Is Evanston or Skokie best for us? (Chicago, Highland Park: renters, condo)

[k21815]

Hello Folks,

We are planning to move from Los Angeles to Chicago North Suburbs (1 to 2 months. I will be working out of home and my wife will be working in the Chicago downtown area (East Wacker Drive, Zip60601 )
have two kids who attend magnet schools here in LA.

I have narrowed down my search to Skokie and Evanston because of commute. Will be renters to start with and looking at 3 bd room condo/twnhouses with budget upto $2500 per month for rent

The most important thing for us is the commute for my wife. She plans to take the train/metro and need an area which is the shortest commute to East Wacker Drive.

These are also very important to us

1.Top Public Schools for our kids

2. Family oriented and fun with lots of cafes and shopping

3. High academic achievement(we have mutltiple advanced degrees from top universities)

Please let us know which parts of Evanston or Skokie you would suggest or any other suburbs. The most important thing is my wife's commute.

Thank you very much.....Kris

[SloopyJ]

From your description of wants, I think you'd be happier in Evanston. The downtown is much more vibrant (Skokie's is almost non-existent; Old Orchard Mall in Skokie has much more to offer than downtown Skokie), and the presence of Northwestern University and Evanston Hospital (now affiliated with the University of Chicago) ensures a high concentration of highly educated folks.

Evanston's public schools are also excellent for students whose backgrounds are supportive of educational achievement. Evanston's overall school report cards (which are good, not great) reflect the unfortunate performance gap between higher income students and lower-income, primarily minority, students, but the fact is that the majority of Evanston students perform as well or better than their counterparts at the area's other top public schools. Evanston also has the highest spending per student in the state, which somewhat numbs the pain of its high property taxes (Skokie's are much lower, partially thanks to the mall).

You say you've narrowed your choices down to Skokie or Evanston based on the commute; you might want to look at southeast Wilmette, however, which is just one Metra stop past Evanston Central Street (an extra 5 minutes or so). Wilmette has its own pretty nice downtown (not nearly as alive as Evanston's, but much better than Skokie's) and the schools are excellent (if much less diverse than Evanston's). Home prices in South Wilmette are pretty high, but I don't think rentals differ much from Evanston.

[chet everett]

I would add that if you are moving from LA to Chicago in December /January you really ought to find the situation that affords the least "shock to the system" -- standing on an El platform or hoofing it to the Metra station is hard enough for those of us acclimated to the cold dark winter, coming from balmly LA is too brutal for me to fathom...

Wilmette is a very very nice to place to live, especially so if top public schools are high on your list. Rentals are not as plentiful as Evanston, though.

[Lookout Kid]

Wilmette is safer and has better schools (overall) than Evanston. But the boredom factor is much higher there, and it is much more typically suburban. Don't get me wrong, Wilmette has a lot more to offer than your typical sprawl path suburb in a distant corn field, but Evanston has a lot of urban ammenities (and some urban ills in the form of crime).

I would choose Wilmette over Skokie if I were you. Rentals may be hard to find, but they do exist. Some friends of mine sold their condo in the city recently and are renting a very nice place in Highland Park for their family while they try to figure out their next move (most likely leaving Chicago). So the rentals can be found in the tony North Shore suburbs occasionally. Evanston is a different animal entirely, however. It's part North Shore suburb, part college town, part urban center, and part urban ghetto.

[SloopyJ]

Originally Posted by Lookout Kid

Wilmette is safer and has better schools (overall) than Evanston. Evanston is a different animal entirely, however. It's part North Shore suburb, part college town, part urban center, and part urban ghetto.

Don't scare him away, LK! Very little of Evanston (if any, depending on your definition) is urban ghetto. North Evanston is a whole lot like Wilmette with the exception of more racial/economic mixing at the public schools, as they draw the school boundaries to balance the demographics despite much less geographic mixing). If you want to be close to transit, stay near the Davis or Central Street Metra stations or any of the CTA stations, and you'll be fine.

[ToriaT]

It probably would be better to rent for a while before buying. Despite their close distance, Evanston, Wilmette and Skokie are quite different towns. I lived in Skokie for ten years and it was fine. Transportation can be difficult oddly despite all the options. Taking the pokey Skokie swift to the L was not good so I had to drive into Evanston and parking was dicey. Personally at this point if I had a family I'd probably pick Wilmette. North Evanston around Central is nice. Also there are areas of Skokie in the north and East that are nice too, also New England Village is nice but its houses.

[Lookout Kid]

Originally Posted by SloopyJ

Don't scare him away, LK! Very little of Evanston (if any, depending on your definition) is urban ghetto.

Personally, I'd choose Evanston over Skokie or Wilmette in a hearbeat! I'm very pro-Evanston, in spite of how that post may have been interpreted. But I'd say about a quarter of Evanston is rougher than I'd want to deal with as a family with kids. That's all. Great community, but has some rough patches.

[chicagomom2]

Wilmette has many single family rentals, at least 10-20 on the market right now, look in the Pioneer Press Wilmette Life, a weekly paper, also many realtors in Evanston and Wilmette handle rentals....I had one that set up a website for me, with rentals in our price range.....

[Chicagoland60426]

I don't know what people on here are talking about Evanston being part ghetto. According to the crime states, Evanston crime rate is below the US average and seem mostly safe. The crime rate is just higher than the other North Shore suburbs.

[Lookout Kid]

Originally Posted by Chicagoland60426

I don't know what people on here are talking about Evanston being part ghetto. According to the crime states, Evanston crime rate is below the US average and seem mostly safe. The crime rate is just higher than the other North Shore suburbs.

Evanston has a "ghetto" area of significant size that is dominated by poor African-American residents. And this area has more than it's fair share of crime problems, including gang violence, shootings, etc. It's not Englewood by any means, but I would caution most people to avoid purchasing a home in that particular part of Evanston unless they are interested in being "urban pioneers", i.e. gentrifiers.

Usually I'm the one defending Evanston against attacks on this forum, but I think it's really misleading to state that Evanston doesn't have any ghetto areas. Most of the town is really wonderful, vibrant, and beautiful--but there are a few trouble spots on the west-central and southwest side of town.