My husband is being transferred to Aurora at the end of the year. (Chicago: rent, lofts)

[TempesT68]

It will be rough to find something in that area without driving, but if you pick the right location you might be able to be close to a bus station, or walking distance to a strip mall or what not though downtown aurora is fairly sketchy.
Also like mentioned you're going to have a really hard time trying to find an apartment, let alone i'd assume you're going to need a 2+ room unit for the 800-1000 price line. You may be able to find one in a questionable unit in aurora, but you may want to look in the oswego/montgomery areas. It's a good chance you will luck out there.

[cmaxmor]

We don't plan on existing without a vehicle. I want to be able to walk to a park and have a walkable neighborhood. My children are 3 and 5.

[cmaxmor]

Originally Posted by TempesT68

It will be rough to find something in that area without driving, but if you pick the right location you might be able to be close to a bus station, or walking distance to a strip mall or what not though downtown aurora is fairly sketchy.
Also like mentioned you're going to have a really hard time trying to find an apartment, let alone i'd assume you're going to need a 2+ room unit for the 800-1000 price line. You may be able to find one in a questionable unit in aurora, but you may want to look in the oswego/montgomery areas. It's a good chance you will luck out there.

Thanks. I want to stay within the CoD boundries. I plan to attend there.

[jen1108]

Stay by the area by the Fox Valley Mall

[almost3am]

You know, in Naperville on or near River road, really close to the railroad tracks there are apartments that I have heard are less than $1K per month, although they are not beautiful. You would be pretty close to downtown (~2 miles) and there are a few stores that should be walkable from that location. there is also one, Whispering Trails...or something, that is around there too.
Also, I think those apartments at Cress Creek are ~$1K for a 2 bed. I had a friend looking at apartments in Naperville, but the job thing didn't work out so he didn't move.

I have never been in any of these places, and I wouldn't call them beautiful, but they are probably in your budget.

A better option might be to look in Aurora, you might have luck there. There is a part that feeds into District 204 that is nice...

[jen1108]

Look in Aurora in the area that feeds into District 204...

[chisub]

We currently own a townhouse in Aurora near the Rt. 59 train station. Since we were always city people we only had one car until last month (so 3 years in the suburbs with 1 car and a toddler). I rarely drive to the supermarket since we have one less than a mile from our house, walk to my bank, pediatrician, nail salon and neighborhood park. Yes, it's far from the walkability that I experienced in Brooklyn and Chicago, but I really appreciate not having to pack up the baby in the car every time I need to go to the store. We are also in Naperville 204 district. I'm not sure what the going rents are in our development, but I can find out if you are interested. I know our 3 bed/2.5 with garage could possibly go for around $1500, but there are smaller units here as well and who knows if we could actually get $1500.

[cmaxmor]

Originally Posted by chisub

We currently own a townhouse in Aurora near the Rt. 59 train station. Since we were always city people we only had one car until last month (so 3 years in the suburbs with 1 car and a toddler). I rarely drive to the supermarket since we have one less than a mile from our house, walk to my bank, pediatrician, nail salon and neighborhood park. Yes, it's far from the walkability that I experienced in Brooklyn and Chicago, but I really appreciate not having to pack up the baby in the car every time I need to go to the store. We are also in Naperville 204 district. I'm not sure what the going rents are in our development, but I can find out if you are interested. I know our 3 bed/2.5 with garage could possibly go for around $1500, but there are smaller units here as well and who knows if we could actually get $1500.

I would be interested. Thanks for the very informative post. I knew I wasn't asking too much!

[AuDiBelle]

What about Oswego? I'm not sure about what rents go for, but I think it's a pretty pedestrian friendly town with double-wide sidewalks. I'm not overly familiar with the area, but it might be something to look into as it's fairly close to Aurora.

[kjmalle]

I moved to Aurora two years ago to finish my graduate degree. We moved to the far west side of Aurora. I don't know too much about the school system I didn't send my children to the neighborhood school because they didn't have all day kindergarten. Although i was told that district 129(West) was good. There are several school districts in Aurora 204-Naperville and Aurora combined. 131-East Aurora 129- West Aurora and the Oswego combined district.
I know the neighborhood was safe at night. Close to Orchard rd on Constitution Dr. In the summer I didn't drive my car and we walked to church, library, Walmart, Jewel, Ace, Walgreens, and community health club(awesome faciltity with indoor water park). The Western side of Aurora is affordable. I had a two bedroom apartment with underground parking for $850. When I first decided to move here, many naysayers said it was Aurora was "bad" but I have found great people out here and many things to do with my now 6.75 year old twins. I moved from Normal Illinois, grew up in Oak Park and Hillside. I would stay in Aurora but it's too far from my family.