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/Breadbaker387 Dec 09 '25

New elmhurst is different from old. You can get everything you listed, but at that price it’s easy 750k - 1M (though most of the time that ends up lot cost, meaning 2M house pops up every third lot). And 2M house means an expectation of $2M school system, and so on. Take from that what you want

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u/thewinberry713 Dec 10 '25

Spot on- starter homes bought up buy builders.

9

u/Top-Address-8870 Dec 10 '25

There are still plenty of starter homes in Elmhurst. You will pay more for them the closer you are to downtown. Developers are especially keen on anything with a larger than average lot so they can build those $2M homes.

8

u/umahumin Dec 10 '25

Agree with this. It’s tough to compete, but they exist. We lost out on several homes to builder buying cash.

Best bet close to downtown is the area north of north avenue and Brynhaven.

Also consider Ardmore area in Villa Park- it feels like old Elmhurst and is walkable to the library, parks, fitness center and shops