Work at Argonne Lab, best suburb for young-ish couple (Chicago: extended stay, apartments)

[emzdanow]

Hello,

I posted something similar to this in the Chicago city thread. I am relocating to Argonne National Lab in January-February time frame and was wondering if anyone has suggestions for suburbs? My GF and I are in late 20s and like to be out and about. Somewhere walkable with bars/coffee shops would be nice. I was looking at Oak Park and La Grange, any other suggestions? We don't have kids or anything so a more urban feel is desirable.

Thanks a lot

[Lookout Kid]

Some of the suburbs near I-355 or I-55 might work for you, including La Grange, Hinsdale, or Downer's Grove. All of them may be too family-oriented for you, though. Naperville is probably the best nightlife out that direction.

[sfcambridge]

Oak Park/Forest Park might work. A little more nightlife in Forest Park (on Madison St.), more variety of housing in Oak Park and an ok place to live. Close to the expressway/trains to get downtown for nights and weekends.

My Dad worked at Argonne and we lived in Oak Park. He actually drove in a car pool to Argonne every day (very popular) and still is very close friends with those guys.

[chet everett]

There are no shortage of walkable spots nearer to ANL than Oak Park, many of the options are going to be significantly less costly as well.

I would recommend coming to the area and spending a week or so in an extended stay motel.

The core of Westmont is very walkable with many interesting resturants and bars, it is far closer to ANL (about 10 minutes straight down Cass Ave.) and much cheaper than Oak Park (primarily becuase its school are not as in demand as Oak Park -- unlike Oak Park that is sandwiched between much less desirable towns, the schools in the towns adjacent to Westmont are among the highest performing in the state...).

West of Westmont the town of Downers Grove has a very well developed core served by top notch Metra service. Lots of walkable coffee houses, resturants, a few brew pubs, many sources for live music.

Closer to the west gate of ANL the historic downtown of Lemont is very walkable and has several casual eating / drinking spots.

A little further west Lockport has a similar mix of older resturants / bars and locally owned coffee spots.

While none of these towns is as urban as Oak Park or even LaGrange many folks do enjoy the MUCH shorter commute, more affordable rent and ease of finding a safe quiet rental unit.

[Vasily]

Regarding Naperville ... If you're looking to purchase a house, you might look at downtown Naperville on Zillow ... the options for renting near downtown are limited (there are four on Zillow at present within reasonable walking distance, two for $1400/mo and the other two $1600/mo). Although there are some nice apartments in Lisle next door to Naperville, good luck finding night life there. Some of the other options people mentioned would I think be a better match for you.

[Lookout Kid]

Originally Posted by sfcambridge

Oak Park/Forest Park might work. A little more nightlife in Forest Park (on Madison St.), more variety of housing in Oak Park and an ok place to live. Close to the expressway/trains to get downtown for nights and weekends.

My Dad worked at Argonne and we lived in Oak Park. He actually drove in a car pool to Argonne every day (very popular) and still is very close friends with those guys.

This seems overly difficult to me if you have a choice of where to live, unless you just really love Oak Park or are already settled there. No offense to your Dad!

We had a guy in our building in Uptown who used to carpool every day to Whiting, IN. People do it, but I wouldn't choose to if I could avoid it.

[chet everett]

LK makes an excellent point -- if one has other reasons for living in Oak Park ( maybe spouse works closer to Oak Park or position required some time at UIC etc...) there are certainly worse places to choose to raise one's family but if one is merely looking for a walkable town that has a pleasant commute to ANL then other towns make much more sense...

[sfcambridge]

Originally Posted by Lookout Kid

This seems overly difficult to me if you have a choice of where to live, unless you just really love Oak Park or are already settled there. No offense to your Dad!

We had a guy in our building in Uptown who used to carpool every day to Whiting, IN. People do it, but I wouldn't choose to if I could avoid it.

Point well taken. Just trying to give a relevant perspective, as the OP already expressed interest in Oak Park, wants an urban suburb, and wants a more happening social scene.

Oak Park was quite popular with some of the academic intellectual types from Argonne. There are several car pools. The younger OP might want the freedom to come/go separate from a car pool. But maybe not.

To me, Naperville and more typical West suburbs would have been a drag in my 20's. But we can only go on what the OP says he's looking for, which isn't much.

[Lookout Kid]

Originally Posted by sfcambridge

To me, Naperville and more typical West suburbs would have been a drag in my 20's. But we can only go on what the OP says he's looking for, which isn't much.

Yeah, they are definitely more oriented to people in their 30's or older with kids. And there is definitely a mentality in many 20-somethings that rejects things that are seen as "inauthentic" or part of the middle class suburban lifestyle that produced most of them, even though they are basically reproducing the same thing on the North Side of Chicago as neighborhoods gentrify. But still, most of the Western Suburbs could come off as sterile or bland, and meeting members of the opposite sex who are 20-somethings could be a challenge. I would not have considered living here before I had kids.

Now that I've tried it, however, I'd argue that most of these differentiators are B.S. as you move on in life. If I go to downtown Glen Ellyn and grab a beer at the Tap House, I will basically have the same crowd around me that would have been in a North Side Chicago bar ten years ago, but they are just in a more advanced stage of life.