Sick of city living but want to be close to the city (Evanston: condo, how much)

[ninjamyst]

Quick background
My wife and I live in South Loop in a 1,000 sq ft condo with 3 dogs. No kids yet. I work in downtown while she works by North Ave. We are sick of condo living and want to move into a single family house, which is impossible to find within the city in a good neighborhood.

What We Are Looking For
- Near the highway
- Near public transportation to downtown
- As close to the city as possible
- Budget of $300k to $350k
- Single family with a yard for our dogs
- Quiet neighborhood where you can enjoy being in your front yard on a nice summer day

What We Looked At
- Evanston (too expensive, not close to highway, LSD traffic nightmare)
- Edgebrook (too expensive but this is our ideal spot)
- Lincolnwood (Lincolnwood used to be really good, but not so sure now)

Should we keep looking near the north suburbs or should we focus somewhere else?

[Link N. Parker]

Have you tried Oak Park? What about a SFH in the Bungalow Belt in the city, or in the Sauganash neighborhood?

[reppin_the_847]

If I'm not mistaken, Sauganash, Edgebrook & Lincolnwood are all right by each other. Sauganash & Edgebrook are technically city neighborhoods, although they are just about as far out as you can get in the north & still be within the city. I'd also consider Edison Park (another city neighborhood) & its bordering suburb, Park Ridge.

Originally Posted by Link N. Parker

Have you tried Oak Park? What about a SFH in the Bungalow Belt in the city, or in the Sauganash neighborhood?

[Lookout Kid]

At that price point, try southern Berywn or Brookfield near the Metra. Or perhaps Elmwood Park.

You may be able to find a fixer upper in Oak Park on the eastern side of town as well, but you'll get a better house in the areas mentioned above.

[Gunner0325]

Originally Posted by ninjamyst

Quick background
My wife and I live in South Loop in a 1,000 sq ft condo with 3 dogs. No kids yet. I work in downtown while she works by North Ave. We are sick of condo living and want to move into a single family house, which is impossible to find within the city in a good neighborhood.

What We Are Looking For
- Near the highway
- Near public transportation to downtown
- As close to the city as possible
- Budget of $300k to $350k
- Single family with a yard for our dogs
- Quiet neighborhood where you can enjoy being in your front yard on a nice summer day

What We Looked At
- Evanston (too expensive, not close to highway, LSD traffic nightmare)
- Edgebrook (too expensive but this is our ideal spot)
- Lincolnwood (Lincolnwood used to be really good, but not so sure now)

Should we keep looking near the north suburbs or should we focus somewhere else?

You sound like us 2 years ago. We have 2 dogs and no kids, owned a condo in the city, ran out of room and wanted a single family home. Our budget was the same as yours. We ended up in La Grange Park. Nice neighborhood and nice downtown, but just be warned these are all suburbs. Most people have kids so finding people like us without kids is rare (at least at our age, late 30's). If I had to do it all over again, I would probably pick somewhere closer to the "L". Getting to the city on the weekends is pretty easy for us but we have to drive or take Metra. Metra is nice getting downtown but can be a pain on the way home because you have to plan your night around the Metra schedule which sucks, and it takes forever to get to Union if you go anywhere North/Northwest in the city. Oak Park taxes are rediculously high but that would have been one of our first choices. Still can't believe how high taxes are there for what you get in property, it's like another mortgage.

It really boils down to how much you go into the city and how much of a "suburb" you can deal with. If you have a bunch of friends in the city and plan on going into the city on the weekends a lot, find somewhere near the "L". Oak Park, Berwyn, Forest Park, Park Ridge (expensive), Des Plaines (still kinda far from "L", Jefferson Park, Edison Park.

[chet everett]

I might also throw in towns like Niles / Morton Grove if access to O'Hare is important or Oak Lawn / Burbank if you are OK with access to Midway...

Originally Posted by Lookout Kid

At that price point, try southern Berywn or Brookfield near the Metra. Or perhaps Elmwood Park.

You may be able to find a fixer upper in Oak Park on the eastern side of town as well, but you'll get a better house in the areas mentioned above.

[Lookout Kid]

Skokie? But I guess if they don't like Lincolnwood, they wouldn't like Skokie any better. Or Niles.

[AZgarden]

If you don't mind taxes, Riverside is beautiful and almost right on the Eisenhower. Or the Metra goes there too.

[Lookout Kid]

Originally Posted by PhxBarb

If you don't mind taxes, Riverside is beautiful and almost right on the Eisenhower. Or the Metra goes there too.

I agree that Riverside is nice, but you won't find many houses in the low $300Ks there. That's why we're recommending more budget oriented locales.

[cubssoxfan]

Skokie near the library within walking distance of the new Oakton Av. stop. Or near the pool and park just east of the stop. Also far NW side of the city near the blue line stops at Cumberland or Harlem. Very similar to suburban living. Only downside is jet noise.