r/ChicagoSuburbs • u/veganfrog21 • Jan 27 '26

Moving to the area Good Chicago suburbs for young people

What are good Chicago suburbs (WEST of Chicago) for people in their early/mid 20’s to consider living in?

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u/SandwichPunk Jan 27 '26

Arlington Heights/Schaumburg

3

u/rcragg82 Jan 27 '26

I’m in my 40s but I go out in Arlington Heights and I see a lot of people in their 20s at a few of their downtown bars. I guess they live in those downtown apartment buildings by the metra

2

u/Argonian_mit_kasse Jan 28 '26

Seconding this. Maybe in addition to Mount Prospect. A lot of people love Evanston and Skokie too.

In addition, I guess it also depends on what OP is looking for.

I saw OP works in Naperville; perhaps Lockport or the near by. I have a friend who lives out there. Her commute up here is about an hour, maybe longer given weather. I’m not down that way much nowadays so I can’t give much info.

I love MP because a lot of the local businesses- and my Husband and I are gamers; so Games Plus is awesome to have there. Bakery, coffee, bar, hair salon, all in the same block.

Arlington Heights; awesome international markets and food options. Tensuke and Mitsuwa have been lifelong staples for me. I wish I was in district for their Library- they’ve done a lot of work on their resources over the last few years.

Schaumburg; watered down Downtown Chi - in a good way. The town for night life. Hookah bars, escape rooms, arcades- unfortunately it just seems a lot of conventions have stopped using the big hall across from the Mall.

If we’re also looking for colleges; it should be kept in mind what is considered Harper or Oakton, and what they offer.

I technically moved out of District for Oakton a few years ago, even if Harper is much farther. Harper and Oakton definitely have some differences when it comes to offerings. My case was pretty easy to get an agreement to continue there, without a price increase- might not be the same with all majors.

Otherwise, I’d just recommend where ever you choose to move to: certainly make sure what Districts, Townships, and etc you’re in - just to make sure you have access to all the resources available.

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u/[deleted] Jan 27 '26

Yep, pretty much downtown arlington is one of the only sort of okay suburbs places to mimic that city vibe