Elmhurst? Do you like it? Airplane noise? commuter parking? (Naperville: daycare, townhome)

[ramblin man]

My wife and I are narrowing down our suburb choices. The commuter parking lot issue is the main reason we are moving away from our first choice, Naperville.

For Elmhurst, can anyone provide any info on what they think of this area in general? How is it as an area to raise a family? One year old son right now.

I saw on the Elmhurst web-site that a recent resident survey showed airplane noise as one of the top 3 concerns. Is this from the major airports? Is this a big problem or just a vocal minority?

Is it possible to obtain parking passes for the commuter lot? There is a 4 to 6 year wait in naperville.

It looks like a number of homes are 0.5 to 1.5 miles from the train station. Do a lot of people just walk it? Is it too cold? Is it safe?

Newbie here. Thanks.

Thanks.

[Paxtonian]

I know little about Elmhurst, other than what I saw of it many years ago. Then it was a well kept, tidy place of very nice homes. However, I do know a bit about the airport noise issue, having been raised in another of the Western Suburbs near O'Hare. The noise is indeed from O'Hare, which most years is the world's busiest airport. Homes under flight paths tend to be worth a tad less than the others, but the noise itself quickly becomes part of the background of one's life, and is hardly noticed. That was emphasized to me a few years ago when I took my five year old daughter home to Grandma for a visit. Emily had only seen small piston-engined aircraft Downstate, when we arrived at Grandma's, I was surprised when she pointed up at one of the airliners passing overhead and asked what it was. I hadn't even noticed there WAS a plane overhead until she pointed it out. Probably what you need to do is look at a map and avoid areas directly under obvious areas alligned with runways. That should alleviate most of the noise issue.

[mdz]

Just so you're aware, they're in the process of moving some of the runways at Ohare. Who knows when it's going to be finished, but that may worsen noise for some people and help noise for others.

From what I've read, it's going to be mostly east-west runways which may actually help some of the western burbs south of Ohare. Right now there's a couple of diagonals that hit elmhurst going one way and river grove/river forest/oak park going the other

[chicagoclone]

I used to live there and it is a great place to live. We got priced out but I think it is a great place to raise a family. A great park district/library/schools/etc. If you live south of North Avenue, you won't notice the plane noise. North of North avenue is when you start hearing the plane noise. North of valette and south of the tracks is nice if you can afford it.

[chicagoclone]

also, I am not sure about the parking passes but parking is readily available for 1 dollar. I drove to the train station (walked sometime and very very safe) and parking was readily available. May have to walk a little bit.

[HollyhockGarden]

Hello -- Elmhurst is a beautiful community. I was there a couple of months ago, and grew up near-by. The downtown is lively, and the old-fashioned theater is still alive and doing well -- check out the York Theater, Google Images -- it is there. I would take advantage of all the local amenties like the college, downtown theater, YMCA, restaurants, and library, and buy a home walking distance to the train station. It is perfectly safe to walk there. Elmhurst is an upscale suburb and homes start at about $350K for a small 2-bedroom. Tear-downs are occurring in the area with some of the original homes being replaced with McMansions. It is a prime location with excellant transportation, schools, and parks, and the downtown is vibrant. It is south of O'Hare, but you do get used to the noise -- it is not that bad. If it was really that noisy, they could not sell homes for the prices they are getting! Good luck with your move!

[OakBrookMom]

As a former resident and a realtor in the area, I can't say enough about the town. I dragged my city-born husband out to suburbs 9 years ago and we chose Elmhurst because of its proximity to the expressways, airport and downtown. I commuted downtown the whole 5 years we spent there and for the first year (before kids when I didn't have to run to daycare) I walked to the train, I have many friends that still do. When I needed to drive I had no trouble obtaining a parking pass. There are two garages and multiple lots as well as meter parking along the tracks. Compared to Naperville it is a dream for commuters with express trains only taking 24 minutes. We loved it so much that we moved his parents out to Elmhurst too and his mom still lives there and loves it.
We lived south of the tracks and never had a problem with the airplane noise but I did have friends that lived north of North Avenue and they experienced the noise but it didn't deter them from living there, they are all still there 10 years later. Plus being 15 minutes from O'hare is great for people that have to travel on business all the time.
Elmhurst is right off of I-290, I-294, & I-88 and I-290 links into I-355 so it is really centrally located. We have watched the downtown grow considerably under the watchful eye of the city council and the mayor who really has taken this town and put it on the map. The high school got an extreme makeover and there is a new library and pool.
Like one of the other people who responded, after 3 kids we wanted to move to a larger home and unfortunately the price tag and taxes made that impossible so we moved to Oak Brook where at the time you could get a 4BR, 3.5 bath home with the 3 car garage for under 650K with taxes under 7K and a school where the class sizes for grades 1-3 are under 18.
My brother was in a similar situation when his family outgrew their townhome. They moved to Downers Grove and he found parking at a business by one of the three train stations where there is a waiting list for spaces despite the city building a garage a couple of years ago. You will get a much bigger house for your money than in Elmhurst and there are Pace buses to the train station from many of the neighborhoods if you can't score a parking spot. The main street express trains are only 26 minutes to downtown. I actually have a home that will be coming on the market in the late spring/early summer that is only a block from the main street station if you are interested. Just let me know. I also have a friend that will be putting their house on the market after the new year and it is walking distance to the main street station in Downers Grove, located a block from Prince Pond. So again let me know if you are interested. Plus, if you are not working with an agent yet, I would be more than happy to help you.

