Young family moving to Illinois and needs advice! (Chicago, Naperville: appointed, best town)

[jfbeck]

Hi everyone,

My husband and I are in the planning stages of moving out to Illinois from our current apt in Washington DC sometime next year. We need some advice! Here are some of our priorities:

- We would like to buy a SFH for no more than $450,000 (3/4 bedrooms)
- We would like to be near a good school system for a soon-to-be planned family
- We would like to be around "stuff!"...restaurants, shops, parks, activities, etc
- We'd like to be near lots of other young families.
- We'd love to be somewhat close to public transportation to get us in and out of Chicago for work or play.

That's our long list, which we realize, is just a wishlist or starting point. We are unfamilar with the state and hoping that folks online might be able to offer some suggestions. We are two city people looking for a slower, less expensive, and enjoyable life in Illinois. Thank you!

[knitgirl]

Do you have jobs already? Will you be working in the city or suburbs? (People aren't always precise). If you'll be working in the Loop (basically downtown, though there is a more specific definition), towns along the Metra lines would be easiest for commuting Metra System Map From what I hear, it's very difficult for people to get parking at the Naperville stations, but Naperville is very popular with transplants. Oak Park, if you want a MUCH closer to Chicago town, is more urban. It's got a great downtown. It would be my preference of the 2. Wheaton, Glen Ellyn, St Charles and Geneva are all nice towns. I'm not sure on housing prices, but think those should be pretty manageable. Actually, I would prefer any of those towns to Naperville, it's much more sprawling than the others, but it certainly has it's supporters.

[jfbeck]

Yes. Sorry I wasn't clear on jobs. I am a Speech-Language Pathologist and would like to find a job with a school system so that could certainly be in any of the suburbs. My husband will be working for the US Governemnt downtown but is used to a long commute after living in DC!

[cubssoxfan]

Originally Posted by jfbeck

Yes. Sorry I wasn't clear on jobs. I am a Speech-Language Pathologist and would like to find a job with a school system so that could certainly be in any of the suburbs. My husband will be working for the US Governemnt downtown but is used to a long commute after living in DC!

Until your job location is settled, I would suggest renting. Your husband commuting can be achieved by living in proximity to any of the Metra lines. You however, would not like living in say Naperville and commuting to say Gurnee for your job. Once you have a job, it will be much easier to find the right community.

[jfbeck]

I probably won't be working immediately when we get there (having kids) so I would rather pick based on the above list more than jobs. Again, my husband is super flexible about his commute. Our average down here is about 1.5 hours. Thanks for everyone's help!

[chet everett]

The commute from most any town that is in DuPage or Cook southeastern Lake Co that is on a Metra rail line is very pleasant, even some rather distant places are a short express train ride.

There has been quite a bit of "flattening" of price spreads at the lower rungs due to the first time buyers credit really helping to move a lot of the starter type home even in very desirable areas and the effect of even towns with small numbers of foreclosures seeing depressed appraisal values for lender approval. That said there are some town where $450K is still NOT going to go very far at all.
You can do VERY well if you are OK with getting a home that might need some updating.

If you focus on areas with TOP NOTCH schools you probably won't be disappointed. In most cases that is ALSO going to get a town that also has at least a smattering of restaurants and shopping. Parks are pretty much a given in any desirable suburb, as are LOTS of families with younger kids (there was chatter on the threads about more costly suburbs having parents that are not quite as young as in other places, however given the relationship between length of career/income/importance of education this is a trade-off that seems to make sense to me...)

If you are concerned that your $450K housing budget will end up far above/below/ at the median value of housing that MIGHT be something to look at, but having been involved in real estate for over two decades I can whole heartedly say that more costly suburbs are a smarter place to buy than those that are low priced...


If you focus on the Western Suburbs along the BNSF from Naperville through about Berwyn there is a pretty wide range of affordability and housing styles. The best HIGH SCHOOLS in that corridor are Hinsdale Central (which serves Hinsdale, Clarendon Hills as well as parts of Oak Brook to the north & Willowbrook (no real town center or train service in those)), Naperville North & Central, Riverside-Brookfield, Lyons Township (serves LaGrange & Western Springs along with towns like Countryside and LaGrange Highland that lack train service/town center), Downers Grove North. Other towns have fairly good elementary districts but weaker high schools -- this is a bit of chicken & egg problem with regard to reputation/desirability and price stability/affordability. I recommend going for the best town you can afford...

There are towns along the UP West line with similar qualities, with the best high schools generally being those that serve Glen Ellyn and Wheaton. Other desirable areas include Elmhurt, Geneva, and Oak Park.

The Northwest burbs start with Park Ridge (Maine South HS), though portions of Arlington Heights, Mt Propect (District 214) and even in-town Barrington would all meet your requirements.

Due north of Chicago there are those that love Evanston, though the range of neighborhoods can be a bit more difficult to navigate. Towns further north like Wilmette, Winneteka or Glencoe (New Trier) and those into Lake Co like Highland Park and Lake Forest /Lake Bluff will have some houses in your range, though there are also a great many far more expensive.

To the west of the actually "shoreline of Lake Michigan" towns, there is a belt of desirable towns that has some of the traits you seek from Glenview through Northbrook, Deerfield, and Libertyville.

To do some narrowing down many people rely on secondary factors like the likelihood of getting a home of the size/age/style that appeals to them or the mix of ethnic backgrounds.

Good Luck!

[cubssoxfan]

Chet,
Excellent advise- as usual.
What about the Metra line that has stops in Prospect Hts, Buffalo Grove and Vernon Hills. Wouldn't these towns meet OP's criteria as well?

[chet everett]

Originally Posted by cubssoxfan

Chet,
Excellent advise- as usual.
What about the Metra line that has stops in Prospect Hts, Buffalo Grove and Vernon Hills. Wouldn't these towns meet OP's criteria as well?

I suppose if you found a really good deal it might make sense, but Vernon Hills is pretty "mall centric", Prospect Hts would require relying on the surrounding towns for most shopping and eating places, and BG lacks a cohesive town center despite having lots of shopping and restaurants -- mostly strip malls, which , while perfectly fine as business proposition, tends not to encourage much of the spontaneous "let's stroll down to whatever when I get off the train" that can much more easily happen in the towns that have a longer history of commuter rail and development focused around that...

I am also leaving off the south suburbs, and I do feel a bit bad about that, but I think that give the relatively high budget, desire for possible employment in a surrounding school, and lack any comments about things that would be a draw to south suburb there are better choices for this couple. As I have said I have cousins that live in the South Suburbs and those that have roots in the area really appreciate living close in, to someone relocating from DC or other metro areas things might be better elsewhere.

[Ophidian14]

Originally Posted by cubssoxfan

What about the Metra line that has stops in Prospect Hts, Buffalo Grove and Vernon Hills. Wouldn't these towns meet OP's criteria as well?

The North Central line isn't that good. There's only two express trains per rush hour (and really only one for any given person, because there's no overlap on the stops, except at O'Hare Transfer..) Plus the route is only double-tracked and goes through a lot of freight yards, etc. limiting the maximum speed. BNSF is probably 50% faster..

Also there's no weekend service either, and like chet said, most of the towns along the route are "automobile oriented"...

[jfbeck]

Thank you all for all of this great advice! It does seem like there are plenty of options. I suppose we need some secondary criteria options. As we will just have young children, we won't be entirely focused on HS. This will be our starter home. Any other thoughts are welcome!