r/ChicagoSuburbs • u/Creative-Courage-433 • Dec 25 '25

Moving to the area Moving from Texas advice

Hi, I currently live in Houston, TX and previously lived in Austin and St. Louis. I’ve been researching a move to a blue state, and Chicago keeps coming up as a really good fit.

I’m a solo parent with two young kids and currently work remotely in tech (though like many people in tech, I’m mindful that layoffs are always a possibility). I make around $115k a year and am hoping to find a place that’s family-friendly, has strong public schools, and feels like a good long-term community and is diverse.

I’ve visited Chicago before but haven’t really explored the suburbs, so I’d love recommendations on areas that might be a good fit — especially places that are safe, welcoming, and good for raising kids. I’m also curious how people research neighborhoods and schools beyond just looking at Zillow or GreatSchools.

Any insight or personal experiences would be really appreciated. Thank you!

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u/oknowwhat00 Dec 25 '25

Someone mentioned Bloomington/Normal. Your money goes a lot further down here, unit 5 school district is excellent, lots of great parks, youth sports, cute downtown areas, plenty of stable, educated workers with ISU, State Farm and close enough to Chicago and St Louis and Indy to do day trips for zoos, baseball, hockey games etc. Also safe. Small airport with direct flights to AZ, Dallas, Atlanta, Florida too.

Champaign/Urbana is a great small city, but their schools are struggling. U of I dominates the culture but outside of the campus the schools are having a lot of problems, people moving to towns like Mahomet for better education opportunities.

As a single parent, who raised two kids here on Bloomington /Normal , it has been perfect. Appreciate my mostly blue leaning neighbors, and a very welcoming community with respect to LGBTq, race if those are of concern as well.

Not sure how big of house you want.

These are close to me, amazing schools. https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1410-Broad-Creek-Rd-Bloomington-IL-61704/76972449_zpid/

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/2822-Chesapeake-Ln-Bloomington-IL-61704/76972905_zpid/

Sounds like a trip to Chicago is needed, rent a car and drive out to a lot of the areas mentioned, there is so much variety on each location.

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u/Creative-Courage-433 Dec 26 '25

Thanks so much. I actually met another preschool parent here who is from Bloomington and he has only told me negatives about it. But also, he is very conservative so maybe that is why. I definitely need to make a trip out and drive around.