Possible Chicago Relocation - need help
 

Hi all,
My husband is pursuing a good job in Chicago. I have visited once and liked it but have many questions as a potential new resident. We grew up in a small town north of Syracuse, NY and moved to L.A. 10 years ago. It's never felt like home for us. Too big, polluted and too many divas in our line of work. So, we're ready to leave L.A. and try the midwest. The job (if he get it) will be downtown. We'd like to live in a quiet area and possibly have a small house with a yard where the commute isn't more than 30-45 minutes by car or train.
Any suggestions on where to look to live?
We like Arlington Heights but were wondering if there's anything closer.

Do you have children? If so, what are their ages?

You'll pay a premium for good school districts, but it is worth it for most parents. If you are child-free, there are dozens of suburbs and city neighborhoods that sound like what you've described. Look at Glenview, Morton Grove, Edgebrook, River Forest.

The time of the train commute will depend on how far your husbands job
is from the train station. I like the older suburbs with character such as Glen Ellyn, Elmhurst, Hindale, Western springs. Naperville is a little farther out, but there are express trains. Naperville has realy good schools. None of these places are cheap though

I would imagine that since you're coming from the LA area, housing prices here won't seem as bad to you.

As celfan said, you might want to take a look at the Elmhurst, Hinsdale, Oak Brook, Lombard area. We're in Villa Park and my husband's train commute downtown is about 45 minutes.

Another possibility might be Oak Park. It's closer to the city but would still allow you to have that house and yard. However, it also has a little bit more of an urban feel than the farther out suburbs.

It would be very helpful if you provided your housing budget. I grew up in both Arlington Heights and Evanston, so I can give you some perspective on what you can expect from either community.

Lucky for you, the housing market is probably a lot more reasonable than the area surrounding LA. If you can give some additional info on the type of community (other than quiet), I can suggest some good suburbs. Do you want to be near restaurants or other cultural outlets? Is there a professional reason why your husband needs to drive downtown, or can he take the train all the tiem?

magicvoice, you have good timing.The bubble has just about burst all the way and the turn is decidedly towards a buyers' market for Chicago and suburban housing.

If money for purchase was not a central issue (if you have large equity in house you are selling etc.)- and you may have the pull to do it (but DO check out the taxes of each and every area you survey)- I would really head you toward Hinsdale or Lagrange areas if you have kids to school. Hinsdale has the best library- just awesome. Brookfield, near the zoo, is super as well. Plus the Western Surburban access is better/best, IMHO.

If you enter Will or Dupage Counties (suburbs) your taxes will be higher than most areas of Cook, regardless of the purchase price.

Ask if the house has Chicago water- regardless of the price. Some parts of Downers and Westmont, areas highly rec'd- don't.

If you would love a beautiful house with neighborhood feel/yard and immense community connection- consider the Southwest Suburbs on a Metra line- that would get you downtown in 45 to 50 minutes without a car and no driving. But you would need to be close to a Metra.

All these areas have quiet spots but also good access. Honestly, the commute from 90% of all Chicago suburbs in every direction is actually a lot more than 30 minutes now. The average is over an hour- even close to some train stations.

If you want a brick house and lots more/ higher level amenitities in it for your money, IMHO, I would check out Orland Park or Tinley Park on the Metra lines.

Just to give you a true picture. There are three or 4 houses per subdivision priced about $50,000 to $100,000 under true value right now because of the new housing market competition just catching up (4 to 5 year old houses with immense upgrades- are the undervalued- new are over valued) and lots of deals to be had. This is especially true of Orland Park, Tinley Park, and Frankfort. School districts are very good/excellent.

Tell us what kind of housing you would like and if you have kids, because that really changes the possible answers to your question.

Because if money or kids' education were not the biggest factors, you then may want to go directly into Chicago. There are lots of single family homes on the North side and also new revitalized areas all over the place.

I grew up in Downers Grove, which is a 23 minute express-train ride to the Loop. There are 3 Metra stops in DG. It's a 20 min drive to O'Hare (even less if you're on the north side of DG), 25 min drive to Midway. Those times of course depend on traffic. Without major traffic, I could drive from the Loop to my house in DG within 25 minutes. It's ideally situated off of I-88 on the north and I-55 on the south. 355 is on the west side. It's considered desirable due to location and it's not outrageously priced. It's an older, established community with excellent schools.

