COmmute - Naperville/Downers Grove to Elk Grove Village (Chicago: selling a house, neighborhoods)

[J-CityRelo]

We live in the city now and are looking to move to the suburbs. We've looked in Park Ridge and Arlington Heights in the 300-400K range, but we are looking for more yard and more house. Ideally around 2000 square feet and a nice yard with mature trees. I work in Elk Grove Village and my husband works downtown. Currently I'm about 19 miles from work and I was looking to shorten my commute. We like Naperville and from looking online we would definitely find what we're looking for there. But it's further away from EGV than I am now. My question is how long is the commute from Naperville to Elk Grove Village? We were also considering Downers Grove since it's a little closer, but it doesn't look like there's as much on the market in DG.

We've visited Glen Ellyn, Elmhurst, and Oak Park, but don't like any of them as much as Naperville. We don't want to settle for a neighborhood and then still be thinking of Naperville! At the same time, I'm already pretty miserable with my commute now (it's an hour) and at least now I have the option of taking the train and pace. Does anyone do this commute and is it worth it? Or are there neighborhoods closer to Elk Grove that are similar to Naperville (in terms of house and yard space for 3-400K) that we should consider? We moved to Chicago and we're originally from the east coast so we don't really know anything about Chicago suburbs.

Thanks in advance for any help you can give me!!

[chet everett]

Your price range is tricky -- in parts of most costly suburbs you are correct that supply is extremely constrained, but in other areas there are some attractive options, especially if you at ok with a little fixing up.

As to your commute question about commute I would definately say the drive from any spot on the north / east side of Downers Grove is going to be tolerable / easy to spots in EGV which are reasonably close to 355 or Rt 83 but if you have to come from the further southern parts of DG that will of course add time to your commute. Same is more true for Naperville -- if you find a home to your liking near 88 and say the Naperville Rd junction you will be shaving a considerable chunk of distance / time compared to 59 south of 75th...

You don't mention kids. Assuming you are ok with a town that does not have schools as well regarded as DG or Naperville you might want to look at some more affordable options -- Lombard, Villa Park, Lisle and , Itasca are good options in DuPage Co. Nearer to EGV you could also look at Palatine, Woodale, southern Mt. Prospect or DesPlaines...

[J-CityRelo]

Thanks, Chet! We don't have kids currently, but want to have them soon so schools are important. And we know that generally areas with good schools are good for resale (in higher demand) so we want good schools for that. We've had 1 great experience with selling a house and 1 really bad experience so this time we're trying to avoid red flags like main roads, houses across from schools or shopping centers, adjacent to a busy street or highway - all that. A lot of the houses in PR and AH in our range had a fatal flaw.

This is so helpful - thanks for the specifics in terms of locations within Naperville and DG!! If we were near 88 before Naperville Rd, how long do you think that would that be from EGV? Just trying to get an idea... and how long from north or east Downer's Grove to EGV?

[chet everett]

I have made it to EGV (Busse and Devon) from the Ogden & 355 during rushhour via 290 & Thorndale in 40 minutes. Non peak it would be shorter, reverse commute in evening is only a little bit shorter. If you further east and take surface streets you do not add much time.

From Naperville Rd and 88 I would expect drive in the AM to be about 10 minutes and ride home to be just under an hour.

If you have an work location closer to 290 you could probably make it a little quicker...

[Vasily]

I commuted from the north side of Naperville (in the Brookdale region, north of River Road and Ogden/North Aurora) for five years. The commute to EGV isn't bad ... as long as there aren't traffic problems or weather problems. Worst case commute for me was 2.5 hours one way when there was traffic backed up due to an accident, or an ice/heavy snow storm.

As Chet says, the further south you go in Naperville the worse the commute. You want to avoid a trip up Route 59 at rush hour. If it were me, I'd concentrate my search in an area bounded by Route 59 on the west and Naperville Road on the east, and by Route 88 on the north and Aurora/East Chicago/Maple (or if you want to take it a bit further south and don't mind a longer commute, 75th street) on the south.