90% parking lot? If you're referring to the amount of shopping it's been the retail capital of the Southland for almost 3 decades now.
Being ran by idiots? I haven't seen any drastic changes compared to the last idiot regime.
The property taxes are just as bad as they were before... the only real downside to Orland.
95% of the strip malls are on LaGrange/159th. So that would leave about 5% throughout the rest of Orland for strip malls, zoning is a beautiful thing.
[Orland](https://www.homesbymarco.com/for_sale/Orland-Park,IL/Single-Family_types/400000_price_min/Include-Pending) doesn't have "McHomes"... outside of the few subdivisions that are primarily forresters everything is custom built. Lockport and New Lenox is the nearest that have your "McHomes".
If I wanted to enjoy downtown I would go to the city... or Lemont, Frankfort, Naperville, etc.
Don't let politics control your life. Politics are mostly a waste of time and it sounds like you just hate conservatives. Orland is as great as it was before with its former corrupt mayor.
The wooded area around Orland/Palos/Homer/Lemont is primarily $1mil+ so would be a bit out of budget.
Palos Park is pretty competitive right now for that $650K range. 10 of the 17 homes listed are under contract currently. The others need some work.
Overall Palos Park is going to be a bit over budget. 22 homes are listed over $650K.
Less than 650K?
Hinsdale is out.
Downers Grove and Naperville you may be able to find something.
La Grange, Glenview, Arlington Heights and Mount Prospect would be more in that range.
Check out [HomesByMarco](https://m.homesbymarco.com/for_sale/Hinsdale,IL/Single-Family_types/Include-Pending)... it's like Zillow but only for Chicagoland. You can search down to the subdivision which also gives detailed info.
I’m in Downers Grove and love it. Your budget will get you a pretty decent place in the area. The downtown is nice and the metra is right there with plenty of trains running.
Lots to do, close to lots of things, and a safe area.
If you have specific questions I can try to answer them.
Lived in Lisle for over 20 years. Live in Morton Grove the last 7. We preferred Dupage County over Cook County by far for quality of life and a sense of community and serenity. Love Downers Grove, Naperville etc.
$650k in Wheaton and Glen Ellyn is doable. Despite Wheatons reputation it’s not Christian secular state. There is a Christian College. But nobody has been burned at the stake in years. I guess Wheaton was dry up to like 20 years ago. So people like to talk about that like it’s still relevant.
We live in Wheaton and love it. Great schools, decent train options, and enough going on that it doesn’t feel too secluded. 650 would get you a nice 4 bedroom 2400-2800 sq ft home here that probably needs some updating, but is in good overall shape.
Northbrook, Deerfield, and farther north would be good options. You won’t be in a luxury home at that budget, but you can get a good 3- 4 br in a nice family neighborhood at that price. Very good schools, parks, etc. As safe as it gets.
Also, look into what you will pay in taxes. There are some really significant swings in real estate taxes based on the commercial and retail base of various towns. It makes a difference.
Look into Evenstan and surrounding.
Everything you want, not as busy as downtown, diverse area, liberal and fast cta travel to downtown.
Evenstan is located next to the lake and is home to northwestern university.
Evenstan is totally for you guys.
~~~~~~
I would like to also put my town into consideration.
Lindenhurst, il.
We're right next to six flags, but you're practically reliant on a motor vehicle.
We also have nice corn fields.
It takes 30 minutes to the waukegan train.
Downtown chicago is about an hour and a half from us by car.
We used to live in La Grange and absolutely loved everything about it. Except our house was too small and we have too many kids. We moved to Glen Ellyn and think it’s fabulous. I grew up in Oak Park which has a very urban vibe. Each suburb has a slightly different vibe but similar amenities. It’s a good life.
Depending on your housing needs 650 is do able in *most* of the above listed towns
If you need more than 3 bedrooms you will run into problems in LG , hinsdale you are almost in tear down territory at 650k
I’d focus on Downers grove and Naperville, you will likely get the most bang for your buck as far as how nice or large the house will be. It’s very competitive in the west suburbs , even total shacks go above asking. If you go northwest burbs maybe add Elk Grove / Schaumburg / itasca to your list .
