Walkable Burb Close to the Metra - Suggestions? (Chicago, Naperville: 2014, homes)

[Nimes]

We are looking for 3+ bedroom, 2+ bath home that's 1800+ sqft with a yard for our dog under $350k. We'd like to live somewhere with a cute, walkable downtown. We work from home so we don't have to worry about commuting but easy access to a Metra station would be great. Do Crystal Lake, Geneva, St. Charles, Fox River Grove, Mundelein and Libertyville fit the bill? We've also seen some interesting, although smaller, options in Evanston, Lincolnwood and West Rogers Park. Are there other areas that fit our criteria that we should consider instead?

Thanks in advance for your help!

[jlawrence01]

It depends on what you mean as walkable. Do you mean that you want to walk everywhere? Or does it mean that you will have a vehicle but like to have sidewalks to walk around on?

For example, take Crystal Lake. Most of the town has sidewalks BUT you really have no grocery stores that you can walk to and shop. When you need to do a shopping trip, you get into the car. If you are OK with that, many of the Metra served suburbs will work and I will add Woodstock to the list.

If you want to walk everywhere, Arlington Heights would be the way to go although your price range might be low.

[holl1ngsworth]

Wheaton has a picturesque, walk-to-everything downtown with two Metra stops. You should be able to find nice homes at your price-point, but the overall inventory is a little thin right now:

25W618 Durfee Rd WHEATON, IL 60189 | Redfin
1010 N Washington St WHEATON, IL 60187 | Redfin

Do you have additional criteria that caused you to arrive at your short-list of towns? The first group you mentioned are distant "outer-ring" suburbs and the second set are extreme "inner-ring" -- with Rogers Park actually being a Chicago neighborhood, not a town in and of itself. You have no middle-distance suburbs represented, which probably best fit your criteria for "cute, walkable downtown."

Check out these charming suburbs along the Metra UP-W and BNSF (Chicago's two oldest railways):
UP-W: Wheaton, Glen Ellyn, Elmhurst and Geneva
BNSF: Riverside, Brookfield, La Grange Park (southern end near downtown La Grange/Metra), Downers Grove, and Naperville

[Lookout Kid]

Originally Posted by Nimes

We are looking for 3+ bedroom, 2+ bath home that's 1800+ sqft with a yard for our dog under $350k. We'd like to live somewhere with a cute, walkable downtown. We work from home so we don't have to worry about commuting but easy access to a Metra station would be great.

I think price will be your biggest issue, since this is truly what everyone wants these days in the Chicago burbs. I'm not sure that most of the towns mentioned will have many options in your price range.

If you don't mind kind of a 1950's house, you could find something in La Grange Park just east of La Grange Road (walkable to downtown La Grange), or something in Brookfield (which has a downtown, but it's not spectacular).

[Nimes]

We live out-of-state and are moving to be near family. They live in the "outer-ring" suburbs and have recommended areas near them like Crystal Lake, etc. As for the "inner-ring" suburbs, I'm not very familiar with the areas, I just thought it would be a cooler, slightly more urban environment that's still close enough to visit family.

We don't need to be able to walk everywhere, like to the grocery store, we'd just like to have some coffee shops and restaurants within range. Where we live now, we have to drive everywhere and the nearest restaurants are not great options so we also have to drive some distance for better options.

Our criteria is somewhat slim, so I'm hoping this flexibility will enable us to find something within budget that feels like it's "near stuff."

Thanks for your suggestions and input!

[reppin_the_847]

Libertyville is a solid option, but the budget might be a stretch. I'd also look into Arlington Heights. It is off of the same UP-NW train line as Crystal Lake but is much closer to the city.

Originally Posted by Nimes

We are looking for 3+ bedroom, 2+ bath home that's 1800+ sqft with a yard for our dog under $350k. We'd like to live somewhere with a cute, walkable downtown. We work from home so we don't have to worry about commuting but easy access to a Metra station would be great. Do Crystal Lake, Geneva, St. Charles, Fox River Grove, Mundelein and Libertyville fit the bill? We've also seen some interesting, although smaller, options in Evanston, Lincolnwood and West Rogers Park. Are there other areas that fit our criteria that we should consider instead?

