Winfield, Carol Stream, Warrenville, Geneva, Batavia, Wheaton, St. Charles...? (Chicago: housing, rental)

[NYtoIAtoIL]

My husband and 1 yr. old baby and I are moving to the West Chicago area for an unknown length of time. My husband's mom is sick and his parents live in West Chicago. We'd like to live near West Chicago, but I'm not sure about living IN West Chicago. Can anyone tell me what the surrounding suburbs are like? Winfield, Carol Stream, Warrenville, Geneva, Batavia, Wheaton, St. Charles...?
I'd like to live somewhere: safe, with other young families, near a decent-sized park, and not too expensive.
We'll probably be living in a rental duplex-type thing, so the "not too expensive" part would refer mostly to groceries and rent.
Thanks in advance for any help you can give!

[nanannie]

Originally Posted by NYtoIAtoIL

My husband and 1 yr. old baby and I are moving to the West Chicago area for an unknown length of time. My husband's mom is sick and his parents live in West Chicago. We'd like to live near West Chicago, but I'm not sure about living IN West Chicago. Can anyone tell me what the surrounding suburbs are like? Winfield, Carol Stream, Warrenville, Geneva, Batavia, Wheaton, St. Charles...?
I'd like to live somewhere: safe, with other young families, near a decent-sized park, and not too expensive.
We'll probably be living in a rental duplex-type thing, so the "not too expensive" part would refer mostly to groceries and rent.
Thanks in advance for any help you can give!

You dont mention a price range. Geneva/St Charles/Wheaton are definitly most desirable, nicest towns and also most expensive.Warrenville is a neighbor to Naperville, (which has a great downtown ), but W'ville is mostly strip malls, no downtown to speak of. I would say Batavia has really nice areas, and iffy ones too. Nice, but IMHO not AS nice as the other 3 mentioned.Carol Stream/Winfield, not as desirable and some iffy areas and not a lot of charm, but affordable housing ,again, no town, mostly strip malls.. If you can afford it, Geneva, St. Chrls, Wheat. would be top picks.

[Steve-o]

Originally Posted by NYtoIAtoIL

My husband and 1 yr. old baby and I are moving to the West Chicago area for an unknown length of time. My husband's mom is sick and his parents live in West Chicago. We'd like to live near West Chicago, but I'm not sure about living IN West Chicago. Can anyone tell me what the surrounding suburbs are like? Winfield, Carol Stream, Warrenville, Geneva, Batavia, Wheaton, St. Charles...?
I'd like to live somewhere: safe, with other young families, near a decent-sized park, and not too expensive.
We'll probably be living in a rental duplex-type thing, so the "not too expensive" part would refer mostly to groceries and rent.
Thanks in advance for any help you can give!

Areas in West Chicago north of Washington are very nice and more affordable than all other towns mentioned. Winfield is a quiet, small town that is close to everything, Id recommend it. I dont know how much you can afford, so its hard to say if ANY of those towns will suit your budget. Batavia is semi-decent, it has some beautiful areas, some older areas, etc. Geneva, St. Charles and Wheaton are wonderful towns, but quite pricey. Warrenville is nice, I live there. There are a few Forest Preserves in town (Blackwell, Warrenville Grove, Herrick Lake) that you can hike and bike, and youre right next to Naperville which has everything in the world to do.

[Homesinrockford]

I grew up in Carol Stream and lived there for about 22 years. This is a very nice city. I would stay away from West Chicago because it's full of gangs and drugs.

[Steve-o]

Originally Posted by Homesinrockford

I grew up in Carol Stream and lived there for about 22 years. This is a very nice city. I would stay away from West Chicago because it's full of gangs and drugs.

Gangs have been kept under control and are a non-issue for most in the city now. The city did a really good job halting the problem in the 90s. As for drugs, Im not sure where that issue stands. I do know that Carol Stream does have gangs and drugs in areas too, particularly near the Hanover Park and areas along Lies Rd (apartments) near County Farm Rd.

[suburbs_gal]

I think you'll find gangs and drugs in every town these days...
I went to the high school in West Chicago back in the mid 90s and it was decent, but I have heard some bad things about it recently. West Chicago is not as nice closer to the high school (from what I remember).
I lived in Carol Stream for 10 years and it was a nice town. There's pretty much good and bad parts to every town though.

