Suburbs with a small-town feel near Elmhurst? (Chicago, Wheaton: real estate, low crime)

[tristnkair]

My husband is being transferred to Chicago this summer. We currently live in a small town in central PA and are looking for someplace similar. I will be working in Elmhurst and when we visited the area last month we were a little overwhelmed by the size and the traffic especially. Are there any suburbs within a 30 min commute of Elmhurst that feel like a small town, more like what we're used to? Safety is also important, as we have two young daughters, but public schools are not since we will be putting them in private school. Suggestions for private elementary schools (Catholic or non-parochial) in the area are welcome too. We can spend $400k on a house.

Thanks for your help!

[Chinolala]

Check out Elmwood Park. 20,000 residents, insular school district; only kids in Elmwood Park attend the Elmwood Park schools, 2 police stations, 2 fire stations, low crime, about 20 minutes to Elmhurst, nice homes, very well kept and manicured properties, nice small community events like the 4th of July Parade and fireworks, etc. With only 20,00 people, it feels as if you live in a small town but is close to the city. . Very family oriented. Nice newer library, fabulous community pool (across the street from the police and fire station), reasonable real estate taxes, and lots more. Traffic can be hairy, but it is anywhere in the Chicago area. We have the 6th worse traffic in the nation and you will find bad traffic well out of the city.

[Chinolala]

Forgot to mention, there are Catholic Schools in Elmwood Park, both grammar schools and high schools. There is also a Montessori school in River Forest, very close by (within a mile). The Catholic grammar school is St. Celestine. Welcome to Saint Celestine Catholic School!. The area Catholic high schools are Trinity High School (girls only)
Trinity High School, a VERY good college prep Catholic high school, as well as Mother Guerin - Guerin College Preparatory High School, River Grove, IL, another established school.

[nanannie]

If Elmhurst is too crowded, you wont like Elmwood Park. What about Glen Ellyn, or Lombard ? I dont know what your used to but its a busy area all over the burbs. You would have to go a ways out for more really small towns with no traffic. There is traffic all over on main roads, but within the towns its nice.

[gardener34]

DuPage county:
Glen Ellyn, Lombard, Wheaton (nice downtown), Villa Park, Westmont

Cook county:
Westchester (everyone there sends their kids to parochial schools),
Hillside/Berkeley (again all parochial schools)

Chicago metro area has traffic. To escape traffic, you really have to go past Randall Road in St. Charles and Elburn. These burbs are more like 45 minutes to an hour from Elmhurst (traffic dependent).

[emmi605]

Since traffic is so bad, you really would have to drive very far to be in a small-town setting. You might want to try Itasca. It is a smaller town, has fair-priced housing, and a great park district facility. It would be about a 15 to 20 minute drive to Elmhurst depending on the time of day and where in Elmhurst you will be working. You won't escape traffic, though. It is everywhere in the metro area. I actually live and work in Elmhurst and I love not having a commute. My husband take the train some days and then travels around the area some days. The central location has been key to his survival. I'm not sure what your reasons for private school are, I'm assuming religion, but there are two Catholic grade schools in Elmhurst (Visitation and Immaculate Conception) and another great Christian school, Timothy Christian. In Itasca there is St. Peter the Apostle school. As other posters have said, you have to travel pretty far to get out of traffic and feel like you are in a small town.

[M TYPE X]

Nice try, but Chicagoland doesn't have any type of "Central PA" feel, not even in the far western exurbs.

Thanks for playing.

[cricket00]

another vote for glen ellyn.
i think it fits the bill perfectly.

[officerdave]

How long have any of you people lived in the Chicago burbs? You have got to be kidding! M TYPE X has it right, small town feel left here a long time ago..........51 years in the center of DuPage and I am counting the days till my state retirement at 55 and I can get out of "small town" NE Illinois Wake up folks and deal with what this area has become.

[Chinolala]

It's subjective. If a small town feel is deciding to work on the farm, on Main Street or Walmart, have maybe 1 post office and a tavern and being able to drive 50 miles per hours everywhere down county roads, yea, you won't find that anywhere remotely close to Chicago. If a small town feel is living in a smaller suburb with a tight community and perhaps having a town square or small downtown business area, you can find that. Anyone from rural America would not consider any of our suburbs to have a small town feel. Someone from a large urban city would. If you're looking for a Norman Rockwell type of experience, you won't find it in the metro Chicago area.