Best Chicago suburbs for families? (Aurora, Naperville: real estate, job, medical)

[Steve-o]

Plainfield, Bartlett, Elburn, etc, will have homes in your price range, and are very safe/quiet/etc.

[Calidreemer]

Hi Katlan,
If you and your family are serious about relocating why not rent for the first year to become familiar with the communities surrounding Chicago? As a Nurse Practitioner you should have no problem finding a job in the Chicago area. Would it be possible to become a traveling nurse and ask to be placed in Chicago? I always thought traveling nurses have many of their expenses covered - including housing. I still think renting would be the best way to find a house for 250K in a neighborhood you are comfortable with. Best of luck to you!

[NYrules]

Originally Posted by katlan

I know there have been other threads asking about good Chicago suburbs, but I was wondering if anyone could help me with my specific situation. Right now I live in eastern PA, about 45 minutes west of Philly. My husband and I would like to relocate in the next few years, and he loves the Chicago area. We have an 8 month old son, and good schools are very important to us. I'm a nurse practitioner and my husband is a retail manager. I would like to work in the city for the higher pay, so a relatively short commute time would be good. We would also like an area that is not too suburby,if you know what I mean....family friendly but not too conservative and stuck up. We can afford about $250,000 for a house. Thanks for any help you can give us!!!

Yikes! $250K in this area isn't going to get you much, sorry. Forget Naperville and areas out there. That is just out, unless you can put up with being in a condo. Dunno if that is your cup of tea though with a little one.

I would thumbs up Oak Lawn if you are looking for a more urban atmosphere with the strong family values. Oak Lawn is a VERY bustling burb that is about as close to the city you can get without it being a run down slum of an area or right next to one (within your given price range). There is a Metra commuter station right on 95th Street near Cicero Ave Metra / Oak Lawn Station Information and has numerous little shoppes and eatteries right near it to get a quick snack while you're waiting to board the train. Police in Oak Lawn are a little on the tough side, but if you are a law obiding citizen, you should be A-OKAY. Taxes in the town are right on par with the norm, there is a newer library, city hall, shopping is everywhere, restaurants are all over the place (chains being more near Chicago Ridge Mall), schools are good, and there are nice parks/playgrounds in nearly all the neighborhoods. Oak Lawn's downside though is by far it's NYC type of traffic and drivers. Traffic in the town is downright aweful at many points throughout the day, but on a possitive note, you don't have to travel far to get to anything as everything is right next to one another all the way down 95th St. Check it out. Real Estate at Homes.Com for OAK LAWN, IL

[nanannie]

[QUOTE=jessiegirl_98;2934135. Places such as Lombard, Downers Grove, etc are out of the price range. Planfield is another option.[/QUO



This is NOT TRUE. Realtor.com lists over 150 homes in this price range-homes not townhomes/condos. That was only one site I checked. They certainly are desirable towns for a family and a good investment.

[cmoscinski]

Top Picks for Best West Suburbs based on affordability, growth and community:

Downers Grove, La Grange, La Grange Park, Lemont.

Nice home can be found from the low $300K - $400K.

[mia220]

We're looking at Brookfield. It has a nice, smaller town feel and is close to public transportation. The schools are supposed to be very good. We're looking in your price range and have found some good options. Many other suburbs are a lot higher.

From what I've seen, I agree that you could probably find a small place in Des Plaines for around $250,000. In Morton Grove, Niles, and Skokie, the prices are more around $300,000 at the low end.

[movin-on323]

Originally Posted by NYrules

Yikes! $250K in this area isn't going to get you much, sorry. Forget Naperville and areas out there. That is just out, unless you can put up with being in a condo. Dunno if that is your cup of tea though with a little one.

I would thumbs up Oak Lawn if you are looking for a more urban atmosphere with the strong family values. Oak Lawn is a VERY bustling burb that is about as close to the city you can get without it being a run down slum of an area or right next to one (within your given price range). There is a Metra commuter station right on 95th Street near Cicero Ave Metra / Oak Lawn Station Information and has numerous little shoppes and eatteries right near it to get a quick snack while you're waiting to board the train. Police in Oak Lawn are a little on the tough side, but if you are a law obiding citizen, you should be A-OKAY. Taxes in the town are right on par with the norm, there is a newer library, city hall, shopping is everywhere, restaurants are all over the place (chains being more near Chicago Ridge Mall), schools are good, and there are nice parks/playgrounds in nearly all the neighborhoods. Oak Lawn's downside though is by far it's NYC type of traffic and drivers. Traffic in the town is downright aweful at many points throughout the day, but on a possitive note, you don't have to travel far to get to anything as everything is right next to one another all the way down 95th St. Check it out. Real Estate at Homes.Com for OAK LAWN, IL

hi, we've been thinking about moving for a while now, but here is what we want: diverse is number1. not all white, or not all black, i believe living in white areas isnt always good. 2, the price range is 200,00-350,00. 3, great schools and safe

[diane3]

I would say you should look into the Algonquin/Lake in the Hills area. You can get a nice house for the price you are looking at and be right off of Hwy 90 that will bring you into the city. It would probably take you closer to an hour to get to the city though. But, for your price range that area is probably one of the only area's that will be nice for you and your family to live in.

Hope this helps

[At1WithNature]

I would be weary of Homewood or any south suburb in cook county for that matter. there are exceptions but homewood is not one of them. I have lived in Homewood before and the area around 183rd and Halsted is close to ghetto. In fact, all up and down halsted (from harvey to chicago heights is gang infested and drug ridden). stay away from homewood because your family will undoubtedly run into people who are no good since the communities all around Homewood are no good. we're talking about suburbs good for families. that means minimal negative influences and homewood has tons of negative influences since its' surrounding communities are pretty much crap (East Hazel Crest, Harvey, South Holland, Chicago Heights, ect.)

if you want to raise a family undisturbed by criminal elements, gangs, and areas pulled down by drug activity then you should consider Naperville, Orland Park, Frankfort, New Lenox, ect. if you are looking at suburbs in the south chicago area. stay away from cook county pretty much all together. it has higher taxes such as their sales tax but more importantly the suburbs in southern cook county have problems with gangs, crime, murders, robberies, ect. And this includes Park Forest to Ford Heights. Those suburbs are trouble! stay away!

Towns like Naperville and Frankfort are surrounded by great communities. If you are a strong believer when it comes to an environment determining the outcome of a person, then you should put a lot of stock into the neighboring towns of the community that you choose to live in.

[At1WithNature]

Homewood would be a great town to move into if its' roads didn't connect with ghetto cities such as chicago heights. I admire the effort that the Homewood Police department gives and there are nice neighborhoods in Homewood but what happens when your children leave that neighborhood?

Homewood would be ideal if its' school district just took in residents from Homewood-Flossmoor. but they don't! H-F's school district encompasses many poor communities that are stereotypical, in every regard, when it comes to poor towns. you have broken families, mothers who smoke crack, prostitutes, kids who never make it to high school, ect. And these are the types of people your children will be interacting with if you choose to live in a great community that is surrounded on almost all sides by poor communities that struggle to meet the status quo like Homewood is. Great town...surrounded by crap!