Recent thoughts on Chicago burbs

[Anonymous]

Downers Grove- cute downtown, easy ride into the city, more affordable housing

[Anonymous]

Downers Grove-
https://www.trulia.com/p/il/downers-grove/324-shady-ln-downers-grove-il-60515--2058060240

[Anonymous]

Taking the Metra to work from a farther out suburb is going to be faster more reliable and more pleasant than taking the El. And if you want ethnic diversity you have to take socioeconomic diversity, too.

Look at Berwyn and LaGrange (and Downers). I wouldn’t gamble on CPS even though I loved living in the city as a grad student (in Hyde Park, Andersonville, Lincoln Square and then Jefferson Park). Love those neighborhoods but wouldn’t move there now with kids (without a huuuuuge income for private schools).

Good luck. Don’t let DCUM help you with this choice. The only places they ever recommend are Evanston and Wilmette. Find a local to show you around.

[Anonymous]

Definitely consider LaGrange, Western Springs, Hinsdale, Clarendon Hills, Downers. They’re all solid choices with great schools, great location, and easy access to the city as well as amenities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Definitely consider LaGrange, Western Springs, Hinsdale, Clarendon Hills, Downers. They’re all solid choices with great schools, great location, and easy access to the city as well as amenities.

Agree. But DCUM only knows about the north shore suburbs. So those are the only recommendations they give to people who wander in here.

[Anonymous]

I grew up in Oak Park. Property taxes have always been crazy. But you get excellent services and schools. And if you live near Lake and Oak Park Avenue you feel like you are part of a small downtown area. I personally wouldn’t live past 4 blocks in either direction off Lake street and not east of Ridgeland. And most families send their kids to the public schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I grew up in Oak Park. Property taxes have always been crazy. But you get excellent services and schools. And if you live near Lake and Oak Park Avenue you feel like you are part of a small downtown area. I personally wouldn’t live past 4 blocks in either direction off Lake street and not east of Ridgeland. And most families send their kids to the public schools.

They may have always been crazy, but it seems like they got bananas crazy relatively recently — maybe in the past 8-10 years?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Definitely consider LaGrange, Western Springs, Hinsdale, Clarendon Hills, Downers. They’re all solid choices with great schools, great location, and easy access to the city as well as amenities.

I live in the Chicago area and don’t like the western suburbs. Hate being on the expressway and surface roads you have to drive through Austin or other depressed areas to get to downtown. And downtown Hinsdale had all of about 3 stores/restaurants open. So flat and hot and boring. There were some nice looking houses though. I don’t love a lot of the North Shore suburbs either, including Winnetka and Wilmette, so… I guess I’ll continue looking in other northern suburbs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I recommend the western suburbs. Hinsdale, Naperville, Downers Grove, Clarendon Hills.

Aren't these areas all an hour or more away from downtown Chicago? That would not be doable to me.

more like half an hour away

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I recommend the western suburbs. Hinsdale, Naperville, Downers Grove, Clarendon Hills.

Aren't these areas all an hour or more away from downtown Chicago? That would not be doable to me.

more like half an hour away

Half an hour by car? Or by Metra? When - at 7am Saturday morning?
There’s no way you’re getting from Naperville to downtown in 30 mins during rush hour.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I recommend the western suburbs. Hinsdale, Naperville, Downers Grove, Clarendon Hills.

Aren't these areas all an hour or more away from downtown Chicago? That would not be doable to me.

more like half an hour away

Half an hour by car? Or by Metra? When - at 7am Saturday morning?
There’s no way you’re getting from Naperville to downtown in 30 mins during rush hour.

They have an express train that did like 32 minutes as a straight shot to downtown. That was pre-pandemic. The metra has changed their times and I think the commute time is closer to 40 minutes via train.

[Anonymous]

Some of the neighborhoods you consider "seedy" and housing types you find too Midwestern (?) seem fine to me. Not at all sure what you mean about the western parts of Oak Park not being ok. If maybe you mean right along Madison Street there are a few blocks there I'd skip. Many prefer Mann school in OP. Depending on your children's ages and temperament the middle schools in OP can be too large and overwhelming for some. For others their large size offers welcome variety and opportunity and transition to high school is pretty easy if you can navigate that Middle School scene. Park Ridge is another highly commutable suburb in your price range, but no TP vibe there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Some of the neighborhoods you consider "seedy" and housing types you find too Midwestern (?) seem fine to me. Not at all sure what you mean about the western parts of Oak Park not being ok. If maybe you mean right along Madison Street there are a few blocks there I'd skip. Many prefer Mann school in OP. Depending on your children's ages and temperament the middle schools in OP can be too large and overwhelming for some. For others their large size offers welcome variety and opportunity and transition to high school is pretty easy if you can navigate that Middle School scene. Park Ridge is another highly commutable suburb in your price range, but no TP vibe there.

I don’t mean seedy in terms of dangerous. I guess I mean ugly or urban? Parts of Oak Park are dumpy and have trash everywhere, broken down trains sitting, etc. Wilmette has boarded up empty retail, shop after shop just closed down and empty. I guess I’m not used to this after being in NOVa for so long, where things are boomi and in demand. I think I have moved on from Oak Park as the schools do not seem as good as I thought. Still looking…

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some of the neighborhoods you consider "seedy" and housing types you find too Midwestern (?) seem fine to me. Not at all sure what you mean about the western parts of Oak Park not being ok. If maybe you mean right along Madison Street there are a few blocks there I'd skip. Many prefer Mann school in OP. Depending on your children's ages and temperament the middle schools in OP can be too large and overwhelming for some. For others their large size offers welcome variety and opportunity and transition to high school is pretty easy if you can navigate that Middle School scene. Park Ridge is another highly commutable suburb in your price range, but no TP vibe there.

I don’t mean seedy in terms of dangerous. I guess I mean ugly or urban? Parts of Oak Park are dumpy and have trash everywhere, broken down trains sitting, etc. Wilmette has boarded up empty retail, shop after shop just closed down and empty. I guess I’m not used to this after being in NOVa for so long, where things are boomi and in demand. I think I have moved on from Oak Park as the schools do not seem as good as I thought. Still looking…

And for western oak park, lots of bums and vagrants pretty much permanently sitting outside of L stations, Target, most major retail, and again trash and poop strewn around. Quads and other vehicles constantly racing down the main drag on the west side. Weird because River Forest seems really wealthy and I assumed quiet. I’ve lived in DC East of the park and it wasn’t this dirty!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Look at La grange.

If OP didn't think Oak Park was progressive enough, LaGrange is never going to make the cut.

I live in Oak Park. It's very, very progressive. People just aren't as into signs on their houses, as they were where we used to live in Capitol Hill.