North vs west suburbs

[Lookout Kid]

It's often enough to be noticeable. But it's a bit of a wash, since the lake moderates the extremes of the hottest summer days as well. For us the wind was a bigger issue living near the lake. It literally blew one of my kids over one time walking from our car to our house. It's noticeably calmer out west--but of course we were VERY close to the lake, and most of the neighborhoods in North Shore suburbs are a bit further inland.

[chet everett]

I suppose the wind could be a bigger issue with little kids -- not just "blowing em down" but with strollers and car seats and all sorts of "gear" flapping about it could be quite a challenge... I recall a few times when the various office plazas had issues with high rises making things unsafe for office workers too, but again that was wind not any freakishly localized temps.
To be sure the difference between having a light jacket in the Loop with 68 degree temps and walking from a suburban train depot to home in 74 degree temps wondering if you could stop off for "a cool one" does happen too...

Of course the "cooling breezes" can be much more profound on the Michigan side of Lake Michigan and the whole "lake effect snow" can dump signficantly greater accumulations over in "sunset country".

[cbsmom]

Thanks for all the great info on the Western suburbs! We plan on spending some time exploring that area for sure! It truly is helpful to hear experiences from people who lives in these areas, like Chet said.

[nikitakolata]

Originally Posted by cbsmom

Thanks Nikitakolata! We will definitely do some exploring in the Western suburbs. I've heard Elmhurst is very charming.

I think it is.

When we were looking we focused on Elmhurst, Downers Grove, Glen Ellyn and a spent a little time in downtown Naperville. We looked at houses in Hinsdale but they were out of our price range so we didn't consider Hinsdale very seriously.

There are a lot of great areas, but for us Elmhurst was ultimately the best fit because we have friends scattered throughout the north shore, Chicago and farther western suburbs and Elmhurst puts us pretty much in the middle of everyone. If our friends were more skewed in a particularl direction that would probably have influcenced where we ended up.

[cbsmom]

It is nice to be able to able to see friends more often. Most are our friends are in the city or Evanston (which is why we initially thought it would be a slam dunk to move there). We're still looking in Evanston/Wilmette, but the more I read about other areas, the more I think we need to at least explore!
I also heard something neat about Elmhurst, that the city really encourages small business owners. I love towns that support mom and pop shops and restaurants.

[nikitakolata]

Originally Posted by cbsmom

It is nice to be able to able to see friends more often. Most are our friends are in the city or Evanston (which is why we initially thought it would be a slam dunk to move there). We're still looking in Evanston/Wilmette, but the more I read about other areas, the more I think we need to at least explore!
I also heard something neat about Elmhurst, that the city really encourages small business owners. I love towns that support mom and pop shops and restaurants.

Yes, Elmhurst is really pushing small businesses right now. I haven't had much interaction with the local government, but so far what we have experienced has been positive. My husband wants to start beekeeping, which is currently banned by city ordinances. He wrote an email to the mayor and our alderman and both called him back in a couple hours. So, that was nice and unexpected. I never once had my alderman in Chicago respond to any of my correspondence in any way at all.

Nearly every person my husband knows lives in Evanston (he went to NU and apparently none of his friends decided to move away after graduation). We were both living there when we met, actually. It is a great town. Luckily, the drive there is not bad. It takes us less than 5 minutes to get on to 294 and then we exit at Demptster, which is the long part of the drive. Luckily the horrible sections of Dempster have been resurfaced (I think), so it isn't just one huge pothole now. Door to door is less than 40 minutes to get to his friends places on the weekend and they live about as far east as you can go. Getting from Evanston to Elmhurst actually takes less time than when we lived in Chicago. My sister lives in Evanston, too, so neither of us wanted to be really far from there and we both go to Evanston regularly.

[BrianHunter]

Originally Posted by Paige65

Well, that was me, and perhaps not always a 20 degree variance, but today is a perfect example of what I'm talking about.

My current temp (according to weather.com) is 51. My expected high temp is 68. Naperville current temp is 61, and the expected high temp in Naperville today is 83. So there you go, a 15 degree difference. That is significant. Let's respectfully agree to let this rest.

I definitely agree, I live near lake in north burbs and my brother lives in Sugar Grove, it is pretty common to have a 10-15 degree difference in temperature.

Yesterday was a good example.

[cbsmom]

Originally Posted by nikitakolata

He wrote an email to the mayor and our alderman and both called him back in a couple hours. So, that was nice and unexpected. I never once had my alderman in Chicago respond to any of my correspondence in any way at all.

Getting from Evanston to Elmhurst actually takes less time than when we lived in Chicago. My sister lives in Evanston, too, so neither of us wanted to be really far from there and we both go to Evanston regularly.

That's so cool that they got back to your husband right away!
I'm an NU grad too. I didn't realize getting to/from the western suburbs and Evanston didn't take a long time. That's about the same as our commute now (and that's because we live right by the expressway right now, if we lived further away it'd take longer for sure).

Thank you for all the great info!