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Old 12-15-2015, 12:48 PM
 
768 posts, read 1,091,938 times
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Hinsdale, Western Springs and La Grange share the whole foods (high end grocers) on Ogden... They also share the Lifetime Fitness (super high end gym) in burr ridge... But these are all car dependent - short drives.

To truly go car-independent you need to live in the Big City. I think the key here is a lot of these nicer towns (if house is in right area) still let families enjoy the historic districts, bars, restaurants, retail shops, events and trains with short walks minimizing car travel... giving them the nice walkability factor: www.walkscore.com

We drove our realtor nutz - any time he showed us a house we pulled up our iphone to map proximity to train station and town core. Like boston it was a deal break if greater than 1/2 mile... We ultimately landed .25 in LG and couldn't be happier ...

Last edited by JJski; 12-15-2015 at 01:06 PM..
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Old 12-15-2015, 12:58 PM
 
11,973 posts, read 31,631,358 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by holl1ngsworth View Post
Elmhurst, Naperville, Hinsdale and Wheaton have Whole Foods, but they are largely car-dependent locations.
Doesn't Elmhurst also have a Jewel just yards from their downtown strip on York?

Also, La Grange has the Jewel in La Grange Park relatively close to it's downtown area. Definitely walkable if you live in northeast La Grange, though it's certainly easier to load up the trunk and drive.

La Grange, Western Springs, and Hinsdale definitely use the Whole Foods in town. They all go to La Grange for the Trader Joe's as well, as do residents in Brookfield and Riverside.

We use Wheaton's Mariano's and Whole Foods (which is about to move to a larger space), and Wheatonites use our Trader Joe's and Fresh Market. My wife also likes the Valli in Glendale Heights and the new Caputo's flagship store in Carol Stream. Our Jewel is terrible except for quick trips at 9 pm.
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Old 12-15-2015, 01:00 PM
 
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There are lots of fitness / exercise / sport options around. Adjacent to Kramers there is a popular Yoga spot, across Ogden up Madison there is the Salt Creek Club for tennis & swimming. In town, Village of Hinsdale runs an outdoor community pool, as well as popular paddle tennis for cooler months. Very old school indoor competitive tennis at Hinsdale Racquet Club.There is a big tennis / fitness / swim facility call Five Season, and lots of value minded Hinsdaleans head to the MidTown club in Willowbrook. The Oak Brook Park District facility has a very competitive tennis program too. More than a few folks ride bicycles to these facilities in all but the worst weather, there are generally good routes that avoid traffic...
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Old 12-15-2015, 01:09 PM
 
1,517 posts, read 2,324,329 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JJski View Post
Hinsdale, Western Springs and La Grange share the whole foods (high end grocers) on Ogden... They also share the Lifetime Fitness (super high end gym) in burr ridge... But these are all car dependent - short drives.

To truly go car-independent you need to live in the Big City. I think the key here is a lot of these nicer towns (if house is in right area) still let families enjoy the historic districts, bars, restaurants, retail shops, events and trains with short walks minimizing car travel... giving them the nice walkability factor: www.walkscore.com
I love the idea of Walk Score, but they do a horrible job categorizing amenities. For example, a Williams-Sonoma and an olive oil retailer are both listed under "groceries" in Naperville and given the same weight as say, the full-service Trader Joe's in downtown La Grange. Obviously ridiculous. And they miss a lot too. About half of Wheaton's restaurants and retail are absent from their map, as well as our drama and imrov theaters, bars and breweries, etc...

Anyway, the Walk Scores are pretty tight:

92 Downtown Elmhurst
84 Downtown Naperville
83 Downtown La Grange
83 Downtown Glen Ellyn
77 Downtown Wheaton
75 Downtwon Western Springs
73 Downtown Hinsdale
68 Downtown Downers Grove

Last edited by holl1ngsworth; 12-15-2015 at 01:30 PM..
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Old 12-15-2015, 01:12 PM
 
768 posts, read 1,091,938 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by holl1ngsworth View Post
I love the idea of Walk Score, but they do a horrible job categorizing amenities. For example, a Williams-Sonoma and an olive oil retailer are both listed under "groceries" in Naperville and given the same weight as say, the full-service Trader Joe's in downtown La Grange. Obviously ridiculous. And they miss a lot too. About half of Wheaton's restaurants and retail are absent from their map, as well as our drama and imrov theaters, bars and breweries, etc...

Anyway, the Walk Scores are pretty tight:

84 Downtown Naperville
83 Downtown La Grange
83 Downtown Glen Ellyn
77 Downtown Wheaton
75 Downtwon Western Springs
73 Downtown Hinsdale
Totally agreed holl1! - the towns in this thread GE, wheaton thru hinsdale, LG should all be 95+. My old town in MI was a 98 and no where near the same amenities in its core...
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Old 12-15-2015, 01:31 PM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JJski View Post
Totally agreed holl1! - the towns in this thread GE, wheaton thru hinsdale, LG should all be 95+. My old town in MI was a 98 and no where near the same amenities in its core...
Yea, I added downtown Elmhurst and Downers Grove to the list. I love DT Elmhurst, but no way it should score higher than La Grange or Naperville (or Wheaton ).
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Old 12-16-2015, 12:48 AM
 
367 posts, read 1,199,970 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by holl1ngsworth View Post
92 Downtown Elmhurst
84 Downtown Naperville
83 Downtown La Grange
83 Downtown Glen Ellyn
77 Downtown Wheaton
75 Downtwon Western Springs
73 Downtown Hinsdale
68 Downtown Downers Grove

Strange, my Walk Score for downtown Downers Grove is 87. Am I doing it wrong? I just went to walkscore.com, clicked on Get Scores on the banner, then typed in "Burlington and Main Downers Grove".


You're putting in an intersection, right? If I just type in a town all the scores are below 50.
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Old 12-16-2015, 05:18 AM
 
1,517 posts, read 2,324,329 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by meatpuff View Post
Strange, my Walk Score for downtown Downers Grove is 87. Am I doing it wrong? I just went to walkscore.com, clicked on Get Scores on the banner, then typed in "Burlington and Main Downers Grove".


You're putting in an intersection, right? If I just type in a town all the scores are below 50.
I searched "downtown Naperville," "downtown Downers Grove," etc.

I see now that the pin for downtown Downers is up on Ogden and Main. Like I said, the site is useless... If you manually click around the actual downtown area, the scores are in the upper 80's...

Last edited by holl1ngsworth; 12-16-2015 at 05:52 AM..
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Old 12-16-2015, 08:16 AM
 
748 posts, read 822,775 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by holl1ngsworth View Post
Like I said, the site is useless
Agreed - any of these places will not be 100% (or even 95%) walkable. Perhaps 80%. I lived in core Manhattan, and it was truly 100% walkable, but I find it hard to believe that downtown Downers Grove would come close to this...
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Old 12-16-2015, 09:05 AM
 
768 posts, read 1,091,938 times
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Here is another cool tool to help explore the area from a distance, if you don't live here... In this case you have to download a browser plug in but well worth it...

Google Earth so much better then google maps for the visual...
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