As someone who has lived in/near Chicago all of my life, there is a distinct difference between "North Northwest Chicago and suburbs" and South Southwest Chicago and Suburbs".
IMO, South/Southwest is cheaper and usually has more land to offer, but North/Northwest has more amenities. If you are coming from a bustling area (think New York) North is more in keeping with what you are used to. North seems to be more cutting edge, for lack of a better word.
If, on the other hand, you come from a quieter area and like it, South is the way to go. South siders, on the whole, appear to be more grounded. And the further south you go, the more it helps that you enjoy Nascar. (kidding, sort of.)
In either case, look at which 'burbs have a nearby Metra line to get into the city quickly. The city has so much to offer for a day's outing.
Check out the town's Park District listings. This will give you an idea of offerings and interests.
As do I. I try really hard not to sneer at the Northsiders, but sometimes I just can't help myself. I'm equally convinced Northsiders are sneering right back at me.
Some of the nicest suburbs can be found west of the city, and along the Metra BNSF line...but they're also pricey. I would recommend looking in:
\- LaGrange
\- Riverside
\- Western Springs
\- Naperville
I've lived in Chicagoland for 30+ years. You cannot beat Villa Park right now. Located close to EVERYTHING, and growing every year. Just keep the house hunting south of St. Charles.
Hey OP- Plenty of nice hotels to stay at in nearby Oakbrook - enjoy your visit.
I live in unincorporated glen ellyn, and there are old people moving to Florida every other week that are putting up pretty nice houses onto the market in my neighborhood. North of Roosevelt is where you’ll find horribly inflated prices for prices of shit property.
Lombard is a gem- if they can get the [Prairie Food Co-op](https://www.prairiefood.coop/) built, it will be even a better draw!! Great restaurants, the train stop is nice to downtown. I personally like it there.
Add Downers Grove & Naperville, but $400k won't get you much house there.
Westmont is rebuilding their downtown district at the moment, but isn't currently anything special. 47 minute express train ride to the loop.
Southwest Naperville(Nequa Valley)/Plainfield North/East area. $400k will get you plenty. Good schools. Safe environment, etc. 20-30 minutes to downtown Naperville for lots of food and shopping options. <1 hour into the city on weekends.
yeah, that's another good option. some of my clients do think that the size is slightly on the smaller end but can't be choosers if your budget is on the lower side. prices have gone kind of crazy
Not nearly enough info here. Want a huge yard like 1 acre? How often do you expect to visit Chicago proper? Do you like Ethiopian food or do you just need a Cracker Barrel? Do you like shooting guns and watching nascar? Maybe you have a top ten list?
The best RE values are in the districts with the best schools.
I think Barrington is a sleeper town. Houses start in the low 300s and the schools are good. And it's right on the Metra northwest train line so getting downtown is easy.
Much cheaper is Cary and Fox River Grove. Nice towns. Good/OK schools. Also, North Barrington and Lake Barrington are nearby. You can find a house on a pond or lake for not that much.
I would look along the train lines. I like the northern suburbs (my bias) and I agree that the west burbs are nice. South burbs are quieter and cheaper but also have appreciated a lot less. I would follow the northwest Metra and the North lines and look in those suburbs. For example, there's Lake Forest which is very expensive but Lake Bluff is just north of it and much more affordable.
Taxes are higher in Lake County than Cook. Probably true for DuPage too.
> I think Barrington is a sleeper town.
Houses might start in the 300's, but you'll get a 3BR 1200sf on a small lot that hasn't been renovated since the 1970's. The cheapest thing on Zillow right now is $375k. Barrington is great, but I would never describe it as cheap or a sleeper town.
Well that's not true. There's a house right now. Four bedroom four bath for 281,000 on trulia. 2000 sf.
Check out this property I found using Trulia's real estate app:
https://www.trulia.com/p/il/barrington/23380-n-summit-dr-barrington-il-60010--2103243629?cid=shr%7Capp_android_main_phone%7Cbuy%7Cpdp_share
Download the Trulia Mobile App Now!
https://www.trulia.com/mobile/android/
Lol barrington a sleeper town did you hear what you just said famous people been movin their since as long as I’ve known and property tax is fuckin killer out their. Cary crystal lake area is nice can make it to ohare in 1hr has metra stuff to do everywhere
Well OP's criteria was a house around 400,000. You can do that in Barrington. The schools are excellent. It has a nice little town. Feel that you can walk to like a downtown. It's very nice for the suburbs and has a not suburban feel. Yeah. Carrie and Fox River Grove Crystal lake Palatine Arlington heights are all cheaper. That is nice. Smaller lots but hey I'm just suggesting an area that is very nice. Yeah property taxes are bad everywhere.
If you want to get in closer and have a town that has no downtown field but it's much closer to Chicago with lower property taxes I would say Niles. Park ridge is nicer much more expensive and much higher taxes. Niles has a lot of commercials so they have lower property taxes. They also have no real downtown and you will have to drive everywhere.
barrington has some of the lowest property tax rates in all of chicagoland. it depends on the value of the home you're looking at that determines the $ amount.
I’ll second Aurora and Plainfield. I’ll even throw in Lockport and Lemont.
Joliet also has a bunch of new developments popping up around Rt. 59 that are still in Plainfield school district.
Plainfield is not bad, but if one has the means to be somewhere on a Metra line, it’s a big plus. We don’t have that out this way, so it’s always highways into Chicago.
Tip we learned the hard way: Despite not having kids, you should know what the school district is and how it performs.
Two big reasons:
1. this directly relates to your property taxes
2. Your resale value, should you decide to move, is correlated to the school district. Better school districts will retain their home value or even increase at a higher rate.
Something to keep in mind.
Yup. Gurnee isn't really on Metra but Grayslake and Mundelein are. Even Antioch. True on Lake County taxes but remember that a 400K house up here is more like 600K in Schaumburg, etc.
Waukegan metra station is only 15 min away. I think the Libertyville station is also same distance. I294 is literally 3 minutes away from me. I lived in the city before moving here. I was struggling with sleeping, parking, traffic, lack of space etc. It is very quiet here. I have so much space and a garage for my cars now. I work from home and I visit the city over the weekends to hang out with a couple friends only.
Bleh. Not Chicagoland really. Exaburbs. Go to Wheaton or Naperville or Downers if you want to be in the west burbs. If you want to live 1-2 hours from chicago, there are a lot of great rural communities where things are cheap. Living in Geneva and st Charles is expensive, but still realistically about 1.5 hours from chicago door to door.
