Considering Relocating to Chicago - What to consider, neighborhoods, etc. (Evanston: rental, condo)

[katmu]

Hello-

I am in my early 40s, divorced 2 yrs ago, with 2 sons (19 and 20). I am an Illinois native -grew up in McHenry County, worked in suburban Chicago before moving to Minneapolis in 1995. I currently live in the city of Minneapolis in a SF house and like living in the city as opposed to the suburbs. As my kids are going to be heading out on their own most of the time anyway and I don't have any family in Minnesota I'm starting to think about moving closer to my family and I prefer the Chicago winters to Minnesota winters.

I'm planning to take a longer trip down to check out neighborhoods in a few months, and would love to get some opinions on good areas for me to check out. I'm looking for an age-appropriate area, would probably want to switch to a condo (I like older neighborhoods - my current house was built in 1930), would like to be downtown by public transportation within 30-40 minutes preferably.

Thanks in advance.

[chet everett]

Not sure what you are looking for. Older "condo" in Chicago can be anything from a vintage highrise to some converted two-flat.

Is the 30-40 minute commute to "downtown" for work? Or will you again be working in suburban Chicago and want to get "downtown" for "nightlife"???

[katmu]

Originally Posted by chet everett

Not sure what you are looking for. Older "condo" in Chicago can be anything from a vintage highrise to some converted two-flat.

Is the 30-40 minute commute to "downtown" for work? Or will you again be working in suburban Chicago and want to get "downtown" for "nightlife"???

Commuting downtown for work.

And I'm not generally fond of highrises, but likely a building a bit bigger than a 2-flat.

[jwaiter]

Ravenswood.

[chet everett]

I am not generally a big fan of Oak Park or Evanston but they do have some older buildings that tend to be less likely to have been "condo-ized" during the boom years and you can still rent for a fair price. There are also stretches of Berwynn where your rental dollar gets a fair bit of space. In all of those towns the OP, whose kids are no longer school age, would have no concerns about the education limitations. There are nice mix of resturants and shop that go along with the older areas and commuting to downtown for work is easy via either Metra of CTA ...

Places inside Chicago might also work, but not as many Metra options.

[knitgirl]

Agree with Ravenswood. Lincoln Square would be further but very nice.

[It'sAutomatic]

Anywhere on the N/NW side. Most areas in the city were built up before 1930. There are people your age in all neighborhoods, so I wouldn't worry about that. It depends on how much you want to spend (closer to downtown = more $) and what kind of neighborhood you want to live in (closer to the lake = more densely populated). If I was you, I could picture myself buying a place in Irving Park, Logan Square, or Edgewater, or perhaps McKinley Park on the SW side. Lincoln Square and Ravenswood are nice but are expensive for what you get IMO. Hell, buy in Wicker Park or Lincoln Park if you like the feel there and can afford it.