Rank these suburbs: Evanston, Skokie, Highland Park, and Glenview (Chicago: apartment complexes, transfer to)

[inspire_dreams]

Rank these suburbs (1-4) in terms of ease of getting into Chicago (both by train and car), commute to Evanston, downtown, crime, and liveability/ walkability.

Also, for background, I am a new grad in my 20s looking for a vibrant town, not necessarily a town to settle down in, but a welcoming community.
I heard Evanston has a good balance of city/ suburb. Which of the following towns: Skokie, Glenview, Highland Park is most similar to Evanston. Which is the easiest drive to Evanston?

[damba]

Vibrant? No, none of those are like Evanston per se. Logistics? Skokie would be the easiest and most convenient for your requirements, although not exactly a 'destination' for someone out of college in their 20's. Depending on where you lived in Skokie and where precisely you needed to be in EV, you could take either 'EL', bus or car to Evanston fairly easily (and somewhat quickly).

HP and Glenview are for families mostly. Probably not what you had in mind

[chet everett]

Originally Posted by damba

Vibrant? No, none of those are like Evanston per se. Logistics? Skokie would be the easiest and most convenient for your requirements, although not exactly a 'destination' for someone out of college in their 20's. Depending on where you lived in Skokie and where precisely you needed to be in EV, you could take either 'EL', bus or car to Evanston fairly easily (and somewhat quickly).

HP and Glenview are for families mostly. Probably not what you had in mind

Damba mostly nails it. While there are some restaurants and such that are not exclusively "family oriented" especially in Highland Park as well as some apartment complexes in Glenview that have attracted younger workers at places like the Kraft HQ complex, none of the towns have anything that could be called a vibrant nightlife...

Heck, when you really look at Evanston it does not even compare to traditional college towns like Ann Arbor because anyone seeking a more authentic music / arts / social scene is going to head into Chicago...

[IrishIllini]

Originally Posted by inspire_dreams

Rank these suburbs (1-4) in terms of ease of getting into Chicago (both by train and car), commute to Evanston, downtown, crime, and liveability/ walkability.

Also, for background, I am a new grad in my 20s looking for a vibrant town, not necessarily a town to settle down in, but a welcoming community.
I heard Evanston has a good balance of city/ suburb. Which of the following towns: Skokie, Glenview, Highland Park is most similar to Evanston. Which is the easiest drive to Evanston?

Where's your job?

[ToriaT]

The bad part of Skokie is you have to transfer to the purple line in Evanston. If you live in Evanston you can directly get on the purple line. I lived in Skokie for 10 years. Its no place for someone your age when you can live in Evanston, lots more younger people and more to do there, better transport.

[Paige65]

Evanston, Highland Park, Skokie, Glenview

Downtowns in Glenview and Skokie aren't comparable to Highland Park, and Highland Park isn't comparable to Evanston. None of those are really a good combination of city/suburb, except Evanston. I would consider them all vibrant communities. For Highland Park, Glenview and Skokie, there's nothing wrong with a 20 something choosing any of these communities, but you would need to go into it with your eyes wide open in terms of the community focus on families and fewer younger people.

[inspire_dreams]

Thank you all! I would be working in Evanston. Evanston is my first choice to live, but which of these other options would make for the easiest commute to Evanston as well as Chicago by public transportation or car and is best to get around by foot? I'm sensing by the comments that most would say Skokie. What are the differences between Skokie and Highland Park?

[nana053]

Skokie has the 97 bus to Evanston. Depending on where in Skokie you lived, this would work (or you could take the yellow line to Howard and transfer to the Evanston purple line. No direct train route though.

Skokie does have a theater for the performing arts, if you enjoy a variety of concerts and performances. North Shore Feature Series - North Shore Center For The Performing Arts

The Skokie Theater is also interesting;
Home

They even have a dive bar called Principal's Pub (I have no idea how good this is, though)
Principal's Pub, Skokie, IL | Metromix Chicago

Skokie also has its own Holocaust Museum (and many holocaust survivers lived in Skokie)
https://www.ilholocaustmuseum.org/

It has a nice small nature center (my husband loved to take pictures there):
https://www.skokieparks.org/emily-oaks-nature-center

There is a festival of cultures every year:
Skokie Festival of Cultures

and an art festival at Old Orchard every year:
https://www.everfest.com/e/north-sho...-art-skokie-il

It has easy access to both Chicago and Evanston by train or bus. OTOH, there are probably not as many activities for young people as there are in Evanston itself. Note that in Evanston, you can walk or bike as well as train or bus to many areas. And Northwestern offers many free activities not only to students, but for the public, especially in the summer.

I can't really speak about Highland Park other than googling. I lived in Skokie and it was quite nice. It's diverse. My neighborhood there had people of all races and religions. I was, however, not young. I lived my younger days in Chicago (near Loyola) and Evanston (but I was married with kids at that point).

[asliarun]

Originally Posted by inspire_dreams

Thank you all! I would be working in Evanston. Evanston is my first choice to live, but which of these other options would make for the easiest commute to Evanston as well as Chicago by public transportation or car and is best to get around by foot? I'm sensing by the comments that most would say Skokie. What are the differences between Skokie and Highland Park?

To be honest, Evanston is the only place among your options that has its own meaningful downtown. Is there a specific reason you're only looking at these other specific options? They're all solid suburbia. The usual pattern for someone of your age who works in Evanston is to either live in Evanston itself and spend weekends in Chicago downtown or in Evanston (there are a few half-decent options and there are decent beaches too). Or a lot of people choose to live in Chicago downtown and do a reverse commute from Chicago downtown to Evanston via CTA or Metra. A mid-way option that some do is to live in the nicer (safer) parts of Rogers Park or Andersonville or Edgewater or Wrigleyville area and commute to Evanston by car or bus or train.

[Clark&Addison]

This has pretty much been said but I think it would be crazy for a new grad to move to Skokie, Glenview, or HP. Evanston is lightyears away as far as entertainment, walkability/livability, downtown, and having easy public transit to Chicago. The other 3 are a bit safer I guess but Evanston is still very safe.

You asked about commute to Evanston, does that mean you will be working there? If so, living in Evanston would be a no-brainer.