college grad moving to chicago, working in lake forest (Evanston: real estate, apartments)

[bnf]

I'm a 22year old who just graduate from Arizona State, and I'm going to be working in Lake Forest in just under a month. What are some good areas I should be apartment shopping in?

I'll definitely be taking my car with me, so parking is essential. I'd like to be walking distance to the El though. I probably won't get to see any apartments before I actually move in.

I'm looking for a fun community with some nightlife, good food options, and a safe neighborhood. Any advice?

[chet everett]

Lake Forest is in Lake Co -- 20+ miles from any El stops.

If you want to live in Chicago you will either have a VERY long drive to/from work or an even more lengthy and convoluted reliance on tenuous reverse commuter links that probably won't get you very close to most offices in Lake Forest.

With a car you might be better off living CLOSER to work and that way you won't have a brutal commute.

The drive from some place like Libertyville would be much more tolerable and you could drive closer in on weekends. There are fair number of younger people working at Abbot Labs and some of the other large health care firms in that area and you would certainly NOT be isolated.

[bnf]

I hadn't heard of Libertyville before I'll check that out. I noticed the metra runs in to Lake Forest and the company I am working for has a shuttle from the metra to the office. I don't know if that expands some of my options.

I certainly wouldn't mind the suburb life if it's cheaper, but close to public transportation to go downtown would be a big plus. I just want to be near maybe the 'downtown' of a suburb so that I can walk to some reasonably fun things after work.

I heard Evanston is a nice 'burb. Any thoughts?

[chet everett]

Some people here LOVE Evanston, and I suppose that it does have its appeal with the Northwestern campus and such.

If you can take a scheduled shuttle that links to Metra that probably does make Evanston and other points to the southeast a much more viable option.

[Bongu]

Understand that Libertyville and Evanston are not Chicago. They are suburbs of Chicago. I don't know if you said moving to Chicago meaning the city or the greater area. Libertyville an 30-60 min depending on traffic and Evanston 25-60 mins depending on traffic.

If you want to live in Chicago (have friends working downtown or just want the city living), don't expect to have the same experience in any of the suburbs. Yes the commute from Chicago to Lake Forest would suck (figure an 1 hr 15 mins or 30 mins if you are unlucky) but that being said, if I was a new graduate out of ASU I wouldn't consider living anywhere but Chicago (preferably Lincoln Park, Lake View or Bucktown) my first years out of school.

[SloopyJ]

Originally Posted by chet everett

Some people here LOVE Evanston, and I suppose that it does have its appeal with the Northwestern campus and such.

C'mon, Chet, the appeal of Evanston goes far beyond Northwestern. A lakefront setting, vibrant downtown, proximity to Chicago, diverse population and housing stock, walkable neighborhood commercial districts...few if ANY suburbs have that the way Evanston does. No, not everyone wants those things, but lots of people obviously do.

For the OP, I have to think Evanston is the best fit. It's not the City, but it's a lot closer to Lake Forest than any hip City neighborhoods. And it's easy to get on the El to go downtown, to a Cubs game, or to Lincoln Park. It's on the same Metra line as Lake Forest so that becomes a commuting option. And with all the grad students, there's a decent social scene for a young-20-something.

[chet everett]

I said "and such".

The primary appeal for a new college grad would almost certainly the areas of Evanston that are frequented by those involved with NU, be they grad students or undergrads.

Sure the location along the lake is nice for the summer, but that is PRICEY real estate that few new college grads are going to want to spend money on that especially if they can get a better deal in Chicago and take advantage of some sort of employer sponsored links with Metra...

[oakparkdude]

The Lake Forest Metra station is on the MD-N line. The only in-city station on this line near anything conceivably fun and safe are Union Station, Western, and possibly Mayfair.

[chet everett]

Originally Posted by sukwoo

The Lake Forest Metra station is on the MD-N line. The only in-city station on this line near anything conceivably fun and safe are Union Station, Western, and possibly Mayfair.

Though sukwoo and I have our disagreements about some things, we agree on Metra commuter trains -- as long as you can stick with their schedule they are hard to beat.

[bnf]

Thanks for some of the advice everyone. I will definitely have my car with me, so the metra isn't 100% necessary, but it would be nice. I've had friends suggest downtown Chicago neighborhoods like Wrigleyville, and Lincoln Park/Square. Is the commute to Lake Forest even 'possible' from that far? I say possible because I've never driven in snow before, and I'm just wondering if it would be some absurd 2 hour trip in tough weather. How is parking in those neighborhoods?

Evanston definitely seems like a nice community, but I've seem some inflated prices there no doubt because of the university.