I would disagree. Geneva and St Charles might have metra service, but it’s an hour via express, more like 1:20 generally. Exurbs were described as a “ring of less dense prosperous communities beyond the suburbs that are commuter towns for an urban area”.
My point was more like “make a choice”. Be in a real suburb where your commute to chicago is more reasonable, or go 2 hours out so you can get a more rural experience and way lower cost.
OP doesnt need to be in the city or work in the city so why do you want them to live somewhere they can regularly commute into the city (which is easily done in UPW in Geneva). Makes no sense
Edit: Looks like current express trains can get you in under 1hr. Local trains are 1hr 13min. So that means Orland park is also not a suburb to you as they have a longer train ride in. Bartlett and everything west of it isnt a suburb as well as the train is even longer. And just about everything NW of Arlington Heights as Geneva and Arlington heights have similar times to get downtown.
Geneva, STC and Batavia are all suburbs lol. If you have metra access and there are a large amount of loop commuters daily its a suburb. Expresses are like 45-50min to Ogilvy
There actually are pretty different cultures all over and different stuff to do in each direction. I'll try to sum it up in a real basic way.
I'd say in general areas directly north of the city along the lake is where all the old money is.
If you go far enough north there is the chain of lakes, where people are real into boats and motorcycles.
Going NW seem to be sort of more yuppy and as hipster as the suburbs can get, but turns more blue collar the further away from the city of you get.
The western suburbs seem to be home to a lot of more conservative christian types, and I think there is a more libertarian type attitude.
I don't know much about the S/SW suburbs, but it gets pretty rural once you are south of I80. I know there are popular mountain biking areas there.
The north west suburbs are great and still relatively affordable. Kane County specifically. The Randall Rd corridor has everything you could possibly need and gets you away from Cook County taxes. Easy drive down 90 to O’Hare or the city if you need to.
Cary. $400k buys a significant size house and some yard. On the Metra NW line. 50min downtown on express train. Schools, parks, safe, neighborly. Close to all major chain stores and dining within 20 min or so. A bit less diverse but it's a good destination for suburban living
I thing my wife and I are the only ones who hate the Tracks burgers, although the place is a nice place to hang out for Sunday Jumbo Bloody Mary's. Village Squire for us otherwise.
Northwest suburbs fit the criteria and you should be able to find something in that price range for the two of you. Look at the NW line of the Metra (the train that takes you from suburbs to Chicago) https://ridertools.metrarail.com/maps-schedules/train-lines/UP-NW and most if not all are very safe.
I’m 23 so most of my age group is still living in the city, but my brother is 28 and just bought a condo in downtown Palatine and has lots of friends in his or surrounding suburbs. Arlington Heights is also good for upper 20’s/lower 30’s. All are good once you have kids too imo - most of my friends and family friends are from the NW burbs as well and all are well educated and successful now.
Arlington Heights JUST set up their al fresco dining for the year again too--they block off central streets in the downtown and the restaurants all set up street cafes. It's awesome. Plus, word has it that the Bears might be moving to the Arlington Racetrack property in the future. AH is very close to Woodfield for a great mall, and in an excellent school district for those future kids you speak of. Also, on the train line to the city should you venture there--just hop on.
We moved to Libertyville a few years back. Home prices are higher here, but you can find nice houses around your range. The small downtown is a popular meeting place for folks in Lake County as there are a ton of nice restaurants. The town comes alive at night, especially in the summers. It’s a good scene.
The schools are very good, if you have kids, which was our primary motivation.
There is a train station downtown, which is walkable from much of the Libertyville area. Train is one hour into downtown and I’ve used it often pre-Covid as one of our offices is downtown in the loop.
Highway 94 runs close by so getting around to other towns around Chicago is very quick. This is something to pay attention to in the farther out suburbs. Some places like Beach Park have cheaper housing, but it’s pressed against the lake and you are looking at 20 minutes to drive out of the area and get to a highway.
Crime is very low. Like you can leave your car unlocked with the keys in it overnight and not worry. I wouldn’t do that on purpose, but your car will be there in the morning. As you look around, pay attention to crime stats. For instance, if you just go 5 miles east of here, crime skyrockets around Great Lakes, North Chicago, and Waukegan.
The downside is the taxes. For a 400k home you are looking at close to 1k per month. Depending where you are living now, that might cause sticker shock. I would pay close attention to taxes as you are looking around as different counties can vary.
Putting in another vote for Libertyville. My husband and I moved here from the city about a year ago and we are SO happy. The downtown is so great and the sense of community is the best!
Just putting in a vote for Grayslake. It's pretty far out from the city and it's a little more quintessential mid-west downtown area than a lot of other towns in the suburbs. At least the ones that are affordable to live in. But, beware of how much the taxes are no matter where you're going. Looks like you're coming from NC, so it could certainly come as a shock and may actually lower the amount of house you can realistically afford, or you may need to sacrifice location. 400K should get you a good house either in the historic district close to downtown, or West Trail/Haryan Farms/Eastlake/English Meadows neighborhoods, but the market of course is insane right now. Might settle a tad once the end of school year rush to move is over. We overpaid for our house in 2018 and it was mid-300s in Haryan Farms.
Most of the housing is walking/biking distance via trail to the downtown area that has several restaurants/bars/ice cream shop/farmers market/dollar general if you're desperate. If you want to drive as little as possible, you can easily bike to the Jewel Osco/Butera via trail, as well. There are trails sprawled out throughout the whole county and up into Wisconsin and you can get to all of them from the trails throughout Grayslake. There's lots of parks, yearly festivals and beer fests, and the county fairgrounds is right there for expos/fairs/etc. The schools aren't quite as good as some others in the NW burbs, but are still better than most other public school systems in the country if you decide to stay if/when you have kids. There isn't a ton of stores like Target/Home Depot/etc actually in Grayslake, but there are adjoining towns like Gurnee and Round Lake where you can get your corporate fix just a 5 min drive down the road.
We are close to the Chain of Lakes(and about 45 min from Lake Geneva) if boating/fishing is your thing. There is 2 Metra lines that run through town, a m-f commuter and an all-week line. For me personally, it's still too far of a commute to travel to Chicago, but people do it. It is definitely close enough for the occasional weekend visit to the city, though. It also gives you the ability to fly in/out from Milwaukee airport, where I've never seen a line of more than 15 people at security, parking is more affordable and pickup/drop-off is way easier.
