Another Where To Live Thread :-) (Chicago, Naperville: apartment complexes, crime, home)

[caligula89]

I am a 23 year old single man who works from home, which means that I have no commute and can live anywhere. My best friend just moved to Woodridge, so I thought, hey, why not move to the Chicago area in a couple of months.

Even though I grew up in Michigan, I've never been to Chicago before, so I know nothing about the area. I'd like to live in an area that's close to Woodridge, but also not too far from Chicago itself. I can afford a moderate cost of living - I'm not poor, but I'm not rich either.

I like spending time outdoors and going out on the weekends. I'm very adaptable, though I would prefer not to live in a crime-infested area.

Any ideas for areas I should look into?

Thanks!

Andrew

[chet everett]

Woodridge is a pretty easy commute to Chicago via the Stevenson express way. If you work from home and never need to deal with rush hour traffic there are worse places to live. Access to Forest Preserves in DuPage, Cook, and even Will Counties are easy enough...

[WRS2]

I would check out Lisle. Perhaps Four Lakes. It's right around the corner from Woodridge. Conveniently close to expressways and about 25 mins from Chicago. It's great if you like the outdoor. There are 4 pools, sand volleyball, ski hill and fishing

[Vasily]

There are a lot of great forest preserves in DuPage County, as well as the Illinois Prairie Path. In Lisle, you also have the Morton Arboretum ... when I lived at Four Lakes, I had a membership there and would go there often for a quick hike. Lisle is right next door to Woodridge, by the way. You can pick up the Metra train downtown in Lisle, or catch the tollway ... it's an easy drive when it's not rush hour. Other areas you might look at are Naperville (just to the west of Woodridge), Bolingbrook (just to the south), and Downers Grove (a few miles to the east). None of these areas are crime-infested though you're more likely to run into crime in Bolingbroook, I suspect. I have a friend who's lived in Bolingbrook for a few years and likes it.

Forest Preserve District of DuPage County
Illinois Prairie Path - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I lived at Four Lakes in the late 80s, after a divorce. It was a mix at the time of young people, and middle-aged divorced men. You could spot the latter at the pub next to the ski slopes drinking and looking woebegone ... I was among them for a while. The complex was twenty years old then, hopefully they've done some renovations since then.

There's a yearly hot-air balloon festival, Eyes to the Skies, in Lisle on July 4th weekend (there's also the Ribfest in Naperville on July 4th weekend). There are a couple of apartment complexes at Seven Bridges near Four Lakes, don't know much about them but suspect they're pricier than Four Lakes.

For a nightclub scene, there's a lot of young people hang out in downtown Naperville on weekends. Can't tell you much about that, you'll have to ask someone closer to your age.

[mattywo85]

If you are looking around the Woodridge area check into Plainfield, Romeoville, Bolingbrook, Lisle, Naperville, Lockport, Joliet, Shorewood, and New Lenox as well.