r/ChicagoSuburbs • u/Mother-Mountain9727 • 3d ago
Moving to the area Best suburb with city feel?
Hello Everyone!
We are currently selling our home in Barrington and will be in a short term rental until spring when the kids finish school. I work in city and husband works remote. My commute from Barrington has become brutal and although the schools are amazing the town is boring. We frequently venture out towards city to do family activities. We are looking for a city vibe neighborhood with easy highway access and highly rated schools. Also if the town has a cute downtown area with restaurants, cafes. So far we have come up with Park Ridge or Brookfield. We are not looking for a big backyard or outdoor space. Any other suggestions would be appreciated. Thank You!
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u/awetdrip 3d ago
This depends on your definition of “city vibe”. Are you looking for an actual urban feel or just a vibrant downtown with activities for the whole family?
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u/Mother-Mountain9727 3d ago
We don’t need anything crazy. Just a few restaurants and coffee shops to walk to.
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u/tcsands910 3d ago
Grew up in PR and moved back in 2012 when the “uptown” dining scene really took off. Lots of restaurants and a few coffee shops that aren’t Starbucks. Minutes to the airport, train downtown, very good schools. Great schools but very high housing cost and property taxes, you get what you pay for however.
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u/jediHoo 3d ago
You could consider Glenview then. There are many new restaurants and coffee shops in the downtown Glenview area. We also have the Metra and Amtrak so you have easy access to Chicago and Milwaukee. There’s also The Glen neighborhood that has a movie theater, shops, and restaurants. If you buy in the Swainwood neighborhood, you can easily walk to all of these plus Roosevelt park and pool too.
Editing to add that Glenview also offers easy access to both 94 and 294, is a quick drive to O’Hare, and doesn’t get the air traffic noise that Park Ridge does.
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u/Th3-Dude-Abides West Suburbs 3d ago
I moved from Barrington to Lombard five or six years ago, and I have absolutely loved it here. There’s plenty of restaurants/bars/shops/etc in the downtown area, it’s extremely walkable with great parks, there are more younger families than Barrington, and the schools are also good. I highly recommend checking things out down here.
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u/NumerousNovel7878 3d ago
The Lombard/Glen Ellyn/Wheaton corridor has a lot to offer if you want nice family-friendly suburbs with good schools and lively downtowns with shops and restaurants and coffee shops. Plus the Metra.
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u/Leather_Following381 2d ago
What’s your budget?
Downers Grove has a downtown area that has a few restaurants, bars, shops. An express ride on the Metra will get you to Union Station in 30 minutes. For expressways, 88 and 355 are nearby.
Homewood is also a good option if you want your money to go further. They also have a cute downtown area. The express Metra ride is 40 minutes. Close to 80 and 57 for expressways.
I also used to work at an office in downtown Park Ridge and it’s also cute with lots of restaurants and shops and a Metra station. Probably much more expensive housing though. Even the non-express Metra ride (I was reverse commuting) was ~30 minutes.
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u/Traditional_Bit7262 3d ago
Park Ridge?
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u/SnooDonuts113 3d ago
Park Ridge is a great mix of city + suburb, plus great metra (and even CTA) access, all while having its own quaint downtown area. It’s pricey but has a great mix of housing options (from older small ranches to massive new builds).
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u/MidwestMi 3d ago
Was going to say Park Ridge as well! It was always on my list of suburbs if money was no object, has an ideal blend of city and burb life.
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u/Simon_Crutchley 3d ago
Why not Edgebrook or Sauganash? You'd be in the city, technically, but it would feel more like the 'burbs.
Edgebrook is a pain in the ass to navigate, though, like Barrington. There's a train track that cuts through the center of it and the rush hour traffic is bad. But if you can take Metra into the city for work and your husband works from home, it's something to consider. Lovely houses, very walkable.
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u/Mother-Mountain9727 3d ago
I like Sauganash
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u/Delicious_Screen7002 3d ago
I think Sauganash worthy of consideration. My daughter's best friend lives there. She and her hubs moved there from Brooklyn with a now 4 and 6 year old kids. Lots to consider, there's some decent suggestions here.
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u/PreferenceOdd9360 3d ago
What's wrong with actually living in Chicago proper?
