Hi,

My husband has a job offer in the Chicago suburbs. Algonquin was mentioned as a place where would could relocate. I search this forum with no luck. Can anyone share any info. about this city.

Thanks,
Julie

It is a FAR northwest suburb. Have been through there but don't know any specifs other than if you were going to live there and work in the city, your commute would be a nightmare (a couple of hours each way by car). If on the otherhand the job offer is actually in Algonquin or even closer in like Rolling Meadows it wouldn't be bad. Algonquin is on the edge of Lake and Kane counties. It is not a very built up area compared to some closer in suburbs. Hopefully someone else can help you as far as actually living in that area or what the schools are like. Good Luck.

I grew up in Algonquin, and still live in the northwest suburbs. Although it is considered a suburb, it has a "small-town" feeling to it. The Fox River runs through town and is quite popular for boating, water-skiing, even bar hopping.

Downtown Chicago is actually a one-hour car ride, O'hare is a forty-five minute drive. The area has been growing quite rapidly in the last five years due to Sears Tower offices moving to the county.

Algonquin is a nice enough town. There seems to be a lot of traffic in the area, because a major road goes right through the center of town, and it takes like 15 minutes to go 4 blocks. I can tell you that when Danny (Partridge)Bonaduce had a Chicago radio show he lived in Algonquin. Like many far suburbs of Chicago traffic is becoming a real hassle. I'm ready to head to Wisconsin.

An hour to Chicago, yeah right. Maybe at 3am.

Neighbor,

Hi, I grew up in Algonquin also! Where did you live? Wow, I guess I shouldnt be surprised since lots of people live there but I am

Send me an email

Laura

Algonquin is next to Lake in the Hills and Huntley, two of the fastest growing towns in the country anywhere. Townhomes are being put up everywhere. I think a lot of the people moved there to be near a Motorola plant. Expect lots of traffic congestion and strip malls. Chicago may not look far on the map, but travel time is long.

I live in Dundee which is 5 miles south of Algonquin. Dundee has a more of a small town atmosphere (I think). We went into Chicago the other day at 10 a.m. and it took 45 minutes to get downtown. Depends on the traffic. There is train service to the city from Barrington ( 10-15 min. from Algonquin or dundee). Lots of homes for sale- more for the $ than closer to the city. We have hills, a river, a bike trail, indooor tennis courts (crystal lake). E-mail me if you want more ideas.

Juile,
Do You have any kids? I have a number of friends from hockey that live in Algonquin (1 who works for the village). They really like the school district. By the way, if you have kids that play ice hockey, Kings youth hockey is a short ride away in East Dundee. There is alot of new construction going on in that area, even the older construction is only about 5-7 years older. & as mentioned before you can get quite alot of house for the money in that area, comparatively speaking for Chicago area. I live in Streamwood, which is about 10 - 15 miles closer to Chicago. Until about 3 yrs ago, I worked on the northside of Chicago(about 1 mile from Wrigley field. It was 35 miles 1-way from my house to work. Driving at 5:45am, it took me 45 minutes to get to work. When I switched jobs 3 yrs ago, the commute was creeping up to an hour. When I was leaving work at 3:30pm - 4pm It would take 1 1/4 hrs to get home. When a heavy snow or hard rain hits at the right time, it would be 2 - 3 hr commute. Alittle rain or snow, or an accident on the other side of the interstate & it would be about a 1 1/2 to 2 hr commute. If I worked in the evening & left work at about 8 or 9pm, I could make it home in 35 minutes as long as it wasn't a Friday night. Alot of people do the drive, I did it for 11 years, that was enough for me.