If you live in the western 'burbs (west of, say, 294), be prepared to spend half your life sitting on the Eisenhower to get downtown. I swear, there is no good time of day anymore to make that trek. The Metra will become your best friend.

I'm COMPLETELY biased, but I love the North Shore suburbs b/c of the proximity to the lake, Ravinia, downtown. Evanston is fantastic. Short commute via the El or Metra, great downtown area, diverse housing options.

Sorry, I forgot to mention that we have no kids and no plans to have any. It's just us. We bought our condo in Valencia (LA suburb) in 2000 so we'll have a lot of equity even though prices are coming down here.
We both in our mid '30s and enjoy going to the movies to see foreign and independent films, love walking among the trees and we love rivers and lakes. If this happens, I'm considering just selling one of our cars and having one for a while until I find a job of my own. Thanks, everyone for the help so far.

Oh, and house wise, it doesn't have to be big. 3 bedrooms or 2 with a den and 1 and a half baths would be perfect. Maybe something like 1300 square feet plus a garage and a small yard with a nice tree. Our needs are actually pretty simple because of not having kids. Right now, even with prices coming down in L.A., it's a half a million for a shack in the 'hood. This has fueled our decision to look for work outside of CA.

Foreign and independent films! You sound like Oak Park material!

Oak Park borders Chicago. People they are very liberal and somewhat artsy. Town is very gay friendly

Its not for everyone though. My wife would love it, I'd look elsewhere.

Pros - Close to the city, 15 minutes on Metra.

Cool old houses.

Lots of trees.

Cons - Borders one of Chicago's worst neighborhoods.

You might be run out of town if you are a republican.

Pretty expensive.


Evanston to the North is a possibility too. Heavily influenced by Northwestern University. I'm not familiar with the Metra schedule there.

Actually, if I were you, with your likes and situation, I would strongly suggest getting into City of Chicago itself. There are many nice walk ups and single family homes on the Northside or the Northwest sides of Chicago.

They just did a "What You Can Get" on HG or TLC (tv) for Chicago with different levels of entry, and you are definitely in the ball park.

Lakeview, Rogers Park- it depends on what or how you feel about density outside of your own yard space. You would be able to get a yard in some areas.

You could get a knockout house in suburbia and much more space for the same. If you only want 1300 sq.feet (which is REALLY small for Chicagoland- we have larger average per person here than in CA) you could get into some really better areas than Oak Park.

I grew up in Arl Hts. and loved it.
It is a very desireable area now.
They have totally revised the downtown area (train runs through it).
Lots of good restaurants. Nice older houses surround and the other surronding neighborhoods have followed suit.
http://www.vah.com/

http://www.arlingtonheights.org/

Its funny JJ5 but I was just going to reccommend the city too. Its really much greener than most cities.

As for Oak Park-some people love it, some don't. Not my cup of tea either.

Is Rogers Park safe these days? Maybe
it has gotten better over the past several years? Its easy to think
the northern neighborhoods will continue to improve as you move farher north, but the recent real estate slow down could change things.

You can't go wrong with Evanston or Oak Park if you don't want to live in the city. Evanston has a very diverse downtwon with lots of good ethnic restaurants and cultural opportunities do to Northwestern. The lake front is gorgeous as well. There's even a special beach just for dogs! It's an inner-ring suburb, just like Oak Park, and getting into the city is extremely easy. There are three metra stations in Evanston and the El also stops there.

Its hard trying to pick a place for someone you don't know. I heard independent films and oak park and evanston jumped out at me. Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe she's an independent film fan who would enjoy living in Schaumburg and eating at Applebees???:)

Sounds like a city bordering Lake Michigan could fill the nature walk requirement.

I'm in a situation where I meet literally 100s of people from Chicago neighborhoods each month- sometimes I have to tell them how to get to me.

We all tend to rec the same places that WERE, and not the ones that ARE.

