New college graduate with a job in Wauconda (Chicago, Arlington Heights: apartments, homes)

[a1nubsauce]

Hey all I will be a future graduate (hopefully) from U of I here in the may and am looking at a prospective job in Wauconda Illinois. I am from a small farm town so I have no idea of any of the surrounding suburbs. I am looking just for an apartment in an area where I can have an okay time and find people around my age 22-28 to hang out with on the weekends. It doesn't have to be anywhere special. I have heard of the big neighborhoods that are damn near tailored for graduates but I just cant see myself commuting up to an hour at a time. Any help would be greatly appreciated thanks!

[ToriaT]

Forget about living in the city if you are working in Wauconda. Way too far away to commute. Keep in mind there are young people living all over the Chicago area...they do not all live in the city. I am not familiar with the Wauconda area so maybe others will chime in.

[chet everett]

Wauconda is less a "suburb" than a little "wide spot in the road" in an area that used to be be just a bunch of vacation cottages that has shifted toward being more of a "fringe town" to more commercialized /developed areas like Mundelein / Vernon Hiils /Gurnee. Those places have become rather characterless areas with lots of tract homes...

The only town in that whole part of Lake Co that really has any appeal for younger people is probably Libertyville -- they have a more traditional town center that has seen quite a few fun bars / brew pubs flourish. While it is nothing like a hot area in Chicago like Wicker Park in terms f density / variety it makes a lot more sense to live there and maybe head into the city a few times a month...

[knitgirl]

Crystal Lake?

[mattywo85]

OP, I don't know of any suburbs in that area "tailored to graduates". If you are looking for a decent commute but still a nice area maybe try McHenry, Grayslake, Fox Lake, and Mundelein.

[nikitakolata]

Waudonda is a tough location for a single person in their 20s. I think Chet is probably right that Libertyville would be your best bet. I'd look for something in the downtown area, if it were me, just to have some sort of "urbanness" where you can walk to a couple places instead of driving everywhere. Plus it makes it that much easier to get on the Metra if you want to go to the city.

Something like this could work, maybe:
Cook Apartments at Libertyville, Libertyville - Trulia

[cubssoxfan]

Downtown Arlington Heights i worth a look. You would be doing a reverse commute via Rte 12/Rand Rd. Commute would be about 35-40 minutes. While downtown AH is not a hot spot, it is a lively (for suburbs) area with a reasonable amount of people in your age group. Libertyville is also worth a look and the commute via IL Rte 176 may be a bit shorter.

[a1nubsauce]

Thank you for all of your suggestions! From what it sounds like I will be looking around the Arlington Heights Libertyville area. Can I ask though what the reverse commute means? I assume it is that less people will be going northwest away from the city than into the city for work? That would mean less congestion correct?

[jsk1983]

Originally Posted by a1nubsauce

Thank you for all of your suggestions! From what it sounds like I will be looking around the Arlington Heights Libertyville area. Can I ask though what the reverse commute means? I assume it is that less people will be going northwest away from the city than into the city for work? That would mean less congestion correct?

Reverse commute refers to people going outbound from the city to the suburbs. Though I'm not sure traveling down Route 176 between Libertyville and Wauconda really qualifies as a reverse commute, not sure if there is any meaningful traffic between those two towns at any time of day.