Help me with information for moving to Chicago

[MixMasterTang]

My wife and I are contemplating moving to Chicago in early 2006. We want to know what the best area near the downtown area for Families are. We have two kids and one will be starting school in the fall of 2006, so our main priority is to find a good area/neighborhood with goods schools, but still be really close to downtown with access to the El. Any input/comments would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[ebaycj]

Good luck on finding family accommodations near downtown (unless you're a millionaire).

Chicago is not set up like most other cities (where there are decent places to live for families in the city proper). You should start looking in the suburbs. Virtually none of the suburbs have direct access to the El. However, most suburbs have access to Metra, which dumps you off in Union Station, which is a walkable distance for most jobs in the loop. Metra is $70ish - $140 a month for a commuter pass.

http://metrarail.com/Sched/cnw_w/cnw_w.shtml
Geneva, Wheaton, Glen Ellyn, Lombard, Villa Park, Elmhurst are all decent places to live.

http://metrarail.com/Sched/bn/bn.shtml
Aurora (eastern parts of it at least), Naperville, Lisle, Downers Grove, Westmont, Clarendon Hills, Hinsdale, Western Springs, LaGrange are all decent places to live.

I can vouch for Naperville having really good schools. It was also rated very highly in the country for 'best place to raise children'.

Since you're moving from kansas, you can plan on your housing costs doubling (or more than doubling) in price for a given home. If you want to live far from the city (and by far, i mean 1.25 hours by car, prolly like an hour by train), you can maybe get 1.5 times what you're used to. So keep that in mind. Also plan on your food costs increasing by 25% or so, at least.

Other than being an expensive place to live, it's nice. I'd take a long weekend and fly out and rent a car. drive around a bit, and you will get the feel for things.

Hope this helps
ebaycj

 

[funboy6942]

Ouch your asking for the world. Chicago with a good school and a good place for a family. I have to agree with above and hope your rich. If not may want to think of not going to Chicago but the out skirts.
You also got to think of the extra taxes you have to pay. If you have a Chicago License you will get taxed on purchases even outside of chicago itself. Case in point is a car. If you bought a car you dont even have to live in Chicago to buy it and you get the extra Chicago Tax added onto your purchase (1-1.5% extra last I remeber)
Land tax is out the roof, everything you will every buy in chicago is out the roof. Gas, food, cigs if you smoke are like $5 per pack and still rising. Toll ways if you pay cash you pay double unless you get the card. And then I have heard that they are sending speeding tickets to people in the mail because they made it from one booth to another to fast so they got a ticket. Living in Chicago I did it for 2 years. Never again.
IMHO of course. I dont know your situation but thought I should prepare you for what your in for.
OH and lets not forget city stickers or plates for you car. $75 city sticker and well over $100 just to renew your plates. I totally got fed up with IL and moved to Indiana myself. MUCH cheaper and better living.

 

[Grant]

The above post are correct. Expect to pay at last 2 to 3 times as much as what you are paying now. With a family, I wouldn't want to live downtown (unless you are a multi-millionaire) and then you can disregard these comments.

As for schooling, downtown doesn't have the best schools. You should consider the suburbs for that. If you are going to be working downtown, then you will want to take the train in for work, as trying to get parking downtown will be expensive.

Either try coming out for a weekend or even part of the week itself, as that will give you the idea of what traffic is like during the workday.

 

[lokiju]

I stayed in Schaumburg for a week and really liked it, though it was a bit of a commute on the train to get downtown.

 

[Choralone]

Get used to sitting in traffic depending on where you end up working and living. I know traffic is worse in other parts of the country, but coming out of any toll booth during rush hour is like semi-controlled chaos. I'm glad I live in the QC on the Mississippi river. You can get to just about any part of town within 30 minutes.

 

[squeeg22]

Originally posted by: MixMasterTang
My wife and I are contemplating moving to Chicago in early 2006. We want to know what the best area near the downtown area for Families are. We have two kids and one will be starting school in the fall of 2006, so our main priority is to find a good area/neighborhood with goods schools, but still be really close to downtown with access to the El. Any input/comments would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

While most people posting in this thread are trying to help, I do feel that they are giving a slightly overexaggerated opinion of the Chicagoland area. Yes, it'll be more expensive than where you'll be coming from, but it isn't that bad and your new job should account for the increased cost of living with a higher wage. Compared to most metropolitan areas, inflation has not hit Chicago as hard as the others. I have lived in the city my entire life. Myself, and most of my friends, came from blue collar families (read - not millionaires). We didn't live like kings, but it was better than most will ever have. You can still find affordable housing in the city near the EL line. A decent Chicago-style bungalow will run $275,000 to $400,000 in these areas (think outer edges of the city, but not quite into the suburbs). Also, there are still plenty of Chicago public schools that are academically sound. I don't exactly live next to the EL line, but I can still make it to my downtown office in roughly 45 minutes. If I drove, I could make it in 30 min. Yes, the suburbs have their advantages as well, but don't dismiss the possibility of living in the city just yet.

If you need anymore info, feel free to PM.

 

[astroview]

I would live in a nice suburb, and commute to the city by Metra not El if I had kids.

I'm not sure how wealthy you are, but most of the good suburbs are on the North Side and West Side. Arlington Heights, Wheaton, Northbrook, Wilmette, Highland Park, Schaumburg, Hinsdale. Evanston and Oak Park are decent, but they have sorta bad parts too that are avoidable. Evanston is my favorite suburb b/c Northwestern is there so it feels like a little city and has college kids.

If you want to live in the city with kids hope they are smart and can get into magnet schools or be prepared to pay a lot for tuition at private schools.

 

[PG]

I'm in Palatine myself. It's a great town and we have the largest Jaycee chapter in the state. We put on the 4th of July Festival for the town and do lots of things for the community so it makes Palatine a great place to live. We have good schools and parks too.

edit: There is a nice train station in downtown Palatine and it's about an hour to downtown Chicago. It would take almost that same amount to drive without heavy traffic. They have a special on weekends where it's $5 for a train ticket and it lasts the whole weekend. Nice way to go in the city and explore without spending a forture on parking.
PM me for more Palatine info if you want.

 

[Juice Box]

Yeah...if you have kids...go suburbs....its hard to find a suburb that DOESNT have metra going to/from it....the city is really good about that stuff. Look more into the school districts and what they have to offer as well...thats imporant to sonsider too!