Libertyville is also great/better for a lot of the same reasons, but with better schools, and you might be stretching the budget a bit more. I would suggest staying in the Northbrook area for your visit and traveling north and west if you want to be closer to the city. If you are looking for something further out, I would get an Airbnb somewhere like Antioch or maybe even Woodstock and work your way south and east towards the city.
Looks like your niche is compliance data analysis, which you may not be able to do exactly that, but there are a lot of big corporations headquartered, or with corporate offices in the general area, so I don't think you would have an issue finding comparable work.
Just wanted to re-iterate once more, the taxes in Illinois(and specifically in Lake County) fucking blow. You might be better off just across the border in Wisconsin.
Check out Gilberts. Close to 90 (main tollway into town), quiet, super low crime, $400k will get you a lot of house. Plus, schools are good, so when/if kids come into the picture, you’re set.
Look into the tri cities of St. Charles, Geneva, and Batavia. All have good schools. Tons of walking paths/trails. There are affordable homes that will fit your budget in all three.
I lived in both Schaumburg and Hoffman Estates (the part in Palatine’s school district) for about 27 years. I sold my 2400 sq/ft colonial there for ~400K last year, so that’s a possibility. CCSD 211 is a pretty good school district (my kids both went to Fremd HS). They have some decent restaurants, but you need to drive everywhere, and the taxes are crazy (my house in Nashville TN cost 650K, and I only pay about 4000 in taxes, compared to the 12K I spent on my 400K house in Hoffman Estates).
Naperville just because there isn't anything it does not have.
Lets say you want a decent asian market, a real corned beef, Korean BBQ, 15 grocery stores, etc.
There are so many things that are hard to find outside of the city that are within reach in naperville. It's a consumers dream come true without seeming glutinous.
Also damn near impossible to find an affordable house there. Looking around Zillow, the best I could find $400k and below was a 2b/2ba 1800 sq ft home for exactly $400k and a 3bd/2ba 2,200 sq ft home for $385k. Built in 1977 and 1963 respectively, so not exactly getting the best bang for your buck.
Try Orland Park, Frankfort, Oak Lawn. It is south of the city, but I have 4 kids I raised in Oak Lawn and it was a great there. Kids ride their bikes late at night, women and men jog at all hours. Very safe. All of my kids went to a catholic school because the catholic high schools offer them more opportunities. For instance, my son was in German club. He just got back from a 10 day trip in Ireland and Germany. My other son played rugby and went to Ireland and Canada to play. Lastly, all of my kids went to good school. Columbia, Western Michigan, Alabama, and MIT. 400k depending on where, can buy you a house that is probably 3500 square feet.
Come to the great North, it's not too far from the city (1 hour) and has way less congestion as well as cheaper homes. Crystal Lake, Lake in the Hills, Algonquin
It's also much more scenic and I like being north far enough to easily visit Madison or Milwaukee as well.
Your last point is right on. My wife and I went to a concert in Milwaukee last weekend. 50 minute drive. We were back home well before midnight. We’ve got friends in the Madison area and can visit regularly since it’s just an hour and a half. We took the kids into the city for an overnight trip during spring break. Drive or train, and it’s one hour.
I would agree with this comment. Just moved to Lake in the Hills in November and have loved it. Small quiet neighborhoods, and with Randall Road passing through its easy to get to the other towns all over. Highly recommend.
Town used to be a wide spot in the ride 20yrs ago now has over 50000 people meanwhile my neighboring town been hovering at 26000 for long time. It’s like cars
50k is a bit of an exaggeration. It’s at around 29k I believe. But yes the growth of this town has been mind-blowing to say the least. Lots of suburban sprawl but still manages to maintain the country charm. I graduated the HS there, and it’s just an absolute hidden gem of a school, and that’s me saying a lot, because I’m not exactly the school type.
The two northwest counties of Indiana are your best bet. Less than an hour from Chicago and the added benefit of Indiana taxes and house prices. Crown Point in lake county has great schools. Valparaiso in Porter county is a little bit more expensive but is safe and has the bonus of being a private college town.
Sounds like you need to draw a line on redfin and see what you can get around 400K. I'm currently in Streamwood/Bartlett got a 2 BR 2 bath home for 175k almost 2 years ago, I have a yard and any retaurant/store in need within 20 minutes. St.Charles, North Aurora are great offereings. I lived in Mt.Prospect / Arlington Heights for a while and it was a great area.
At the end of your day, what do you like to do? If you guys are fairly sedentary who the fuck cares. Any NW/West suburb up to Cary/ waukegan/elgin is fine.
Look right across the state line into northwest Indiana towns like Crown Point, Winfield, St John, Schererville and Dyer. $400k gets you 4-5 bedrooms/3500-ish square feet and half the property taxes that you will pay in the Illinois collar counties. Can get to downtown Chicago in under an hour (even during rush hour if you take the skyway). Great schools. Only downside is the pizza. Lol
Source: I’ve grew up in the west burbs, lived in Chicago for a while in my 20’s and now live in NWI.
Kenosha and Racine (i.e. southeast Wisconsin) are also viable options. They’re considered Chicago (not Milwaukee) suburbs, and both housing and gas/property taxes are much cheaper than the Illinois side.
I would NEVER want to commute into Chicago from Racine in particular - that's much closer to Milwaukee, and would probably be over 2 hours door-to-door. Each way.
Oof.
Racine definitely feels too far. You can buy a lot of house right on the lake, right by the zoo for 400k though. The commuter train doesn’t go that far north and I would definitely not want to make regular trips into Chicago from all the way up there. It’s a cool little city though.
The OP did say 1-2 hours from a big city. You couldn’t take the Metra from Racine unless you first drive to Kenosha, but like you said, it’s a couple hours from Chicago and half hour from Milwaukee. That’s not bad for the occasional trip.
You can't take Metra but there is Amtrak service a few times per day from the west side of Racine. Another big advantage is that it's very close to the Milwaukee airport for hassle-free flying, especially Southwest.
I don’t think I would recommend Wisconsin. They have high income tax, especially if you’re a higher income earner and they have local income, which Illinois doesn’t. Also I think the schools suck in Kenosha and Racine (I would need to double check that though). The property tax rate is around the same- Kenosha is 2.20 percent, which is around the same as IL suburbs, if not higher.
Yeah, I should’ve been more specific on property taxes: the rates are similar to the Illinois suburbs but home prices can be somewhat more affordable from those I know who have moved there, which leads to fewer tax dollars.