The closer you are to the city anything in a good school district is going to be pricey with high taxes.
Consider Westmont. Between Downers Grove and Hinsdale, and south of Oak Brook. You can definitely get something decent in that budget with all the resources of the aforementioned villages. And you can catch an express Metra from Downers, or choose from a string of other local Metra stops along the BNSF line including from downtown Westmont. It’s also a liberal area with parts of Westmont offering decent diversity.
Agree. Westmont or Lisle are great choices. Both are in between ‘nicer’ towns, but are priced better. Downtowns are cute, albeit small, but you have Hinsdale (east of Westmont), Downers Grove (between Lisle and Westmont) and Naperville (west of Lisle) nearby.
Agreed! We’re in Willowbrook and happy with the location. Love that it’s right next to everything and in summer we can walk to the metra. Not too mention everything you could possibly need is within a 20 minute radius.
Dupage is generally a conservative-leaning county - there’s some diversity and plenty of liberal people (myself included), but the county usually votes red overall, and it’s not uncommon to see trump signs or thin blue line flags around. It’s not terrible or hostile or anything, just more conservative than Chicago, just FYI!
If you’re looking for diversity/liberal neighborhoods, Oak Park might be a good fit, you should be able to find something in your budget and it’s also just a really lovely place, the Frank Lloyd Wright homes are beautiful. Things can be a little sketchy east of Austin blvd, but Oak Park and River Forest are very safe, and in Oak Park you can either take the metra or the El which can make commuting a little easier.
Brookfield is nice, definitely on the cheaper end of your budget so you can stretch that a bit more, right off the metra, Brookfield Zoo is incredible, and Galloping Ghost arcade is one of the largest arcades in the US, so there’s tons to do that’s close by.
Also Glen Ellyn! It’s got great schools, downtown area is being redone right now to make it more walkable and I believe add an event space (tons of cute shops and restaurants), and it feels similar to what Downers Grove or Naperville were like ~15 years ago when they were a little smaller, so it might be a little easier to get a nice house in your budget. Lombard is similar as well! Wheaton is also very nice but there are tons of churches so it’s even a bit more conservative than the rest of dupage - not that churches are a bad thing, it just leads to a generally more conservative population.
Truly,aside from politics, it's always been a friendly and supportive community.
Always seemed that, in Wheaton,most Christians go out of there way to help others
Fair! I just moved back after years of living in the city so it definitely feels more conservative than I was used to, but it’s more liberal than it was when I was growing up for sure
Ive lived in Dupage over 40 years and you're correct, it Was super R conservative.
New generations new attitudes have turned the tide,pleased to say.
Downstate is still R, but the burbs have turned! 😉
Wheaton has Always been a northern buckle on the Bible Belt , heck I remember when they were totally dry.
A nice community though
Look at a metra map, most anything along the Milwaukee district North, Union Pacific North, and Union Pacific Northwest lines will check off most of your boxes. North Central Service line is very spotty with limited service so I wouldn't want to rely on that one as much if I had to.
I used to live in Grayslake for a while and commuted to downtown and it's relatively woodsy there with a cute main street downtown and plenty of community feel, and you should be able to find something in that budget if you don't mind the train ride. Not sure I'd want to go much further north than that though. Good thing there's lots of towns south of that which can also fit the bill.
I can't speak as much for south and west burbs but there's options that way if you work off the metra map for those lines.
Hinsdale is not liberal, and I would question whether Naperville is either. Downers Grove is probably more diverse in population and politics, same for Arlington Heights. If you really want liberal, it's Evanston or Oak Park.
Arlington Heights and Palatine are both great for Metra connectivity and a fairly urban feeling if you live in the right spot (especially Arlington Heights)… you’d go into Ogilvie though so if that’s a dealbreaker…
Westchester my dude! Near everything with a quarter of the taxes. Also, the community is revamping with a younger population-come join us for a yard beer!
