Relocating to Chicago - Pleasant Hill,CA

I LOVE Streamwood/Schaumburg area, and I am originally from Ca! I have made many cross country moves, from Ca to Tx, Tx to Ca, Ca to Tx then from Tx to IL... it's fun as long as you keep it organized. Lable boxes clearly and make sure you pack by when you need to open things - #1 are boxes that are to be opened first, #2 then #3 in sequencial order. Typically #3 are things that could easily go into storage while you find permanent housing. The suburb choice depends on where your hubs job will be. Oh, and the houses here are not quite as close as Ca, but yards/fences are NOT common - actually they are quite hard to come by out here, you have to get electric gates for many communities so bear that in mind if you like your privacy fence.

I AM JEALOUS!!!! Can you handle the cold? Find a place with a garage! God bless.

I live in Western Springs and recommend this area obviously...the schools were rated the top - Highlands School District, you can check it out. Nice homes, good people, a lot of people that live here have come from living in downtown Chicago. You will find a lot of families with little kids...I recommend the areas of Springdale and Ridgewood - the homes in these areas go fast though. Good luck!

Is there a general region of Chicagoland that you are looking in? Transit time varies greatly, depending upon whether you live in the more densely populated Northern suburbs/North Shore, or in the less densely populated Western suburbs. I know very little about the Southern and SW suburbs.

To start out, you might want to consult the recently released "Top 1000 high schools" report. There are several communities in the Chicago suburbs that made the list.

Great schools: http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2012/05/20/america-...

From an affordability standpoint, your money will go MUCH further in the Western or SW suburbs than it will in the Northern/NW suburbs. Case in point; my sister plans to move to Kennilworth/Winnetka in the next few years so they can get into the New Trier school district. They are looking at spending around $600k for a 3 bedroom, 2 bath, updated home. You can get comparable home in the Hinsdale Central district (some of Clarendon Hills and Westmont is in that district) for about $450k.

New construction in the Northern and NW suburbs is possible, but the lots are VERY pricey.

Will either of you be commuting into the city, or will you be in the burbs?

If my husband didn't work an hour west of downtown, I'd want to be a bit closer to the city because we have family closer to the city. My ideal location would be Hinsdale/Clarendon Hills. But, since being closer to work is a high priority, when we DO move, it'll be to the Naperville area (which is consistently rated as one of the top places to raise a family.)

My Dad lived in a great town called Naperville. Check it out and see if your family would like it. They have a cute downtown area where you can walk around and lots of families.

The further out of the city you live, the more space you'll have - and greater distance between houses with yards.
If you move to ie: Schaumburg, Skokie, Glenview, Oak Park, etc... Those are very populated areas. You can find nice housing there, but you won't find neighbors that are not on top of you.

I have friends that live in Hoffman Estates and Antioch. Hoffman has some space between homes...I can't speak for the schools there, and Antioch will give you a nice big yard and affordable housing. It's also almost 2 hrs out of the city. My friends work in the school system there and generally have good things to say about it.

In general, in the "main suburbs", you'll pay for excellent schools. Lake Forest, for example, has a terrific school system, but it's extremely pricey to live there. (Homes average $1M+).

You might want to drill down a little further. How close to the city do you want to be? What kind of house do you want? (New construction? Fixer upper?). Do you want to be close to a train line or expressway? What kind of commute do you want? (This is a big one.... in Chicago you can waste up to 4 hrs a day commuting. Traffic is pretty awful. I typically waste 2.5 driving from the city to suburbs and back.)

So maybe put some more definitions around what you're looking for? There's lots of great suburbs around here, but you need to consider quality of life in addition to schools and neighborhoods.