Working Waukegan but want "city" living w kids (Chicago: real estate, homes)

[rmotto]

Hi all,

I may be relocating to the Chicago for a job in Waukegan. After living in Seattle, we may be in for a slight shock. We have 2 kids under 3 and like the liftstyle of urban living. I gather living in Chicago is not an option (commute wise) so please help! What suburbs within a reasonable commute of Waukegan would you recommend?

Tall order, but we do NOT like the typical suburban strip mall towns. We prefer a downtown with activities for the kids and activities for adults. Also good schools will soon be important.

My wife is a nurse so she would hope to work at Children's hospital at some point, so one of us will have a bad commute I would imagine. Any advice? Thank you.

[rmotto]

I guess I should add, a "walkable" community would be preferable. Close to restuarants, library, etc.

[chet everett]

The Chicago region has a wide variety of places outside the city limits that definitely are NOT typical suburbs centered on strip malls and cars. With a job in Waukegan and a desire to live in area that is walkable and family friendly I would recommend looking first to towns like Highland Park and Lake Forest. Though spots that are walkably close to the the well developed core of those towns are not inexpensive it you are a dual income family with well paying jobs you will be able to find suitable options. A bit further inland the town of Libertyville has a nice walkable core and is very conveniently located to most employment centers in Waukegan.

Should you wish to look slightly further afield the town of Evanston offers many urban amenities.

As to employment options for a skilled RN there are numerous hospitals in the towns mentioned and they certainly have very competent pediatric units. Some have staff affiliation with Children's Memorial Hospital -- that organization is building a new facility adjacent to Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago's Gold Coast /North Michigan Ave area that would be foolishly far for anyone to commute. Even further from Waukegan the University of Chicago has a children's hospital, Comers, as does Rush in the west side Medical District area. Even further west Loyola University operates a children's hospital under the Ronald McDonald Hospital Banner. I know nurses and physicians that have worked at each of the institutions and they agree that the Chicago region is fortunate to have so many excellent options in specialized care. There is really no need to plan on a long commute...

[chicagojlo]

Highland Park probably has the most walkable and family friendly downtown. The Metra line would work for a train commute to both Waukegan and Children's Memorial from there too.

Chicago isn't totally undoable in terms of commute. It depends on what kind of travel time you are comfortable with. The train is 1 hour each way plus time at each end, driving slightly more.

[rmotto]

Thank you both for your input. This will be an interesting exercise to see if we can find a compromise that meets both our "needs". Not to mention my kids! Chet, appreciate the input on area hospitals. My wife now has some homework to do! Can either of you advise the estimated commute times (Highland Park, Lake Forest and Evantson) both to Waukegan and Chicago iteself. I would imagine some weekend trips to Chicago are in our future to experience that great city and what it has to offer.

[chet everett]

Weekend it probably is less than 35 minutes by car to popular spots near the north Chicago lakefront area from Highland Park, add few minutes from Lake Forest. Trains are slower during weekend. Evanston could save 15 minutes or more.

Weekdays the trains will beat driving by a longshot plus express trains are big time saver.

[chicagojlo]

Lake Forest to Chicago by train is 45-60 minutes depending on time of day (express only runs certain times). Driving can be as quick as 40 minutes and as bad as 2 hours.

Lake Forest to Waukegan by train is about 10-15 minutes but you'd have to check the connection to your office from there, some companies have a bus and there are some buses run by pacebus.com. By car it's about the same or quicker depending on what part of each town you are looking at.

[kncmoon]

I know this might sound crazy to some of the others following this thread, but may I humbly suggest Waukegan, itself? There are some great neighborhoods to the north of downtown Waukegan that boast fantastic Victorian homes, some of which have been fixed up, and some of which need TLC. And having experienced the "urban" element of Seattle, you may appreciate the true ethnic mix to be found versus the almost exclusively lighter hues of HP and LF.

We live further west of downtown now, and have some great restaurants and shopping within walking distance, but it doesn't have the charm of downtown. We used to live north of the downtown area, and enjoyed walking over to the regular events they have. These events are growing and now include evenings of wine sampling and art displays around town, etc. Waukegan is working hard (albeit slowly) to make the downtown a wonderful place to experience on a regular basis.

With full disclosure, the schools are the one thing that might be considered a negative. That, however, will continue to change with open-minded people of resources willing to give this renewing urban city a chance!
Blessings!

[chet everett]

There are a handful of charming homes in Waukegan. The downdrafts in real estate prices have probably made the re-development of rust belt areas harder, as the easy money that could have made it easier to invest in renovating / restoring multiple properties has dried up.

If the OP is up for the challenge the time to do "jump in" is probably before kids are in school -- that way if things don't improve enough by the time school is needed there are still "options"...

The really sad thing about Lake Co.'s industrial lakefront towns (Waukegan,Zion, Beach Park, Winthrop Harbor and North Chicago) is that the incompetance of the State of Illinois in managing the State Parks have allowed an area that could be a jewel to be totally overlooked by honest developers. The crooks that pay the piper and get sweetheart deals have condemned the whole region into a "rip van winkle' time warp. As much as I think guys like Trump are egomanical freaks, it is hard to doubt that if they had gotten the greenlight to address any EPA concerns and turn that region into something that would rival Martha's Vineyard or New Buffalo it would be a huge improvement to the "frozen in the 70's" status that exists there now. The ugly architecture goes right along with a 70's feeling that race riots could break out and other things that most of the region has moved past...

There are more than a few boat lovers that have moorings there, but once they pull the boat in fall they spend no time in the area: http://www.panoramio.com/photo/37203697

[chicagojlo]

If you're buying in Waukegan you'll probably have more than enough left over to send your kids to private school.