Hello Chicago!!

[madsciencenow]

About a year and a half ago I posted on here before moving to Atlanta and received some great input from local bikers. Unfortunately, I'll be relocating again to somewhere between the North side of Chicago and South Milwaukee over the coming months. I'm interested in the riding conditions in these areas and good schools for my three kids. Any input is greatly appreciated!!


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[mbrtool]

It's 85 miles from the Northside of Chicago to the city of South Milwaukee....huge differences in school districts and riding conditions...spanning urban, suburban, exurban, farmland.

Ray

[madsciencenow]

It's 85 miles from the Northside of Chicago to the city of South Milwaukee....huge differences in school districts and riding conditions...spanning urban, suburban, exurban, farmland.



Ray



Given that we always seem to end up in suburbia how would you rate the ride-ability up around the Gurnee area?


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[Ken Robb]

It might help if you gave an idea of how big and how expensive a house you feel comfortable owning.

[madsciencenow]

It might help if you gave an idea of how big and how expensive a house you feel comfortable owning.



Hmmm... good question. I'd like minimum of four bedrooms, three car garage (large two would work), partially or fully finished basement for less than 500k. In addition, it appears that Illinois property taxes are out of control so any sage wisdom on this topic is appreciated too!


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[Gsinill]

It might help if you gave an idea of how big and how expensive a house you feel comfortable owning.

Agreed.

In general I would say, the closer to the lake the better with Lake Bluff being the furthest north you want to go along the lake.
Riding along Lake Michigan is awesome and there are many connected bike paths including some really nice ones within in the Lake County Forest Preserves for gravel riding.
I lived in Ft. Sheridan for the last 14 years and could ride all the way up to Wisconsin on bike paths, with only few miles on the road.
Downside is cost of living along the lake though.

You also want to check into property taxes.
A $500K house with 20+ grand in taxes is not uncommon.
If WI is an option, Pleasant Prairie right across the IL border is worth checking.

[Gsinill]

Hmmm... good question. I'd like minimum of four bedrooms, three car garage (large two would work), partially or fully finished basement for less than 500k. In addition, it appears that Illinois property taxes are out of control so any sage wisdom on this topic is appreciated too!


Oops, ignore my previous post... ;)

[Don]

Chicagoland has a very active bicycle club, the Evanston Bicycle Club (EBC) which has a riding program for all types members. Evanston is located just north of Chicago on the lake. Their members could be most helpful answering questions about communities, etc. Give them a call and check out their website. Phone number is 847.948.0672. I lived in Evanston before moving to Florida in 2001 and was very active in club affairs. Still miss the variation of rides offered and so many wonderful people. Let me know if I can be of further help.

[madsciencenow]

Chicagoland has a very active bicycle club, the Evanston Bicycle Club (EBC) which has a riding program for all types members. Evanston is located just north of Chicago on the lake. Their members could be most helpful answering questions about communities, etc. Give them a call and check out their website. Phone number is 847.948.0672. I lived in Evanston before moving to Florida in 2001 and was very active in club affairs. Still miss the variation of rides offered and so many wonderful people. Let me know if I can be of further help.



Thanks! Will for sure check this out!


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[Ken Robb]

I think tax rates and methods of assessment vary from one municipality to another. Just for fun I check Realtor.Com to see what's available in my old home town of Berwyn,IL. I see huge variations in taxes on very similar homes. The City of Chicago is close to broke so I would be wary about buying anything there and I would get info on the tax structure of any location before making an offer to buy.

Where will you be working? There are several areas surrounding Chicago that are well-served by trains for reasonably pleasant commuting downtown. A broad generality that I think is still true is that property values on the north shore are very high compared to south and west suburbs. FWIW I have always loved the town of Riverside which was designed by Frederick Law Olmstead in the late 19th Century and most residents there can walk to the station to get a train into The Loop.

[Cicli]

I just left Geneva Il. What an awesome community. Too bad its in Illinois.

[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?

[BobC]

I grew up in Lincolnshire. Awesome place. Use to go ride all over the area back then as a kid.

Today? Not a chance in Hades.

Fantastic community & first rate schools. But cycling? not so much.

[berserk87]

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

[Cicli]

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

Yeah, and an assload of tolls. I dont miss that at all. Was paying 100/mo in tolls. :banana:

[ColonelJLloyd]

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]

*** 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]

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]

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



I wish, brother!


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[madsciencenow]

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]

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]

*** 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.

[madsciencenow]

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.



I like roads for the same reason and find trails to be mostly boring unless we are talking about single track.

So this weather thing raises another question. How many days are the roads actually a problem to drive on? Are we talking three months of crap road condition or 10 days over the course of three to four months?


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[Gsinill]

I like roads for the same reason and find trails to be mostly boring unless we are talking about single track.

So this weather thing raises another question. How many days are the roads actually a problem to drive on? Are we talking three months of crap road condition or 10 days over the course of three to four months?

I usually do about 50/50 road and gravel. To be honest, if you avoid peak times on weekends, the paths are not really that crowded, especially once you get away from the parks.

For me it's mostly the temperature not the condition of the roads that keeps me from riding my road bikes.
I like it cold but once it gets below 10 degrees its just not that enjoyable anymore.
Fatbike is the solution for me, bundle up and you are good to go...

[Fatty]

Looks kind of nice and Wadsworth is a beautiful high end kind of town. Try not to gag at the 20k per year property taxes.

https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/37274-N-Black-Velvet-Ln_Wadsworth_IL_60083_M86078-94458#photo6

[madsciencenow]

Looks kind of nice and Wadsworth is a beautiful high end kind of town. Try not to gag at the 20k per year property taxes.



https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/37274-N-Black-Velvet-Ln_Wadsworth_IL_60083_M86078-94458#photo6



Looks pretty good except those property taxes! Worst part is that there seems to be no ceiling. Is this true?


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[Gsinill]

Looks pretty good except those property taxes! Worst part is that there seems to be no ceiling. Is this true?


Not sure what you mean by no ceiling.
It's annual assessments.
The problem is that it is different not just from county to county but from township to township.
On top of it it's not always based on the sale price but on assessed value and the calculation/formula they use is not transparent at all.
It comes mostly down to schools good = taxes high.
That said, re. Wadsworth, check the schools first.

[Ken Robb]

Looking at the size of the lots in the area leads me to believe that there aren't very many people in the area to share the load. OTOH if someone GAVE me a lot in San Diego I could not build a home like this one for less than $1,000,000. I can only guess that there are not yet enough well-paying jobs in the area and no easy commute to areas where those jobs might be to account for these "bargain" prices for lovely homes.

[tab123]

I lived in Chicago (in the city) for 30 years and can't opine on the suburbs. However for road riding, check out the Bicycle Club of Lake County's Ramble Ride. It takes place around Wilmot, WI and provides one of the few areas to ride hills near Chicago. I rode those routes endlessly in the summers. The website has good maps and you can easily follow the routes. The "Rustic Roads" in Wisconsin are country riding at its finest. Very few farm dogs!


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[madsciencenow]

I lived in Chicago (in the city) for 30 years and can't opine on the suburbs. However for road riding, check out the Bicycle Club of Lake County's Ramble Ride. It takes place around Wilmot, WI and provides one of the few areas to ride hills near Chicago. I rode those routes endlessly in the summers. The website has good maps and you can easily follow the routes. The "Rustic Roads" in Wisconsin are country riding at its finest. Very few farm dogs!


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Thanks and will do!


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