Where do tree hugging, vegetarian liberals belong in north Chicago? (Evanston: cul-de-sac, housing)

[SloopyJ]

I don't think anyone has mentioned Glenview yet, but it's worth checking out if you aren't sold on Evanston. Lots of mid-century and newer homes there in a wide range of prices that will overlap your range if you're not looking for new and/or luxurious digs. Glenview will never match Evanston's liberal bent or downtown energy, but it does have two "downtowns" including a newer planned community called The Glen on an old naval base. Most SF homes in The Glen will be a little pricey for you, but you might consider a townhome there as it's been planned with nice parks, shops, and restaurants that are easy to walk to.

Glenview is pretty middle-of-the-road politically, has good schools and amenities for families (including a Children's Museum), and is pretty well located to take advantage of Evanston and Chicago while keeping the commute reasonable.

[Avengerfire]

Sorry about putting the wrong name on there. By the time I realized I made a mistake, I could not edit my post anymore.

[bolson]

What about Barrington. You really should check it out.

[jaynetarzana]

Originally Posted by bolson

What about Barrington. You really should check it out.

I've been told that I would feel too isolated in Barrington as a stay at home mom. What is it like?

[chet everett]

Don't confuse actual Barrington with many of the ares that have Barrington _ _ _ _ _ in the name, many people do and it is a mistake.

Barrington has a REAL town that is useful, walkable and very different that the collections of cul-de-sac subdivisions that surround it.

Even then, if you are into outdorsey stuff you could probably make a lot of friends with people who are into horses if you can afford a place that horse zoned property. Most people who are into horses tend to appreciate people that they can rely on for healthy care of their animals and land...

[jaynetarzana]

Originally Posted by chet everett

Don't confuse actual Barrington with many of the ares that have Barrington _ _ _ _ _ in the name, many people do and it is a mistake.

Barrington has a REAL town that is useful, walkable and very different that the collections of cul-de-sac subdivisions that surround it.

Even then, if you are into outdorsey stuff you could probably make a lot of friends with people who are into horses if you can afford a place that horse zoned property. Most people who are into horses tend to appreciate people that they can rely on for healthy care of their animals and land...

We're not into horses. Is that pretty much what Barrington is? Large properties? We'd actually rather not have acreage to maintain. Just looking for a mid century modern house on a modest lot in an area with other people who care about protecting the environment and being conscientious parents.

My realtor told me that most of the mid century modern houses are in Glencoe and Highland Park. Anyone have any burbs to add? We're currently looking at Evanston, Wilmette, Winnetka, Glencoe, Glenview, Northbrook, Northfield, Lake Forest, Deerfield, Highland Park and Fort Sheridan.

[chet everett]

I think you and you Realtor are on different pages...

Mid Century modern to some folks mean "any thing with glass like an office building" while the aficionado of TRUE Mid Century is really looking for something inspired specifically by Neutra or Eames or Saarinen or Schweikher... There are a smattering of later modern houses in areas as diverse as Hinsdale and Orland Park...

Barrington has a handful of such places, as do other towns like Northbrook, and even some spots in DuPage Co. (there are a couple of such in Villa Park , Lombard, Oak Brook, but many have been torn down or "done over" by people to whom these places were just "odd"...

Franklly most of the 'burbs listed are going to have very few non-traditional homes, and they are going to be priced sky high. You may have better luck renting so that you can do your own leg work to find the unique type of home that frankly is hard to find...

[jaynetarzana]

Thanks Chet!! I know of the icons you speak of well. : ) What about building Dwell style / modern eco friendly homes? I wonder how much that would cost? Anyone doing that anywhere in the northshore burbs? I've heard construction loans are tough to come by these days anyway. We're not looking for a McMansion. We want something modern, modest and sustainable.

[chet everett]

A good friend of mine is an architect. He was recently at a conference and we had a heated discussion of what the consequences of LEED may be for both mass market builders and those that specialize in more custom construction. Really it is hard to tell.

I do know that right now there are an awful lot of crazy mercenary types looking to making a killing separating fools and their money when it comes to the people that want to pay to get on the Holllywood/Al Gore bandwagon. There are also folks that are a lot more watchful of how they spend their money. A congregation in Evanston recently built a very green Synogogue and they did it in a fairly sane way. http://www.juf.org/pdf/jcrc/eco_friendly_temple.pdf

Still, if you were going to build from scratch you would have to figure that cost per sq foot is going to start at about $220 w/o land costs -- not cheap.

There is just too much inventory to get builders to make a big shift...

[jaynetarzana]

Originally Posted by chet everett

Franklly most of the 'burbs listed are going to have very few non-traditional homes, and they are going to be priced sky high. You may have better luck renting so that you can do your own leg work to find the unique type of home that frankly is hard to find...

I am pretty sure we are going to rent first. Our plan is to stay in a hotel while we look for a rental and then start checking out all of the various places. It sounds like Evanston is the best fit, but I'll have to get there to see for myself. Anyone know of any 2-3 bedroom rentals in the nice parts of Evanston that will take a small dog and a month to month lease? I don't want to get into anything long term in case we figure things out pretty quickly and find something great to buy.