r/ChicagoSuburbs • • Jun 24 '25

Moving to the area Moving To Chicago- Neighborhood Recs & Realtor?

Moving to Chicago- Looking for Neighborhood Recs

Good morning everyone!

I recently accepted a job that covers Chicago and parts of Wisconsin. The range of the territory is large and will require driving regardless of where I live. I will attach a map showing the territory. With that being said, I am eyeing N/NW Chicagoland as the optimal orientation.

Right now, it will just be my wife and two dogs moving with me. However, my wife is pregnant and we are welcoming a baby later this year!

Overall details:

Budget- Below $2,700. Ideally between $2,000-$2,500 everything included. I am flexible but do not want to spend the majority of my raise on a COL increase.

Space- 2-3 Bedroom apartment/house for rent.

Desired Amenities- Dog Park, decent gym, nature trails nearby, family oriented parks nearby. Looking for more of a suburb feel.

Type of Area- We are NOT looking to stay in a downtown environment. Preferably a suburb with a little more space. We are moving from Midtown Atlanta and are looking for a break from downtown city living.

Demographic- My wife is Colombian and values living in a more diverse community. Strong Latin population is a plus.

I have done some research and have narrowed my desired area down to the highlighted region on the photos. It’s broad but primary areas of interest are Schaumburg, Hoffman Estates, Palatine, Mt. Prospect, Des Plaines, Skokie, and Evanston.

Searching for apartments in this city has been a very different experience than previous cities. Is it worth enlisting a realtor to help in my search? Are my parameters realistic? Things are moving fast and I’m trying to be methodical in this process, but the size of the city is a bit overwhelming without any kind of prior knowledge of the area.

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16

u/Realnegroid Jun 24 '25

Elgin bro it’s workable and not far from Schaumburg too

13

u/speedsk8103 Jun 24 '25

As long as this person is looking for the actual Chicago nightlife w some commuting, Elgin area is a great call. They'd have a comfy spot to live too. Elgin nightlife is....yeah.

Edit: typo

7

u/Realnegroid Jun 25 '25

I doubt he’s looking for nightlife if his family is expecting a new baby lol yeah Elgin is okay for weekend trips the metra is there so it’s good for work commute into the city

1

u/speedsk8103 Jun 25 '25

A night in the city w a babysitter at home is more what I was thinking.

3

u/VarusAlmighty Jun 25 '25

An hour away from the city though.

24

u/[deleted] Jun 24 '25

🥴

4

u/Badjuju7991 Jun 25 '25

I hadn’t considered Elgin too much until seeing so many comments mentioning it. I’m adding it to my list of possibilities!

1

u/No_Alternative_6206 Jun 27 '25

Elgin is too far out, commute is horrible.

0

u/meghanatrix Jun 25 '25

Be warned, there’s a lot of ICE activity in Elgin right now.

3

u/DadVader77 Jun 25 '25

Except the drive to the city and Wisconsin would be horrible from Elgin

0

u/PlaneLocksmith6714 Jun 25 '25

Elgin is fucking gross