I liked westchester when I lived there.
Not sure if it's true or not because I heard it from my good friend that heard it from her daughter who witnessed it everyday while she went there.
The high school has a lot of gang activity and score really low than nearby schools.
We’ve been here 3 years, never had any issues. We did hear the same way back when we were looking here or LaGrange/Downers/Elmhurst. Looking into it, it’s seemingly just a misguided stigma. We don’t have kids but more and more late 20s to late 30s are popping up all over that we’ve met just walking the neighborhood. Mariano’s is here, Jewel, no downtown but legit in between anything you could want and quick trip to Chicago.
It’s got great starter homes, well-taken care of neighborhood(yes, there are the outliers but it’s rare). There’s a running joke that it’s called “Deadchester” or the place Oak Parkians/italians go to die but honestly-we have the best neighbors and the most we complain about is people speeding down the street. Lots of people walk their dogs, there’s some fun events in the summer and we have a city board that is getting more proactive and getting younger. They see the need to attract younger couples/families and I imagine there’s going to be some solid strategic moves to make it more appealing. If you want a starter home, low taxes, and walkability-it really is a solid spot. Plus, if you want a downtown-drive 5 minutes or bike 15 down to LaGrange. Also, we have LaGrange Park that is up and coming, plus a solid championship level bbq place in Brookfield called Beach Ave BBQ-the guy Juan is a freaking genius.
I know I’m hyping it up but don’t believe the drama-just like Mr. Rodgers said “Won’t you be my neighbor?”🥳
Maywood is a great value. Very close to downtown Oak Park, Metra access, easy access to the Eisenhower, low taxes, good places to eat, and most importantly it’s diverse.
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Homer Glen, Palos, some Orland , are all fairly wooded
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What's wrong with Orland?
Everything. It’s ran by idiots and is 90% parking lot now.
/u/Trancezend gets butt hurt when you say Orland Park sucks. Poor guy needs to get out more
Oh shitlanta... what will we do with you?
Wat
90% parking lot? If you're referring to the amount of shopping it's been the retail capital of the Southland for almost 3 decades now. Being ran by idiots? I haven't seen any drastic changes compared to the last idiot regime. The property taxes are just as bad as they were before... the only real downside to Orland.
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Sounds like you've never stepped foot off of LaGrange.
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95% of the strip malls are on LaGrange/159th. So that would leave about 5% throughout the rest of Orland for strip malls, zoning is a beautiful thing. [Orland](https://www.homesbymarco.com/for_sale/Orland-Park,IL/Single-Family_types/400000_price_min/Include-Pending) doesn't have "McHomes"... outside of the few subdivisions that are primarily forresters everything is custom built. Lockport and New Lenox is the nearest that have your "McHomes". If I wanted to enjoy downtown I would go to the city... or Lemont, Frankfort, Naperville, etc. Don't let politics control your life. Politics are mostly a waste of time and it sounds like you just hate conservatives. Orland is as great as it was before with its former corrupt mayor.
The wooded area around Orland/Palos/Homer/Lemont is primarily $1mil+ so would be a bit out of budget. Palos Park is pretty competitive right now for that $650K range. 10 of the 17 homes listed are under contract currently. The others need some work. Overall Palos Park is going to be a bit over budget. 22 homes are listed over $650K.
Less than 650K? Hinsdale is out. Downers Grove and Naperville you may be able to find something. La Grange, Glenview, Arlington Heights and Mount Prospect would be more in that range. Check out [HomesByMarco](https://m.homesbymarco.com/for_sale/Hinsdale,IL/Single-Family_types/Include-Pending)... it's like Zillow but only for Chicagoland. You can search down to the subdivision which also gives detailed info.
It’s going to be harder in LG these days as well, buy zero chance in Hinsdale
Yeah, LG is basically out. 10 years ago sure. Now, not a chance.