Let me tell you, magicvoice, check out the crime stats and where the live theater, best restaurants etc. are. And you will find that they are not always where they were 10 years ago.

I have friends and know many young singles and couples 20's and 30's who have settled into Near South Side, Near North side, Lakeview, Rogers Park, Brighton Park (yes, they are building $400,000 condos on Pershing Rd.) and lots of other places.

I think that some of these areas now have far more good housing and less crime than Oak Park or its environs. I don't think I am wrong.

Look at where the Mayor is living for example.

magicvoice, do you want to know your neighbors pretty well? Do you like to go to classes, work in community? Golf? There are lots of things that make a BIG difference in this scenario.
Do you want QUIET streets, far from the night-time sirens? Like Sports, pubs, clubs? Want to walk to them at night?

One of my dearest friends moved from pastoral beauty of sleepy Greensboro, North Carolina to Chicago in March. He rented out his 5000 sf suburban house and lives in a one bedroom off North Michigan on Ontario downtown and could not be happier.

He let his ex wife use his Mercedes and decided to give it to her. He never wants to leave downtown and says that everything in the world he needs is within a six block radius.

Good luck!

I also grew up in Arlington Hts - last living there in 1987 (where did the years go?)! It is a great place. The downtown area is really fantastic. A bit closer in and on the same train line is Park Ridge, which I think is also a really nice place to live.

I have to agree with other posters that you may not want to rule out Chicago. The near south side is another idea. The area south of 12th, north of 22nd and east of Michigan is really a nice area. For the proximity to Chicago and the lake, it is much more affordable than the north side. You would be looking at townhouses (with small yards) or condos, as there are very few single family homes (and the ones that are there - 1800 block of Prarie are MANSIONS - gorgeous). Some of the townhome complexes have pretty expansive common areas/yards.

This area is just a couple blocks to the lake front, bike trails, etc. I don't know if I would classify the neighborhood as "quiet" - particularly on Sunday afternoon's during football season (did I mention that Soldier Field is a stone's throw away?), but it is not busy like the loop, gold coas, Lincoln Park or Lakeview...

The south loop is a 20 to 40 minute walk (depending on exactly where you live and where you work and how fast you walk). Public transportation options include the bus or train (20 minutes). And of course you can drive...5-7 minutes.

If you do want the suburbs, I think the folks have give you a lot of good advice, but as one poster noted and I agree - it may be hard to find a true 30 minute commute.

Oak Park, River Forest and Evantson are the closest of those mentioned, but all have a "city" feel...and feel less suburban, at least to me. Lots of older homes, too. You'll find more detached garages, for example in Oak Park than Arlington Hts. Evanston is somewhat inconveniently located if you want to be by an expressway and get anywhere besides downtown Chicago or the northshore. There is a lot of culture there and it is right on the lake.

Just my 2 cents...

I also say get a much smaller place and move into a better neighborhood. My wife
recently bought an 1100 foot dwelling. We thought it would be so small that we'd need an addition right away. Not so. We are
quite comfortable and wonder why the heck we needed such a big house before.

My parents live in a great old neighborhood in Evanston with a good mix of housing. Everything from cool 1920s bungalows (which sound exactly as you describe) up to million dollar tudors.

Just curious - what was it about Arlington Heights that appeals to you?

Oak Park is great for all the reasons everyone has mentioned, but the taxes have become a force to be reckoned with and if you dont have kids there is no reason to pay so much money. we have 2 litte ones so we love everything about OP except the ridiculous amount we pay in taxes. We moved from Ravenswood and aside from the tiny yard and noise, it was an exceptional place for a couple. You can walk to great restaurants and shops and be at the lake in a 15 minute bike ride (weather permitting!)

The same with Evanston.

In the City of Chicago your water and property tax bills will be greatly reduced in comparison- possibly less than half. And at this particular point in time, IMHO, you are going to be at the better part of the buying curve than if you went to the suburbs.

It's because the Boomers are returning to the City in droves and revitalizing former shabby areas in the process. Not that the suburbs are bad at all or that there are not great choices out there. But they are different in many ways from each other as well. You might want to spec them out or rent before you buy.

