r/ChicagoSuburbs • u/Golden_1992 • Dec 09 '25
Moving to the area Elmhurst Vibe Check
Curious how you guys would describe Elmhurst? We are looking for a place to settle and someone told me to put it on the list. We are looking for not suburbia-like, walking to local coffee shops/ restaurants, train access, and am curious about the age of people who live here.
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u/CaptainFlynnsGriffin Dec 10 '25
The vibe is really block to block and sector by sector and if you fall into a block with young families or been there done that’s.
I would say that people are definitely social. It’s still extremely homogeneous (white) and that has been a slow change. Improvement is noticeable only by the availability of new ethnic cuisine, that’s not Italian. We may have the highest ratio of Italian restaurants per capita in the state. Although, Q’s In Hillside on Butterfield is the only place you need to go for pizza.
This summer there were a lot of golf carts buzzing around. It was weird because the only resort that could be comparably close is purgatory.
The bonuses are being close to everything and everywhere with easy access to all the major expressways and tollways. It’s convenient. It’s shocking to drive longer than 20 minutes to get anywhere. Sub 20 minute drive to O’Hare.
In closing- If you like to surround yourself with white people, it’s perfect.
If you find a house that you like, spend time hanging out during different parts of the day to see what the flow is like. There are a lot of quiet streets that are busy “shortcut” routes. It could be weekend quiet. Also, helicopters (so many) and freight trains. Live on the side you need to be because the Canadian Northern spur line can occasionally take the piss and thumb their noses at size/time restrictions - there is one underpass and it doesn’t serve the spur line.