New job at Sears/Willis Tower...Where to live for easiest commute? (Chicago: foreclosed, to rent)

[Coming_from_Hotlanta]

We are moving back to Chicago area within the next year. We have 2 young kids - one in kindergarten and the other not yet in school. I will be going into work at the Sears Tower at least 3 days per week. Where would be a good place to live that would allow for an easy commute via the train?

Our main requirements would be good public elementary schools - preferably all the way through high school. I like the idea of the old fashioned streets (for example, I love what I've seen of Oak Park but would not be able to afford to live there) and the kids being able to walk to school possibly. I also want shopping (i.e. Target) nearby. Also want area with low crime.

We also have a fairly conservative budget. We'd probably rent first but eventually look for a house in the mid 200k range.

Any recommendations?

[chet everett]

GettingtoSears Tower from Union Stationis absolute breeze, any trainline that ends there put you about two blocks from the entrance. Similarly Olgilivy is only another couple of blocks north.

The tough thing is finding a bur with good schools a budget of $200k. Wanting some charm makes it even tougher.


Heck even throwing in Northwest Indiana,wih lower costs,still makes this very tough, and getting all they way from the electric line rail stations east of MichicagnAve makes the slog across the Loop worse too...

[TempesT68]

That's going to be rough on that budget. You could probably pull it off in forest park/river forest, which have the metra and el lines to get downtown in a snap.

[chitown85]

Skokie, Morton Grove, and Lincolnwood.

[chet everett]

Originally Posted by chitown85

Skokie, Morton Grove, and Lincolnwood.

Granted they are out there, but some of em are pretty rough and even those in good shape may not exactly have lenders all on board, so you have to be realistic about what it'll take to get these to close...

[Coming_from_Hotlanta]

Even just glancing at the costs to rent a house are more than we pay for our house payment in an upscale area of Atl metro. I think getting a good neighborhood near the city is going to be hard. What does anybody know about areas such as Plainwell, New Lenox, Manhattan, Lockport, etc.? I know I'd be losing that quaint neighborhood feel though.

[chet everett]

Service on the Metra line from the SW tends to be frustrating. The commuter trains in that corridor are often delayed due to interference from freight lines. Thus if one has a job where promptness is important one must plan on allowing for these delays which means leaving much earlier than if one were to take a more reliable line like the BNSF which is more central to the western burbs...

Some folks from Plainfield do drive up to Naperville or other spots on the BNSF, total commute might not be as pleasant as from town right on BNSF but still manageable.

Some of the SW burbs do have some charming spots, Lemont, Lockport are both towns with a core of traditional developed downtowns. Tradeoffs include industrial areas, schools that vary considerably, taxes all over the map...

New Lenox is further out and has much more of the "former farm fields" development, Manhattan is even more out there.

If you want more house for the money and are locking at fringe areas NW Indiana ought to be on radar too. Heck, if you don't mind hour++ train commute your options really do go up. I will caution, however, that price volatility has been worse further out...

[Coming_from_Hotlanta]

OK, how about Oswego? Is that too far off the train to easily get to it? That looks like more affordable living but yet still good schools...

[TempesT68]

Originally Posted by Coming_from_Hotlanta

OK, how about Oswego? Is that too far off the train to easily get to it? That looks like more affordable living but yet still good schools...

They don't have a train service in oswego. You really don't want to be far out in those locations you have selected, unless you don't mind an hour + commutes each way every day.

[Dncr]

Originally Posted by chitown85

Skokie, Morton Grove, and Lincolnwood.

That's exactly what I was going to say! You can even look in Des Plaines and Niles...maybe even a foreclosed house in Park Ridge?