The right suburb (Chicago, Elgin, Palatine: rentals, homes, preschool)

[mabella3581]

I posted this same post in the Madison forum as we are looking to move closer to O'Hare for work. We don't mind a commute of 2 hours or so as we'll only be doing it a few times a week. We're debating between a suburb of Madison or further south into the Chicago area. Any help would be appreciated.


Hi. My family and I are looking to move out of the Minneapolis area into a suburb and could use some help. Here's what we're hoping to find.
*My husband will be commuting to/from ORD a few times a week so something within a 2.5 hour drive at the furthest
*Smaller community of under 10k population
*1-2 elementary schools. We have a 2nd grader and a pre-k (4 year old). I would prefer that they're at the same school, but I'm a little unsure about preschool vs 4k in WI.
*Elementary age hockey, gymnastics, dance, Girl Scouts and would love a MOPS group nearby
*Target or grocery store within a 15 minute drive
*We would like to rent for a year to ensure we like the area. We don't necessarily need a single family home, but we do have 2 small dogs. After the year and if we intend to stay, we would like to find a single family home 4+bedrooms 4+bathrooms within a $450,000 budget.
I appreciate all of your help. Thanks =)

[4122]

2.5 hours a few times a week will get old fast. I love Madison and am not crazy about IL. You will find much more of what you're looking for in WI, but how about looking at the Milwaukee suburbs or even further out Chicago burbs. Here's places to check out:

WI: Bristol, Salem, Paddock lake, Trevor, Wilmot, Pell Lake, Genoa City,

IL: Bull Valley, Wadsworth/Old Mill Creek, Gilberts, Hampshire, Pingree Grove, Burlington gton, Kaneland, Marengo, Manhattan, Sugar Grove, Elburn, Campton Hills, Wayne (make sure your in St Charles school boundaries) Lake Barrington (may not be able to get 4+ bathrooms, but schools are top notch and the commute would be much better), same goes for Batavia or St Charles except Lake Barrington would have a better commute. Out of all these places, Gilberts would be the closest to O'hare.

Have you considered NW Indiana? There are places there that meet your criteria and the commute would be about the same as NE Wisconsin.

[mabella3581]

Wow! Thank you so much for your help. I'm going to start researching these cities =) I'm grateful!

[51squirrel33]

Rental Listings in 60169 - 46 Rentals | Zillow
once you find your sweet spot here you will probably move up close to Barrington Hills or Palatine, or maybe even in Elk Grove.

[Daze55]

Madison is nice, but 2 hours is a LONG commute. I would suggest Chesterton, Indiana. It's only a little over an hour from O'Hare, and it's a small, charming little town. Shopping is not a problem. Lots of children's activities in Chesterton as well as neighboring Valparaiso. Finding a 4 bed, 4 bath home would be no problem for your budget. Quick access to Lake Michigan is also a plus.
The best part about Chesterton, though, is that it's located in Indiana instead of Illinois. Illinois has ridiculously high taxes, among the highest in the nation, so you would save a lot of money by living in Indiana since your husband doesn't mind living a bit farther out from O'Hare.

[wjj]

That 2 to 2.5 hour commute will be 5 hours or more in the winter when it is snowing. Do you really want to do that?

[aga412]

Originally Posted by 4122

2.5 hours a few times a week will get old fast. I love Madison and am not crazy about IL. You will find much more of what you're looking for in WI, but how about looking at the Milwaukee suburbs or even further out Chicago burbs. Here's places to check out:

WI: Bristol, Salem, Paddock lake, Trevor, Wilmot, Pell Lake, Genoa City,

IL: Bull Valley, Wadsworth/Old Mill Creek, Gilberts, Hampshire, Pingree Grove, Burlington gton, Kaneland, Marengo, Manhattan, Sugar Grove, Elburn, Campton Hills, Wayne (make sure your in St Charles school boundaries) Lake Barrington (may not be able to get 4+ bathrooms, but schools are top notch and the commute would be much better), same goes for Batavia or St Charles except Lake Barrington would have a better commute. Out of all these places, Gilberts would be the closest to O'hare.

Have you considered NW Indiana? There are places there that meet your criteria and the commute would be about the same as NE Wisconsin.

Those are all insanely stellar picks!

[Kmanshouse]

Originally Posted by Daze55

I would suggest Chesterton, Indiana. It's only a little over an hour from O'Hare, and it's a small, charming little town.

Maybe at midnight. Maybe. Chesterton, IN to Ohare during any sort of rush hour will be WELL over an hour.

Also, any NWI towns directly south of Lake Michigan will get a lot more rain and snow than anywhere in the western or northwester n suburbs of Chicago. It's a noticeable difference. Never understood why people lived in NWI except to save money. That's really the only benefit to it.

[Daze55]

Originally Posted by Kmanshouse

Maybe at midnight. Maybe. Chesterton, IN to Ohare during any sort of rush hour will be WELL over an hour.

Also, any NWI towns directly south of Lake Michigan will get a lot more rain and snow than anywhere in the western or northwester n suburbs of Chicago. It's a noticeable difference. Never understood why people lived in NWI except to save money. That's really the only benefit to it.

Still a lot closer than Madison, but okay, I'll give you that. However, right now Google Maps (which tends to be pretty accurate) says 1 hour 11 minutes, and with it being about 8:30, I suppose that would count as "any sort of rush hour". During the real rush hour, probably closer to an hour and a half. I suggested NWI because the OP wants a small town vibe of around 10,000 people-not available in ANY Illinois suburb that I know of any closer to O'Hare than Chesterton, with good schools as well (why I didn't suggest So Wisconsin). And as far as weather, the OP is coming from Minnesota, so I'm pretty sure they don't care about snow.

[aga412]

I say the Tri-Cities and their satellite cities would be good picks, as well as the rural "Elgin suburbs."