East Bay Calif to Chicago Burbs (Evanston, Elmhurst: work, new home, subdivision)

[fj60]

Contemplating the move.
Couple of questions for everyone on here:

- Has anyone on this board lived in the East Bay (specifically, Lamorinda area) and moved to Chicago burbs? I'd like to hear about your experiences.
- I searched but couldn't find specifics on commuting from North Shore burbs to Chicago downton. I'd like to get a sense of excact time and process for going from any one of the North Shore suburbs to downtown.
- We have some friends who grew up in Highland Park. What are the sub-communities w/in HP and how are they differentiated?

Thanks for you feedback! Commentary on any of the individual points above or all three is welcome!

Cheers,

FJ60

[Windy City John]

If you're in to commuting by Metra, HP to the city is rougly 55 minutes station to station--so it depends on how far you live from the station and how far you work from the station. Metra - Metra System Map You will find EXCELLENT communites along the northshore of Lake M.
As a rule, prices are higher the closer to the lake and the closer to the city. If you can't or dont want to live within 10-15 minutes of the lake you might enjoy the western suburbs where your housing dollars go further--Elmhurst, LaGrange, Burr Ridge, Clarendon Hills.

[reppin_the_847]

Out of all the North Shore suburbs, Wilmette and the eastern edge of Evanston would be the quickest commutes from downtown Chicago. Probably about 25-40 minutes by car (totally depends on traffic, and there are two potential routes), or about 30-35 minutes via the Metra train.

The further north along the shore you get, the lengthier your commute will become. (go further up and you'll pass towns such as Winnetka, Glencoe, then Highland Park, and then Lake Forest, Lake Bluff, etc.). If your priority is to reach the city quickly, stick to areas such as Wilmette & Winnetka instead of the northern parts of Highland Park or Lake Forest, where your commute times will be a minimum of 45 minutes or so to reach downtown, but easily more than an hour with traffic (and about an hour on the train also).

Originally Posted by fj60

Contemplating the move.
Couple of questions for everyone on here:

- Has anyone on this board lived in the East Bay (specifically, Lamorinda area) and moved to Chicago burbs? I'd like to hear about your experiences.
- I searched but couldn't find specifics on commuting from North Shore burbs to Chicago downton. I'd like to get a sense of excact time and process for going from any one of the North Shore suburbs to downtown.
- We have some friends who grew up in Highland Park. What are the sub-communities w/in HP and how are they differentiated?

Thanks for you feedback! Commentary on any of the individual points above or all three is welcome!

Cheers,

FJ60

[reppin_the_847]

Also if you live in a town such as Wilmette, the best backup route for driving to downtown (the backup option to taking a gamble on the traffic-ridden 90/94 Edens/Kennedy expressway), is to take Sheridan Road and its twists & turns in Wilmette and then Evanston until you enter Chicago's Rogers Park neighborhood, and then the Edgewater neighborhood. Right at the intersection of Sheridan & Hollywood, jump on Lake Shore Drive, and take Lake Shore Drive the rest of the way into downtown Chicago.

If Sheridan is backed up south of Devon (leading into Lake Shore Drive), use parallel roads such as Winthrop (southbound only) and Kenmore (northbound only), and jump on Lake Shore Drive at the Bryn Mawr entrance (requires a left on Bryn Mawr from Winthrop) or Foster instead (left on Foster from Winthrop).

If you drive into downtown a lot, invest in a navigation system (I love Garmin's Nuvi devices) so that you can find backup roads & routes on the go.

Originally Posted by fj60

Contemplating the move.
Couple of questions for everyone on here:

- Has anyone on this board lived in the East Bay (specifically, Lamorinda area) and moved to Chicago burbs? I'd like to hear about your experiences.
- I searched but couldn't find specifics on commuting from North Shore burbs to Chicago downton. I'd like to get a sense of excact time and process for going from any one of the North Shore suburbs to downtown.
- We have some friends who grew up in Highland Park. What are the sub-communities w/in HP and how are they differentiated?

Thanks for you feedback! Commentary on any of the individual points above or all three is welcome!

