Where to rent? Job opportunity in Evanston! (Chicago, Skokie: real estate, apartment)

[AnnieO2013]

Ok, I need some serious help! I've read so many posts my head is spinning! My family of 5 may be moving to Illinois & I have no clue where we should narrow our focus in order to find a rental home/condo/duplex/apartment.

Needs:
Affordable 3 bdrm 2 bath w/garage (max rent $2000/month)
Great public schools
Within a 30 minute drive of Evanston
Low Crime

Wants:
Close to shopping/restaurants/parks
Nice downtown
Fairly close to transit (want not need for sure)
Sidewalks (city or suburb, don't care just need to take a walk everyday)
Could eventually buy nice house in the $200k-300k range

Any information you can provide would be greatly appreciated

Also one random thing-I am politically Libertarian but would say I lean more right than left on most issues (except gay marriage). I can handle living around people with different view points but I don't want to be the only person in the area who doesn't have an Obama bumper sticker. Lol.

[chet everett]

Yike, family of five, close to Evanston, great schools, low price, can I also assume you want "streets paved with gold"
...

Your best bet is probably to look WEST of Evanston in towns like Skokie, Niles, Morton Grove or possibly Park Ridge -- those all would be a fairly manageable commute via surface streets to points within Evanston with larger employers. I don't think you are going to have an easy time finding anything great to rent in your price category and I might even be a little concerned that anyplace that is affordable might be exactly what you don't want if you have school aged kinds -- the kind of chaotic poorly run complexes with high turnover...

School wise Park Ridge is probably most desirable though some folks would prefer the mix of people in Evanston, the schools that serve the towns between have become increasingly diverse with an influx of Asian / Latin American and former Eastern Bloc immigrants... Evanston has the biggest the downtown, Park Ridge is also cute, the other towns are mostly not as well laid out in the traditional sense. The more affordable spots in Evanston are very likely to be associated with less quiet / more crime, the other towns are mostly VERY crime free...

Evanston is basically one giant "O" sticker. Only kidding, there are a smathering of Libertarians in Evanston, but the towns west are almost certainly more likely to have a diversity of political views.

[Lookout Kid]

Great schools in the northern suburbs = big price tag. Suburbs like Des Plaines, Niles, and Skokie are safe and have decent amenities, but the schools are just so-so. Glenview and Park Ridge have great schools, but the price is really dramatically higher.

And if you go north along the lake, you get some of the most expensive suburban real estate in Chicagoland. But also some of the best schools around.

Evanston... Check it out. Crime is higher in some areas, and the schools are a mixed bag. Property taxes are outrageous. But there are a lot of rentals... The issue is to avoid living in a Northwestern University party zone.

[AnnieO2013]

Thanks very much for the replies!! Very helpful. Yes Chet, I guess I am asking for a bit much & I really appreciate your concern about our budget, I was afraid we may have to ask for a higher salary & I'm just not sure if they will offer enough for it to be worth our trouble. I guess we are really going to have to decide if this is the right move for us?! So thanks again to you both!!

[AnnieO2013]

Also, one more question if I may What kind of rent budget would we need to have a better chance of getting what we want & need?