I've had a look at craigslist.com and I found loads of houses available to rent. Thankyou so much. Every time i searched on google and wanadoo all that came up was apartments! i just needed to find the right place to look. Thanks once again to you great people on BE.com!!!!!

It's a very loose term I've even known a Greek family referred to as Anglo's

So "W.A.S.P." doesn't stand for "We Are Sexual Perverts" after all then?

Nor "Wobbly Arsed Scottish People" either???

I hadn't heard that one before, that's a good'un!

It does in your case.

You know me well!

Actually as a few others have indicated you are more likely to get that community feeling in some of the downtown neighbourhoods, rather than in the burbs. The suburban areas are certainly not villages, and many don't have a defined centre, whereas the downtown areas do. Walking through Old Town on a summers evening is a great experience, though unfortunately its quite a pricey neighbourhood. Wicker Park is also a nice spot imo.
Find out if your husband's employer runs a shuttle service to the office from the metra line then investigate downtown.
When I moved here the first year was tough and I put most of that down to living in the 'burbs - still live there but now work downtown and get down there on a regular basis - much more enjoyable now.

There is a large Jewish community in Buffalo Grove. I have some Israeli friends who live there and (in their own words) they are "treated like animals" by the american Jews who live near them - so don't take it personally if the neighbours don't roll out the welcome mat for you

When was the last time they sold Strohs at Wriggley ??
The pee-water of choice has been old style for years (makes bud taste like liquid gold)

There may be a shuttle service, I'll look into it... although I think he would prefer to drive rather than cram into a tube everyday, (he's had enough of that getting into London over here!!)
Do you think it is easier to feel part of a community if I try and get involved in my daughters school? I hope to meet people thru her. Well here's hoping!

Well I really don't want to be treated like an animal!! Perhaps I'll look further afield than Buffalo Grove!!

Do get to the 'burbs you don't use the tube (or chicago's version) you use the metra - plenty of space and very clean.

As for meeting people through your daughter - good idea - its just that the school mum's over here may be somewhat different to the one's you hang about with back home.

Here's how I got to know people:

I live in a suburb which is made up of different neighbourhoods. It is almost impossible to walk between neighbourhoods because there are no pavements. I can walk around my neighbourhood and lots of people do...so you get to know people.
Where I live each neighbourhood does stuff....block party, golf competition, bbq, garage sale. Some neigbourhoods have their own pools. You do get to know people and I became a street rep for our HOA and so I got to know even more people.

I have a dog and I explored the area and found other dog walkers.

I went to the library a lot.

I did join the PTA and ours are formidable compared to the UK. You almost have to be vetted and selected! I think the PTA forms in Kindergarten and the parents move through the school years with their children. It was very hard to break in to our PTA at 5th grade because they had all been a "PTA" group for so long. But I persevered, went on school trips, did the PTA jobs no-one else wanted, said yes to everything.
Even if you don't get onto the PTA, there is still a lot more parental involvement in school than in the UK, so you will get asked to do stuff.

We went to all the High school football games(home ones at first) even though we knew nothing and are not sporty. Our realtor had told us to go as the whole community goes and supports the senior team. All ages go and we really enjoy it now. When people realised we were English and knew nothing about the sport, they all took it upon themselves to teach us. My daughters joined things...art clubs, skating clubs, horse riding and I met people there.

I went to everything I was invited to.
I talk to anyone...my daughter told me the other day that I am the only person she knows who can hold a 20min conversation with the man in Subway
I joined our townships Newcomers group and after the first year joined the committee. I agreed to run the book club and I have met loads of people.I also joined their Good samaritan scheme and if someone has a family crisis I do the cooking for them, other people do other things, just for a few days.

I joined a local art group. I was a professional calligrapher before we moved and ran my own business. I really miss that part of my old life and sadly this art group is crappy but I still go because the people are nice.

The more you join, you eventually start to bump into people you met at another event and you begin to feel you belong.
Everyone plays tennis here and I don't and I haven't started. I don't like it and it's too expensive but it would have been another way of meeting people.
It is harder in the winter because no-one is outdoors, and I don't think Pittsburgh winters are as bad as Chicago's. They are horrible though and I am dreading this one. The snow is lovely and the sky is usually blue... but they are just sooo cold and long.

It wasn't easy because sometimes if you feel a bit homesick the last thing you want to do is get out there and smile.

A performance in the local titty bar ..is a good ice breaker

More like a comedy show if I did it.