New to Chicago - need suburb commute advice, please (Naperville: 2013, apartment complexes)

[JSGR616]

Moving here in the next 60 days for work, we have a 4 yr old daughter, looking for help with the following: somewhat easy public transit commute downtown; good schools; new single family home community/sub-division housing options in the $325-350k range. Of course, safety is a priority as well.

Have seen a lot about Naperville, but not sure if that is too "far" away for us or not. The public transit commute is going to be new for me and my spouse, so appreciate any advice, or real-world feedback to help us as we begin our search. Have done a LOT of Google researching, but as you can imagine, there is a LOT out there to sort thru.

Open to pretty much all options - was looking at North and West commutes, but no preference really.

[nikitakolata]

I think the biggest problem with your criteria is your desire for a NEW house in that price range. You are not likely to get a new house anywhere in the Chicago area that is a good commute to downtown at that price point.

That said, Naperville is farther distance-wise from Chicago than a lot of suburbs, but it also has perhaps the best train service in the area and a lot of express trains. So, getting to/from Naperville during normal commuting times is not all that bad (about 37 minutes on the train). What you have to factor in is how long it will take you to drive to the station and also how long your walk on the Chicago end is.

Commuting downtown on Metra is pretty nice. I've worked in the loop for the last 9 years and I've never gotten to work any other way. It's comfortable, safe and pretty reliable. In my opinion it is ideal if you can live within walking distance to the train station in the suburbs, but doing that is more expensive in most of the desirable suburbs and you definitely will not get a new house in the $300,000 range. A smaller rehabbed house *might* be possible, but I'm not super confident on that.

If a new house is a must for you then I would say you need to brace for a longer commute and may want to check out areas like Mill Creek in Geneva.

[TempesT68]

New isn't going to happen. In that price range and what you are looking for, a "decent" house in either wheaton, glen ellyn, or elmhurt is looking more realistic.

[supportyourschools]

Any "new" subdivision is going to be too far away to have a reasonable commute. In that price range you're looking west at Plainfield, Oswego, Sugar Grove...all of these would be over an hour to the city. Naperville is feasible, but many of the more affordable new subdivisions are south of the train station on Route 59. That could mean a 30+ minute drive just to get to the train.

Elmhurst might be a possibility. It's an older suburb, but it has a large amount of teardowns--basically people bought older homes and tore them down to build brand new ones. Not sure if there are any in your price range, but it's worth a look. Its location is pretty convenient for train access or car access to Chicago.

[nikitakolata]

Originally Posted by supportyourschools

Any "new" subdivision is going to be too far away to have a reasonable commute. In that price range you're looking west at Plainfield, Oswego, Sugar Grove...all of these would be over an hour to the city. Naperville is feasible, but many of the more affordable new subdivisions are south of the train station on Route 59. That could mean a 30+ minute drive just to get to the train.

Elmhurst might be a possibility. It's an older suburb, but it has a large amount of teardowns--basically people bought older homes and tore them down to build brand new ones. Not sure if there are any in your price range, but it's worth a look. Its location is pretty convenient for train access or car access to Chicago.

Unfortunately there's no way the OP can afford a new house in Elmhurst. Maybe they can get a tear down quality house and rehab it, but just the tear down itself will be most to all of the OP's budget in Elmhurst.

[Lookout Kid]

Originally Posted by TempesT68

New isn't going to happen. In that price range and what you are looking for, a "decent" house in either wheaton, glen ellyn, or elmhurt is looking more realistic.

Not near a train station. They could probably get an older ranch house on the fringe of Glen Ellyn or in "unincorporated Du Page County", but they would still have to drive to the train. Wheaton probably has the best parking situation of the three suburbs mentioned.

[COMom2]

I am also doing research ahead of a move to the area, and the most affordable town I found with good schools is Arlington Heights. Not all the schools are good, so you have to look at the assigned schools for each house, but on Zillow it looks like there are tons of houses in the low $300k range. With those prices and good schools, I have to assume there are many young families there.

[chet everett]

While there are some better performing schools (based mostly on the affluence of families in the attendance areas) there are really no schools in Arlington Heights that suffer from the performance or funding issues that plague schools in area rife with violence or poverty...

[cubssoxfan]

As far as schools go in Arlington Heights, Mt. Prospect and Prospect heights, focus on: D25 schools that feed into Hersey or prospect High Schools. D23 SOUTH of Palatine Rd that feeds into Hersey, D26 that feeds into Hersey, D57 that feeds into Prospect or D21 that feeds into Buffalo Grove. Why do I list the high school also? Because families with older kids that put a priority on top schools tend to avoid schools that feed into Wheeling, Rolling Meadows and Elk Grove high schools. The 3 high schools I mentioned also have many more apartment complexes with different socio-economic backgrounds. Some are doing their best to educate their kids some don't place much value on it. The test scores reflect this.

[chet everett]

Wheeling HS has made a substanstial investment in very high tech "nano technology" manufacuturing / R&D -- Duncan inspired, amazed by Wheeling High School lab - DailyHerald.com

Could be a real source of great motivation for college or important vocational needs!