MOVING TO GREAT LAKES, IL/Naval Base (Chicago, Waukegan: schools, living)

[queenoftheclique]

I am in process of being hired @ the Naval Base and I am not familiar with the location at all. Is the base actually IN Chicago? How is the cost of living compared ot San Diego, Ca. I would be moving with myself and my teenager. Any information would be helpful.

[brian571]

The Naval Base is located in North Chicago - not the City of Chicago despite the confusing name. It's in Lake County about 30 miles north of downtown Chicago. The naval base dominates most of North Chicago - lots of military housing there. Abbott Labs also has two facilities in North Chicago - one on the far northwest side of town and another on the eastern edge just north of the naval base. I'll warn you ahead of time - there are some not so great parts of North Chicago, especially along the northern edges. I don't know anything about their schools. Unless you have military housing, I would probably avoid it. Lake County is very diverse as far as people and housing prices go - it really runs the entire gamut and your budget will determine where you can live. Lake Forest is one of the most exclusive communities in the Chicagoland area and Highland Park is up there as well (Michael Jordan lives in HP). Those areas are easily as expensive or more than San Diego. For something more middle of the road and relatively close to the base, I would look at Libertyville. It has great schools and housing prices aren't crazy, especially by San Diego standards. A step up and within 20-30 minutes from the base will be places like Lake Bluff, Deerfield, Vernon Hills, and Lincolnshire. All have excellent schools. Lake Bluff goes to Lake Forest schools, Vernon Hills shares with Libertyville, and the HS in Lincolnshire (Stevenson) is frequently among the best rated schools in the country. On the lower end of Libertyville, Gurnee is a good middle class community as well. The schools aren't as good, but they're not bad. Waukegan is more working class and immigrants. It has a very large Hispanic population. People will tell you Waukegan is bad. It's not great, but it's not as bad as everyone makes it out to be. The schools aren't very good though, so if that's a consideration (I assume it is), I would avoid it.

Hope this helps. I'm pretty familiar with the area, so if you have any other questions feel free to ask. Congrats and good luck!

Edit: I would also add Fort Sheridan and Highwood to my list to check out. Highwood is a small community just north of Highland Park. Fort Sheridan is adjacent to Highwood. It's an old army base that has since been converted to a mix of newer housing. I think there is still some military housing in there as well. Fort Sheridan is the more expensive of the two. Both go to Highland Park schools.