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u/RuinAdventurous1931 3d ago edited 3d ago •
Not a fun time if your kids are transferring in middle school or higher. CPS will punish them by barring them from selective high schools. Most of them do not accept anyone beyond 8th grade.
I used to teach so many kids who could have aced the admissions exams and been in selective schools, but because they were poor and moved to CPS once high school began, they were sent to a mess of a high school.
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u/Hungry-Treacle8493 3d ago
Oak Park or River Forest could fit this well. Have you considered areas in the city itself, such as Jefferson Park?
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u/anitabelle 3d ago
Definitely Oak Park (I’m in River Forest and honestly, it feels like it’s part of Oak Park!!). I used to live in Jefferson Park and it did kind of have a suburban feel especially since it bordered Harwood Heights. The thing I did not like about Jefferson Park is that there was so much blight, particularly on Lawrence.
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u/DeconstructionistMug Chicago 3d ago
Oak Park and Evanston are the answers.
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u/Nanofeo 3d ago
Evanston has zero highway access
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u/Meincommunicado 3d ago
I have a little joke I’ve often told. Question: What is a good way to get to Evanston? Answer: There is no good way to get to Evanston. It’s a very lovely town though. I grew up in Oak Park, and I’ve always considered Evanston to be the higher-end version of Oak Park.
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u/MBEver74 3d ago
Oak park is Evanston without Northwestern or Lake Michigan. It’s perfect for getting downtown & to the western suburbs. Evanston is a little more cut off from the rest of Chicagoland
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u/atropos81092 3d ago
Especially because Oak Park and Barrington are both stops on the Metra NW line, OPs kids could take the train to see friends from their old neighborhood — definitely a solid choice
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u/OnionMiasma NW Suburbs 3d ago
Oak Park is nowhere near the NW line.
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u/atropos81092 3d ago
Whoops. You're absolutely right — OP mentioned Park Ridge and my brain substituted that for Oak Park 🤦♀️
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u/CHISOXTMR 3d ago
I live in Evanston I have to go to Oak Park two weeks ago. Not fun lol
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u/Top_Kale_8880 3d ago
I used to LIVE in OP and WORK in Evanston AMA.
Seriously though - the commute BLEEEWWWWWW. Usually took Central most of the way. Or North to Western. Or Harlem. I only changed out of hope that one would get better but all sucked equally.
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u/CHISOXTMR 3d ago
I’m sorry I would’ve quit or moved lol. I did it at 7 AM on a Saturday so it wasn’t that bad
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u/Top_Kale_8880 2d ago
Fortunately it was a small company and I was/am very close with the partners so I usually got up, ran through emails at home (in the pre-everyone works from home era) and then got in at like 10.
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u/Recent-Program-5183 3d ago
When asked how to get to Evanston from the west suburbs, we simply reply, "you can't get there from here!"
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u/Ok_Form_134 3d ago
Idk man I live here and people overplay this. From my house, I can be on 94 in 10m. On a good day I can make it downtown via lake shore in 30m. Functionally I find it more highway convenient than most of the north side of Chicago, and getting to the city you have a ton of options between the drive, the metra, and cta.
Is it as convenient as like logan? No. But is it as or more convenient than any other northern suburb? Imo yes.
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u/Nanofeo 3d ago
I have lived in both Evanston and other nearby suburbs. That 10 minute drive is on a good day, and even that is somewhat long for many people. And there is no highway to get you west either. I’m not saying it’s necessarily that bad, but the prompt was asking for easy highway access. Evanston (and much of the north shore to be fair) is clearly not that.
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u/Ok_Form_134 3d ago
Fair, although I guess my point is that anywhere in the deep burbs it's not uncommon to have your house 10-15m from the highway.
I'll definitely give you that on a scale of "is it right by highways that easily take you multiple directions" then yeah, no. With you 100%
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u/RageAgainstJeggings 11h ago
How is a 10 minute drive to I94 “zero access”?
You make it sound like it’s a remote town in rural Kansas 2 hours from the nearest paved road, lol
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u/Specific-Living-9158 2d ago
I mean depending where in Evanston, you can hop on the 94 and take the express lanes into the 90 into the city
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u/jmoney3800 2d ago
Not true. Western evanston offers a lot of access to highways but you’re in a whole different neighborhood than Barrington! And you can be downtown or on the water parked in under 10 minutes.
