my suburb wish list:) (Chicago, Aurora: renting, crime, brokers)

[dentalhygea]

Hello,
Just looking for input on the burbs...Looking to possibly relocate to Chicago and would like to be in a nice suburb that's no too far from O'hare, shopping and restaurants and most importantly is SAFE! We would probably be renting and our range will be approx 1000-1400 a month.

[HowDeDo]

Originally Posted by dentalhygea

Hello,
Just looking for input on the burbs...Looking to possibly relocate to Chicago and would like to be in a nice suburb that's no too far from O'hare, shopping and restaurants and most importantly is SAFE! We would probably be renting and our range will be approx 1000-1400 a month.

Palatine, Schaumburg, Hoffman Estates, Buffalo Grove or Arlington Heights would be towns to consider. All are close to I-90 which takes you to Ohare. All have good restaurants, activities, shopping, etc.. The further west you go from Ohare, the safer a town becomes (generally speaking and in my opinion) . All will meet your budget.

[Steve-o]

Schaumburg is close, very safe, and has more shopping than you can imagine (including one of the largest malls in the states).

[chet everett]

Originally Posted by HowDeDo

... further west you go from Ohare, the safer a town becomes (generally speaking and in my opinion) ...

There are towns way west of Chicago that have some pretty serious crime issues. There are towns due north or south of O'Hare that have not crime issues. There are towns east of O'Hare safer than those further west.

Just not a useful rule of thumb at all...

BTW The towns in HowDeDo's post are all NORTH of O'Hare, I can name just as many with desirable features that are located on other compass points.

Basically, there is more than a bit of "chicken & egg" that goes around with the fact that O'Hare WAS picked because it was sorta central to the region AND the region HAS developed to enhance access to / from O'Hare.

It might be helpful if the OP detailed a bit more about what they truly want in a place to live -- do they have family? Kids? Would nightlife be important to them? Quiet? Lots of options...

[HowDeDo]

Originally Posted by chet everett

There are towns way west of Chicago that have some pretty serious crime issues. There are towns due north or south of O'Hare that have not crime issues. There are towns east of O'Hare safer than those further west.

Just not a useful rule of thumb at all...

BTW The towns in HowDeDo's post are all NORTH of O'Hare, I can name just as many with desirable features that are located on other compass points.

Basically, there is more than a bit of "chicken & egg" that goes around with the fact that O'Hare WAS picked because it was sorta central to the region AND the region HAS developed to enhance access to / from O'Hare.

It might be helpful if the OP detailed a bit more about what they truly want in a place to live -- do they have family? Kids? Would nightlife be important to them? Quiet? Lots of options...

The towns that I gave the OP was not an exhaustive list . Im aware there are plenty of other towns which are suitable too. My personal experience (as i indicated) is that the further west ...or the further you get away from Chicago proper... the safer the area is. This is 'in general' of course. It is one of the key reasons people are moving out of Chicago to rural Counties ; they know that the greater the concentration of people per sq. mile as in an urban setting, the greater chance of violence toward themselves . Chicago is so bad that even the Governor of Illinois offered to send in The National Guard to help bring more law and order to the City --- of course Mayor Daley of Chicago has too great of pride to allow that to happen.

[chet everett]

Puhleaze -- as I said anybody who thinks the further away one is from O'Hare the safer you are is just wrong.

Blago is unhinged. The violence that is happening in Chicago is pretty isolated, and the 'offer' to utilize the National Guard is nothing but a transparent attempt to shift blame away from Blago's moronic policies.

Instead of working with employers in the State to improve employment opportunities Blago criticized business leaders as fat cats. Instead of allying himself with power brokers whose silence on racial gangs leads one to believe that they are bed with them, Blago should be using the State Police and/or the federal investigators to expose these corrupt practices. Instead of running like a mad man to pretend the State is solvent Blago should just admit that he could not balance a checkbook or reign in whose wife's spending habits, let alone be responsible for prudently budgeting for the State's needs.


Ok, off my soap box. Still waiting for OP to give some thing a little more concrete than "safe"...

[Lookout Kid]

Originally Posted by HowDeDo

The towns that I gave the OP was not an exhaustive list . Im aware there are plenty of other towns which are suitable too. My personal experience (as i indicated) is that the further west ...or the further you get away from Chicago proper... the safer the area is. This is 'in general' of course. It is one of the key reasons people are moving out of Chicago to rural Counties ; they know that the greater the concentration of people per sq. mile as in an urban setting, the greater chance of violence toward themselves . Chicago is so bad that even the Governor of Illinois offered to send in The National Guard to help bring more law and order to the City --- of course Mayor Daley of Chicago has too great of pride to allow that to happen.

This is completely silly an innacurate. There are a few suburbs just south of O'Hare that have some crime issues, but I can't think of any that are east of O'Hare that have any crime issues, with the possible exception of parts of Evanston (which most consider a very nice community).

All of these are quite safe:

Park Ridge
Skokie
Niles
Lincolnwood
Evanston

And the parts of the city close to O'Hare are perhaps the safest parts of the city, like Norwood Park and North Park (safer than many suburbs). There's really not much to worry about anywhere near O'Hare with the exception of parts of Bensenville, parts of Franklin Park, Melrose Park, Maywood, etc. Note that NONE of these are east of O'Hare! I'd worry more about jet noise if I were the OP. And be careful if you go south of O'Hare into the near west suburbs.

[Steve-o]

Originally Posted by chet everett

Puhleaze -- as I said anybody who thinks the further away one is from O'Hare the safer you are is just wrong.

For the # of towns/cities far out West, I think their statement holds some truth. While towns like Elgin, Aurora, Carpentersville are questionable, they also offer very safe areas of town as well. But the amount of safe towns out in the Western burbs are, for the most part, VERY safe. On the list of safe western suburbs: Bartlett, Wayne, Wheaton, Glen Ellyn, St. Charles, Winfield, Elburn, Wasco, South Elgin, Schaumburg, Plainfield, Naperville, Lisle, Sugar Grove, Montgomery, Yorkville, Carol Stream, etc, etc, etc.

Questionable in areas, very safe in others: Aurora, Elgin, West Chicago.

Undesireable, but rather safe: Hanover Park.

[Lookout Kid]

Sure Steve-O, but name one "unsafe" suburb east of O'Hare close to the city. The only moderately questionable area is the bad part of Evanston. And don't tell me that Skokie has problems! Skokie is a very safe community.

[chet everett]

Maywood, Bellwood, Cicero are all east of O'Hare and close the City....

If you want to qualify that those towns are not at the same latitude as the airport ...