Where are the best suburbs to live outside chicago? (Aurora: for sale, crime)

[j33]

May I ask a question that seems marginally appropriate for this thread discussing Chicago suburbs? It seems to be the trend that people are moving further and further away from the city and commuting in for jobs? What is the motivation for moving out by, say, past St. Charles (which seem pretty far away in its own right) and commuting into the city everyday, it seems like you'd be spending half the day in the car or in the car and on the train? I can understand liking space, but when you are spending that much time commuting, do you ever have any time to enjoy it?

Don't get me wrong, I grew up in the suburbs myself, this is not an anti-suburb question under any circumstances, I grew up in the south suburbs and my father commuted to the south-side of the city to work, so he had a pretty short commute, what I don't understand is the massive commutes people are chosing now. What exactly does, say, Elburn (where they put that Metra stop) offer that Oak Park or River Forest or Evanston doesn't? I'm just sort of curious?

[domergurl]

Affordable real estate.

[crazylilkelly]

Originally Posted by Xing

Don't be a chicken, and move into the city. Wicker Park, Lincoln Park, and Beverly, in my eyes, are good for families. The stereotypes are from the 60's and into the 80's. Times change, and cities change. If you prefer less traffic issues, then look into urban lifestyles.

when my husband & i graduate we would ideally love to live in the city (we have considered licoln park b/c of their outstanding school sys). but, i'm going to be a nurse& he a radiological tech. we'll make good money but will be far from rich. can we afford to buy a 3 bdrm condo in those good parts of the city??? we want 2 kids so it has to be a 3 bdrm. plus, how hard is it to find a condo w/ a patio & a place nearby where the kids can run around? one of the reasons we may up in the burbs is b/c we want a backyard for our kids to run around in & somewhere where we can bbq (oh ya, & having to put up w/ constantly monitoring how loud our music is can be very annoying). still, we just love love love the city & i would much rather raise my kids there where there would be DIVERSITY & culture! sorry, but i couldn't stand living in yuppy, cookie-cutter naperville. i actually HATED growing up in the suburbs. to me it feels so lifeless & boring.

[storey13]

If you want to live in a suburb that is safe and close to the city, I would reccommend Oak Park. It has the two lines of the subway that go into chicago, and has the metra line as well in case you want or need to go farther out in to the suburbs. It has excellent schools and several cute streets as well. Lots of great architecture(Frank Lloyd Wright). I always felt very safe when I lived there. I would walk three blocks to the green line and take the L to my job in to the Loop. Only used my car to get groceries or to leave town. Check it out:

http://www.oak-park.us/

[j33]

Originally Posted by domergurl

Affordable real estate.

Surely that can't be the only reason. I would think that the cost of transportation and the cost mentally of a commute like that would outweigh most real estate savings. Or perhaps I'm unusually conscious of such things.

[MagpiesMagpiesMagpies]

Originally Posted by domergurl

Affordable real estate.

Not affordable, cheap. The homes being built in the exurbs are crappy construction. Those balloon-framed Tyvek boxes won't last the duration of the first mortgage.

Magpies

[no user name]

Sorry, but you and your husband are living in dream land! No, you will NOT be able to afford a 3 bedroom condo in Lincoln Park or surrounding areas on those salaries. Closest might be Rogers Park but it's a load of crap over there. Even the once cheap south side is becoming untouchable though the crime is still high.
At some point, somebody planted a seed into your little heads that living in the suburbs made you inferior and that you must've had a sheltered life....and you bought it. Not when the suburbs are within a couple blocks or a few miles of Chicago city limits.
Go ahead and deal with the parking and high taxes and "diversity" and crime....I'll stay here in the so called suburbs and take the 3 minute walk into the city and then leave when I'm ready while you deal with that mess. Get yourself a couple lawn chairs too for the winter time to save your street parking spaces that you had to hand dig because the city workers are too lazy as they collect their tax payer funded salaries!

Now, the reason many people are moving way out is because property values anywhere near the city, in the safe areas, are too expensive for todays young families. But they often get hammered by taxes in many of these areas too and the property is not impressive. And as another person here mentioned the construction is often very crappy. Yet, these idiots buy this crap right up.