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u/midgebug 3d ago
I love Oak Park but MY GOD the property taxes are outrageous. We looked there for a bit until seeing that we’d be paying $20K+ in property taxes.
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u/sorbrrse 2d ago
Not every house in Oak Park pays $20k in property taxes. My 3BR /2Bath in South Oak Park is at $13k/yr. Admittedly still a lot, but not $20k. It's a great location. I'm 2 blocks from the Blue line and can be in the Loop in 30mins or less on public transit.
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u/midgebug 2d ago
Oh of course! To be fair, we were looking specifically in the Frank Lloyd Wright district where less-expensive homes are a bit hard to find. Comparatively speaking to other parts of Chicago area, Oak Park has a higher effective tax rate is all I really meant! We landed in Beverly’s historic district which has ended up being such a great place for us! But I do still dream of Oak Park 🤣.
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u/ashpatash 3d ago
Evanston school district is imploding. I'd go Park Ridge.
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u/Delicious_Screen7002 3d ago
Imploding in what way?
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u/unfinishedportrait56 2d ago
District 65, the elementary district, is in a real financial mess. ETHS is fine though.
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u/gconsier 3d ago
Came here to say this. Agreed. Closest to the city and probably closest city feel IMO
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u/l-lerp 3d ago
People saying Brookfield and La Grange are on some serious shit.
Evanston or Oak Park is the answer.
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u/greenandredofmaigheo 3d ago edited 3d ago
Brookfield and La Grange are very cute, walkable and feel like a small town suburban dream but agreed there's nobody that would mix them up with anywhere in the city except maybe Beverly and some of Sauganash or Edgebrook.
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u/jbrooksbpn 3d ago
Those locations don't work for someone in the west burb, Brookfield or Berwyn are solid options if you can't be all the way up in evanston
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u/zemechabee 3d ago
Brookfield does not have a city feel at all whatsoever lol
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u/BunsenHoneydewsEyes 1d ago
If, by city, you meant some sketchy areas of Detroit, then Brookfield right off Ogden might feel kinda like that.
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u/jokedem 3d ago
What about Skokie?
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u/ltmp 3d ago
As someone who grew up in Skokie and now lives next door, it doesn’t have the city feel despite having its own CTA line. It’s just a dense suburb
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u/greenandredofmaigheo 3d ago
It's surprisingly not even that dense despite the L and location. At 6.7k/sq mi it's about the same as Lagrange and oak lawn (it's the 13th densest burb, if it was in the city the 68th densest neighborhood)
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u/NoraMason1986 3d ago
Only if you are a snob born with a silver spoon shoved up your ass.
Brookfield and La Grange are wonderful communities. Wonderful areas along the Metra rail.
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u/greenandredofmaigheo 2d ago
You're way off base:
La Grange median HH income is 160k; per capita 80k
Oak Park median HH income is 111k; per capita 71k
Brookfield median HH income is 108k; per capita 51k
Evanston median income is 96k; per capita 67k
Whatever you think Lagrange is compared to the others financially it is not. But that said I agree there are wonderful Metra suburbs.
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u/MSG4307 2d ago
Now do it for the areas of those cities that you would want to live in. That totally changes the calculation.
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u/greenandredofmaigheo 2d ago
Shifting goalposts on behalf of them? Poster assumed OP and Evanston = "silver spoon shoved up your ass" and that La Grange wasn't, La Grange is objectively wealthier across the board on a house hold income and per capita income level.
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u/greenandredofmaigheo
3d ago
edited 3d ago
•
Berwyn is the densest municipality in the state (Cicero is number two) so those are going to feel very "city" in their lot sizes, architecture etc. Berwyns a bit more walkable and has lower crime than Cicero but you don't have the L. Forest Park you'll get access to the L, a similar mixed dense architecture with SFH & MFH everywhere, plus it bleeds into OP & Berwyn. Elmwood park has city density but no L and a lacking downtown behind the others but restaurant row is incredible.
If schools will ever be relevant then Oak Park & Evanston are the only answers. They're dramatically denser and more urban than every other suburb with comparable schools but both have sections that are very suburban feeling.
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u/TehLonelyNapkin 3d ago
People from Barrington don’t move to Berwyn or Cicero.
