Do we need to rent a car to scope out the 'burbs? (Chicago: rental car)

[speris]

DH and I are coming up to Chicago in a few days to scope out some neighborhoods for a possible relocation. We're staying downtown, as we want to check out both city neighborhoods and the burbs. If we want to see some neighborhoods and the downtown areas of places like Evanston and Oak Park, do we need a rental car? If we take the train out to these places, are they walkable? We're fairly hardy in terms of walkability, having lived in NYC. If they're not walkable, would a taxi be easily found at the trains stations? We're trying to avoid a car if possible, but also want to be able to explore.

TIA

[Shrimps]

From downtown Chicago, you can get to Oak Park by Metra and the Blue or Green Line. The Metra and Green Line stop at downtown Oak Park, the Blue Line has stops right above the expressway, you can get out close to the Arts District - nice place BTW, has all sorts of fun shops and restaurants. Oak Park is small, if it's the downtown and a few places close to downtown you want to see, don't bother renting a car. If you want to explore the entire burb, rent a car or get a taxi. The Oak Park shuttle may be a good idea, but it doesn't go everywhere. Also, if you take the Blue Line, prepare yourself for a long walk to downtown Oak Park, or after a look at the Arts District, take a bus, the shuttle, or a taxi.

Oak Park has a lot of nice, more affordable (alas, not cheap ) homes, but also an area with expensive/very expensive ones. Pick whatever is most interesting to you and you'll have a lot less exploring to do

A few links that might help:
http://www.transitchicago.com/maps/maps/fwebmaptrain.gif (broken link)
Metra - Metra System Map (check out the Union Pacific West Line)
Red Cab -- Taxi Service
http://www.oak-park.us/public/pdfs/Newsletters/shuttle_insert_6.05.pdf (broken link)
http://www.visitoakpark.com/pdfs/OPC...Panel_2008.pdf

[cubssoxfan]

Easy to get to Evanston via the CTA purple line of Metra. Davis St. Station for both is a good downtown stop.

[sgresident]

you can take the train to many places, but to do yourself the best tour, I would suggest a rental car.

[lakecountylifer]

Here is the bottom line---your not going to be seeing much of the suburbs and will spend most of your time riding a train. Do yourself a favor and get a car----this will allow you to seriously search neighborhoods.

[irish setter girl]

I agree with the rental car idea. This way you will see all areas of a certain town, not just the immediate neighborhoods close to the train stations. If you give us the names of the suburbs you are thinking of scouting out I'm sure people on this board will suggest areas/neighborhoods/streets to scope out. Good luck to you and happy driving

[SloopyJ]

Both the Evanston and Oak Park downtowns are very walkable, and if you're seriously considering a move to one of those, it wouldn't be a bad idea to ride the train out. Both CTA and Metra go to each town, and they're different and both enjoyable experiences.

Having said that, those suburbs are large and have a lot to offer beyond their downtowns. Oak Park has the Frank Lloyd Wright district, for example; Evanston has Northwestern University, the Central Street shopping district and some very pretty neighborhoods southeast and north/northeast/northwest of downtown. You'd probably want a car to see all that unless you're set on a condo/apartment right in the downtowns of those two places.

I haven't looked, but I'm sure you could rent cars in both downtown Oak Park and downtown Evanston. Have you considered taking the train out, walking around downtown, then maybe renting a car for a few hours in each location just to tour the area?

[speris]

Thanks for the replies everyone. We found a rental car for $20/day, so we're going that route. I appreciate the responses!