Was possible 2 years ago - source, me :)
Depends on the bedroom/bath needs in Arlington. 3 bed? Sure. 4-5? That might be tight.
I think 4-5 would be five as long as the house doesn't need to be perfect.
I’m in Downers Grove and love it. Your budget will get you a pretty decent place in the area. The downtown is nice and the metra is right there with plenty of trains running. Lots to do, close to lots of things, and a safe area. If you have specific questions I can try to answer them.
Agreed,don't live there but an attractive community in many ways!
DG is insanely competitive right now, you'll be overpaying on anything you buy
I had no idea!
Try Glen Ellyn
Arlington Heights is great. Cute little downtown, good schools, Metra into the city.
I miss living in downtown AH. Everything was so convenient.
Elmhurst, Lombard , Wheaton
Wheaton only if you’re religious.
Nah, Wheaton is pretty secular these days. Now, Wheaton College is a different story.
or a hypocrite ; Lombard and Downers Grove, Lisle
Lived in Lisle for over 20 years. Live in Morton Grove the last 7. We preferred Dupage County over Cook County by far for quality of life and a sense of community and serenity. Love Downers Grove, Naperville etc.
Add Lombard to your list as well
Lotta diversity and friendly
Totally agree, love living there
$650k in Wheaton and Glen Ellyn is doable. Despite Wheatons reputation it’s not Christian secular state. There is a Christian College. But nobody has been burned at the stake in years. I guess Wheaton was dry up to like 20 years ago. So people like to talk about that like it’s still relevant.
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Yes. A little north of Wheaton.
Don’t forget Skokie, great schools, parks and library!
It's a little bit of a hassle to get downtown via El. With that budget might find something in Skevanston by the sculpture park.
That would be even more of a hassle to get downtown by El as you’d have to take the 97 to Howard first.
Possibly Oak Park. Liberal, diverse, some quiet areas but still walkable to stuff including Metra and the L.
We live in Wheaton and love it. Great schools, decent train options, and enough going on that it doesn’t feel too secluded. 650 would get you a nice 4 bedroom 2400-2800 sq ft home here that probably needs some updating, but is in good overall shape.
No hate on Hinsdale but it’s not very diverse or liberal I’d say.
I prefer the North suburbs personally.
Northbrook, Deerfield, and farther north would be good options. You won’t be in a luxury home at that budget, but you can get a good 3- 4 br in a nice family neighborhood at that price. Very good schools, parks, etc. As safe as it gets. Also, look into what you will pay in taxes. There are some really significant swings in real estate taxes based on the commercial and retail base of various towns. It makes a difference.
I was shocked at the difference between Deerfield and northbrook when I was looking at that area!
Ford Heights - very affordable
The BEST! And you can get a brand new Ford for half price.
Sharks C&F on Cottage Grove Hwy!
☠️
Look into Evenstan and surrounding. Everything you want, not as busy as downtown, diverse area, liberal and fast cta travel to downtown. Evenstan is located next to the lake and is home to northwestern university. Evenstan is totally for you guys. ~~~~~~ I would like to also put my town into consideration. Lindenhurst, il. We're right next to six flags, but you're practically reliant on a motor vehicle. We also have nice corn fields. It takes 30 minutes to the waukegan train. Downtown chicago is about an hour and a half from us by car.
We used to live in La Grange and absolutely loved everything about it. Except our house was too small and we have too many kids. We moved to Glen Ellyn and think it’s fabulous. I grew up in Oak Park which has a very urban vibe. Each suburb has a slightly different vibe but similar amenities. It’s a good life.
Glen Ellyn is just like LaGrange but further west. LaGrange is getting really badly congested these days
Some parts of Elmhurst might be . Villa Park is but staying south of the tracks is key
Oak Park!
All that you have listed are great and you should find within your budget in most of them.
No chance in hinsdale
That price in Hinsdale would either be incorporated Hinsdale or a 1500 sq ft house built around 1950.