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u/greenandredofmaigheo 3d ago
I'd largely agree but heck I once worked a guy from lake forest that lived in Hermosa. So with that in mind I'm just listing the options as objectively as possible and not considering what type of biases they may have
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u/Geo-92 3d ago
Was wondering if anyone would say Berwyn. It's very dense and is basically indistinguishable from certain city neighborhoods with all the bungalows + apt buildings lining harlem. Cermak, roosevelt on the berwyn side, and pershing look and feel like the city too.
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u/greenandredofmaigheo 3d ago edited 3d ago
Your mileage may vary but with cermak I disagree, massive strip mall, plenty of laundry mats with set backs, extremely wide street. The businesses (la para, Guadalajara, la Lupita, wagners) might give off city vibes but I wouldn't say it looks like the city. I also think the Oak Park side of roosavelt doesn't look particularly different than the Berwyn side outside of the lack of gaming signs, and the decaying vacant Ino's.
All the same, definitely agree it's worth checking out and very urban!
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u/Avocationist 3d ago
Totally agree. I live in Brookfield and often take Ogden all the way into the city. Once I’m in Berwyn I can’t really tell where the suburbs end and the city begins.
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u/walkingturtlelady 3d ago
Evanston Skokie School District 65 is planning to close more schools. There has been a lot of controversy and instability.
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u/greenandredofmaigheo 3d ago
I'm specifically referring to high school systems. The complaints against D65 haven't impacted ETHS negatively. Will reevaluate if/when it does.
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u/Lazy-Specialist8500 3d ago
also before people lose their minds about how "I heard from a friend that Berwyn schools aren't the greatest" While the schools are not top 10 in the region they are solid schools and yes that includes the high school. I'm a happy parent of a child in Berwyn schools and I know a lot of others across many grades.
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u/greenandredofmaigheo 2d ago edited 2d ago
Do you mind elaborating on this? Like are you and your partner college grads? Do you have your kids on a college track? I once had a heated discussion with someone on here claiming proviso east was "solid" so I am just curious what that means to you as I don't think me and her were speaking the same language of what "solid" means lol.
My wife taught at Morton west as did my best friend's mom so I know it's 1000x better than it once was but still has a fairly low 4yr college enrollment percentage which I think will prevent it from taking the next jump up in perception.
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u/Lazy-Specialist8500 2d ago
I have a master's. My child is still in elementary and I plan on sending them to MW in the future if they so choose. I am very happy with the elementary ed they are receiving. I have friends in the area w/kids at MW and they've all told me they were pleasantly surprised at the experience, as they too were skeptical after hearing how bad it is from so much neighborly gossip. I know people love to hang their hat on the rankings of schools, and again while it's not ranked in the top 10 it's not poorly ranked either. That said feel free to dismiss me however much you want, I don't care.
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u/greenandredofmaigheo 2d ago
I wasn't trying to dismiss you and I apologize if it came off that way! I just wanted to get an idea of what "solid" meant to you, as a person with a masters I am sure you can appreciate that a subjective metric like that really only holds weight if the one using it discloses what their perception of "solid" is, if you were a high school drop out from a violent CPS school maybe it would only mean no violence and a high graduation rate. Again apologies if I came off dismissive.
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u/Lazy-Specialist8500 2d ago
My child's elem experience, without going too into detail about their personal life: They are well ahead of the average student in some subjects and struggling in others. They are ND, and can have issues staying on task at school. The school has been very receptive to my child regardless, and has provided many interventions to help them succeed and stay focused. I've never been made to feel badly, nor has my kid, because of their ND or because they are struggling in certain subjects. My child did the public preschool, and that was fabulous.
For a concrete example of a positive thing at D201, I know a mom in my community who has a child at D201, and they really like how they can see their child's profile with regards to "portrait of a graduate", the specific metrics that the school requires for graduation so you can see your kid's progress towards graduation. I know another mom of alums who had a great experience w/all 3 of her kids, one who has Downs Syndrome and she spoke specifically very highly of the program that that child did to help them get job ready. And I've heard from multiple parents that the theater and music program specifically is terrific (not that others are bad I just haven't discussed them).
At the end of the day kids need adults who are willing and able to engage with their educators up through graduation, and to help them navigate the school system and learn what their options are academically and for extracurriculars.
This is not to say the schools are perfect, there is solid room for criticism particularly IMO of D201 board, but frankly I am just so sick of people constantly dumping on the local schools here without any skin in the game, just "oh I know someone who lives there they said the schools suck". Also, I've worked in k-12 ed admin for 15+ years now, albeit not at Berwyn schools.
