Hello Chicago!!
 

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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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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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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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.

Oops, ignore my previous post... ;)

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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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.

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

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?

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.

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: