New to Chicago - suburb ideas for commute to Loop and O'Hare (Naperville: to rent, condo)

[Cots945]

Hi everyone!

First time posting. I've spent a ton of time reading a million posts from the last year or 2 lol. I've found a lot of great advice, think I've got a good handle on some things, but wanted to ask for some feedback on the suburbs.

Few details:

1. Moving to Chicago from Brooklyn. Have only been to Chicago...twice .
2. Will be working in the northern part of the loop, north of Millenium Park and east of Chicago Theatre (hope I'm describing that right!). Hoping to keep commute around 1h. Wife will be working from home full-time/flying places a lot.
3. Need to be somewhere that a commute to O'Hare (cab is fine) isn't TOO horrible. I'm used to about an hour by cab to LGA/JFK now but would like to avoid that lol.
4. Budget for home buying is about $400k.
5. Both early 30's, no kids for at least a couple years (which means no elementary school to worry about for at least 7-8 years and who knows where we will be by then).

Understanding that renting until you get a feel for the area might be better, we are still considering buying a house right away. My wife gets a pretty good amount of relocation money that can be used for agent/closing fees and other things associated with purchasing a home. So we want to take advantage and don't want to just 'throw' that money away.

From what I've gathered on the forums it sounds like Palatine, Arlington Heights and Elmhurst might be good fits for us? Are these in our price range? Elmhurst sounds like it doesn't have much going on for people in their early 30's though.

We are not against buying something in the city (blue line is easy to O'Hare?) but for what we have I didn't see or hear about a lot of options that fit what we want in a home, namely some space and a bigger backyard.

Is it a huge pain in the butt going into and out of the city from the burbs on weekends or late at night (midnight-ish)? I'm used to it taking forever to get anywhere in NYC so 45m on a train doesn't bother me.

Sorry for the long winded post and asking a question I know gets asked a lot. Just figured after doing some research I'd double check with the experts .

Thanks!

[nikitakolata]

Why do you say Elmhust doesn't have anything going on for people in their 30s? It's a pretty ideal place for your age, IMO. There are several bars, some nicer restaurants and some cute shops downtown. Commuting by train is easy to get downtown and we're close enough to O'Hare. What is it you think Elmhurst wouldn't have for you?

I actually moved to Elmhurst when I was 31 and we didn't have kids then (we now have one 15 month old). We've been in Elmhurst for 4 years. The only thing I can see being a challenge for you in Elmhurst is your budget. But, if you'd consider a condo or a bit of a fixer I think you could find something.

[Cots945]

Oh I just said that about Elmhurst because there were a few threads recently where people said it wasn't the best choice, to commenters around my age. Maybe trusted that bit of info too much!

Thank you for the feedback!

[IrishIllini]

Originally Posted by Cots945

Hi everyone!

First time posting. I've spent a ton of time reading a million posts from the last year or 2 lol. I've found a lot of great advice, think I've got a good handle on some things, but wanted to ask for some feedback on the suburbs.

Few details:

1. Moving to Chicago from Brooklyn. Have only been to Chicago...twice .
2. Will be working in the northern part of the loop, north of Millenium Park and east of Chicago Theatre (hope I'm describing that right!). Hoping to keep commute around 1h. Wife will be working from home full-time/flying places a lot.
3. Need to be somewhere that a commute to O'Hare (cab is fine) isn't TOO horrible. I'm used to about an hour by cab to LGA/JFK now but would like to avoid that lol.
4. Budget for home buying is about $400k.
5. Both early 30's, no kids for at least a couple years (which means no elementary school to worry about for at least 7-8 years and who knows where we will be by then).

Understanding that renting until you get a feel for the area might be better, we are still considering buying a house right away. My wife gets a pretty good amount of relocation money that can be used for agent/closing fees and other things associated with purchasing a home. So we want to take advantage and don't want to just 'throw' that money away.

From what I've gathered on the forums it sounds like Palatine, Arlington Heights and Elmhurst might be good fits for us? Are these in our price range? Elmhurst sounds like it doesn't have much going on for people in their early 30's though.

We are not against buying something in the city (blue line is easy to O'Hare?) but for what we have I didn't see or hear about a lot of options that fit what we want in a home, namely some space and a bigger backyard.

Is it a huge pain in the butt going into and out of the city from the burbs on weekends or late at night (midnight-ish)? I'm used to it taking forever to get anywhere in NYC so 45m on a train doesn't bother me.

Sorry for the long winded post and asking a question I know gets asked a lot. Just figured after doing some research I'd double check with the experts .

Thanks!

Park Ridge? Lincolnwood? Evanston? Maybe even the Northwest Side of the city in Edgebrook? Sound like you're working in Lakeshore East, by the way .

[fusillirob1983]

Originally Posted by Cots945

Oh I just said that about Elmhurst because there were a few threads recently where people said it wasn't the best choice, to commenters around my age. Maybe trusted that bit of info too much!

Thank you for the feedback!

Elmhurst seems reasonable for what you're looking for. I think there were some threads against Elmhurst either for someone in the far west suburbs, too low of a price range or were in a younger demographic.

Early 30s, $400k budget and working downtown makes Elmhurst make a lot of sense. Just take a look at the property taxes though, because they might be around $8k-9k per year depending on the house, if that affects your buying power.

[RJA29]

Elmhurst does seem to make a lot of sense, here. I think it's a good place for that age range, especially if kids are on the horizon.

400K, though, might be a little tough, but if you're driving to work, you can be further away from the core downtown.

There are also neighborhoods in the city (Logan Square, for example) if you'd prefer to rent and rely on transit.

[Clark&Addison]

Obviously you know a lot more about what you want than anyone else, but it seems to me like moving from Brooklyn to Elmhurst would be a major shock to your system. Admittedly I only have about as much experience with NYC as you do with Chicago, but I do know Chicago is much less dense than NYC and the majority of areas in the actual city will probably feel like the "suburbs" to you I'm guessing. For $400,000 it wouldn't be very hard to find some nice smaller houses with decent sized yards in the city.

I would check out pretty much any neighborhood along the blue line or near a Metra station (which would put Edgebrook in play). You can get a little more of a suburban feel while making you commute to both O'Hare and the loop much easier than Elmhurst, plus you have the benefit of the CTA for whatever you want to do in the city.

[RJA29]

Originally Posted by Clark&Addison

Obviously you know a lot more about what you want than anyone else, but it seems to me like moving from Brooklyn to Elmhurst would be a major shock to your system. Admittedly I only have about as much experience with NYC as you do with Chicago, but I do know Chicago is much less dense than NYC and the majority of areas in the actual city will probably feel like the "suburbs" to you I'm guessing. For $400,000 it wouldn't be very hard to find some nice smaller houses with decent sized yards in the city.

I would check out pretty much any neighborhood along the blue line or near a Metra station (which would put Edgebrook in play). You can get a little more of a suburban feel while making you commute to both O'Hare and the loop much easier than Elmhurst, plus you have the benefit of the CTA for whatever you want to do in the city.

Agreed about this.

I've lived in Queens and Manhattan (as well as numerous other places) and moved to Wicker Park in Chicago proper. Wicker park was quiet -- even compared to Queens. Elmhurst will feel like Darien, CT.

[ToriaT]

Park Ridge, Evanston may be good picks. Elmhurst, Arlington Heights would be good. If you are willing to go further to the airport, Wheaton, Glen Ellyn, Naperville Downers Grove are nice. Also La Grange and Riverside. Traffic during rush hour can be horrendous but off times it can be good unless something has happened to back it up. I can get into downtown from my home in Wheaton in about 45 min. or less on a Sunday morning. Don't even try to drive to a job everyday. Rely on public transit. Transport to OHare is no problem generally. You can get to the airport from most of the above suburbs within an hour or even less, again as long as there is not a big jam up. You can take cabs, limo service, uber or lift. The limo service I used, West Suburban limo, you make a reservation a head of time and they come and pick you up with lots of time to get your flight. It does not cost that much more you might have to share a ride with one other person for the lowest fee. I have several friends that grew up in Brooklyn and live in the Chicago suburbs and manage fine. They like it and have adapted well.

[BearBull&Cub]

We used to live along the UPNW metra line (Palatine, Arlington Heights, up to Crystal Lake area). It was about 1.5 hours or under to get into the city. The closer you get, the less time on the train you have to contend with. However, the train into the city is far better, in my opinion, than driving to the city. You don't have to worry about a car to park downtown. There are also express trains that only stop at certain stations that can trim some time off of the average UPNW line times. Palatine and Arlington Heights offer great downtown areas and affordable housing, depending on what you are looking for. When I looked, I could find a home for under $400K, even some as low as $275K.

We take the train downtown on some weekends. However, because we are one of the first stops going into the city (Cary or Crystal Lake), we are able to get seats pretty easily. The train can get busy when riders are attending sporting games, though.

To make commuting very easy, we use the Ventra application on our phone for advanced ticket purchases.

You can actually get to O'Hare via train, even if you only live off of the UPNW Metra line. You'll have to google the stop, I forget, but there is a point where you can take the UPNW Metra line, walk a short distance, and then get on the Blue line to go to O'Hare.