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04-01-2009, 10:22 PM
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Junior Member
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Join Date: Jan 2008
3 posts, read 2,852 times
Reputation: 10
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Cool and hip historical NW suburb?
Hello everyone!
I hope you can help me, I moved to Oak Park last year for a job... the job is in Hoffman Estates, and yes the commute stinks.
I absolutely love Oak Park, it is exactly what we were looking for when we moved here: its clean, liberal, historical, well kept, full of cafes and shops - and the part we love the most is that its walkable (we can walk to almost anywhere if we need to run an errand). Oak Park also has this great little city feeling with train access to Chicago which is great for my fiance - who works in the city.
I bet you can already guess my problem: my commute. it sucks about 2 hours of my life away each day...
Recently, we've been thinking about buying a single family home or loft for about 250k, but I have no idea as to where to even start looking. We would have to stay in the North West suburb area or have a 35 minute commute to Hoffman Estates. We're also looking to buy in a place that is similar to Oak Park with some of the qualities listed above.
Can you suggest a few places?
Thanks.
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04-01-2009, 11:22 PM
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Senior Member
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Join Date: Apr 2008
357 posts, read 192,632 times
Reputation: 121
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"Downtown" Arlington Heights
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04-02-2009, 07:49 AM
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Senior Member
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Join Date: Jan 2007
3,488 posts, read 3,477,826 times
Reputation: 1452
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Nothing as big or diverse as Oak Park. I would agree with the above poster on dowtowon AH, smaller scale would be Dundee or downtown Algonquin. I think Geneva and St Charles are closer to what you want but the commute would probably be longer then you required. Maybe you could mapquest it from your work location. Also, check on the distance from Elmhurst (again the downtown area).
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04-02-2009, 12:03 PM
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Senior Member
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Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Chicago
233 posts, read 205,058 times
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Downtown Park Ridge -- not on the scale of Oak Park, but includes a little bit of everything OP has, including a Trader Joe's, a movie theater, some smaller shops, a few decent restaurants (plus more that are practically walkable in nearby Edison Park), Metra station for commute downtown. The "feel" of the area and the housing stock (both the older single-family homes and the newer condo complexes) is very similar to Oak Park. The old guard of the town is a bit more conservative than OP.
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04-02-2009, 01:38 PM
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Senior Member
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Join Date: Jan 2007
3,488 posts, read 3,477,826 times
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I am trying to remember  Is Park Ridge a reasonable daily travel commute to Hoffman Estates? |
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04-02-2009, 01:55 PM
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Senior Member
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Join Date: Jun 2007
1,141 posts, read 786,473 times
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Is Woodstock too far out? I'd ballpark a drive at 45-50 minutes.
Or Crystal Lake is bigger, so in my limited experience it seems more diverse, and it has a little downtown area.
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04-04-2009, 10:24 PM
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Senior Member
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Join Date: Oct 2008
1,640 posts, read 749,057 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cdc3217
Is Woodstock too far out? I'd ballpark a drive at 45-50 minutes.
Or Crystal Lake is bigger, so in my limited experience it seems more diverse, and it has a little downtown area.
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With the addition of all the stop lights on US 14, Woodstock is a 20-25 minute commute to Crystal Lake. Then add another 40 minutes to Hoffman Estates based on traffic.
And trying to head south to Huntley and heading I-90 might appear to be quicker until you see the daily jam through Huntley these days. |
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04-04-2009, 11:01 PM
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asdf jkl;
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Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Uptown, Chicago
7,219 posts, read 5,009,958 times
Reputation: 1087
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What would Park Ridge really do for that commute? It's northwest, but just barely! Does it really take that long to get from the Ike to O'Hare? I'm asking because I really have no idea.
Park Ridge does have a nice downtown (or Uptown as they call it), and a few areas packed with historic homes. However, it is much more showy than Oak Park, and seems to have a sort of tacky materialist current running through it. There are teardowns everywhere, and the replacement housing can be very tasteless in my opinion. But Park Ridge is probably your best bet out that direction, even if it does only help your commute a tiny bit. I know at least a few funky Oak Park-style liberals that live there.
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04-07-2009, 05:34 AM
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Senior Member
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Join Date: Sep 2007
224 posts, read 139,561 times
Reputation: 51
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I'd say Arlington Heights. I mostly don't like the NW suburbs but I visited AH recently and was impressed by their downtown.
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04-07-2009, 08:51 AM
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Member
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Join Date: Apr 2009
11 posts, read 5,387 times
Reputation: 13
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femme, Arlington Heights is the best mix of having a downtown and being close to Hoffmann. You can go along the Metra stops and see that a few of them are trying to recreate what Oak Park has but none of them are close. Arlington Heights is trying, it is where I live and Palatine is attempting to do the same but does just has some bars and restaurants. What Palatine does have is an oversupply of condos and townhouses. You're just not going to get Oak Park, Oak Park is where we would love to live but no way we would do your commute
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