Lastly, Oak Park is no great neighborhood. There may be expensive homes but it is far from safe. My brother bought a half million dollar home 1/2 block south of Madison a couple years ago and has since sold it after making $100,000 in just two years. But this does not make it a great area. I spent time there and had people walk up the stairs and stare in the front windows at me in the house! I've watched crime happen right out in front and the paper reported plenty more. My other brother was walking nearby at another time and had a "nice, young African American man" sneak up behind him on the street and beat him in the legs with a chunk of asphalt! Let's not forget the young college professor walking to his home last year who was attacked and killed by a "nice, young African American man" wielding a sledge hammer!
You can keep your Oak Park!
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Originally Posted by crazylilkelly

when my husband & i graduate we would ideally love to live in the city (we have considered licoln park b/c of their outstanding school sys). but, i'm going to be a nurse& he a radiological tech. we'll make good money but will be far from rich. can we afford to buy a 3 bdrm condo in those good parts of the city??? we want 2 kids so it has to be a 3 bdrm. plus, how hard is it to find a condo w/ a patio & a place nearby where the kids can run around? one of the reasons we may up in the burbs is b/c we want a backyard for our kids to run around in & somewhere where we can bbq (oh ya, & having to put up w/ constantly monitoring how loud our music is can be very annoying). still, we just love love love the city & i would much rather raise my kids there where there would be DIVERSITY & culture! sorry, but i couldn't stand living in yuppy, cookie-cutter naperville. i actually HATED growing up in the suburbs. to me it feels so lifeless & boring.

[j33]

Honestly, I don't know how anyone can afford a 3 bedroom condo in Lincoln Park. I rent on an academic salary because well, I can't afford a condo anywhere (including most of the burbs) which is one of the reasons I stay in the city. It is cheaper for me, in my current situation, to stay here than to live anywhere else in the chicago area (and I'm able to live within my means, pay down student debt and save some money, even if I am 'throwing it away' on rent every month). Suburban rental housing is more expensive than a lot of the city rental housing (if you don't live in Lincoln Park or the Gold Coast) and if I moved out there I'd need to buy a car adding even more to my costs, but I am still shocked at what housing is going for now.

I know that one of these times I may make the move to one of the inner ring burbs (no I'm not one of those people who hates the burbs) as I wouldn't mind being able to have a bit of land, especially if I have kids, but what I don't want it to live far aware from public transportation, a downtown, etc. I guess it is because of how I grew up, but if I had to live somewhere way out there and drive a car to everything, I'd find it depressing.

[Sweetbrightness]

I'm from a boring family - we've lived in the Barrington/Carpentersville/Elgin area since 1846. Of course, it's changed a bit since then My husband and I have 2 little boys, and that is what brought me to this site - because we are moving soon and I needed info to make the 'right' decision. Truth be told, the suburbs are getting very, very congested. Used to be you could run to the store during your lunch hour, run home, and back to work all in under an hour. You can forget that now. The best areas, which I know of from personal experience, are Barrington (expensive and some of the people are not very kind), Fox River Grove (quiet, but one town over from Barrington and Cary), Cary - top rated schools, but the taxes are starting to increase. Algonquin is up and coming, however, their referendum passed, those who paid $3000 last year in taxes are now looking at a $7500 tax bill this year.

Naperville is on our radar (thank you for the posts on that!) My mom-in-law lives quite near there, and we'd really like to settle somewhere with a great school system - though some have mentioned their tax bill is going through the roof now too. McHenry was a top contender, however, as one stated the road was torn up for far too long (there's a great drive-in on Chapel Hill Road that we frequent).

If time travel to Chicago is important to you, as it is my husband, Arlington Heights, Schaumburg, Mount Prospect and Rolling Meadows all have Metra stations, though a nice home for the growing family will cost more than Fox River Grove and Cary. Also, there are parts of Arlington Heights (north I believe) that are having gang difficulties, per my cousin.

I hope I didn't bore anyone to tears!

[nancy davidson]

My husband and I moved to Des Plaines from a condo on Sheridan in Edgewater to a mobile home because we thought that Des Plaines and the surrounding suburbs would be a lot safer and nicer than Chicago. Believe me like, I have posted before, crime is moving to the northwest suburbs like Mt. Prospect, Niles, and Des Plaines.

It seems like these suburbs look the other way while "ghetto rats" are moving in to these area in increasing numbers. Just go to Gulf Mill in Niles, Randhurst in Mt. Prospect - both were decent shopping centers not they are horrible.