Originally Posted by
PacNWflyer
We recently moved up to Chicago and are renting while we house hunt. When I got hired here a while back, we decided that me commuting wasn't a good option and of all the base choices Chicago made the most sense (until the Seattle base reopens).
That being said, we have a lot of new hires coming on board and I would like to hear from them as well as some of the old timers as to where we should settle down in Chicagoland.
We are looking for a younger suburb with some diversity, good schools (we plan on having kids), nice downtown, etc. that is reasonably close to downtown. We rent in Naperville now, and although it is nice, it feels a little to isolated.
We have been looking in Glen Ellyn, Wheaton, and Downer's Grove. I'm thinking about expanding the search to Oak Park as well (I hear it has sketchy areas but it's a great location). I don't need to be on the airport blue line.
I know there are older threads that discuss this, but I'm looking for some fresh opinions. Thanks for the input. Go Hawks.
I guess it comes down to a question of priorities.
We live ( and have for the last 19 years ) in Libertyville. We chose this area when we were a couple years ahead of where it sounds like you are now, at the time we had a 6 month old.
We chose Northern Suburbs over Southern or Western Suburbs because of some family in Wisc. We have friends and family throughout the area, including an Aunt and Uncle in Naperville, and in all our time here we have never regretted choosing Libertyville. I am definitely biased, but Northern suburbs feel less "isolated" to me than Naperville.
Libertyville has been around for a long time and the downtown organization (Main Street Libertyville) prides itself on keeping the original look and feel, while keeping the economy of the tenants going. They have really done a great job and the economy of the downtown businesses has gotten better and better then entire time we have lived here. Great downtown, Great schools, Great for families, big mall and headquarters of Abbott Labs are in the school district which has a huge benefit on the property tax base, so your property taxes are only mildly obscene (600K house and 11K in property tax). It takes just over a half an hour from garage to parking lot for me. Prob about the same distance from downtown Chicago as Naperville, maybe a bit closer. Train stops right in downtown Libertyville, so similiar option to what you have in Naperville on that.
Take a drive up some time for dinner, there are a bunch of restaurants right in downtown. "First Friday" is a big thing with all the stores as well, so if you come up on March 4th (or any other first Friday) you can see the extra goings ons.
Several other Northern suburbs have nice "downtown" areas as well, but are going to be a little more coin. Highland Park, Lake Forest, Lake Bluff are some good examples.
So, as I said in the beginning, it is a question of priorities. If being close to downtown Chicago is your biggest priority, then get out your checkbook and go for it (especially if kids are a few years off) but be prepared to think about moving further out as you have a family and your kids get to be school age. The Western suburbs you listed are prob a little closer to ORD and Downtown Chicago, I don't really think you could go wrong in those areas.
As is the case anywhere, watch the tax bill of different areas, as it can vary widely based on lines that were drawn a century ago for tax purposes. Many of the suburbs didn't do a good job with planning and now have nothing but bedrooms. In Illinois if you are an affluent suburb (as all of the ones you mentioned are) your local property tax will pay almost 100% of the local schools funding. If you don't have some non-bedroom property tax base it will mean a much higher percentage on you property tax. Some of the towns that have been built up in the last 20-30 years out to the West of us pay the same property tax on a house worth half as much as ours, and still don't have nearly as good of schools.
You aren't going to be able to avoid a high property tax bill in any of the areas you would want to live in, just make sure it is not beyond obscene and that you are getting a good school district for the cash you are spending.
Down off my soapbox now! Have fun house hunting and know that you are adding years to your life by driving to work!