Moving From the UK to Chicago (Aurora, Naperville: appointed, sales, real estate)

[skyeINIL]

Originally Posted by blitzen001

Im just a bloke in my mid 30's with a wife and a couple of little kids. I dont want, nor expect to live in luxury. What i do expect though, is to live somewhere where we all fell safe and if i am out of town with work, it has to be somewhere my family would fell safe on their own for a few days/nights.

In that case, Naperville will do the trick. Hopefully we'll be able to welcome you and your family to Chicagoland soon!

[Lookout Kid]

Just don't expect Naperville to be walkable like a British town, unless you live right in the historic center near the downtown. Outside of Boston there aren't many American cities that remind me of anything in England, but you can closer approximate a European lifestyle in more compact suburbs like Oak Park or in a North Side city neighborhood.

[OakBrookMom]

I recently had an English client who I place in a rental in Riverside who wanted a small town feel with winding streets, parks, a small downtown yet very close and convenient to the big city via the Metra as his long hours would put him on an all-stop not an express train. You can easily rent a home in one of the highly desired areas like Riverside ($2000 would not allow you to purchase the same kind of home, especially if you added on the taxes to the mortgage payment) because of our slow real estate market. Obviously your first concern is your children and you need to have an area with good special needs program. Some areas are better than others for certain types of special needs so definitely investigate that further - perhaps go to a local chapter of a national organization for your need whether that be autism, downs, etc and ask other parents that have been through this search. 51st street is no where near the north shore, you should try to concentrate on the areas off Interstate 55 like Riverside, LaGrange, Western Springs, Hinsdale (yes you can rent a 3/2 in Hinsdale under 2000 a month), Clarendon Hills, Darien, and Downers Grove. Any further west than the I-355 junction - like Naperville- and you are looking at a very long commute into the city but if that is where you need to be for your child it is a very good school system but so do all the suburbs I just named and they are much closer.

[fairmarketvalue]

Originally Posted by OakBrookMom

I recently had an English client who I place in a rental in Riverside who wanted a small town feel with winding streets, parks, a small downtown yet very close and convenient to the big city via the Metra as his long hours would put him on an all-stop not an express train. You can easily rent a home in one of the highly desired areas like Riverside ($2000 would not allow you to purchase the same kind of home, especially if you added on the taxes to the mortgage payment) because of our slow real estate market. Obviously your first concern is your children and you need to have an area with good special needs program. Some areas are better than others for certain types of special needs so definitely investigate that further - perhaps go to a local chapter of a national organization for your need whether that be autism, downs, etc and ask other parents that have been through this search. 51st street is no where near the north shore, you should try to concentrate on the areas off Interstate 55 like Riverside, LaGrange, Western Springs, Hinsdale (yes you can rent a 3/2 in Hinsdale under 2000 a month), Clarendon Hills, Darien, and Downers Grove. Any further west than the I-355 junction - like Naperville- and you are looking at a very long commute into the city but if that is where you need to be for your child it is a very good school system but so do all the suburbs I just named and they are much closer.

I and many would agree with Oakbrook mom. You have a wide variety of choices other than Naperville that fit your criteria and are also much closer to your job and less commute time, as mentioned in my earlier post. Sorry that this got off topic by some posters and the south side. The western suburbs I and Oakbrook mom mention are definately worht looking into. They are much, much smaller communities (1/3 or less the size than Naperville) and you will have to reasearch on a very SPECIFIC area of Naperville as there are so many and are so different. Naperville has a population of 150+thousand and if you are looking for a safe, tight knit community, all of the others listed are better to look into before deciding. Additionally, the WDSRA (Western DuPage Special Recreation Association) headquarters are right in North Wheaton and offer a wonderful, wonderful support system for families with special needs children with a world of activities outside the wonderful school systems that all these suburbs have to offer. Please do your research before deciding where to settle. You want to settle in a place that you can potentially stay if your move to the Chicago area becomes permanant so it's less moving for your children and you. 2,000/mo. will rent you a nice home in any of these smaller suburbs. Good luck.