Suburban houses are stagnating in value a lot faster than Chicago houses are right now-BUT there are still great buys out there/here in the burbs.

I love the burbs myself- my Park programs, nature, peace and quiet, huge personal yards etc.

But you sound like you would love a Ravenswood.

And honestly in 2006- the trains are not as fast or as regular as just 5 years ago. My son in Westmont gets there in just under 30 minutes on the train itself. But has at least 5 to 10 more at each end. Driving is another whole story. But nearly everywhere North/South and many of the best burbs I know well, have much more than 30 minute commutes- regardless of what you see on paper.

Thanks again everyone. There's so much info to take in! To answer a few questions, what I liked about Arlington Heights when I visited was the character of the older homes, the big trees that line the streets, the green spaces and the quiet. It's not all that different from the suburbs of Syracuse where we grew up. We saw one house that had stone gargoyles in the front. I literally pulled over and sat and admired it for 5 minutes.
We're very liberal, so living in an area like Oak Park would probably work for us as well. We love our independent films and our b-movies. The kinds of places we eat tend to be trattorias and smaller good but unpretentious places. We like to try new things. We've recently gotten into Sushi and Korean BBQ but we also see the value of the chain places for a quick bite. I'll definitely look into the neighborhoods mentioned above. If my husband gets this job, we'll probably rent in a place closer into the city for a while and get to know the area, then decide where to buy from there. I saw that episode of "What you get for the money" last night and the Lincoln Park adjacent condo they showed was very nice. We've never lived anywhere where we didn't have to drive, so if this move happens, it'll be a whole new experience and lifestlye. Part of me is excited but I don't want to jinx our luck either since nothing is definite yet. The only things I'll miss about L.A. are the Amoeba Music and DVD store, and the American Cinematheque at the Egyptian theatre in Hollywood where you can watch double feature Godzilla films every July and great other stuff all year round. A lot of my friends are moving out of L.A. so I only have a few people left that I'll miss.

Sounds like Music box theatre west of wrigleyville might be up your alley.

http://www.musicboxtheatre.com/

That defintely sounds right up our allley.
Thanks for the link!

Just think of the great coats you can buy! Welcome.

Magicvoice, a word to the wise...Before investing in any property, check to see how much the property taxes have risen in that particular neighborhood or city - and how much they are expected to rise.

There are many owners (home and business) who are experiencing nasty shocks due to unexpectedly large (higher double digit) increases.

There have been recent articles in the Chicago Tribune about this very subject within the last couple of months. One in July or August of this year (I think)commented on the huge tax increases some of the Chicago neighborhoods are experiencing or going to experience and the repercussions to the businessowners, landlords and homeowners.

And another in later September was specifically about Oak Park residents who are extremely upset due to tax increases. (I personally thought the idea of them having a nude protest might gain a little attention!) :)

But, seriously, I suggest that you search the Tribune's recent articles and archives; and read the entire articles for yourself to see what you could be in for - depending on where you wish to settle.

My suggestion would be to rent in Chicago for a short period of time (either an apartment or condo) and get to know the area first; then go from there in deciding where you want to buy. By the way, since there are a great deal of suburbanites commuting into the city, you can find out first hand of their complaints and compliments on any particular area.

Good luck to you in your decision!

Hi. I relocated from the Los Angeles area 10 years ago (I lived in Canyon Country...howdy neighbor!). I live in the western suburbs and the commute downtown is a piece of cake on the Metra (train). Most of the suburbs (north, west, and south) have great train lines to the city. When I worked downtown and decided to move to the burbs, I made up my mind that I was willing to look in areas where it wouldn't take me longer to get to the city by train more than 1 hour. Of course, in Los Angeles, 1 hour was the average commute so I was willing to do that. The advantage was...I didn't have to drive (since I took the train).

The northern suburbs are nice including Arlington Heights, Glenview, Deerfield, and Glenview. They are all on train lines.

I live in the western suburbs so you may want to consider those too (Wheaton, Elhurst, Geneva (beyond perfect little town), and Winfield...). Naperville is very nice too. The downtown is cuter than cute but it is more of a family community so you may not be as attracted to it since you don't have children.

