Hello Chicago!!

[ColonelJLloyd]

Originally Posted by berserk87

Buy in Plainfield and commute. It's only a couple of hours from Chi-town.

*** kinda life is that if you commute for four hours a day?

[oliver1850]

Originally Posted by ColonelJLloyd

*** kinda life is that if you commute for four hours a day?

Depends on the job. My last commuting job was 2 hours of driving every day, which was the best part of the day.

[oliver1850]

Interested in the property tax question. Are they lower in Trevor, WI than Antiock, IL?

This is the general area I'd suggest for the OP, but I don't know anything about the schools.

[Cicli]

Originally Posted by oliver1850

Interested in the property tax question. Are they lower in Trevor, WI than Antiock, IL?

More than likely. A friend left Lake Zurich for Bristol, Wi. Saved a ton in taxes.

[madsciencenow]

Originally Posted by berserk87

Buy in Plainfield and commute. It's only a couple of hours from Chi-town.

I wish, brother!


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[madsciencenow]

Originally Posted by Zee

Born and raised in Glenview, or the upper crust. Family moved out of the city for the public school system.

Good riding, if relatively featureless, and Cook county taxes will crank your blood pressure.

What brings you to the area?

Job at AbbVie in Waukegan.


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[oliver1850]

Originally Posted by madsciencenow

I wish, brother!


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I would hate to commit to a Plainfield to Chicago by car commute. Last time I was inbound on I-55 it was stop and go (mostly stop) from Plainfield on, this at 6 PM. Surely worse in the AM. Might be OK via Metra if you can get payed to work online while on the train.

[Ken Robb]

In the early 1950s my dad's brother and wife moved from Chicago to Waukegan almost as far west as Gurnee. They had 7 kids and land was cheap. I don't think Waukegan schools were the best but they raised chickens and vegetables to help feed 9 people. I loved visiting because there was so much open land for boys to explore. 10 years ago I drove around and found it much more built-up but still rather rural and homesites bigger than in Chicago.
I hate wasting time being frustrated by heavy rush-hour traffic so I would explore the Waukegan/Gurnee area thoroughly and hope to settle near my place of employment. There is no good way to commute from the western suburbs of Chicago to Waukegan. Hmmm, my best pal from my days at NU lived in Mundelein for 30 years and that was pretty nice. I wonder how that commute would be.

[Andy sti]

I grew up in Libertyville and then lived in Gurnee for many years. Gurnee has good schools and it should be easy for you to get to work. My wife was a high school teacher at Warren high school in Gurnee and my brother-in-law teaches at Libertyville HS (he lives across the border in Bristol, WI though.) It's a good location and close to everything. Libertyville has a nice little downtown with some great restaurants. Housing in Lib is pretty high though while Gurnee is more affordable. Riding is pretty good from that area. Super easy to get into WI and hit all the county roads. Although it has gotten more busy, of course. You can also ride limestone paths all the way to the border.

[Andy sti]

Is Abbvie at the main Abbott Park? if so it's not really all the way in Waukegan even though it's on Waukegan rd. It's really closer to Libertyville/Gurnee/west Lake Bluff.

[berserk87]

Originally Posted by ColonelJLloyd

*** kinda life is that if you commute for four hours a day?

It's an inside joke between me and Madscience. He's one of my best pals and lived a few minutes away from me before he beat feet to Hotlanta. Not a serious suggestion at all. It's Plainfield, Indiana I was referencing. I guess there is a Plainfield in Illinois, also.

[Gsinill]

Assuming AbbVie Park, Wisconsin is definitely an option.
AbbVie is close to I94 which isn't bad from a traffic perspective going north.

My wife works a little further south of AbbVie and we actually had plans to build in WI (Yorkville). Commute would have been about 45 min. one way.
At end we decided to take advantage of the still depressed real estate market in the far west suburbs.
We ended up buying a place that pretty much matches your criteria in Bull Valley.
Commute to AbbVie would also be in 45 min. range.

Mundelein, Vernon Hills, Hawthorn Woods, Libertyville are nice and close to AbbVie but houses that fit your need are probably a little more than $500K.
You might also want to check into smaller towns in that area that are unincorporated and have lower taxes. Green Oaks would be an example.

Personally, I would really avoid Waukegan, at least anything east of I-94.

[marsh]

My Aunt used to work at the Abbot Campus in North Chicago. She lived in Libertyville. My Mom lived in Gurnee for many years. I would say that Libertyville checks lot of the boxes. Lake County, good schools, low crime, nice people. Good riding. I commute from Mount Prospect to the city a few times a week on the Des Plaines River Trail, it goes through Libertyville North to Wisconsin.

[madsciencenow]

Are most folks using trails or trails and a combination of roads and trails? My recollection from when I lived in Elgin as a kid is that there was a mix of both paved and unpaved trails.

In addition, thanks to everyone for your thoughts so far! Very helpful!!


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[Zee]

Doesn't sound like we need to warn you of the winters if you grew up in Elgin.

Might we worth considering the distance from work with that weather bearing down on us in just a few months.

I mainly stuck to road riding, as it was more straight forward than finding an enjoyable trail that wasn't packed full of dog walkers ignoring leash laws.