Cheers,

FJ60

[Paige65]

The commute from HP to Chicago on Metra is on average 45 minutes, depending upon time of day, train, and north or south end of HP. It can be anywhere from 40 to 55.

Regarding the differing neighborhoods in HP, that's hard to say. There really arent many subdivisions, except in the far northwest corner of HP. One of the more well known subdivisions in that area is Hybernia. Hybernia has mainly larger homes built in the late 1980's through early 2000. There are other smaller, newer subdivisions in that area as well, but I don't think most of them have more than 20 or so homes.

In HP, there are what one might call neighborhoods, but they are not bounded by anything that would distinguish one area from the next for the most part. There are very few cul de sacs/one way in and one way out neighborhoods in HP. Most neighborhoods are differentiated by elementary schools.

The neighborhood of Sunset Park is just west of downtown HP and next to Sunset Park, one of HP's many city parks. The homes there range from a few bungalow and cottage two bedroom homes or so to 1920's to 50's, medium sized, traditional homes, to a few large new homes (previous teardowns). Prices anywhere from $350 to $1+million. The streets are tree-lined with sidewalks and lots of families. Fairly easy walkable access to HP's great downtown. Indian Trail is elementary school.

The area at the north end of HP is mainly mid century to 1970's and some 1980's homes on large lots with lots of trees. One neighborhood there is called The Highlands. Some neighborhoods in this area have sidewalks, others do not. Not within walking distance to much. Very nice neighborhoods though and you generally get more house for the money. Elementary school is Wayne Thomas and maybe Oak Terrace in some parts.

The southeast side of HP is made up of mostly older homes (1910-1940) of varying sizes, bungalows to mansions on the lake with a few new homes mixed in here and there. The prices range from $400 to $3million+. The Ravinia area, which is a small section of southeast HP has a small business district and a pocket of traditional homes (anything from 1,000 sq. feet to about 2,300 square feet) built in the 1920's to 1940's on fairly small lots. The homes in this area range from $400-$800. People generally like the area once they move there but because the homes are not large, for the most part, there's always the debate between adding on to an existing home, which many people do, or moving to another neighborhood with larger homes. Typical tree lined streets with sidewalks and lots of kids. Easy walkable access to restaurants, drug store, post office, train station, etc. In the east section of Ravinia (east of the Metra train station), the homes generally go for $600 or so on the low end to beyond $2+ million. The Ravinia area is also close to the Ravinia Music Festival. It's considered a desirable place to live. Elementary school is Ravinia.

Just south of Ravinia is Braeside. It has similar qualities to the east side of Ravinia except no small business district and, therefore, no walkable access to amenities. However, this area is also very nice, desirable and established and, as it is the southern most part of HP, the train ride is the shortest from here. The elementary school, Braeside, is arguably HP's best.

East central HP is more of the same as Braeside and Ravinia. Mostly older homes, some teardowns, larger lots, larger homes, but closer to downtown. Some streets with sidewalks, some without. Can be good, easy walking distance to downtown. Elementary is Lincoln. Good school, nice area. The west part of the Lincoln school area has "newer" homes. Probably built in the 70's to 90's.

Another area that many people like is Sherwood Forest. It's in central west Highland Park. Again, mature trees and a variety of housing stock. Elementary school is Sherwood.

Northeast Highland Park is similar to southeast in its housing stock. Old mansions mixed in with some large, new construction and older, large homes. Elementary schoools are Indian Trail and Oak Terrace.

In southwest HP, the homes sit on beautiful lots with old trees. Homes are generally from 1960's to 80's with teardowns here and there. The school that serves this area is Red Oak. It's very close to the area's major shopping mall, Northbrook Court, which is a fairly upscale indoor mall (it's anchors are Neiman Marcus, Lord and Taylor and Macy's), if you like that sort of thing. In one section of this area there are smaller homes on smaller lots with fewer trees. I believe there are lots of young families in this area.

Hope this helps.

[fj60]

This helps a lot, thanks to all who replied.
One other area we are looking at is the western burbs.
I have heard a lot of great things about Hinsdale, Western Springs, etc.
I will search on here for comments as it relates to those communities.

Thanks!