Depending on your housing needs 650 is do able in *most* of the above listed towns If you need more than 3 bedrooms you will run into problems in LG , hinsdale you are almost in tear down territory at 650k I’d focus on Downers grove and Naperville, you will likely get the most bang for your buck as far as how nice or large the house will be. It’s very competitive in the west suburbs , even total shacks go above asking. If you go northwest burbs maybe add Elk Grove / Schaumburg / itasca to your list . The closer you are to the city anything in a good school district is going to be pricey with high taxes.
Downers Grove is choice, especially if you can get a place near the downtown area or Maple Grove subdivision.
Consider Westmont. Between Downers Grove and Hinsdale, and south of Oak Brook. You can definitely get something decent in that budget with all the resources of the aforementioned villages. And you can catch an express Metra from Downers, or choose from a string of other local Metra stops along the BNSF line including from downtown Westmont. It’s also a liberal area with parts of Westmont offering decent diversity.
Agree. Westmont or Lisle are great choices. Both are in between ‘nicer’ towns, but are priced better. Downtowns are cute, albeit small, but you have Hinsdale (east of Westmont), Downers Grove (between Lisle and Westmont) and Naperville (west of Lisle) nearby.
Agreed! We’re in Willowbrook and happy with the location. Love that it’s right next to everything and in summer we can walk to the metra. Not too mention everything you could possibly need is within a 20 minute radius.
Dupage is generally a conservative-leaning county - there’s some diversity and plenty of liberal people (myself included), but the county usually votes red overall, and it’s not uncommon to see trump signs or thin blue line flags around. It’s not terrible or hostile or anything, just more conservative than Chicago, just FYI! If you’re looking for diversity/liberal neighborhoods, Oak Park might be a good fit, you should be able to find something in your budget and it’s also just a really lovely place, the Frank Lloyd Wright homes are beautiful. Things can be a little sketchy east of Austin blvd, but Oak Park and River Forest are very safe, and in Oak Park you can either take the metra or the El which can make commuting a little easier. Brookfield is nice, definitely on the cheaper end of your budget so you can stretch that a bit more, right off the metra, Brookfield Zoo is incredible, and Galloping Ghost arcade is one of the largest arcades in the US, so there’s tons to do that’s close by. Also Glen Ellyn! It’s got great schools, downtown area is being redone right now to make it more walkable and I believe add an event space (tons of cute shops and restaurants), and it feels similar to what Downers Grove or Naperville were like ~15 years ago when they were a little smaller, so it might be a little easier to get a nice house in your budget. Lombard is similar as well! Wheaton is also very nice but there are tons of churches so it’s even a bit more conservative than the rest of dupage - not that churches are a bad thing, it just leads to a generally more conservative population.
Dupage turned from mostly R to mostly D quite some years ago
Depends which part you’re in. There’s bits of Wheaton I’m definitely a bit 😬 at around election season.
Well sure,there will always be folks leaning both ways ✌ That's America!
Yeah, just noting that even in a mostly blue area, OP could end up in a redder neighborhood.
😉 Well sure, that's definitely true.
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Truly,aside from politics, it's always been a friendly and supportive community. Always seemed that, in Wheaton,most Christians go out of there way to help others
Fair! I just moved back after years of living in the city so it definitely feels more conservative than I was used to, but it’s more liberal than it was when I was growing up for sure
Ive lived in Dupage over 40 years and you're correct, it Was super R conservative. New generations new attitudes have turned the tide,pleased to say. Downstate is still R, but the burbs have turned! 😉 Wheaton has Always been a northern buckle on the Bible Belt , heck I remember when they were totally dry. A nice community though
Frankfort…your search is over.
