Young family moving to Chicago - best suburb to commute to UIC medical district?

[sfcambridge]

Originally Posted by Primary

Very true. My daughter will start kindergarten in the fall of 2017, so we could at least rent for a year somewhere while we research areas. What about Skokie? I saw a few desirable rentals that say they are ~35 minutes to the hospital with good school. Is it actually harder to commute from there than what it seems?

Way way too far. You want the western suburbs only for a decent commute.

Rush hours are bad here and you have to double commute times for rush hours. Also, it snows here... big impact on driving. Walking+train+walking is always slower than you think it will be. You want to live as close as possible to the hospital. Western border suburbs are a logical choice.

Oak Park, Forest Park (if you will move before kids in 1st grade etc..), Berwyn. If I was a resident, I would live in one of those places, as close to the expressway as possible to take advantage of the train vs. driving at times. But I would also probably drive to the hospital, and avoid rush hours.

And do you really want a big house/"more for your money"? Your kids are young, and don't need a lot of space. The bigger the place, the more to heat (high utilities) and the more to clean. You are going to be working like crazy etc..

[TheTimidBlueBars]

Originally Posted by oakparkdude

River Forest is also an option, but you'll want to stay in the south part of River Forest so the commute to the Blue line station is not too burdensome. In Oak Park, you can literally get an apartment within 100 feet of the station, whereas the southern boundary of River Forest is at least a few blocks away. Also, fyi I don't believe that southern portion of River Forest has very many apartments.

To be fair, River Forest has some apartments near the Harlem Green Line station. IDK about the prices though.

[goillini8]

Some posters are suggesting you drive, which I think is a good option. But, I still think you should look for a place close to the blue line and/or Metra - then you have options given the weather, traffic, etc.