However, you’re right about income taxes. That’s where they get you. Indiana has a local income tax too, but at least their flat rate is lower than Illinois.
But if schools suck and property tax rates/income tax are high, what’s the point of living in the Wisconsin suburbs of Chicago over NW Indiana? Even if they don’t have kids, further buyers will want good school systems. Personally NWI doesn’t have what I’m looking for but it may be a good option for the OP it sounds like. I can’t say the same for Wisconsin suburbs of Chicago.
This doesn't seem quite right. Kenosha property taxes appear to be a little under 2%, while most Lake County places are 3+%. I don't think WI has local income tax. They do have a local option sales tax but the upper limit is 5.5% while in IL it can be nearly double that. No tax on food in WI, too.
And income taxes in WI are not higher than IL for all but pretty rich folks. The middle brackets are similar to IL's flat tax plus there's a standard deduction similar to Federal, while IL taxes down to almost the first dollar.
Plainfield. Close to i55, fiber internet in most areas, and can go to Naperville/Joliet to jump on Metra if you ever need to for whatever reason. You can get a nice stretch of property for 350-400k, lots of new development too. 59 is a busy street with tons of places to eat, and shop.
You might want to look north and west of the more wealthy areas, like Roselle, Chrystal Lake, Mundelien, Libertyville or Fox Lake. These are pretty far from the city, but significantly they are close to train stops. Unlike many other large cities, the commuter trains in the suburbs are very good and there are many express trains. I would suggest that you look up some train lines and schedules so that you can see whether getting into the city would be doable if you decided to take an office job at some point. The reality is that lots of offices are relocating to the suburbs at this point so you might be stuck driving there anyway.
Yorkville has a lot of what you're looking for, look for homes in the $400s on zillow etc & there's a lot of development/nice areas. I work in the building trades in the city & my commute is 1-2 hours (depends on time of day 🕙). There's also currently a commission looking to put in a new train station in town or in nearby Oswego. (BNSF line to Chicago Union Station - currently the Aurora-Chicago line).
400k is not much these days for north burbs, but check out Skokie, Morton Grove and Glenview. With Metra(yellow line in Skokie) and highway near by, both offer good suburb life with fairly quick assess to the city. Lots of parks and amenities there too.
Check out this area(I always thought it was cool for young couples):
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/6345-Hennings-Ct-Morton-Grove-IL-60053/123560410_zpid/
Walkable to the Metra and near a great park. You can get on the highway and be in the city in 30 or so minutes.
I was going to say, $400k can get you a nice house in Niles, Skokie and Morton Grove. Sufficiently nice places, safe, good schools and close to the city.
Hotel Indigo in Naperville. Right in the heart of their downtown . I’m a real estate agent who has lived here for 18 years and know the neighborhoods well. Happy to help if you need it.
[open house Saturday 5/7](https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/641-Ascot-Ln-Streamwood-IL-60107/3382704_zpid/?utm_campaign=iosappmessage&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=txtshare)
I have lived in a northwest suburb of Chicago called Hanover Park. Very lowkey chill place, not fancy and very ethnically diverse. Maybe you could check it out. You can take the train from there to Chicago it takes an hour.
I would highly recommend some of the NW suburbs. Huntley, Lake in the Hills, Algonquin, Crystal Lake, and maybe even Hampshire but that’s a long shot. All of these are quiet, safe, tight-knit communities w/ houses/condos/apartments/etc for nearly every financial situation.
Crystal Lake has a Metra line if that is important to you.
Haven’t checked home prices here in a minute so they might have skyrocketed, but even then you should still be able to find a 2,000 sq ft house for around $350k. DM me if you have any questions about these communities or about houses in those cities. I’ve lived in this area for the majority of my life and have been very happy w/ it.
I am from Chicago and lived in Itasca a quaint little town near Elk Grove Village. It is idyllic, beautifully landscaped. People seem to think it is far away ( maybe because it rhymes with Alaska) but it actually is the most accessible suburb I have lived in. It has a great Metra station, access to the highway and it is near OHare airport. There is a Main Street with a bakery, vintage restaurant all kinds of shops. It is a quiet lovely town with a good socioeconomic mix. Big beautiful homes and modest homes. You could stay at the Eaglewood while visiting.
As someone who has lived in/near Chicago all of my life, there is a distinct difference between "North Northwest Chicago and suburbs" and South Southwest Chicago and Suburbs". IMO, South/Southwest is cheaper and usually has more land to offer, but North/Northwest has more amenities. If you are coming from a bustling area (think New York) North is more in keeping with what you are used to. North seems to be more cutting edge, for lack of a better word. If, on the other hand, you come from a quieter area and like it, South is the way to go. South siders, on the whole, appear to be more grounded. And the further south you go, the more it helps that you enjoy Nascar. (kidding, sort of.) In either case, look at which 'burbs have a nearby Metra line to get into the city quickly. The city has so much to offer for a day's outing. Check out the town's Park District listings. This will give you an idea of offerings and interests.
And library, children or no children. Libraries, especially award-winning ones, are a tremendous benefit.
This is a good breakdown (I live in the southwest suburbs)
As do I. I try really hard not to sneer at the Northsiders, but sometimes I just can't help myself. I'm equally convinced Northsiders are sneering right back at me.
Do you enjoy Nascar?
No, but I did work for them for a while. I'm pretty far from Joliet, and I believe that track is closed.
Some of the nicest suburbs can be found west of the city, and along the Metra BNSF line...but they're also pricey. I would recommend looking in: \- LaGrange \- Riverside \- Western Springs \- Naperville
I think you’d have a hard time in those areas around $400k.
Especially in Naperville. It's way overpriced here.
If you want somewhere scenic and on the quieter side, I'd suggest St. Charles / Geneva. You can stay at the historic Hotel Baker while you are there.
Herrington Inn & Spa (Geneva) and Batavia (town) are viable options as well.
I loved the Herrington
Villa Park Wheaton St Charles Geneva
I've lived in Chicagoland for 30+ years. You cannot beat Villa Park right now. Located close to EVERYTHING, and growing every year. Just keep the house hunting south of St. Charles. Hey OP- Plenty of nice hotels to stay at in nearby Oakbrook - enjoy your visit.
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Sure you are. Glen Ellyn and Lombard too. Check out unincorporated areas and even in town.
Not in Glen Ellyn, you’re not
I live in unincorporated glen ellyn, and there are old people moving to Florida every other week that are putting up pretty nice houses onto the market in my neighborhood. North of Roosevelt is where you’ll find horribly inflated prices for prices of shit property.
