More help on relocating please? (Chicago, Cicero: apartment complexes, rentals, high crime)

[BellaShahar]

My family and I are relocating to the Chicago area. My husband and I are in our 30’s and we have a 4 year old son. My office is in Bloomingdale and my husband’s office is in Skokie. We need help finding a place to live that is kind of a middle ground, but still close to the City. We are going to need a rental, at least 2 bedrooms in a safe area for under $1300/mo. We are not interested in apartment complexes, but would prefer a house or multi-unit building. Also, any suggestions on where to look for a place? We’ve browsed through Craigslist, Hotpads and realtor.com for rentals – it’s just hard to get an idea of the areas, since we’ve never been to Illinois.

Another consideration is, would we be able to commute to either office from train or bus? (Please forgive my ignorance on this matter, I’ve never really dealt with this sort of transportation.) The reason I ask is that we currently only have one vehicle and are not sure if we need a second once we move.

I’m pretty sure I’ve found daycare for our 4 year old son, a place several colleagues have recommended and that their children attend. But if anyone has suggestions, please let me know. He won’t be starting school until 2011 since his birthday is in October.

Thanks in advance for any help. J

[chitown85]

The suburbs have terrible public transportation. It consists of METRA going into the city and PACE bus. PACE is very slow suburb to suburb. Unless you are commuting on the same METRA line, you have to go into city, and then back out to the suburbs on a different line.

If you want a multi unit building, your best bet is the city or close suburbs. Skokie is a much closer suburb to the city and is more urban than Bloomingdale. A midway point is Des Plaines, but you would both need a car. You can find multi unit buildings or houses there for rent.

Other midway points are Schaumburg, Elk Grove Village, and Bensenville, but you will need a car for all these suburbs. The only way one car will work is if you live in city and your husband's office is on the yellow L line (Skokie Swift) from the city and you can take the car to work.

[pvande55]

Skokie has better transportation to more areas. You could live in Des Plaines or Schaumburg, which have bus service to Skokie, but you would still have to drive to Bloomingdale. The latter is off the beaten path, and used to be exclusively residential.

[BellaShahar]

Thanks so much for the info guys. I really appreciate it. I think we are leaning more toward living in the city than a suburb. Would the commute be awful for me driving to Bloomingdale? (with construction and traffic) The yellow L line stops about 2 miles from my hubby's office, which is a bummer so it looks like we will be car shopping. Unless I can talk him into getting a bicycle!

What areas are the "safest"? (I know, I know... no where right? but safer than most?) We've looked at Lincoln Park, Wicker Park, Bucktown... any info would be really appreciated. It's hard not being there to look around for ourselves.

thanks again!

[chitown85]

The Skokie Swift yellow line can be connected to from the Red Line, so look at those areas off the red line. Lakeview, Lincoln Park, Edgewater. Your commute to Bloomingdale will be at least an hour from those neighborhoods, possibly more. Unfortunately, Chicagoland is so big that at least one of you will have the horrible commute, unless you live midway with 2 cars in Des Plaines, Schaumburg, Park Ridge, etc.

[knitgirl]

Since you have a child, I would suggest living as close as possible to daycare. I would also suggest that the daycare be as close as possible to the workplace of whomever is going to have primary responsibility for drop off and pick-up. I think if you got a call during the day that your son had become ill, you'd want to be able to get there as soon as possible. It's great that you both have jobs, but the commuting is going to be fairly tough, don't know what you're used to.

[BellaShahar]

Originally Posted by chitown85

The Skokie Swift yellow line can be connected to from the Red Line, so look at those areas off the red line. Lakeview, Lincoln Park, Edgewater. Your commute to Bloomingdale will be at least an hour from those neighborhoods, possibly more. Unfortunately, Chicagoland is so big that at least one of you will have the horrible commute, unless you live midway with 2 cars in Des Plaines, Schaumburg, Park Ridge, etc.

Thanks again for the info! We currently live about 20 miles from work, so it's about 30-45 minute drive sometimes in traffic. I guess an hour wouldn't be too big of an adjustment. Is Oak Park a nice area?

[BellaShahar]

Originally Posted by knitgirl

Since you have a child, I would suggest living as close as possible to daycare. I would also suggest that the daycare be as close as possible to the workplace of whomever is going to have primary responsibility for drop off and pick-up. I think if you got a call during the day that your son had become ill, you'd want to be able to get there as soon as possible. It's great that you both have jobs, but the commuting is going to be fairly tough, don't know what you're used to.

Yes, the place we were referred to by colleagues is less than 2 miles from my office in Bloomingdale. And if that doesn't work out, I will still look only in that area around my office for daycare so he is close to me.

[chitown85]

Oak Park is pretty nice in most parts, but its surrounded by the high crime neighborhood of Austin (Chicago) and the two heavy gang suburbs of Maywood and Cicero. So providing you are in a nice area, it's nice if that makes sense. Close to Bloomingdale, a little bit of a trek from Skokie.

[knitgirl]

I like Oak Park, definitely a more urban suburb. There's a great upscale Mexican restaurant there that I can't remember the name of right now, but can find. Also a very good Thai on North Ave, I'd have to find the name of that, too.