Looking to move North of Chicago (Waukegan, Evanston: rent, condo, house)

[tresashley]

My family is looking to move North of Chicago. We are in our 30's, two kids, 3 1/2 and 9 mon. We are only going to live in Chicago for one to two years. Schools are not a top priority b/c we plan to be moving before Kindergarden. We would like acess to good Preshool programs.

We are looking at living as close to the city as possible. Housing buget 250K to 350K. We thought it would be fun to have access to the city while we were there, but did not know if for that price it is doable.

For my husbands job we would like to be north of Chicago O'Hare Airport. He will split time between area close to airport and Waukegan.

Me and my children currently stay at home in Texas and are use to playing outdoors and would love a yard.

Any suggestions of area suburbs or areas to start our search?

[TKramar]

nORTH Chicago. Zion. Waukegan.

The first is where the Great Lakes Naval Training Center was, maybe still is. None of them are far from Chicago, in my view.

[trailerguy]

Waukegan is about 40 miles from Chicago on the lakeshore. The airport is in the far northwest corner of the city. Des Plaines is right near the airport, as is Elk Grove Village, Skokie, Niles, Lincolnwood and Evanston. I think Evanston and Lincolnwood will be a little out of your price range, but the other towns should be affordable. Generally, the prices get lower as you get further from the city, except for the luxury communities like Lake Forest. You can get a very nice house in Waukegan for less than $350K in the nicer parts of town, but then it really is not very close to Chicago. The UP Metra train will get you into town in about an hour for less than $5.

[Calidreemer]

I would add Gurnee, Evanston or Libertyville. I strongly recommend reading the demographics about any of the communities to be sure they are what you are looking for. It is also helpful to visit because a community on paper is one thing, visiting can be another.

Evanston has many good preschool programs, including a couple of Montessori schools. There are part time and full time preschool programs available. For $350K you may be able to find a nice condo if you really look. This is a very family friendly community near the lake. Just be careful around Southeast Evanston - you don't want to be anywhere near Howard street or particularly close to the high school. There are nice areas in Southeast Evanston around Hinman and Main both North and East. Evanston also has many parks and wonderful recreation centers and summer programs. Evanston is only a short train ride to the city.

Also, if you are only going to be here for a year or two you could always rent. That way you wont have to deal with the hassel of putting your house on the market as early as 9 months after moving in if you leave in a year. Besides, you can probably rent something really nice on your budget.

If you want something in Evanston or surrounding suburbs I know a wonderful realtor who, although she works in an upscale community, doesn't care if your budget is 50K or 2M. She has an amazing ability to find you exactly what you want. She is with Coldwell Banker. Let me know if you want her name.

Good luck!