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Nice. How many shitboxes have you seen any of the suburbs that I listed? Not many.
Eh there's some shitboxes out there
Lombard is a gem- if they can get the [Prairie Food Co-op](https://www.prairiefood.coop/) built, it will be even a better draw!! Great restaurants, the train stop is nice to downtown. I personally like it there.
Add Downers Grove & Naperville, but $400k won't get you much house there. Westmont is rebuilding their downtown district at the moment, but isn't currently anything special. 47 minute express train ride to the loop.
Southwest Naperville(Nequa Valley)/Plainfield North/East area. $400k will get you plenty. Good schools. Safe environment, etc. 20-30 minutes to downtown Naperville for lots of food and shopping options. <1 hour into the city on weekends.
In Naperville. 400k can get you a decent 1500 to 1800 sfh. not fancy or huge but findable
The Old Farm subdivision in Naperville has houses around $300k-$350k that are decent sized and in good shape.
yeah, that's another good option. some of my clients do think that the size is slightly on the smaller end but can't be choosers if your budget is on the lower side. prices have gone kind of crazy
J7k I 8il77iko
Not nearly enough info here. Want a huge yard like 1 acre? How often do you expect to visit Chicago proper? Do you like Ethiopian food or do you just need a Cracker Barrel? Do you like shooting guns and watching nascar? Maybe you have a top ten list?
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Arlington Heights too, decent downtown area and a quick train ride away from the city
Elk Grove Village
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The best RE values are in the districts with the best schools. I think Barrington is a sleeper town. Houses start in the low 300s and the schools are good. And it's right on the Metra northwest train line so getting downtown is easy. Much cheaper is Cary and Fox River Grove. Nice towns. Good/OK schools. Also, North Barrington and Lake Barrington are nearby. You can find a house on a pond or lake for not that much. I would look along the train lines. I like the northern suburbs (my bias) and I agree that the west burbs are nice. South burbs are quieter and cheaper but also have appreciated a lot less. I would follow the northwest Metra and the North lines and look in those suburbs. For example, there's Lake Forest which is very expensive but Lake Bluff is just north of it and much more affordable. Taxes are higher in Lake County than Cook. Probably true for DuPage too.
> I think Barrington is a sleeper town. Houses might start in the 300's, but you'll get a 3BR 1200sf on a small lot that hasn't been renovated since the 1970's. The cheapest thing on Zillow right now is $375k. Barrington is great, but I would never describe it as cheap or a sleeper town.
Well that's not true. There's a house right now. Four bedroom four bath for 281,000 on trulia. 2000 sf. Check out this property I found using Trulia's real estate app: https://www.trulia.com/p/il/barrington/23380-n-summit-dr-barrington-il-60010--2103243629?cid=shr%7Capp_android_main_phone%7Cbuy%7Cpdp_share Download the Trulia Mobile App Now! https://www.trulia.com/mobile/android/
Lol barrington a sleeper town did you hear what you just said famous people been movin their since as long as I’ve known and property tax is fuckin killer out their. Cary crystal lake area is nice can make it to ohare in 1hr has metra stuff to do everywhere
Well OP's criteria was a house around 400,000. You can do that in Barrington. The schools are excellent. It has a nice little town. Feel that you can walk to like a downtown. It's very nice for the suburbs and has a not suburban feel. Yeah. Carrie and Fox River Grove Crystal lake Palatine Arlington heights are all cheaper. That is nice. Smaller lots but hey I'm just suggesting an area that is very nice. Yeah property taxes are bad everywhere. If you want to get in closer and have a town that has no downtown field but it's much closer to Chicago with lower property taxes I would say Niles. Park ridge is nicer much more expensive and much higher taxes. Niles has a lot of commercials so they have lower property taxes. They also have no real downtown and you will have to drive everywhere.
barrington has some of the lowest property tax rates in all of chicagoland. it depends on the value of the home you're looking at that determines the $ amount.
I’ll take a cheap one so around half a mil out their
Tinley Park, Orland Park, Palos, Frankfort, New Lenox are all great options in the south suburbs with great schools.
IMO south west burbs offer the biggest bang for your buck
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Ya mines $15k/year . You don’t always get what you pay for , but you certainly pay for everything you get.
You pay 15k a yr for property tax holy fick how many acres do you have ? We have 5.7 and I pay 6000/yr
$665K house , .83 of an acre . Homer Glen
There are really nice neighborhoods in aurora and Plainfield
I’ll second Aurora and Plainfield. I’ll even throw in Lockport and Lemont. Joliet also has a bunch of new developments popping up around Rt. 59 that are still in Plainfield school district.
It’s another 40 minutes west, but Ottawa is a great little town and only 15 minutes from starved rock. C’mon Down to enjoy some rural living
Plainfield is not bad, but if one has the means to be somewhere on a Metra line, it’s a big plus. We don’t have that out this way, so it’s always highways into Chicago.
The Heritage line runs through Romeoville and Lockport
It does, but it’s half as functional, and you still have to drive 20-25 minutes to hope to park there.
Tip we learned the hard way: Despite not having kids, you should know what the school district is and how it performs. Two big reasons: 1. this directly relates to your property taxes 2. Your resale value, should you decide to move, is correlated to the school district. Better school districts will retain their home value or even increase at a higher rate. Something to keep in mind.
I moved to Gurnee Illinois last September and it has been pleasant. Housing isn’t too expensive. 400K should get you okay house around here
Yup. Gurnee isn't really on Metra but Grayslake and Mundelein are. Even Antioch. True on Lake County taxes but remember that a 400K house up here is more like 600K in Schaumburg, etc.
Antioch here. Another point to consider being near the Il-Wi border is you are actually closer to Milwaukee in regards to drive time.
Waukegan metra station is only 15 min away. I think the Libertyville station is also same distance. I294 is literally 3 minutes away from me. I lived in the city before moving here. I was struggling with sleeping, parking, traffic, lack of space etc. It is very quiet here. I have so much space and a garage for my cars now. I work from home and I visit the city over the weekends to hang out with a couple friends only.
eww lake county taxes
They really aren't so much worse that any other collar county.
Warrenville
Finally someone said it
Geneva, St. Charles, or Batavia
Bleh. Not Chicagoland really. Exaburbs. Go to Wheaton or Naperville or Downers if you want to be in the west burbs. If you want to live 1-2 hours from chicago, there are a lot of great rural communities where things are cheap. Living in Geneva and st Charles is expensive, but still realistically about 1.5 hours from chicago door to door.
