Anyone here live in Chicago, I'm seeking advice on suburbs to live in.

[eagetal96]

Lots of good helpful people on this forum so I figured I would ask. I will be working in aurora "party on Wayne" but I have been told not to live there. I have two kids in elementary school so that is my main concern. I've been looking at Batavia, and Yorkville.  There seems to be a fair amount of forclosures in Chicagoland so I will be aiming to get the best house for the money in an area with good schools. Any advice is greatly appreciated.

[Devil]

Aurora has it's areas, just like any.  But definitely alot of really nice areas.  If you can, the Fox River Valley around like Geneva and such is beautiful and a very nice area.

[eagetal96]

Thanks for the reply, heading over that way in a few days. Staying in montgomery initially but looking for a home in sugar grove or even further west.

[skdmark]

Oswego is also nice area. Aurora has some good areas and some not so good.
Geneva and Fox River Valley area is real nice.

[Mopar Mitch]

Naperville has won past awards for "best place to raise your family".  Also, consider St. Charles.   The SW burbs continue expand... lots of new homes, larger lots, many homes for sale.... a good Mopar friend of mine just bought a nice home in SW area of St. Charles (North Ave/Route 64 west of Randall Rd.... typical 1/2 acre lots or larger.   Pending where you'll be working, there can be a lot of time spent behind the wheel during rush hour as traffic always sucks.

I'm up in Mt. Prospect (near NW burbs).    You may eventually want to join the Chicagoland Mopar Connection car club (www.chicagolandmoparconnection.com).... lots of good ppl, car shows, events, etc!

[MJS73]

Yorkville is great, my son goes to school there.

[JH27N0B]

I live up north slumming it by Mitch  , but I've spent a good chunk of my career working in Fox valley towns and for the last 2 years I've been working in Lisle on the Lisle/Naperville border. Naperville has very highly rated schools but to me seems crowded and congested and it's $$$ to live there.  If I wasn't rooted in where I am now I think I'd be focusing on Wheaton, Lombard, West Chicago and Glen Ellen in my housing search.
One thing I think is important to think about around here is traffic patterns.  Traffic heading in the general direction of Chicago in the morning is awful and visa versa in the evening.  But going the opposite direction is generally fairly clear sailing.  I drive southwest 27 miles to get to work and barring an accident or snowstorm, get to work in 40-45 minutes on average.  At work I listen to coworkers gripe about the traffic coming in from places like Aurora and Oswego, which are a lot closer to Lisle than my town.  My manager bought a place in Naperville this year only 6 or 7 miles south of the office and complains about the bad traffic getting to work.
If the car scene factors at all in your search, the far SW suburbs have a pretty lame cruise scene with the exception of the once a month June to October Saturday evening Morris cruise (900 cars, don't miss it!). The best Chicago area cruises besides Morris are in Downers Grove, Lombard, Rolling Meadows, Roselle and Mundelein.