[NYtoIAtoIL]

Thanks for all of the replies. Now it looks like my husband prefers to find a place in West Chicago, if we can find people about our demographic (upper-twenties/lower-thirties, young family, English-speaking) to live around. I know a lot of West Chicago is Spanish-speaking; I honestly don't know that much about West Chicago besides that. We may still end up checking these surrounding towns, if we have trouble finding a place in West Chicago.
So, areas north of Washington are good? Any other recommendations?
Right now we rent a 2BR duplex in Iowa for $650/mo. We'd be willing to pay more than that, but probably less than $1000/mo.
Thanks, again, for your input.

[Steve-o]

Originally Posted by NYtoIAtoIL

Thanks for all of the replies. Now it looks like my husband prefers to find a place in West Chicago, if we can find people about our demographic (upper-twenties/lower-thirties, young family, English-speaking) to live around. I know a lot of West Chicago is Spanish-speaking; I honestly don't know that much about West Chicago besides that. We may still end up checking these surrounding towns, if we have trouble finding a place in West Chicago.
So, areas north of Washington are good? Any other recommendations?
Right now we rent a 2BR duplex in Iowa for $650/mo. We'd be willing to pay more than that, but probably less than $1000/mo.
Thanks, again, for your input.

A 2 BR can be found in the area for around a grand a month. Are you looking for a apartment? Rent a house? And yes, the areas north of Washington are quite nice in West Chicago. Oak-tree lined streets, quiet, etc. There are some new neighborhoods in the area that are very nice, but quite expensive (ie Forest Trails, etc). If youre gonna rent a house, let me know the street and I can tell you if its in a good place. But to be honest, the town is quite safe. The population is about 50% Hispanic, but they are generally very nice. They have their grocery stores and restaurants around town, which I like to pop into from time-to-time to grab my beloved Valentino hot sauce. Caucasians and Hispanics live together in town quite harmoniously, actually. I grew up in West Chicago and had Hispanic neighbors my whole life and they were great people! There were some gangs in town, and probably still are, but nothing like they used to be in the 90s.

[sickofIL]

Just out of curiosity, where can have a 2br house for a grand a month? I've lived in the western suburbs all of my life and the only houses like that are usually bulldose material.

I'd say anywhere you would want to live you will need to pay at least 16-1700/ month unless you put 50% down. Three years ago I sold my 900 sq. ft 3 br house in Glendale Heights for 179k and that was a lower priced house there. And don't forget the taxes. These will add at least $500/month and likely more.

Glendale Heights isn't necessarilly a good place either if you have kids. The schools are so-so and there is beginning to be gang trouble. My brother lives there and his kids go to grade school. They have a policeman there at the school to keep anything from happening.

I live in unincorporated Wheaton now. It's nice but taxes are very high and house prices are crazy. I live in a 50 year old brick Cape Cod that needs everything, just so we could afford to live here. Wheaton has one of the best school districts, they say.

However, one thing I have learned with 3 kids in school is that a good school district depends more on the parents than the district. Maybe they pay the teachers more and have more "stuff" but I believe it takes two things. 1. parents that can or are willing to spend time every day after school working with their kids. 2. Parents that have the education and the ability to teach their kids what the schools do not.

If you look at the school systems in the Chicago area, the ones that are in lower class areas where the parents may not even have graduated from high school and both need to work to just survive, these are the districts that are rated poorly. I find it difficult to believe that the schools are good when you need to spend hours every day teaching your kids how to sound out words, how to add and subtract and how to read after they went to school.

Don't get me wrong, this isn't a bad place to live if you like the horrible weather, you don't mind the taxes continously going up at the max allowable rate, the snotty people, and the attitude. But if you are comming from NY city, (I don't think you said) it probably will be nice compared to what you are used to.

[rescue brew]

I would try to move your in-law's to Iowa, instead of your family moving to IL. You will be hard pressed to find a place for 1,000 / month to rent. My wife and I are in your demographic (20's, child) and we are currently looking to relocate somewhere with a lower cost of living. Yes, chicago is a very cool city, but we can have a better quality of life elsewhere. *we live on the west side of naperville, by the way.