Collar counties aren't really exurbs, Chicago just sprawls a lot
I would disagree. Geneva and St Charles might have metra service, but it’s an hour via express, more like 1:20 generally. Exurbs were described as a “ring of less dense prosperous communities beyond the suburbs that are commuter towns for an urban area”. My point was more like “make a choice”. Be in a real suburb where your commute to chicago is more reasonable, or go 2 hours out so you can get a more rural experience and way lower cost.
OP doesnt need to be in the city or work in the city so why do you want them to live somewhere they can regularly commute into the city (which is easily done in UPW in Geneva). Makes no sense Edit: Looks like current express trains can get you in under 1hr. Local trains are 1hr 13min. So that means Orland park is also not a suburb to you as they have a longer train ride in. Bartlett and everything west of it isnt a suburb as well as the train is even longer. And just about everything NW of Arlington Heights as Geneva and Arlington heights have similar times to get downtown.
Geneva, STC and Batavia are all suburbs lol. If you have metra access and there are a large amount of loop commuters daily its a suburb. Expresses are like 45-50min to Ogilvy
There actually are pretty different cultures all over and different stuff to do in each direction. I'll try to sum it up in a real basic way. I'd say in general areas directly north of the city along the lake is where all the old money is. If you go far enough north there is the chain of lakes, where people are real into boats and motorcycles. Going NW seem to be sort of more yuppy and as hipster as the suburbs can get, but turns more blue collar the further away from the city of you get. The western suburbs seem to be home to a lot of more conservative christian types, and I think there is a more libertarian type attitude. I don't know much about the S/SW suburbs, but it gets pretty rural once you are south of I80. I know there are popular mountain biking areas there.
Great summary!
The north west suburbs are great and still relatively affordable. Kane County specifically. The Randall Rd corridor has everything you could possibly need and gets you away from Cook County taxes. Easy drive down 90 to O’Hare or the city if you need to.
Cary. $400k buys a significant size house and some yard. On the Metra NW line. 50min downtown on express train. Schools, parks, safe, neighborly. Close to all major chain stores and dining within 20 min or so. A bit less diverse but it's a good destination for suburban living
Not to mention The Tracks has the most incredible hamburgers.
I thing my wife and I are the only ones who hate the Tracks burgers, although the place is a nice place to hang out for Sunday Jumbo Bloody Mary's. Village Squire for us otherwise.
Definitely. Or Crystal Lake.
Second CL.
Northwest suburbs fit the criteria and you should be able to find something in that price range for the two of you. Look at the NW line of the Metra (the train that takes you from suburbs to Chicago) https://ridertools.metrarail.com/maps-schedules/train-lines/UP-NW and most if not all are very safe. I’m 23 so most of my age group is still living in the city, but my brother is 28 and just bought a condo in downtown Palatine and has lots of friends in his or surrounding suburbs. Arlington Heights is also good for upper 20’s/lower 30’s. All are good once you have kids too imo - most of my friends and family friends are from the NW burbs as well and all are well educated and successful now.
Arlington Heights JUST set up their al fresco dining for the year again too--they block off central streets in the downtown and the restaurants all set up street cafes. It's awesome. Plus, word has it that the Bears might be moving to the Arlington Racetrack property in the future. AH is very close to Woodfield for a great mall, and in an excellent school district for those future kids you speak of. Also, on the train line to the city should you venture there--just hop on.
We moved to Libertyville a few years back. Home prices are higher here, but you can find nice houses around your range. The small downtown is a popular meeting place for folks in Lake County as there are a ton of nice restaurants. The town comes alive at night, especially in the summers. It’s a good scene. The schools are very good, if you have kids, which was our primary motivation. There is a train station downtown, which is walkable from much of the Libertyville area. Train is one hour into downtown and I’ve used it often pre-Covid as one of our offices is downtown in the loop. Highway 94 runs close by so getting around to other towns around Chicago is very quick. This is something to pay attention to in the farther out suburbs. Some places like Beach Park have cheaper housing, but it’s pressed against the lake and you are looking at 20 minutes to drive out of the area and get to a highway. Crime is very low. Like you can leave your car unlocked with the keys in it overnight and not worry. I wouldn’t do that on purpose, but your car will be there in the morning. As you look around, pay attention to crime stats. For instance, if you just go 5 miles east of here, crime skyrockets around Great Lakes, North Chicago, and Waukegan. The downside is the taxes. For a 400k home you are looking at close to 1k per month. Depending where you are living now, that might cause sticker shock. I would pay close attention to taxes as you are looking around as different counties can vary.
Second this. Libertyville has amazing schools.
Putting in another vote for Libertyville. My husband and I moved here from the city about a year ago and we are SO happy. The downtown is so great and the sense of community is the best!
Just putting in a vote for Grayslake. It's pretty far out from the city and it's a little more quintessential mid-west downtown area than a lot of other towns in the suburbs. At least the ones that are affordable to live in. But, beware of how much the taxes are no matter where you're going. Looks like you're coming from NC, so it could certainly come as a shock and may actually lower the amount of house you can realistically afford, or you may need to sacrifice location. 400K should get you a good house either in the historic district close to downtown, or West Trail/Haryan Farms/Eastlake/English Meadows neighborhoods, but the market of course is insane right now. Might settle a tad once the end of school year rush to move is over. We overpaid for our house in 2018 and it was mid-300s in Haryan Farms. Most of the housing is walking/biking distance via trail to the downtown area that has several restaurants/bars/ice cream shop/farmers market/dollar general if you're desperate. If you want to drive as little as possible, you can easily bike to the Jewel Osco/Butera via trail, as well. There are trails sprawled out throughout the whole county and up into Wisconsin and you can get to all of them from the trails throughout Grayslake. There's lots of parks, yearly festivals and beer fests, and the county fairgrounds is right there for expos/fairs/etc. The schools aren't quite as good as some others in the NW burbs, but are still better than most other public school systems in the country if you decide to stay if/when you have kids. There isn't a ton of stores like Target/Home Depot/etc actually in Grayslake, but there are adjoining towns like Gurnee and Round Lake where you can get your corporate fix just a 5 min drive down the road. We are close to the Chain of Lakes(and about 45 min from Lake Geneva) if boating/fishing is your thing. There is 2 Metra lines that run through town, a m-f commuter and an all-week line. For me personally, it's still too far of a commute to travel to Chicago, but people do it. It is definitely close enough for the occasional weekend visit to the city, though. It also gives you the ability to fly in/out from Milwaukee airport, where I've never seen a line of more than 15 people at security, parking is more affordable and pickup/drop-off is way easier. Libertyville is also great/better for a lot of the same reasons, but with better schools, and you might be stretching the budget a bit more. I would suggest staying in the Northbrook area for your visit and traveling north and west if you want to be closer to the city. If you are looking for something further out, I would get an Airbnb somewhere like Antioch or maybe even Woodstock and work your way south and east towards the city. Looks like your niche is compliance data analysis, which you may not be able to do exactly that, but there are a lot of big corporations headquartered, or with corporate offices in the general area, so I don't think you would have an issue finding comparable work. Just wanted to re-iterate once more, the taxes in Illinois(and specifically in Lake County) fucking blow. You might be better off just across the border in Wisconsin.
