A place to call home

[bulldawg1594]

i would say crete or monee. maybe kankakee.

[linicx]

Since you are a family of 7, maybe Indiana would offer a lower COL with less culture shock?

[linicx]

Originally Posted by bulldawg1594

i would say crete or monee. maybe kankakee.

I don't know about Kankakee. It's one of the poorest towns in the general area and not terribly convenient to the loop. for instance. .

[bulldawg1594]

Originally Posted by linicx

I don't know about Kankakee. It's one of the poorest towns in the general area and not terribly convenient to the loop. for instance. .

i guess. but it is more affordable and more country. other suggestions i would say are sauk village or lansing.

[linicx]

Really rural would be Sandwich and a hour west of Chicago. He might like Niles, MI.. It's on the Indiana border and not too far removed from the Loop. .

[cubssoxfan]

Niles is 2.5 hours into downtown. It's almost as far as South Bend.
Start by researching schools. Start by top 20 high schools and then see what home prices are via the internet. Small town will often mean farther away from the city and farther away from 355 & 294 resulting in longer commuting times. As a parent, it is the mix of quality schools, safe area, affordable home and quality recreational programs: park district, library, parks within safe walking distance that I focus on. Some of the towns mentioned have fair to good schools. Narrow down your search by focusing on areas that have good to excellent schools first and then work "backwards" to see which of those areas you can afford.