Verystrawberry

Hello,

My husband has been offered a job in Chicago, we have two children under two and are looking for somewhere to live in the suburbs.

We'd like to live somewhere where we can walk into the town/ city and have easy access to local amenities. I won't be working so would like to be involved with toddler/ baby groups etc. Safety is also a priority.

Any help or advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks!

Pulaski

I sincerely doubt you will find anywhere "in the suburbs" where you can "walk into town". For starters, much of the Chicago suburbs are low density, so the walk would be long, secondly, streets are rarely set up with walking as a means of getting about as a consideration, so even if there are sidewalks (pavements), the provision of pedestrian crossings is often poor, inadequate, or nonexistent. And thirdly, even if the first two are not enough to dissuade you, I doubt if you will want to be walking around much during June- September or December to March because both of those periods the temperatures/ weather are generally significantly outside the weather norms experienced anywhere in the UK.

WEBlue

Check the City-data Forum for walkable neighbourhoods in Chicago. Not easy to find walkable towns in the USA, but it IS possible if you do your homework. Here's a thread on walkable Chicago neighbourhoods from last year:
http://www.city-data.com/forum/chica...ime-rates.html

Also, I have to disagree with Pulaski that Chicago isn't fun to walk in from June to September. Summer temperatures are usually not unbearably hot in Chicago in the summer. Highs even in the hottest part of the summer tend to be low or mid-80sF. It can be very humid, but there is often some kind of breeze.

However, I will agree that the winters in Chicago are pretty cold. November to March can be nippy for walking!

Pulaski

I guess everyone is different but if I walked for even ten minutes in 80°+ temperatures and high humidity I could take my shirt off and wring the sweat out of it. Could I walk in such weather? Sure. But would I want to walk for twenty minutes to go to the library, the doctor, an event with other parents, or even to buy groceries (given that I would then have to carry them home), if my clothes were going to be dripping wet by the time I arrived? No, I don't think I would.

Verystrawberry

I heard that Arlington Heights is really safe and I would be able to walk into town, does that ring any bells for anyone? And Oak Park?
I'm not afraid of a 20 min walk! I walk everywhere most days here, I've never been a fan of driving when you can walk. And I don't mind the heat, cold however is not my friend, I may have to admit defeat in that case.
Thank you for all of the positive feedback, it's really helpful : )

Verystrawberry

WEBlue, I'm from East Anglia too!

robin1234

Chicago is a really walkable city - sidewalks everywhere, and provision for pedestrians at most intersections. Also, no city has better public transport! Subway, buses, and also regional and long distance train services. As for weather, the winter is relatively severe, compared to the UK, but not that bad. Compared to the northeast USA, Boston for instance, Chicago has a pretty mild winter ...

I'd suggest looking at places to live relative to the 'L' map and bus routes. Or, if you find an area farther out that looks good, the Metra rail opportunities.

Jerseygirl

Have you been to Chicago? If not I strongly recommend that you visit for a week or so to do a reccie. My husband's company initially wanted him to transfer there...we stayed in Chicago for 2 weeks to get a feel for the place.

robin1234

Thing is, you mentioned two places that are several hours walk from Chicago! If you are looking for a walk to Chicago of between twenty minutes and an hour, look a lot closer in ... Lincoln Park for instance.

I agree with Jerseygirl .. Go there for a two week holiday if possible. You are lucky, Chicago is an amazing city with world class museums, music, opera, ballet, libraries, walking, cycling ... I could go on, but it really is a beautiful place.

WEBlue

What? 83F is around 28C! That's hot, OK, but Londoners walk around their city in that weather and some quite enjoy it! You dress lightly because it's summer and you take it easy . . . .

Our temperatures here in southern MA reached mid-80s this past summer, with very high humidity, and we still walked the dog and walked to town to do errands. You get a little sweaty but that's fine--it's summer & you expect that.

For the people I know who want to walk (and it sounds like VeryStrawberry is one), low 80s temps are not much of a deterrant.

Verystrawberry

Thank you! some real positive feedback! Genuinely much appreciated, it's good to hear that it's not all bad, in fact Chicago sounds great.
.. We're moving to Chicago in 6 months and we may not have the time or funds to visit first, so I'm relying on research and opinions at the moment.
I have to apologise, I neglected to mention that my husband will be working in Schaumburg, sorry that's why I mentioned Arlington Heights and Oak Park, my bad!
We lived in London before we had kids and driving is very rare there because the public transport is so good and the traffic is so bad! I was hoping Chicago would be relatively similar in that sense.
Anyway if anyone knows of any suburbs near Schaumburg that are walkable and I won't feel isolated or bored but will feel safe, I'd really appreciate it!

WEBlue

Heya, good to hear from a fellow East Anglian!

I did find US winter temps a bit of an adjustment over here, coming from SE England. It can get COLD in the northern US in Dec./Jan! Bring all your woollies, and maybe buy some more.

scrubbedexpat099

I agree, not that hot.

Plus she has not stated how fast she walks.

scrubbedexpat099

Here you, something to make you feel at home.

HartleyHare

We moved to NJ in June this year. Temperatures for June, July and August would have been around 85, with many days 90+. Myself and my daughter walked our dog nearly every day, went sightseeing in New York, walked to the shopping mall and did a grocery shop twice a week. Yes, it does get very hot and humid, but I do not remember dripping with sweat. It was actually quite refreshing to be able to wear shorts, t-shirts and sandals everyday for nearly 4 months of the year.

My only word of caution is that you mentioned that you have two very young children. There were a couple of days that it peaked 100 and my daughter felt a little nauseous for a few days around this time, so we didn't go out until really late in the day. I would also add, that when we did go out we were not walking for anything longer than 1/2 hour and I would have found it difficult to walk for an hour straight.