People living on the very fringe of Chicagoland..... (Peoria, Arlington Heights: city hall, how much)

[Tex?Il?]

Originally Posted by tomcho

2 problems I can see with your needs. You'd be hard pressed to find anywhere people would consider rural within an hour of the loop, except perhaps at 2am driving at 75mph. Two I think you'd be even harder pressed to find a 4/2 for $1,200 month in a desirable area.

Wrong. 75 miles an hour would mean that you would have 75 miles from the loop. You don't have to go anywhere nearly that far. 75 miles would take you south or Kankakee.

OP, you can find what you are looking for in Will County, specifically around Peotone. That area is still very much rural, although they were looking to build an airport there at one time. You would take I-57 for that. Monee, IL is about 45 minutes from downtown.

Minooka, IL southwest of Joliet is a little less than an hour on I-55. Even areas on the fringes of Joliet feel somewhat rural, even Shorewood.

Areas like Kaneville are maybe just over an hour on I-88. Same with areas just off the US 20 exity just beyond Huntley are just slightly over an hour.

I guess it really depends on what you mean by rural. There are people with horses on their property much closer to the city, but they are rich to afford it, so that probably isn't what you are looking for.

My recommendation is to look south of the city. You get to rural areas quicker than any other way out of Chicago.

[chisub]

To give you an idea, we live in Aurora in a 3 bed./2.5 bath townhome and places are renting for about $1400-$1500 in our neighborhood. It takes about 45 min. to get downtown during off-peak times. Maybe check out jobs first?

[tomcho]

Originally Posted by Tex?Il?

Wrong. 75 miles an hour would mean that you would have 75 miles from the loop. You don't have to go anywhere nearly that far. 75 miles would take you south or Kankakee.

OP, you can find what you are looking for in Will County, specifically around Peotone. That area is still very much rural, although they were looking to build an airport there at one time. You would take I-57 for that. Monee, IL is about 45 minutes from downtown.

Minooka, IL southwest of Joliet is a little less than an hour on I-55. Even areas on the fringes of Joliet feel somewhat rural, even Shorewood.

Areas like Kaneville are maybe just over an hour on I-88. Same with areas just off the US 20 exity just beyond Huntley are just slightly over an hour.

I guess it really depends on what you mean by rural. There are people with horses on their property much closer to the city, but they are rich to afford it, so that probably isn't what you are looking for.

My recommendation is to look south of the city. You get to rural areas quicker than any other way out of Chicago.

Thanks for the math lesson, I wasn't sure what MPH meant. Peotone is about 45 miles from the Loop, there is zero chance that's a 45 minute drive at any time not between 7pm and 6am.

[cubssoxfan]

There are also some semi-rural areas around Wauconda and a few parts of Lake Co.

[Tex?Il?]

Originally Posted by tomcho

Thanks for the math lesson, I wasn't sure what MPH meant. Peotone is about 45 miles from the Loop, there is zero chance that's a 45 minute drive at any time not between 7pm and 6am.

I apologize for sounding patronizing or condescending, but when you said 75 miles an hour at 2am to get to when it becomes country was an obvious exaggeration.

You are correct unless you have off peak commuting times, Peotone, would be a hard commute. Monee is a little closer, but I do know that people do that commute.

[nikitakolata]

Originally Posted by tomcho

2 problems I can see with your needs. You'd be hard pressed to find anywhere people would consider rural within an hour of the loop, except perhaps at 2am driving at 75mph. Two I think you'd be even harder pressed to find a 4/2 for $1,200 month in a desirable area.

I agree with this... There are rural areas that are about 50 miles out from the city, but it would definitely take over an hour to get from those areas to the loop at any reasonable time of day. Even in the middle of the night it takes me 50ish minutes to get from St. Charles to my house in Humboldt Park. That's from the eastern side of St. Charles, which really doesn't look or feel very rural.

The budget you provided is not going to get your 4 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms in an area you would want to live in, most likely. If you are able to increase the budget to closer to $1500/month, then there's a remote possibility, but I still think it would be a stretch.

It think you may have more luck looking for a rural area within an hour drive of Milwaukee. Things tend to feel much more rural much more quickly outside of Milwaukee, in my experience (I visit my in-laws up there several times a year and have friends in and outside of Milwaukee). Also, the traffic around Milwaukee is not as bad as what we have here in Chicago. I don't know what rents are like, but I am assuming they would be more affordable.

[linicx]

Sadly, you are running into a couple of problems. You won't zip quickly from a rural area into the City of Chicago at any time by any mode of transportation. Distance is not your friend. Michigan dollars will not go as far in Chicago as a Chicago dollar. Renting in rural areas is difficult because it is agriculture and available housing stock is limited. Most of these types of areas you might find one hospital and six doctors in the whole county. If you work in the medical supply field you will be doing a lot of traveling between clients.

I personally like these rural towns: Sandwich and Princeton which are very different. They are both about 2 hours out of the city with passenger trains into Chicago. .

Sandwich, Illinois - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Princeton, Illinois - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Originally Posted by The Northerner

Would very much appreciate hearing from you. Medical professional here considering moving my family to the Chicago area, but I would prefer for us to live in as rural an area as possible, while still being within 45 minutes to an hour of downtown for recreation and entertainment purposes. Work commute would not be an issue, as I would work as close to home as possible.

Anyway, looking to hear from others who have settled there in a similar fashion. Are there even rural areas within an hour of Chicago in this day & age, and what kind of quality of life do they offer? Married w/3 kids, not partiers, don't need bars & restaurants right next door. Looking to live in the country and be able to quickly zip into town for all the extras when applicable. Don't want to live much more than an hour from the Loop. Thanks!

[Tyryztoll]

Although I'm finding some decent looking 4BR homes for well under 200K in some of the spots mentioned, I am not liking what I see as far as potential property taxes. 4 and $500 a month? Egad!

[ToriaT]

There are areas that are not really rural but suburban but still have "rural" feel. There are people living in Winfield that have horse barns on their property. You could go out to St. Charles and Geneva and look there or Plain field. True not really rural but you might find something that has more of a rural feel to it. Not easy to zip into chicago...It will take about an hour if traffic is good. Make sure you locate near access to a tollway.

[Tex?Il?]

Originally Posted by ToriaT

There are areas that are not really rural but suburban but still have "rural" feel. There are people living in Winfield that have horse barns on their property. You could go out to St. Charles and Geneva and look there or Plain field. True not really rural but you might find something that has more of a rural feel to it. Not easy to zip into chicago...It will take about an hour if traffic is good. Make sure you locate near access to a tollway.

Agreed. While not rural from an economic standpoint certainly, the Fox River Valley in Kane County definitely has a very Normal Rockwell small town feel. I also agree that while still very suburban, there are many small pockets here and there in West DuPage county that have a country feel to them (west of I-355). I took horseback riding lessons at Danada a couple years ago.

They can also always take metra if they are working downtown.