Is there a suburb with the look & feel of the NS but without the price?

[chitown85]

Barrington Hills has all the old estates. Fancy houses/cars and even horses out there.

[cubssoxfan]

Originally Posted by chitown85

Barrington Hills has all the old estates. Fancy houses/cars and even horses out there.

And the "fancy" prices too.

[Steve-o]

Originally Posted by chitown85

Barrington Hills has all the old estates. Fancy houses/cars and even horses out there.

Same goes for Wayne, the premier equestrian suburb in Chicagoland.

[cubssoxfan]

Steve-O, your Fox River Valley between Batavia and South Elgin "neck of the woods" is gorgeous.

[Steve-o]

Originally Posted by cubssoxfan

Steve-O, your Fox River Valley between Batavia and South Elgin "neck of the woods" is gorgeous.

Well, Im not in the Fox Valley anymore (Warrenville), but I do agree with you. The Fox Valley area is very nice, IMO.

[RebelChild]

Original: susancruzs
Grayslake just doesn't do it for you?

I've never been to Grayslake, or Illinois for that matter so it is quite possible that Grayslake will be enough. Just don't know yet.

original: Mamama Mia
I don't want to discourage you but it will be difficult to find a home in most suburbs at your price point. You may want to consider a condo or a townhome.

Buying a condo or townhome is out of the question for us. We just can't live that close to other people. Too used to "rural" living and need our own four walls. We can adjust our price expectations if necessary.

[quote]Original: US-Traveller
The North Shore communities are inner-ring style communities as are most of the affluent western suburbs. Your budget won't really allow you to afford what you are looking for in any of the communities for the most part. [quote]

I did not realize just how affluent the North Shore communities were when I originally posted. I had simply been performing random home searches on Realtor.com and the homes located in the North Shore communities had the originality and charm that we are looking for. Not the big mansions behind iron gates, but the smaller bungelows and cape cods. I don't need to live in the North Shore, just to live in the North Shore.

US-Traveller
You'll have to lower your expectations or look for communities that are going to be more like Overland Park, KS to give you a comparison you might be familiar with.

I was born and raised in the Johnson County/Overland Park area and so yes, my expectations run along those lines. My husband is from Oklahoma and his expectations are about as far from cookie-cutter as could be. He's a bit more realistic about how hard it will be to find what we want for the price that I want.

Mendleman, Thanks for the listing. We've actually seen it on-line before and Libertyville is on our list of places to check out.

Original: SloppyJ
For goodness sake, do yourself a favor and RENT a home in Grayslake or Libertyville for a year! Use the extra time in the evenings that your husband will save commuting and visit some other towns - even Buffalo Grove! - to get a sense of distance and desirability

We will be renting as I agree that it would not be wise to buy so quickly after moving to a new place. We have a home here to sell as well. The purpose of my post was to get an idea of what towns we should visit. The Chicago suburb is so much bigger than Kansas City's that we have no idea where to start. Figured the best ideas would come from those that actually live there. We're really excited about our move and want to start looking this summer/fall as opposed to this winter when I figure I'll be in hibernation. I am not prepared for my first real winter.

Original: Lookout Kid
I think the Buffalo Grove stuff sidetracked this argument because a lot of the North Shore doesn't feel "North Shore". As edsg25 pointed out, the western edges of many North Shore towns are more cookie cutter, and may very well resemble Buffalo Grove. But of course, when people talk about "North Shore feel", they aren't talking about a split-level ranch near the Edens--even if that ranch happens to fall within the Winnetka or Wilmette municipal boundaries.

You got it. I'm not trying to live in the North Shore just to live in the North Shore. I simply liked the unique look of the houses on Realtor.com and the photos of the towns on City-Data.com

Original: edsj25
great point, Kid. If you want to find that real "North Shore feel", all you have to do is look at a 1950s map of Chicagoland.

That's an awesome idea.

Original: edsj25
The charm came not from any more desire to be charming than the newer suburbs that fill in the spaces between the fingers today. The charm came from an era when craftsmenship had to be used because mass home production was not yet possible and certainly not for high end homes. And retailing was local and car restricted...thus no big box retailers or strip malls of today

Again, you hit the nail on the head. This is the "North Shore feel" that I'm looking for.

Sorry for all the quotes and the long post. I just wanted everyone to know that I really appreciate the responses and ALL the opinions. We're so excited to be moving to Chicago and can't wait to start our home search. Your posts have really helped us narrow our search and made the task seem less overwhelming.

[chitown85]

Moving to Chicago is tough, especially since it is so much bigger than everywhere else except NY and LA. Chicagoland is about 10 million people spread over 7 (or 8) counties. Massive suburbs that just keep going and going and going.

Des Plaines also has a lot of bungelows, but Berwyn in the west suburbs is known for them as well. Same with Skokie.

Good luck!