For a young couple without children, you may want to consider Oak Park (west). It has a nice, trendy downtown and is only a few minutes (on train or el) downtown. Evanston is also an interesting choice and is also close to the city (north). Nice restaurants there too.

Not sure you are up for living downtown but Chicago is a wonderful city to live in. The public transportation is fantastic. Great restaurants, museums, and cultural activities. You probably would need to buy a condo or townhouse but it may be worth it if these things are attractive to you.

I don't miss California in the least. I love Chicago. You will get used to the winters (although, I had to relearn how to drive in the snow). It gets cold but there are not as many big snow storms as you probably think (usually only one or two a year...the rest are relatively mild). Summers bother me more than winters. I don't like humidity but there are not that many days over 90 degrees (think it averages 5 days a year). Still...I don't regret moving here for a minute.

Good luck!!

Oh...forgot to mention...if you are considering moving downtown...you may want to consider Lincoln Park, Lake View, Old Town, or River North. These are fantastic areas and are full of great activities. Remember, too, living downtown...you are close to the lake and the lake front is a great place to walk or bike. The views are beautiful of the city from the lakeshore.

Actually, my boyfriend and I are considering moving downtown ourselves since we enjoy the downtown activities so much (we don't have children either).

Again, Good luck!

I lived in Geneva until a few years ago, the above stated "beyond perfect little town". I'd say it was like that in the 80's and 90's. These days, the picturesque downtowns of Geneva and St. Charles are snarled in constant traffic.
Randall road is a full blown disaster, the worst thing that ever happened to Geneva.
All of the homes built west of Randall have brought way too many people to the area. Not too mention the long commute on Metra and terrible location for highways.
I'd pass on this area. It will only get worse. Too bad, it was gorgeous at one time.

Magicvoice, I'm your age and before our baby, would have moved into the city proper in a heartbeat-jobs just didn't allow it. Absolutely consider living in the city-there are immensely livable areas that sound right up your alley. I also tend to agree with the other poster who suggested a rental for a bit to see what neighborhoods you really like and to give you a chance to explore on your own.

Too bad you dislike Geneva so much, celfan. I still think it is adorable and was just there last Sunday. Very cute and about an hour commute on the metra to downtown (and believe me...having once lived in Los Angeles, that is not a bad commute (plus, you don't have to drive!)). I know how the traffic is in Los Angeles (having lived there for 25 years). Geneva traffic isn't that bad.

My wife and I are in our late 30's, no kids and live on the north side (south Uptown). DON'T move to the suburbs yet!!! Rent in one of the great neighborhoods first. We live two blocks from the lake, Wrigley Field, the Southport corridor w/the Music Box, fantastic restaurants and great neighbors. We are all over the city with charity events, dinner parties, concerts etc. For example, last night at 5:30 we decided to see the Magnificent Mile lights festival parade and fireworks. We jumped in a cab, watched the parade and the fireworks on the river, went to dinner then went to the movies (Casino Royale) It was so much fun and if you lived outside the city you would have to fight traffic and make plans a lot earlier. There are concerts at the Lincoln Park Zoo, free movies in Grant Park, amazing street fests, it goes on and on. The best part of living in the city are the people you meet. In no time you will be invited to bbq's, dinner parties, wine tasting and tons of holiday parties. So park your car on the weekends and give Chicago neighborhoods a chance.

Having lived in the suburbs (Wilmette, Evanston) for 20 years while raising family, and back in the city on the north side for the last 3 years, my advice to a young couple with no children would be DEFINITELY stay in the city! There are many charming and quiet neighborhoods all over the city--Andersonville, Lincoln Square, North Center, St. Ben's, East Ravenswood, Sheridan Park, I could go on and on!--where you will find leafy streets and close proximity to restaurants, entertainment, and all the fun things Chicago has to offer. I think it is harder for people without children to make friends in the suburbs, except for the more city-like ones, maybe, such as Oak Park and Evanston. And don't move too far away from our lake!

I know this is an old thread, but I thought I'd thank everyone for their advice. We decided to stay put in CA for a while longer. The job just didn't feel right to my husband.