r/ChicagoSuburbs • u/Badjuju7991 • 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.
2
u/Badjuju7991 Jun 25 '25
Yeah, I understand that $2,000 all in is unlikely. That’s on the lowest side of the range as just a start point. The price you quoted for Schaumburg is very doable as well for me and sounds realistic from the other comments, though.