SEEKING Suburb Advice (moving into the area)

Sarbs81107

Hi everyone, my husband and I (and 2.5 year old) are moving to the Chicagoland area from Minneapolis in the next few weeks.  My husband's job will be up in Skokie and I will likely be near Rosemont.

I would love pros and cons of the following areas (and recommendations for any other areas to consider).

1. Park Ridge

2. Glenview

3. Mount Prospect

4. Arlington Heights

I am having complete sticker shock with the price of housing, but I also do not want to live way far out there after having been used to having a SFH within city limits in Minneapolis (best of both worlds).

Luckily, we can stay with my in-laws out in Crystal Lake while we are transitioning, selling our home in MN, and looking for a new home in IL!

Appreciate the insights and advice

chicagobride_07

GL and welcome to the area! Glenview is very nice and family friendly but expensive. In our price range (600k and under) we were mainly seeing older homes in need for renovation. Also some nice townhomes. I like AH (but do not live there). Family friendly, nice downtown with an express train to downtown. You would get more for you money there. GL! There are some very nice suburbs but everything will depend on your budget. If you are working with a realtor, I'd explore all of the areas you mentioned and she what works for you.

ZooCrewMom

I would recommend this site - it's great for real estate and property questions. Each time I moved in the area they were a wealth of info. 

https://www.city-data.com/forum/chicago-suburbs/

OutdoorGirl10

@zoocrewmom - cool site!
@sarbs81107 - That's great you have a place to stay so you're not too rushed.  You really can't go wrong in any of the suburbs you mentioned so really try to focus on your must haves and what's really important to you.  Also, once you decide on a town, have you considered renting for a year to decide if you like it before you plunk down money on a house? just a thought. Be sure to take some time and look at train schedules if you think you'd be able to take the train, and get familiar with the names of the roads and average commute times on the local news sites.

I like AH for the downtown area that it has, lots of restaurants and some shops, little parks with concerts every week in summer. It has the feel of being a city (although on a smaller scale), but in the burbs. Also aside from its own shopping areas, location wise, it's between the shopping around Schaumburg and the shopping around Mount Prospect. There are homes in all price ranges depending on where in AH you look. AH's boundaries run more north - south, not as wide E - W, so the further North you look, the further away from Hwy 14, I-90, the metra, etc..you'll be, which you may want to consider if hubby is in Skokie and you're in Rosemont.

Mount Prospect is also nice, has a little downtown area as well and I hear they're trying to work on future plans to expand their downtown.  Park Ridge also has a downtown that is busy and is a little closer to the city. I don't know too much about it.  All 3 of those suburbs are on Northwest Hwy (14) so if you go exploring when you're here, you can basically just stay on 14 and hit all 3. All have Metra stops, area close to O'Hare (handy for friends who visit) and all have good schools from what I understand. 

Glenview I know the least about other than that's where we bought one of our cars!

Good Luck!

Mom2one3

We moved from Wisconsin to Illinois 3 years ago. The house prices aren't what shocked us but it was the property taxes which are INSANE! I live in a Suburb(Yorkville) which is too far from where your looking to live. Good Luck on your move!

Sarbs81107

Thanks everyone!  We just landed with my in-laws in Crystal Lake this past week and have been house hunting furiously.  We are definitely considering renting since inventory is very low, and we don't want to rush and compromise!