Originally Posted by
freezingflyboy
If you are open to living in an urban but very "neighborhood-ey" environment then Chicago is without a doubt one of the best. Most of the neighborhoods worth looking at are an easy bus ride to the blue line or along the blue line itself. Oddly, the suburbs around O'hare are not as easily connected to the airport. Go figure.
If you are looking at the total package and not just the ride to the airport, Chicago is, without a doubt, one of the easiest cities to get around via public transit. Cheap, reliable (yes, even in the snow), efficient and reasonably clean.
ORD is probably your best bet. If you want a "Suburby" feel, you can live in Jefferson Park and actually buy a nice 3br home for $300,000. Safe area too because Edison Park, Jefferson Park and pretty much all the "parks" out towards O'Hare is where all the CPD and CFD people live, along with city workers. A requirement in Chicago, as a city worker, is you must live within the city boundaries.