Thanks in advance for your help!

[holl1ngsworth]

Originally Posted by Nimes

We live out-of-state and are moving to be near family. They live in the "outer-ring" suburbs and have recommended areas near them like Crystal Lake, etc. As for the "inner-ring" suburbs, I'm not very familiar with the areas, I just thought it would be a cooler, slightly more urban environment that's still close enough to visit family.

We don't need to be able to walk everywhere, like to the grocery store, we'd just like to have some coffee shops and restaurants within range. Where we live now, we have to drive everywhere and the nearest restaurants are not great options so we also have to drive some distance for better options.

Our criteria is somewhat slim, so I'm hoping this flexibility will enable us to find something within budget that feels like it's "near stuff."

Thanks for your suggestions and input!

Wheaton is centrally-located in Chicagoland and represents a happy medium between the sprawl of outer-ring suburbs and the density of inner-ring suburbs.

Here is a good example of what's available within 1-mile of the downtown:

727 E Evergreen St WHEATON, IL 60187 | Redfin

Great value; leaves plenty of room in your budget for updating. Walkable to shopping, dining, parks, grocery store, outdoor French market, numerous street festivals, etc.

I live in Wheaton and have friends in Lake in the Hills (next to Crystal Lake) -- it only takes about 45 minutes to drive up there on the weekend (via 59 and 62).

[Nimes]

I've seen quite a few posts about Wheaton where the community is described as very religious. Do you have any idea why it's considered religious?

[Lookout Kid]

Originally Posted by Nimes

I've seen quite a few posts about Wheaton where the community is described as very religious. Do you have any idea why it's considered religious?

It is home to Wheaton College, which is a very conservative Evangelical college that was once attended by Billy Graham. It was a dry town until 1986, and has a reputation for being "Churchy". There are apparently a large number of churches per capita, though I'm not sure that means anything if they are not well-attended. It is also known as a conservative suburb.

My perception of Wheaton in 2014 is that it is still among the more conservative suburbs of Chicago, but that it is not exactly hostile to Democrats or atheists. I would probably place it to the right of most Chicago suburbs, but to the left of most suburbs of southern cities (but these things are not easy to quantify, so it's really just my perception). DuPage County as a whole had traditionally been a Republican stronghold, but that has faded and it is now very much a "purple" county, home to many Republicans and Democrats alike... And certainly many agnostic/atheists as well. The people I personally know who live in Wheaton aren't particularly religious, but that's a small sample.

[holl1ngsworth]

Originally Posted by Nimes

I've seen quite a few posts about Wheaton where the community is described as very religious. Do you have any idea why it's considered religious?

Wheaton, and DuPage County in general, have historically been known for their conservatism and prolific evangelical Christian community. For Wheaton, a lot of its reputation has to do with Wheaton College, a small Christian liberal arts college that has been part of the town since 1853. Probably the most famous evangelical in history, Billy Graham, graduated from Wheaton College in 1943. Despite its religious roots, the college is still recognized by secular institutions for its academic merits. Forbes recently ranked it the 75th best college in the US (Forbes Top Colleges 2014) and Lumosity has called it the 29th smartest college in the country (Smartest Colleges 2013 | Lumosity). The city of Wheaton has had plenty of famous residents outside of religion: astronomer Edwin Hubble, famous Bears running back Red Grange, comedians John and Jim Belushi and even horror writer Wes Craven, to name a few.

In recent years Wheaton and DuPage have moved away from their conservative roots and become places where even the most agnostic secular humanist can feel comfortable living. DuPage flipped blue and carried the vote for Obama in both '08 and '12. Wheaton still has the "church on every corner" appearance, but IMO it adds to the charm -- the unique culture and history are a plus. Chicago Mag recognized Wheaton's religous history and secular appeal when it named it one of the 12 best Chicago suburbs in April of this year (Best Chicago Neighborhoods and Suburbs | Chicago Mag). I moved to Wheaton a year ago from Chicago and I haven't encountered any Bible-thumpers yet. In fact, religion hasn't really come up in conversation with any of the people I've gotten to know.