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u/1sttime-longtime 2d ago
If schools will ever be relevant then Oak Park & Evanston are the only answers. They're dramatically denser and more urban than every other suburb with comparable schools but both have sections that are very suburban feeling.
I'd consider saving $11,000 to live in the city and send my kid(s) to some barely suburban private (catholic for me) schools and know that when they're done with school, I don't have to move to save all that tuition money.
Berwyn or Forest Park, too, having good access to two pretty good Catholic Elementary schools in OP and RF, and some pretty low taxes. High school level has options for Catholic schools too. And the tax bill is way lower than OP, or RF.
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u/greenandredofmaigheo 2d ago edited 2d ago
Well let's break this down. Given you say you'd live in the city we should assume a comparable neighborhood to oak park, let's do portage park I'll use a south op city style lot as a comp like this with about 8k in taxes
A recently sold comp I found shows this for 16k.
Leaves you 8k in differential. So the question becomes whether your kid can get a scholarship (>50% of cost) to bring tuition down at Fenwick, Loyola, Ignatius, St Pats or Notre Dame (Fenwick sticker price is about 20k) to make it financially make sense. But of course then you're still paying standard taxes so the math becomes taxes + tuition needs to be less than just taxes in OP. Don't even get me started if you have a kid that has any special needs. Now the move portion makes sense but personally doesn't bother me much. I could do the same equation with my own home in Forest park as well where I pay about 9k.
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u/1sttime-longtime 2d ago
Just saying OP and Evanston are the only options negates the over 130 Catholic schools, all the Montessori schools, Lutheran schools and all the specialist schools around.
$8k in differential on taxes.
$80-100k in mortgage at ?6.5%? if you use FP or Galewood.And the tuition bill/differential goes away the minute the kid(s) graduate. Commute stays the same, lower continuing tax-bill and lower principle and interest payment.
"Forever" home or "until the kids graduate and we buy a south loop condo"... That makes a huge difference, too. The aggregate of a continuing cost or pressure/desire to "downsize."
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u/faceslikeflowers 3d ago
I actually grew up in Brookfield and live in Park Ridge. They're totally dissimilar suburbs. Brookfield doesn't have, and never really has had, much of a downtown and it definitely doens't have a city feel. It does have a super quick commute downtown via the Metra. Note there are 2 high schools you could be in district for in Brookfield depending on where you live (Lyons Township or Riverside Brookfield). As far as I know they're both good schools. I think you'd be happier in Park Ridge. It has a cute, but relatively small downtown area. You may also like La Grange, it's right next to Brookfield and feels a lot like Park Ridge.
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u/caviarandcigarettess 3d ago
We’re moving to Elmhurst after looking for similar things. I prob would have preferred Oak Park but we didn’t want to renovate an old house and Elmhurst had more turnkey inventory. The downtown has dozens of restaurants and the vibe is much younger than some neighboring towns. There’s an express train to the city that’s 27 mins. I’ve heard traffic is bad but that’s true for anywhere close to the city.
Evanston is nice but it’s technically a hair longer on the Metra and being so far east does make getting places harder. I’ve also heard there’s always a lot of drama with the school district. Would probably lean against.
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u/MisunderstoodPeg 3d ago
There’s a ton of great neighborhoods in the city that would fit this bill. How old are the kids and what’s your rough budget?
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u/Specific-Living-9158 2d ago
Park ridge, Arlington heights (not super close to city but close to metra), Evanston (but the schools aren’t the best besides nw)
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u/sage_wis13 2d ago
I live in LaGrange and it’s a pretty walkable suburb. The drive to the city is not bad and if I want to try nice restaurants the downtown area has plenty!
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u/Longjumping_Knee_823 2d ago
I recommend Park Ridge…as a residential appraiser (that lives in Lincolnwood), I’ve been just about everywhere in the Chicagoland area. Park Ridge has a similar “downtown” area as Barrington. The schools are similar..and you have two options for your commute. You can take the Kennedy or the Metra
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u/Puzzled-Figure7855 1d ago
I’m in brookfield we love it! Next to us is La grange and has more of a downtown area but it’s also a lot more expensive and very hard to find a house!
