New to Chicagoland- recs needed for suburbs

slukd79

My H will be working near UIC. I am going to become a temporary SAHM since I have an almost 2 year old and a new one on the way in March! We are looking for affordable single family homes to rent for about $2000/mo. We are having a hard time compromising on what would be a reasonable commute for my H and what would be a family friendly/affordable area. (Traffic is/has been a bear for us, since we come from DC and we don't expect any better here!)

Suggestions we have gotten from friends/family: Oak Park, Elmhurst, Lombard, Hinsdale, Western Springs, Lagrange, Lagrange Park. Today we went driving around the neighborhoods to get a feel for them and I am a little overwhelmed. We come from a condo and a very urban lifestyle and feel ready to make the jump to the burbs, but they started to blend together to me.

Any input/things to consider is welcome. Thanks for your thoughts!

demmie326

I love the LaGrange/LaGrange Park area. We used to live in LaGrange Park prior to purchasing a larger home further west and lets just say there were tears when we moved. Downtown LaGrange has tons of great restaurants and boutique shops...it is packed with couples and families on the weekends. The schools in both towns are all very good. The commute to the city is not bad especially since you can take the train....the Metra express will get you downtown in 16 minutes...DH used to complain that the commute was not long enough since he could not finish a newspaper or a chapter in a book. You are close to two expressways 55 and 290 which gives you options for getting into the city but there were days that it took us close to an hour to get downtown.

We have family and friends who live in Oak Park and all of them really like it. A lot of people move to Oak Park when they move from the city. We opted not to live in Oak Park due to older houses...no air conditioning and smaller rooms as well as wanting to be closer to immediate family.The housing stock is older...condos and townhouses are the exception. The downtown area has suffered with the economy but has plenty to do. The commute to the city via 290 is less than that of LaGrange/LaGrange Park. You also have the option of either Metra or the El for public transportation. The schools in Oak Park are very good. The only downside I see to Oak Park is a recent increase in crime. I know a couple of people who have been robbed in recent years. 

Best of luck and happy house hunting. 

 

slukd79

Thank you! This confirms the good things I am hearing!

Mamasaurus

Oak Park and River Forest are great for families--public transit, many parks, a range of home prices, and good schools. You might also consider the northwest burbs--Des Plaines, Park Ridge, Arlington Heights, and Niles. (I'd add Rosemont in there too, but they don't have as many housing options.) They all have metra, and DP/PR/Niles, depending on the neighborhood, can have the CTA blue line quite near as well (the line you would take to get to the UIC/Halsted stop). Niles also has a lot of signage advertising that they were recently voted one of the best places to raise kids in the country, but I don't remember who voted on that or what criteria were considered.

We looked at homes in Lombard and were not impressed, although that was 3 years ago. You might like it a bit better now, but we didn't fancy sending our LO to a preschool that was across the street from a "massage parlor."

tmrchi

I think your choices are all great.  They were all in my list when I was looking for my first home.  I've lived in Oak Park, and now Elmhurst, and work in LaGrange.

Oak Park is much more urban than the other choices you mentioned.  It also has the option of taking the el or metra to get downtown, whereas the others have the metra only.  Elmhurst and Oak Park are on a different train line than the one that runs through lagrange/western springs/Hinsdale.  For me, Oak Park was nearly the same as living in Chicago - a bit busier, parking is difficult etc. whereas Elmhurst, LaGrange, Western Springs are definitely suburbs.  LaGrange does have the best downtown area, although Elmhurst's is pretty cute as well.

 

I'm not sure what the rental market is like in Hinsdale, but you can't really buy a place there for less than a million, so that might be a factor for where you want to stay long term.