks on their own if the backyard is too small they can make their way to the park pretty safely. To be honest, if this property had been on the market when I was looking for a place to buy, I'd have given it serious thought. It needs some fixing up, but with the savings over your limit, you can put some decent money into it and still come out ahead and own a single-family-home in one of Chicago's most desirable neighborhoods. It's also just a few blocks to a Blue Line subway stop, for both easy access to the Loop (10 minute train ride) and to O'Hare (probably a 35-minute train ride from there). Despite the fact it needs work, I think this is a great property in a great location.

[tomcho]

Originally Posted by emathias

This place, and a few others like it, are in the Albany Park or western edges of Lincoln Square area. That listing says 3 bedrooms in the headline, but has five defined in the listing itself. It actually looks pretty nice, but the Brown Line ride itself would be 30 minutes on the train, so actual commute would be closer to 40 minutes most days. On the plus side, since you'd be commuting from the end of the line, you'd always get a seat on the way to the office. Driving *might* be possible in 30 minutes, although at rush hour it'd be close.

I certainly wouldn't consider Kimball the western edges of Lincoln Square, unless I was a real estate agent. Kimball and Montrose is probably a mile West of Lincoln Square. There is also a large group of people who probably wouldn't consider Kimball and Montrose a family friendly area.

[OrangeAndBlue]

How far north in the North Side is your husband's office? If it's in River North it may still be within reasonable walking distance from one of the Green Line stops, in which case Oak Park may make sense after all. The ride on the El from Oak Park to the Loop (Clark / Lake station) is only about 20 minutes.