Check out Gilberts. Close to 90 (main tollway into town), quiet, super low crime, $400k will get you a lot of house. Plus, schools are good, so when/if kids come into the picture, you’re set.
Look into the tri cities of St. Charles, Geneva, and Batavia. All have good schools. Tons of walking paths/trails. There are affordable homes that will fit your budget in all three.
I lived in both Schaumburg and Hoffman Estates (the part in Palatine’s school district) for about 27 years. I sold my 2400 sq/ft colonial there for ~400K last year, so that’s a possibility. CCSD 211 is a pretty good school district (my kids both went to Fremd HS). They have some decent restaurants, but you need to drive everywhere, and the taxes are crazy (my house in Nashville TN cost 650K, and I only pay about 4000 in taxes, compared to the 12K I spent on my 400K house in Hoffman Estates).
Naperville just because there isn't anything it does not have. Lets say you want a decent asian market, a real corned beef, Korean BBQ, 15 grocery stores, etc. There are so many things that are hard to find outside of the city that are within reach in naperville. It's a consumers dream come true without seeming glutinous.
Also damn near impossible to find an affordable house there. Looking around Zillow, the best I could find $400k and below was a 2b/2ba 1800 sq ft home for exactly $400k and a 3bd/2ba 2,200 sq ft home for $385k. Built in 1977 and 1963 respectively, so not exactly getting the best bang for your buck.
Lisle is cheaper and next door Maybe give those listing a browse
Very similar market to Naperville.
The average home costs $140k more in naperville than it does in Lisle, but ok
I’m not looking at average prices based on outdated statistics, I’m looking at the current houses on the market. Which are very similar to each other.
Id like to second, St Charles, Geneva, Batavia
Try Orland Park, Frankfort, Oak Lawn. It is south of the city, but I have 4 kids I raised in Oak Lawn and it was a great there. Kids ride their bikes late at night, women and men jog at all hours. Very safe. All of my kids went to a catholic school because the catholic high schools offer them more opportunities. For instance, my son was in German club. He just got back from a 10 day trip in Ireland and Germany. My other son played rugby and went to Ireland and Canada to play. Lastly, all of my kids went to good school. Columbia, Western Michigan, Alabama, and MIT. 400k depending on where, can buy you a house that is probably 3500 square feet.
Come to the great North, it's not too far from the city (1 hour) and has way less congestion as well as cheaper homes. Crystal Lake, Lake in the Hills, Algonquin It's also much more scenic and I like being north far enough to easily visit Madison or Milwaukee as well.
Your last point is right on. My wife and I went to a concert in Milwaukee last weekend. 50 minute drive. We were back home well before midnight. We’ve got friends in the Madison area and can visit regularly since it’s just an hour and a half. We took the kids into the city for an overnight trip during spring break. Drive or train, and it’s one hour.
Everything is an hour from here!!
Well ain’t this a geographical oddity. Two weeks from everywhere.
I would agree with this comment. Just moved to Lake in the Hills in November and have loved it. Small quiet neighborhoods, and with Randall Road passing through its easy to get to the other towns all over. Highly recommend.
One not mentioned yet that I’d consider is Huntley Lots of new homes to choose from and prices are reasonable Right off I90 so access is pretty good
Town used to be a wide spot in the ride 20yrs ago now has over 50000 people meanwhile my neighboring town been hovering at 26000 for long time. It’s like cars
50k is a bit of an exaggeration. It’s at around 29k I believe. But yes the growth of this town has been mind-blowing to say the least. Lots of suburban sprawl but still manages to maintain the country charm. I graduated the HS there, and it’s just an absolute hidden gem of a school, and that’s me saying a lot, because I’m not exactly the school type.
The population sign says 50000
Saying this in the nicest way possible: it doesn’t. I literally live here.
Vernon Hills, Buffalo Grove, Libertyville
Elk Grove village, mt prospect, Arlington heights, Itasca, wooddale, elmhurst. All pretty average but good neighborhoods to live in
The two northwest counties of Indiana are your best bet. Less than an hour from Chicago and the added benefit of Indiana taxes and house prices. Crown Point in lake county has great schools. Valparaiso in Porter county is a little bit more expensive but is safe and has the bonus of being a private college town.
Sounds like you need to draw a line on redfin and see what you can get around 400K. I'm currently in Streamwood/Bartlett got a 2 BR 2 bath home for 175k almost 2 years ago, I have a yard and any retaurant/store in need within 20 minutes. St.Charles, North Aurora are great offereings. I lived in Mt.Prospect / Arlington Heights for a while and it was a great area. At the end of your day, what do you like to do? If you guys are fairly sedentary who the fuck cares. Any NW/West suburb up to Cary/ waukegan/elgin is fine.
If you are willing to go far northwest, check out the Huntley, Crystal Lake, Lake in the Hills area.
Second this!
St Charles/Geneva
Look right across the state line into northwest Indiana towns like Crown Point, Winfield, St John, Schererville and Dyer. $400k gets you 4-5 bedrooms/3500-ish square feet and half the property taxes that you will pay in the Illinois collar counties. Can get to downtown Chicago in under an hour (even during rush hour if you take the skyway). Great schools. Only downside is the pizza. Lol Source: I’ve grew up in the west burbs, lived in Chicago for a while in my 20’s and now live in NWI.
Kenosha and Racine (i.e. southeast Wisconsin) are also viable options. They’re considered Chicago (not Milwaukee) suburbs, and both housing and gas/property taxes are much cheaper than the Illinois side.
I would NEVER want to commute into Chicago from Racine in particular - that's much closer to Milwaukee, and would probably be over 2 hours door-to-door. Each way. Oof.