[HomeSearch]

OakBrookMom,

My wife and are looking in the Downers Grove for a home. You mentioned in the posting below that you knew of some homes that may go on the market. Have either of those homes gone on the market yet?

Originally Posted by OakBrookMom

As a former resident and a realtor in the area, I can't say enough about the town. I dragged my city-born husband out to suburbs 9 years ago and we chose Elmhurst because of its proximity to the expressways, airport and downtown. I commuted downtown the whole 5 years we spent there and for the first year (before kids when I didn't have to run to daycare) I walked to the train, I have many friends that still do. When I needed to drive I had no trouble obtaining a parking pass. There are two garages and multiple lots as well as meter parking along the tracks. Compared to Naperville it is a dream for commuters with express trains only taking 24 minutes. We loved it so much that we moved his parents out to Elmhurst too and his mom still lives there and loves it.
We lived south of the tracks and never had a problem with the airplane noise but I did have friends that lived north of North Avenue and they experienced the noise but it didn't deter them from living there, they are all still there 10 years later. Plus being 15 minutes from O'hare is great for people that have to travel on business all the time.
Elmhurst is right off of I-290, I-294, & I-88 and I-290 links into I-355 so it is really centrally located. We have watched the downtown grow considerably under the watchful eye of the city council and the mayor who really has taken this town and put it on the map. The high school got an extreme makeover and there is a new library and pool.
Like one of the other people who responded, after 3 kids we wanted to move to a larger home and unfortunately the price tag and taxes made that impossible so we moved to Oak Brook where at the time you could get a 4BR, 3.5 bath home with the 3 car garage for under 650K with taxes under 7K and a school where the class sizes for grades 1-3 are under 18.
My brother was in a similar situation when his family outgrew their townhome. They moved to Downers Grove and he found parking at a business by one of the three train stations where there is a waiting list for spaces despite the city building a garage a couple of years ago. You will get a much bigger house for your money than in Elmhurst and there are Pace buses to the train station from many of the neighborhoods if you can't score a parking spot. The main street express trains are only 26 minutes to downtown. I actually have a home that will be coming on the market in the late spring/early summer that is only a block from the main street station if you are interested. Just let me know. I also have a friend that will be putting their house on the market after the new year and it is walking distance to the main street station in Downers Grove, located a block from Prince Pond. So again let me know if you are interested. Plus, if you are not working with an agent yet, I would be more than happy to help you.

[BRU67]

I grew up there, near Madison and Washington. I don't recall the airplanes being too big of an issue. It's relatively close to O'Hare but not so close that your windows are rattling every 5 minutes like some of the 'burbs right next to the airport. They've done a great job with their downtown area over the past 5 years. Plenty of very nice large older homes which are very well kept and a lot to do in terms of shops and restaurants -- and you're right by the Metra also. If you can afford it, that's the place to be.

As you get into the neighborhoods further away from downtown (like my old neighborhood), there have been a lot of teardowns where Very large houses have been built on small lots. I'm not a big fan of this because the houses somehow don't look quite right, especially those surrounded by the small, early 1950s era houses which were originally there. There doesn't seem to be any attempt to create a cohesive neighborhood character -- just people who want to put the biggest structure possible on every inch of available space. I suppose that's the price you pay when a community becomes very desirable.

[cw68]

And I also grew up there, near Madison and Berkely. The plane noise isn't too bad because you get used to it. I do remember, however, having a good friend north of North Ave and when we'd talk on the phone in the summer with the windows open, you'd have to pause while the plane went over her house and pause again while it went over my house.

There are a lot of teardowns everywhere. I'm personally not a big fan, but most people in Elmhurst like it because they believe it make the place look more spiffy.

Nice place to live. Very safe, good schools. Very Catholic, very conservative. I never want to move back, though I visit often since my sister still lives there and usually manage to have a good time.

I did live there for awhile while working downtown. It's a City commuter's dream if you don't choose Oak Park where you also have the "el" as a choice.