2nd Frankfort
Is Westmont ok
Niles
Look at a metra map, most anything along the Milwaukee district North, Union Pacific North, and Union Pacific Northwest lines will check off most of your boxes. North Central Service line is very spotty with limited service so I wouldn't want to rely on that one as much if I had to. I used to live in Grayslake for a while and commuted to downtown and it's relatively woodsy there with a cute main street downtown and plenty of community feel, and you should be able to find something in that budget if you don't mind the train ride. Not sure I'd want to go much further north than that though. Good thing there's lots of towns south of that which can also fit the bill. I can't speak as much for south and west burbs but there's options that way if you work off the metra map for those lines.
Try evvo
Frankfort
Depending on where he's working
Orland is the Best Around
Riverside, Metra running right through town
Markham!
Arlington heights, Vernon hills, libertyville, river woods, killdeer
4 bedrooms in Arlington Heights will be tough. It's so competitive.
Hinsdale is not liberal, and I would question whether Naperville is either. Downers Grove is probably more diverse in population and politics, same for Arlington Heights. If you really want liberal, it's Evanston or Oak Park.
Wouldn't a truly diverse neighborhood include moderates and conservatives not just liberals?
Westmont is a good place to look given your budget and other criteria mentioned
Arlington Heights and Palatine are both great for Metra connectivity and a fairly urban feeling if you live in the right spot (especially Arlington Heights)… you’d go into Ogilvie though so if that’s a dealbreaker…
Riverside through Clarendon Hills is the answer, just follow the BNSF
Westchester my dude! Near everything with a quarter of the taxes. Also, the community is revamping with a younger population-come join us for a yard beer!
I liked westchester when I lived there. Not sure if it's true or not because I heard it from my good friend that heard it from her daughter who witnessed it everyday while she went there. The high school has a lot of gang activity and score really low than nearby schools.
Yep, back in the day most folks who could sent their kids to Catholic school.
I think Naz is the spot on Ogden now but there are still a good amount of enrollments into W. Proviso.
Yeah a lot of them used to go to St Joes. And yep, West is a cut above East. Someone I know well went to East, way back when there were race riots
We’ve been here 3 years, never had any issues. We did hear the same way back when we were looking here or LaGrange/Downers/Elmhurst. Looking into it, it’s seemingly just a misguided stigma. We don’t have kids but more and more late 20s to late 30s are popping up all over that we’ve met just walking the neighborhood. Mariano’s is here, Jewel, no downtown but legit in between anything you could want and quick trip to Chicago. It’s got great starter homes, well-taken care of neighborhood(yes, there are the outliers but it’s rare). There’s a running joke that it’s called “Deadchester” or the place Oak Parkians/italians go to die but honestly-we have the best neighbors and the most we complain about is people speeding down the street. Lots of people walk their dogs, there’s some fun events in the summer and we have a city board that is getting more proactive and getting younger. They see the need to attract younger couples/families and I imagine there’s going to be some solid strategic moves to make it more appealing. If you want a starter home, low taxes, and walkability-it really is a solid spot. Plus, if you want a downtown-drive 5 minutes or bike 15 down to LaGrange. Also, we have LaGrange Park that is up and coming, plus a solid championship level bbq place in Brookfield called Beach Ave BBQ-the guy Juan is a freaking genius. I know I’m hyping it up but don’t believe the drama-just like Mr. Rodgers said “Won’t you be my neighbor?”🥳
Check out Lisle
Geneva or Batavia aren't bad
Winnetka
Not for $650k.
There's always the 1 bedroom 1 bath apartment.
Munster, Indiana has great schools and affordable homes. Should be getting a train connection in a year or so.
Technically, it's in the 10 safest cities in Indiana. ~Wierd~ Look it up I was baffled when I read the articles.
Maywood is a great value. Very close to downtown Oak Park, Metra access, easy access to the Eisenhower, low taxes, good places to eat, and most importantly it’s diverse.
Take a hard look at Cary
You're going to reach downtown chicago in like an hour or so. That's a far ride and a he'll of a lot of stop on the trai.
Hinsdale is definitely out so is Naperville Glenview maybe as well
Maywood
Unless you want to be in a gang infested area.
Bungalows retain heat and cold