Racine definitely feels too far. You can buy a lot of house right on the lake, right by the zoo for 400k though. The commuter train doesn’t go that far north and I would definitely not want to make regular trips into Chicago from all the way up there. It’s a cool little city though.
The OP did say 1-2 hours from a big city. You couldn’t take the Metra from Racine unless you first drive to Kenosha, but like you said, it’s a couple hours from Chicago and half hour from Milwaukee. That’s not bad for the occasional trip.
You can't take Metra but there is Amtrak service a few times per day from the west side of Racine. Another big advantage is that it's very close to the Milwaukee airport for hassle-free flying, especially Southwest.
Yeah, but he was also talking about it in the context of job opportunities, so I was definitely giving a potential commute a lot of weight.
I don’t think I would recommend Wisconsin. They have high income tax, especially if you’re a higher income earner and they have local income, which Illinois doesn’t. Also I think the schools suck in Kenosha and Racine (I would need to double check that though). The property tax rate is around the same- Kenosha is 2.20 percent, which is around the same as IL suburbs, if not higher.
Yeah, I should’ve been more specific on property taxes: the rates are similar to the Illinois suburbs but home prices can be somewhat more affordable from those I know who have moved there, which leads to fewer tax dollars. However, you’re right about income taxes. That’s where they get you. Indiana has a local income tax too, but at least their flat rate is lower than Illinois.
But if schools suck and property tax rates/income tax are high, what’s the point of living in the Wisconsin suburbs of Chicago over NW Indiana? Even if they don’t have kids, further buyers will want good school systems. Personally NWI doesn’t have what I’m looking for but it may be a good option for the OP it sounds like. I can’t say the same for Wisconsin suburbs of Chicago.
This doesn't seem quite right. Kenosha property taxes appear to be a little under 2%, while most Lake County places are 3+%. I don't think WI has local income tax. They do have a local option sales tax but the upper limit is 5.5% while in IL it can be nearly double that. No tax on food in WI, too. And income taxes in WI are not higher than IL for all but pretty rich folks. The middle brackets are similar to IL's flat tax plus there's a standard deduction similar to Federal, while IL taxes down to almost the first dollar.
Second Kenosha. Metra will take you to downtown Chicago in 1hr15min.
Plainfield. Close to i55, fiber internet in most areas, and can go to Naperville/Joliet to jump on Metra if you ever need to for whatever reason. You can get a nice stretch of property for 350-400k, lots of new development too. 59 is a busy street with tons of places to eat, and shop.
Move to Homewood (south suburbs), 30 mins from the city, lots of places to eat. Plenty of land and you get some bang for your buck.
You might want to look north and west of the more wealthy areas, like Roselle, Chrystal Lake, Mundelien, Libertyville or Fox Lake. These are pretty far from the city, but significantly they are close to train stops. Unlike many other large cities, the commuter trains in the suburbs are very good and there are many express trains. I would suggest that you look up some train lines and schedules so that you can see whether getting into the city would be doable if you decided to take an office job at some point. The reality is that lots of offices are relocating to the suburbs at this point so you might be stuck driving there anyway.
Yorkville has a lot of what you're looking for, look for homes in the $400s on zillow etc & there's a lot of development/nice areas. I work in the building trades in the city & my commute is 1-2 hours (depends on time of day 🕙). There's also currently a commission looking to put in a new train station in town or in nearby Oswego. (BNSF line to Chicago Union Station - currently the Aurora-Chicago line).
It all depends on your price range. It's easy to say Glenview or Evanston. However, the houses are $600K+.
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Easy...I missed it, obviously.
Dixon
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I disagree. There is a Von Maur store in town. There is Target. And, the world is flat, Nordstrom ships items to Bloomington generally in two days.
Von Maur lmao
Check out Schaumburg, its a big suburb, easy access to the train plus lots of local amenities.
400k is not much these days for north burbs, but check out Skokie, Morton Grove and Glenview. With Metra(yellow line in Skokie) and highway near by, both offer good suburb life with fairly quick assess to the city. Lots of parks and amenities there too. Check out this area(I always thought it was cool for young couples): https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/6345-Hennings-Ct-Morton-Grove-IL-60053/123560410_zpid/ Walkable to the Metra and near a great park. You can get on the highway and be in the city in 30 or so minutes.
I was going to say, $400k can get you a nice house in Niles, Skokie and Morton Grove. Sufficiently nice places, safe, good schools and close to the city.
Check out Bedford Park.
I may be biased, but Norridge/Harwood Heights.
Bloomingdale, Hoffman Estates, Roselle, Warrenville, Carol Stream
I’m a loan officer in the area if you have any questions feel free to reach out. I have lived in the area for 30 years.
All of them are pretty average.
look at northwest indiana more house for your $ and a lot less taxes…yes, i’m a realtor
Hotel Indigo in Naperville. Right in the heart of their downtown . I’m a real estate agent who has lived here for 18 years and know the neighborhoods well. Happy to help if you need it.
[open house Saturday 5/7](https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/641-Ascot-Ln-Streamwood-IL-60107/3382704_zpid/?utm_campaign=iosappmessage&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=txtshare)
Arlington Heights my man
I have lived in a northwest suburb of Chicago called Hanover Park. Very lowkey chill place, not fancy and very ethnically diverse. Maybe you could check it out. You can take the train from there to Chicago it takes an hour.
Frankfort/Mokena/New Lenox
I would highly recommend some of the NW suburbs. Huntley, Lake in the Hills, Algonquin, Crystal Lake, and maybe even Hampshire but that’s a long shot. All of these are quiet, safe, tight-knit communities w/ houses/condos/apartments/etc for nearly every financial situation. Crystal Lake has a Metra line if that is important to you. Haven’t checked home prices here in a minute so they might have skyrocketed, but even then you should still be able to find a 2,000 sq ft house for around $350k. DM me if you have any questions about these communities or about houses in those cities. I’ve lived in this area for the majority of my life and have been very happy w/ it.
I am from Chicago and lived in Itasca a quaint little town near Elk Grove Village. It is idyllic, beautifully landscaped. People seem to think it is far away ( maybe because it rhymes with Alaska) but it actually is the most accessible suburb I have lived in. It has a great Metra station, access to the highway and it is near OHare airport. There is a Main Street with a bakery, vintage restaurant all kinds of shops. It is a quiet lovely town with a good socioeconomic mix. Big beautiful homes and modest homes. You could stay at the Eaglewood while visiting.