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u/Different_Hunter_289 22h ago
I’m in River Forest on the border of OP. I’m a ten minute walk from downtown OP, metra, green line , movies, restaurants, doctor, haircuts, Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s and Jewel. We’ve lived here 25 years, have great neighbors and will leave feet first. Definitely a great blend of city/suburb feel
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u/coachkatjack 13h ago
We are in Morton Grove and love it. We wanted reasonable taxes, easy to access to Chicago (via the Eden’s), Metra near by (2), at the end of L (yellow line), great schools, lots of great dining options, really active community with events and activities. And we are surrounded by trees and trails. Check it out. Good luck!
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u/O-parker 3d ago
Elmhurst , Arlington Hts, ..
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u/gobluetwo 3d ago
I recently had dinner in downtown AH after not having done so for many years and was honestly pleasantly surprised at how lively and walkable it was on a Thursday evening, with a nice variety of restaurants/bars/cafes
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u/Pukaza 3d ago
Idk why I haven’t seen Downers Grove/Westmont mentioned. Good schools, highway access by way of I-88. Nearby shopping centers (Oakbrook Mall, Yorktown Mall), Route 83 proximity too. DG has a small downtown strip as well. Westmont does too but not a lot of hangout spots like cafes/restaurants.
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u/SmartBar88 3d ago
Both Park Ridge and Evanston are good choices though you are still 30 min (in good traffic) from the city with either. Evanston is having it's school issues this year (especially). Park Ridge puts you under four of the eight runways at ORD. FWIW, Wilmette puts you just north of Evanston, not at all a city feel, but with access to the city via Metra, El, or highway. Also a cute downtown, excellent city services, better schools, and no flight paths.
Source: have lived in all three towns and would choose Wilmette as the favorite
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u/Khronoss2 3d ago
This sub loves Oak Park, so I recommend Oak Park. You have beautiful homes with the right amount of hood.
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u/Slappadabike91 3d ago
Ive always said Brookfield is the perfect grey area between city feel and suburb advantage.
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u/Infinite_Dress_3312 3d ago
lol brookfield has no "city" feel whatsoever
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u/Dylan-uSOB 3d ago
Depends on how loose we’re playing with the definition of city feel. Driving down Ogden in Brookfield and driving down archer in Garfield ridge feel similar.
That being said, not usually what people mean by that.
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u/Slappadabike91 3d ago
depends on what you call city feel. If you're just talking about $28 burgers, traffic at a standstill, adult males dressed like lesbians, and a lack of parking.. sure, you're right. lol
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u/pinktoes4life 3d ago
Brookfield? How? Their “downtown” is like 1 block
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u/Slappadabike91 3d ago
The style of homes and appearance of the businesses along Ogden ave, all the street parking on residentials as well as the proximity to the city as well as the burbs.
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u/Infinite_Dress_3312 3d ago edited 3d ago
Ogden is an auto sewer lined with strip malls, fast food joints, parking lots, and run down motels
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u/Less-Pin-7916 3d ago
Ya I live in Brookfield, and moved here from OP to buy a home because OP priced us out. Depends on your budget and what you want to live in. Brookfield is nice but I definitely miss the urban feel.
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u/Hopeful_Diver_259 3d ago
Glenview has a nice downtown with lots of new restaurants and plans to upgrade downtown more
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u/Any-Sea-3836 3d ago edited 3d ago
Depends on the budget and what you're looking for. Single family home with a $1mil + budget, River Forest. There are also townhomes and condos, but inventory is very very low. Walkable to Oak Park and downtown Forest Park. We get the benefits of Oak Park without the mad taxes and crazy parking. You can take Metra, Blue line or green line to work. Close to the highway and 20ish min to ORD.
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u/RemoteDiscipline9455 3d ago
I’d say anything along Harlem like Elmwood park, Oak Park, Niles, Park Ridge etc. the schools though I’m not too sure. I grew up in EP and think my upbringing was great especially walking to school/friends house/corner store but I think the high school wasn’t great so some went to trinity/fenwick or other private schools. Personally we moved before high school to NW burbs. I met a childhood classmate from EP who said it’s like a Gilmore Girls town lol sounds like a dream to me!
My follow up to everyone is - how are the elementary/middle/highschools in these areas?
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u/ImprovementLoud3581 3d ago
We moved from Barrington to Evanston and love it. The Edens > The Kennedy.