[tcubed]

As previously alluded to, "51st street" is a big place, encompassing lots of good (and some not-so-good) areas. But lots of people live in Hyde Park, for example, and love it there. Depends on what you are used to. American cities have a reputation of being rough-edged, by comparison with European cities. And I guess that's fair, as far as it goes. But American cities are far less densely populated than those in Europe. Chicago in particular is famous among urban planners for having huge areas dedicated to parks and forest preserves. I think you will be pleasantly surprised at how livable some Chicago neighborhoods can be. American suburbs in general will strike you as vastly underpopulated: houses way too big, lots way too big, far too few people around. The ironic outcome of low population density is highly congested roadways--everything is far away. Suburbanites find themselves in their cars far more than they would like.

Naperville is a fine place to live, perfectly safe, and great for kids. But if you have to make it from Diehl and Washington to 51st and Damen every morning, you are going to go slowly batty. Try it and see.

Best to you in your search. Oh, if you are a first-time Chicago visitor, I recommend the Chicago greeter service, accessible from the Cultural Center on Michigan Avenue downtown.
HTH

[blitzen001]

Originally Posted by Lookout Kid

Just don't expect Naperville to be walkable like a British town, unless you live right in the historic center near the downtown. Outside of Boston there aren't many American cities that remind me of anything in England, but you can closer approximate a European lifestyle in more compact suburbs like Oak Park or in a North Side city neighborhood.

This has confused me? Can i ask why it not a walkable town?
Sorry, im not being ignorant, but the comment has concerned me.

Update:
After some very good advice in some of these posts (mucho ratings given), i have decided to look at Western Springs as my first choice (Thankyou OakBrookMom for bringing this place to my attention).
It seems much closer to where i will be working and sounds like a decent enough area to live.
I will be going via train to work (as i wont have a car straight away) and by the looks of it, this is a very accessable part of the suburbs.

[tcubed]

This has confused me? Can i ask why it not a walkable town?
Sorry, im not being ignorant, but the comment has concerned me.

Lookout Kid and OakBrookMom are giving you a heads-up on the reality of American suburban life. The houses are nice, the older, wealthier suburbs have stately, tree-lined streets, and the schools are generally decent. But, as I indicated, they are designed be of far lower population density than what you are used to. Plus, there are the zoning laws, that prohibit commercial establishments in residential neighborhoods. Result: walking to the corner store to pick up some needed item is simply impossible. There is no corner store, and the nearest strip mall is a 45 minute walk away (The nearest big mall is an hour and a half). "Ride a bike", you say. It can be done, but suburbs are located near highways, and trying to bike your way out of your enclave to a commercial area places you on one of these. If they have a bike path (along side the road, say), it is a noisy, unpleasant ride. If no bike path, i.e. you claim your right as a vehicle on a public street, you will risk serious injury. Most suburbanites simply don't risk it.

I will be going via train to work (as i wont have a car straight away)

You will be fine. Metra is a great way to travel. But your stay-at-home wife will be trapped without a car.
HTH

[blitzen001]

Thanks for the answers.
Maybe i have a bit more 'aclimatising' to do than i first thought

[OakBrookMom]

If you are south of the tracks between Wolf and Gilbert you wife will not have any trouble other than the weather without a car for most activities as there is a shopping plaza on the corner of 47th and Gilbert with a Dominicks (a large grocery store), there is a pharmacy there too plus there are plenty of banks within walking distance as would be the library, schools (if they are not walking distance the children will be bussed to school) and even the metra is walking distance from much of Western Springs. The problem lies when the children or yourself have to travel to activities or go to the mall or meet people for a drink - almost everyone has at least one car so no one thinks to schedule around the metra and we don't have a public transportation system like the city does that would make this possible. You can function with one car if you take Metra to work and for the most part you won't need a car in Western Springs (we are all a bit too dependant on our cars here and forget we can walk).

[Lookout Kid]

I think LaGrange would be another place you might consider.