City vs suburbs living (Chicago, Palatine: vehicle registration, brokers, hotel)

[Stechkin]

Originally Posted by nikitakolata

Just using Westmont as an example, the least expensive house that was built after 2000 and that is within a half mile of the Metra station is listed for $459,000. Of course, it's new construction. If you drop the post 2000 requirement there are houses for as little as $118,000. I picked Wesmont because its downtown is not particularly impressive and neither are the schools. It is on the BNSF rail line which has some of the fastest service to downtown.

o ok, its not ghetto though, right? for that kinda price difference its prolly cheaper to buy the 118k one, demolish it and build a new one yourself

[nikitakolata]

Originally Posted by Stechkin

up to 2 miles

The "newer" part of your requirement is what will cost you. You can get an updated home near a metra station in the $200,000 range, but requiring that it be less than 15 years old will mean much higher prices close to a metra station. I'm sure that there are a couple developments scattered various distances from Chicago that are newer and can be had for lower prices though. It's hard to say without knowing if you're targeting a particular price point.\

I don't think Westmont is ghetto, no. It just doesn't have the greatest schools. That said, I would send my kids there if I had any, but apparently, I'm odd like that (I went to schools that were considered "bad" and I've been very successful).

[Stechkin]

Originally Posted by nikitakolata

The "newer" part of your requirement is what will cost you. You can get an updated home near a metra station in the $200,000 range, but requiring that it be less than 15 years old will mean much higher prices close to a metra station. I'm sure that there are a couple developments scattered various distances from Chicago that are newer and can be had for lower prices though. It's hard to say without knowing if you're targeting a particular price point.\

I don't think Westmont is ghetto, no. It just doesn't have the greatest schools. That said, I would send my kids there if I had any, but apparently, I'm odd like that (I went to schools that were considered "bad" and I've been very successful).

no particular price point, the cheaper the better

[Vlajos]

Originally Posted by Stechkin

no particular price point, the cheaper the better

Westmont will kill you with boredom.

[Stechkin]

Originally Posted by Vlajos

Westmont will kill you with boredom.

its ok, i can drive to non boredom

[Vlajos]

Originally Posted by Stechkin

its ok, i can drive to non boredom

Sure you can

[chet everett]

I tend to think that the EXCITEMENT of city living is highly overated. Sure, it is one thing if you're right out off some Frat & Sorority filled college campus and crave more of that sort of thing to live in a "hot" area of Chicago filled with likeminded goofballs but realistically that is still a pretty small subset of folks living inside Chicago.

For a signficant portion of the population the range of interesting and affordable resturants that Westmont has to offer is unbeatable -- every ethnic offering under the sun is well represented and fairly priced. Similarly Westmont has no shortage of friendly places to drink a beer while watching a major sporting event or even places a little classier where you sip a cocktail and get into a more relaxed mood with your signficant other.

If you like to take advantage of outdoor sports like golf, tennis, rollerblading, softball or even pickup basketball Westmont's Park District has outstanding offerings / locations. The Park District also runs a nice fitness center with raquetball and such for indoor sports. Residents can get distcounted rates at the outdoor pool of neighboring Clarendon Hills.

Westmont offers some interesing local shops and is minutes away from some of the most revered retailers at Oakbrook Center Mall.

Movies are plentiful at Yorktown Mall in Lombard as well as options like the Tivoli Classic Cinema in downtown Downers Grove and similarly venues in nearby Elmhurst and Lagrange.

Westmont runs a huge summer festival modeled on Taste of Chicago that incorporates live music and snack size meals from local resturants and catering firms.

The schools are in the midst of an resident driven "upgrade" both for their physcial environments as well as more rigorous college level courses; recently noted education writter Jay Matthews and a panel of respected AP teachers were part of community event that stressed the importance of high level college readiness.

Are some folks bound to be "bored" in Westmont? Of course. I have no doubts that some folks are unimpressed with life in even the most happening spots in Chicago -- recently one such writer / social critic unleashed her venomn on some authors of Chicago-centric works...

For folks with a realistic set of expectations, a budget that is inline with offerings and no pre-conceived biases, Westmont offers the opportunity to purchase a fairly priced home that is convenient to Metra. In fact it is probably hard to top anywhere else along the speedy BNSF line.

[Stechkin]

Originally Posted by chet everett

I tend to think that the EXCITEMENT of city living is highly overated. Sure, it is one thing if you're right out off some Frat & Sorority filled college campus and crave more of that sort of thing to live in a "hot" area of Chicago filled with likeminded goofballs but realistically that is still a pretty small subset of folks living inside Chicago.

For a signficant portion of the population the range of interesting and affordable resturants that Westmont has to offer is unbeatable -- every ethnic offering under the sun is well represented and fairly priced. Similarly Westmont has no shortage of friendly places to drink a beer while watching a major sporting event or even places a little classier where you sip a cocktail and get into a more relaxed mood with your signficant other.

If you like to take advantage of outdoor sports like golf, tennis, rollerblading, softball or even pickup basketball Westmont's Park District has outstanding offerings / locations. The Park District also runs a nice fitness center with raquetball and such for indoor sports. Residents can get distcounted rates at the outdoor pool of neighboring Clarendon Hills.

Westmont offers some interesing local shops and is minutes away from some of the most revered retailers at Oakbrook Center Mall.

Movies are plentiful at Yorktown Mall in Lombard as well as options like the Tivoli Classic Cinema in downtown Downers Grove and similarly venues in nearby Elmhurst and Lagrange.

Westmont runs a huge summer festival modeled on Taste of Chicago that incorporates live music and snack size meals from local resturants and catering firms.

The schools are in the midst of an resident driven "upgrade" both for their physcial environments as well as more rigorous college level courses; recently noted education writter Jay Matthews and a panel of respected AP teachers were part of community event that stressed the importance of high level college readiness.

Are some folks bound to be "bored" in Westmont? Of course. I have no doubts that some folks are unimpressed with life in even the most happening spots in Chicago -- recently one such writer / social critic unleashed her venomn on some authors of Chicago-centric works...

For folks with a realistic set of expectations, a budget that is inline with offerings and no pre-conceived biases, Westmont offers the opportunity to purchase a fairly priced home that is convenient to Metra. In fact it is probably hard to top anywhere else along the speedy BNSF line.

good info

[stephei2000]

I tend to think that the EXCITEMENT of city living is highly overated. Sure, it is one thing if you're right out off some Frat & Sorority filled college campus and crave more of that sort of thing to live in a "hot" area of Chicago filled with likeminded goofballs but realistically that is still a pretty small subset of folks living inside Chicago.



I would rep you, but do not know how.

[marothisu]

The last two responses are indicative of what you would get in the suburbs forum. Chet lives in the suburbs and is very anti city, pro suburbs, and stephei lives in the city but basically doesn't belong there. FYI to the OP.