Potential Move to Chicago (Libertyville, Highwood: apartment, rent, neighborhoods)

[ashamock]

Hi Guys,
I am a working young professional - single potentially planning to accept an offer from a firm in Libertyville.
From what I have heard - the traffic going into libertyville from suburbs closer to chicago is pretty bad and the most sensible option for me would be to live in libertyville or suburbs close to libertyville itself.
But I was hoping that you guys could help me find a suburb that is closer to the city through these questions :

1) A suburb that is perfect for young professionals- and fits the following :

a) Rent - Not more than 1100.( One bedroom)

b) On a train line that takes me to libertyville.
On that note - how feasible is taking the train every morning to the office in libertyville and then taking one back in the evening.

c) Based on my possible extensive use of the train/metro - the location of the apartment should be walking distance from the metro station in the suburb I am looking for.

d) Possible emphasis on sports - soccer !
I live in Arlington VA and I am blessed with having a multiple fields where people from several countries - be it Mexico/Honduras/Brazil/Etc..Gabon/France/Lebanon/etc come together and play pick up soccer every evening. So an indoor complex and outdoor fields would be great.

Any thoughts?
Regards.

[marothisu]

Well, first of all if you are ONLY looking at the burbs, then there is a Chicago Suburbs forum. In any case, if you want some more information about a reverse commute:

Yes, the traffic from the city to Libertyville is going to be bad and you won't want to drive. Even from the far reaches north, It's still over 30 miles away from Chicago. Now, there is some potential good news:

The Metra (commuter rail) goes from Union Station downtown to Libertyville and back. Each way takes about an hour. If you're up for that, check with your employer to see if they have a shuttle, or if the employer is close to the station, or if there's something like a PACE bus that goes between there.

You probably won't find an apartment for your budget around that area (you might), but I think there's some in the area with it with a not terrible commute.


Otherwise, Suburbs forum..

[Jandur]

I don't think there is a north suburb that is "good" for young singles. They all sort of blend together. I have a a few friends up there, they go out in Highwood, Libertyville.

Unless your office is within reasonable walking distance from the Metra stop I wouldn't really plan on doing that on a daily basis. I would just try and live somewhere close to work within your budget.

[nana053]

Pick-up Soccer Meetups near Libertyville, Illinois - Pick-up Soccer Meetups - Libertyville

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by Jandur

Unless your office is within reasonable walking distance from the Metra stop I wouldn't really plan on doing that on a daily basis. I would just try and live somewhere close to work within your budget.

I semi agree, but my coworker who's Ex Motorola used to commute from the West Loop everyday that way and apparently there were many others who did. It's not uncommon.

Some companies have shuttles from the metra, and then there's stuff like the PACE bus (not sure if Libertyville has it).

[ashamock]

Thank you so much for your replies.
I believe they are starting a shuttle service from Libertyville station.
I guess the best thing that I can do is to look at the metra/metro line that connects Libertyville to Chicago and sort of find a metro stop - relatively closer to chicago city.
Is there a particular metra line I should be looking at ?
Regards,
Ayush

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by ashamock

Thank you so much for your replies.
I believe they are starting a shuttle service from Libertyville station.
I guess the best thing that I can do is to look at the metra/metro line that connects Libertyville to Chicago and sort of find a metro stop - relatively closer to chicago city.
Is there a particular metra line I should be looking at ?
Regards,
Ayush

Well that's good that they're starting a shuttle if you want to live in the city of Chicago. Of course, depending on what you want to do, your options could be limited. I mean you could live anywhere really, but the thing is getting to the Metra station. You have some options though for sure. Outside of Union Station, there's maybe one or two stops along the line that would be considered OK neighborhoods. The rest are either more suburban (not always a bad thing) or they are just weird parts of town.

The line that runs up there is Milwaukee North (MD-N). I guess it really depends on what you want and who you are. Do you want to be active, have a good social life in the city, go to concerts, blah blah or does that not matter too much?

[ashamock]

Thanks Marothisu,
Well apart from my day job - I am a music producer and I run my own record label so needless to say that I would love to get up and go to a nice venue that plays the kind of music I am into - I guess that literally spells -City but what were the couple of stops you were talking about along the line from Union Station to Libertyville?
Regards,

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by ashamock

Thanks Marothisu,
Well apart from my day job - I am a music producer and I run my own record label so needless to say that I would love to get up and go to a nice venue that plays the kind of music I am into - I guess that literally spells -City but what were the couple of stops you were talking about along the line from Union Station to Libertyville?
Regards,

Sweet. So you are a more artistic type..that's good..Please tell me you use Reason jk

I think the good stations would be of course Union Station. End of the line really, and downtown. West Loop is here and a decent (not amazing) neighborhood. You might be able to find some stuff in your budget for there.

There's a few more around Mayfair and Old Irving Park more up north that are okay. Not overly busy places either, but not bad. Old Irving Park is kind of quaint, and Mayfair is close to Albany Park which is a little poorer neighborhood, but not bad at all. It's basically the United Nations of Chicago there.

Some other stops..I don't recommend living around them, but if you don't mind taking a bus to them, then yeah. There's a Metra stop near Grand and Western. I have a coworker (musician) who lives in the area and says it's okay, but if you go a little more north of there to say around Augusta and Western and a little East of there. That's Ukrainian Village which is a little more artsy. Some good stuff all around there..and some more artistic people in that area. The bus trip down there would be pretty quick IMO. 5-7 minute bus ride from Augusta and Western. Factor in a little more if you're a little East. The Metra ride would be just under 1 hour. But remember, if you don't time things well enough, the entire commute could take 90 minutes. The good news is that Metra trains are decent inside and you can do a number of things on them. Downside of course is the commute time.

There's also a stop around Fullerton and Pulaski. To the East is Logan Square, which again is a little more artistic of an area. Getting there would probably be more of a hassle than what I mentioned above..it depends on where you are really. If you lived near the actual square in Logan Square, then it's a little weird, but yeah.

The last two I mentioned are kind of working class/hipster/artistic types of neighborhoods. The stops are in more working class areas while the areas I mentioned are a little more artistic/hipster. Some good venues in the area though. Congress Theatre in Logan Square/Wicker Park has some semi big acts that come through. Rosa's Lounge in Logan Square has blues and jazz. Empty Bottle near Augusta and Western has a variety of acts..interesting place. There's a jazz/hip-hop record store near there...some other places of course I'm not mentioning. Just be careful. West of there is Humboldt Park, which part of is fine, but if you go too far, you step into an area that's one of the worst in Chicago (and that goes into the Austin neighborhood and Garfield Park as well).

[nana053]

Here is a map of the metra line that goes to Libertyville.

Milwaukee District / North (MD-N) Line map