Moving from St. Louis, MO to ?????, IL (Chicago, Elgin: transplants, apartment)

[gkb593s]

My wife and I are contemplating on moving to Illinois...suburbs. We want to live not too close to the city (20-30 minutes away at the least). We're looking for good schools (obviously), safe neighborhood, somewhat diverse (doesn't matter), and $200,000 or less for homes.. If anyone is familiar with St. Louis, there are two cities called Florissant and Maryland Heights.......are there any cities in Illinois that are like that of Florissant or Maryland Heights (Population, Diversity, price of homes, safe neighborhoods, etc.)? I've heard to look at Evanston, Wilmette, Oak Park, Park Ridge, Elmhurst and the further west you go from Chicago the more expensive it is. Thanks.

[NSH]

If 200k is your limit try looking south, areas like Blue Island, Midlothian and Oak Forest have homes in that price range. You will probably have to send your kids to private school as these areas are not known for premier public education.

[j33]

I agree that you are probably not going to find any homes for 200k in the north or northwest suburbs (you might find some condos for that price though if you look, but if you have kids more than likely you don't want to move into an apartment).

There are plenty of homes in that range in the south suburbs and some in the southwest surburbs, but in some of those suburbs the schools could be an issue.

[sunshine girl]

You don't say what job focus you are looking for, but you might consider going even further south and leave the big city behind. Raised on south side, but lived past 25+ years and raised my kids in deep southern illinois, near Carbondale. College town, not huge by any means, but I felt like my kids were safe, low crime, and both are mid 20's now, successful, no drugs, etc. Just a thought ....

[Blue Chicago]

I grew up in Florissant, so I have a pretty good idea what you are looking for.
There are many STL transplants in the northern suburbs such as Grayslake, Gurnee, etc. The problem you are going to run into is cost of living.
You can find condos in your price range, but a free standing house is going to cost $250k, minimum. That would be for a smaller, existing home.
Be prepared for the property taxes. We moved here from Oakville in 1997, gave up +/- 400 sq. ft and paid 4 times what we were paying in STL. Also be prepared for higher prices on everyday items, such as food, gas, etc. The only thing that is cheaper here is booze.
That said, you get what you pay for. It would take a lot for us to move back.

[seattlegabbie]

As someone who is from St. Louis and very familiar with Maryland Heights and Florissant, I would recommend Oak Park, IL or Schaumberg. I am not sure where you will be working, but those are the areas that come to mind.

[ITChick]

Oak Park and Evanston are diverse, but I highly doubt you will find a home in either of those places for $200,000.00 or less. The prices in the Chicago area have skyrocketed in the last year or so. Places that were affordable to buy before in mediocre areas are now outrageously priced. Not as high as the two coasts, but a three bedroom home in a decent area could run you close to $375,000.00 or more.

-itchick

[gkb593s]

Thank you all for your comments and future comments!

[Violet5434]

It will be very hard to find a place in the suburbs of Chicago for that price without going into bad neighborhoods. You could try Elgin maybe. It is a very diverse city and it has a few crime problems, but it's not too terrible. It's about 40 miles west of the city on the Fox River. It really depends on what kind of house you are looking for.

[justpicky]

Living in Southern Illinois is much cheaper except for Carbondale
since it's a college town. But there are other towns which is
cheaper than Northern Illinois.

Like someone said , any city , in any state , has good / bad .
It depends on what you're looking for . In the town I'm at now
its has good / bad . I wouldnt recommend this town to anyone
why because its going downhill . I know several families all moving
to the northern illinois in the next 4 months , because the jobs are
fading away. Laying off everyone and closing the plants . But I realize
that's any place . Companies are all sending the jobs to foreign countries
which is a shame.

No matter where you live / move its going to cost $$$$ to live.
Good luck to all !!!!!!!!