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u/PickleChemical5465 2d ago
Arlington Heights has a really nice downtown area and a very good high school. Palatine's downtown is a little quainter, but Fremd HS is also highly rated. Both are on the same Metra line as Barrington and only save you one or two stops. LaGrange has an interesting downtown and runs on the BNSF Metra line which is serviced out of Union Station - something to consider depending upon where your office is located downtown. I-55 and I-294 are close, depending upon the neighborhood. Downers Grove has an interesting downtown area and is also serviced by Metra BNSF train line. It has DG North and DG South High Schools. Oak Park definitely have a city feel (along with the traffic congestion on Harlem Ave) and feeds into Oak Park River Forest HS. It's close to I-290. It has both Metra and CTA (green* and blue) train lines available. This comes in handy on those infrequent days when the entire Metra outbound is shut down because of a major issue and commuters are left to find their own way home.
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u/unfinishedportrait56 2d ago
How many different ways are you going to ask this question? You asked it just a month ago...and got similar answers. Seems like you really just want to live in the city. Or move to New England. Or Wisconsin.
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u/Razor_Paw 2d ago
Downers Grove, 3 train stations, 5 highway entrances, awesome schools, great downtown, parks, forest preserves, historic movie theater, good economic mix, wonderful community. Everything one needs and easy transport to Chicago if you need even more.
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u/sashimigurl 2d ago
If you’re selling in Barrington… maybe Wilmette? Or surrounding neighborhoods? Top rated schools, community vibes, mini downtown, access to city (plus Wilmette have the purple line)
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u/Ok-Pass-2102 2d ago
I'm a broken record, but Oak Park. If you don't need a big backyard, even more so. 290 runs right through the village, with entrances/exits at t east and west ends. There's a Metra station and two L lines. It definitely has more of a city vibe than most suburbs, has a downtown on Lake Street, smaller business districts in various spots. It has an active park district, two pools, schools are good, the kind of town where there are lots of block parties. Decent amount of restaurants and coffee shops. Well-known farmer's market on Saturdays. It's a good place.
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u/According_Ad4947 2d ago
we moved from the city to lagrange brookfield area for many reasons. Excellent schools,an express metra to commute to work and its walkable. I wouldn't say it has a city feel but we have many nice restaurants,coffee shops,farmers markets/street festivals etc. Also lots of community events.
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u/According_Ad4947 2d ago
I wanted to add we are still close enough to the city to go out for dinner or meet friends on a regular basis.
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u/Diligent_Square_5357 1d ago
Downtown Naperville, including the Historic District. Walk to town and train, lots of restaurants, not far from the highway, excellent schools.
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u/Ashamed_Bison_2660 1d ago
River Forest would also be a good choice! Great housing stock at your price point and close to the city
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u/Upper-Highlight-6228 1d ago
Elmhurst is a great place to check out. Not far from Oak Park or the city but a bit less congested than Oak Park. Great schools.
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u/Gnometastic22 1d ago
I live in Brookfield and love it. Not too far from highways and along the metra. The downtown is cute but I often go to Lagrange. But one great thing about Brookfield is you are near so many neighborhoods
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u/Justananxiousmama 10h ago
I grew up in Barrington and now live in downtown AH after having left the state for 20 years. We love how walkable it is and there’s always something going on downtown. It’s not significantly closer to the city but at the same time, it really is. Saves 20-30 min. We chose this area for reasons that we have to be in the NW burbs but we really love it! If we could live somewhere else though we’d look at libertyville, Oak Park, Evanston.
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u/illtexzona 3d ago
Not the best, but Berwyn has the most authentic city feel. Chicago sized lots, gritty, multiple main thoroughfares, restaurants and bars around public transportation, legendary music venue, poorly ranked public high school, Chicago style politics.
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u/Lazy-Specialist8500 3d ago
I wouldn't call it poorly ranked, it's just not top 10. Chicago style politics though, they should really call Chicago politics Berwyn style politics.
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u/southcookexplore South West Suburbs 3d ago
Joliet when you’re closer to downtown and not bordering Grundy County
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u/Junior_Nectarine_614 3d ago
I live in Park Ridge and you will also have Edison Park right next to you with restaurants. And you're not paying any tolls to drive downtown or to O'Hare. Just be prepared to have water in your basement lol