Work in elgin - live in ? (Chicago, Rockford: crime, property taxes, living in)

[intl.pony]

Hi,
my company will move me (age 30) for work from Europe to Elgin, IL. Would it be possible to live near downtown and lakeshore and commute? If so, could you recommend me a nice place to live? Thanks for your help, Erik.

[nanannie]

Welcome to the states. But sorry, that would be a long commute every day,certainly in winter. Check out the areas around you and visit the city for fun. Look into St Charles/Geneva, Hoffman Estates, Schaumburg.

[Steve-o]

Welcome to the USA!

Id look into St. Charles or Geneva, too. More so Geneva (if you can afford it) if you can.

[knitgirl]

I live in Elgin and like it a lot, but I always get flamed on this board for saying it. Elgin is a lot more racially and economicially diverse than the surrounding suburbs and thus a higher, but not horrendous crime rate, and in that way a lot more like the city, but without all the fun stuff to do. If you would be driving into the city for socializing and entertainment, you'll probably be going to the north side in which case driving will be a lot easier from Hoffman Estates or Schaumburg. I used to commute from Elgin to Palatine which would be closer to the city and that took about 30 minutes. If you think you'd mainly be taking the train down for entertainment, I would check the schedules first, they are not fabulous late at night, but then Geneva and St Charles would be good options for you. I personally would rather live in either Geneva or St Charles than Hoffman Estates or Schaumburg, but driving to the northside would be tougher. Geneva and St Chas are cute towns with actual downtowns. Hoffman and Schaumburg are more sprawling, typical American suburbs. They do have plenty of restaurants and many people who live in the suburbs do most of their nightlife activities there. If you decide you want to live in Elgin, I will have large 2 bedroom in a 3 flat opening up for April or May.

[Fearringtonflash]

Aurora is pretty nice, too.

[nanannie]

Originally Posted by Fearringtonflash

Aurora is pretty nice, too.

Aurora to Elgin commute - everyday? I think that would be an awful lot of driving.

[Chummy Waters]

Elgin ain't a suburb of Chicago, it's a suburb of Rockford.

[knitgirl]

Originally Posted by Chummy Waters

Elgin ain't a suburb of Chicago, it's a suburb of Rockford.

HUH??!!

Elgin is at the end of the train system going into Chicago. I wouldn't even classify Huntley as a suburb of Rockford and that's 30 minutes closer to Rockford in rush hour traffic.

[sgresident]

elgin is definitely a suburb of chicago. it is also very diverse. I would not recommend trying to commute from chicago to elgin. would be a long one. also, not from aurora to elgin. If you were looking for more stuff to do etc. You might consider schaumburg.

[worried4kids]

What about living in Huntley or Lake in the Hills, etc. and commuting to Elgin? I think living in Elgin is ok, if you're in the ideal, and I mean ideal area. But Crystal lake, etc. all those are good, but your property taxes could be sky high. Bartlett and STreamwood would be good choices too.