Live in Chicagoland, Work in Rockford (Palatine, Crystal Lake: crime rate, houses, find a job)

[npj]

We are looking at moving from Oklahoma to Illinois. My husband is looking at a job in Rockford. I saw Rockford had high crime rate, so we were thinking of living closer to Chicago. Any specific suburb recommendations? We have 2 kids, ages 3 years and 15 months. We both make a good income, would likely be willing to spend up to $500k-700k on a house. I work in healthcare so likely can find a job mostly anywhere. We would love to be close to playgrounds, or museums, or other fun or educational activities for kids. We would love to be involved in a community with other educated parents. We would like to live in a good school district or near a good Catholic school for the kids. But it also needs to be a relatively easy commute to Rockford. My husband may also need to go to the financial district in Chicago at times, so being close to the metra might be helpful as well. Let me know if any thoughts! Thanks in advance!

[G in MP]

It's doable I suppose, but be aware that commuting from Chicagoland burbs to Rockford would be a bit of a haul. Even for me, I'm in a far nw suburb of Chicago on the way to Rockford, and even I'm an 1:15 out from there. But Rockford itself has suburbs, and also there are towns closer to Rockford that I suppose can nowadays be considered part of Chicagoland as well, although weren't in the past, eg, Huntley.

[jmgg]

Originally Posted by npj

We are looking at moving from Oklahoma to Illinois. My husband is looking at a job in Rockford. I saw Rockford had high crime rate, so we were thinking of living closer to Chicago. Any specific suburb recommendations? We have 2 kids, ages 3 years and 15 months. We both make a good income, would likely be willing to spend up to $500k-700k on a house. I work in healthcare so likely can find a job mostly anywhere. We would love to be close to playgrounds, or museums, or other fun or educational activities for kids. We would love to be involved in a community with other educated parents. We would like to live in a good school district or near a good Catholic school for the kids. But it also needs to be a relatively easy commute to Rockford. My husband may also need to go to the financial district in Chicago at times, so being close to the metra might be helpful as well. Let me know if any thoughts! Thanks in advance!

Look into Freeport Illinois. It's a fair size city (around 25,000) straight west of Rockford about 30 miles. Very nice community. I've been there quite a few times as I have relatives there. If hubby only needs to go to the financial district in Chicago a couple times a month, this only adds an hour round trip to his commute.

[tolovefromANFIELD]

The closest to Rockford and still on Metra is Harvard.....but it's a stretch to say that's Chicagoland. There are some nice neighborhoods in/around Rockford, especially around the Mercy Health sports complex. Nice subdivisions over there.

Otherwise, it's either or. You're closer to the city and your husband has to commute more, or it's Rockford.

[npj]

Is Harvard nice? Family friendly? I have never heard of it but will look into it. Initially we were thinking of living in the NW suburbs but my husband was going to with from home 3-4 days a week, but now they are changing it to 1-2 days of work from home which is a lot different.

Have you lived in the Rockford area? Do you think the subdivisions are significantly safer than Rockford? I saw Rockford was one of the highest crime cities in the nation which is a little concerning. Thanks

[Hiruko]

I am sure that quite a few people commute from McHenry County to Rockford. However, I don't understand why you would avoid the Rockford area due to crime. Honestly, I have never heard of it described as a high-crime city. Dilapidated and downtrodden? Yes. It's been hit hard by the post-industrial economy. But, dangerous? No more so than much of Chicago.

There are definitely nicer areas of Rockford. The areas directly east of downtown seem to have many of the nicer neighborhoods, subdivisions, and educational institutions–$300-900k homes. Spending hours in the car in order to live in the northwest suburbs seems excessive, especially if you lack significant existing ties.

[tolovefromANFIELD]

Originally Posted by npj

Is Harvard nice? Family friendly? I have never heard of it but will look into it. Initially we were thinking of living in the NW suburbs but my husband was going to with from home 3-4 days a week, but now they are changing it to 1-2 days of work from home which is a lot different.

Have you lived in the Rockford area? Do you think the subdivisions are significantly safer than Rockford? I saw Rockford was one of the highest crime cities in the nation which is a little concerning. Thanks

Harvard is an exurb. You could probably buy a mansion for $700k. Family friendly? I'm sure, but the schools aren't known to be the greatest.

As far as Rockford goes, I've never lived up there, don't know anybody that does. I have, however, been to the MercyHealth sportscore two more times than I can count for kids sports. I think these subdivisions near there are safe, houses are big and appear well cared for. I'm not even sure if this is Rockford. I think it might be Loves Park? That's right next door to Rockford.

I believe this house is in one of those subdivisions:

https://www.realtor.com/realestatean...1_M81413-88873

[wjj]

So, if I understand correctly, commute 3 to 4 days a week mostly to Rockford but a few times a month to downtown Chicago? That is tough!

If you want to use Metra to get downtown from out there (which I think most would recommend), the only town remotely out that way with reasonable frequency is Crystal Lake. A number of trains express between Palatine and downtown so the trip can be just over an hour. Driving from Crystal Lake or nearby Lakewood to Rockford is about an hour though. Both are very nice communities. Maybe consider Marengo. It's about 40 minutes from Rockford and less than a half hour from Crystal Lake. Nice, but quite a bit smaller and far less amenities (shopping, restaurants, etc.) than the Crystal Lake/Lakewood area.

Back in the day when I worked downtown, I had several colleagues who commuted from Crystal Lake daily. They liked the lifestyle living there and the express trains made the commute downtown easy. So I guess best case if you lived in Crystal Lake or Lakewood is it would be a little over an hour to both Rockford driving or Chicago on the train.

Tough situation.

[Hiruko]

If I had to choose between being closer to my recreational activities or closer to my job, I would choose being closer to my job 100%. It's not as if Rockford is a ghost town. It's the large city in the state outside of the Chicagoland area.

[wjj]

Originally Posted by Hiruko

Honestly, I have never heard of it described as a high-crime city. Dilapidated and downtrodden? Yes. It's been hit hard by the post-industrial economy. But, dangerous? No more so than much of Chicago.

City-data begs to differ. Rockford crime rate is higher than 97.3% of all US cities.


https://www.city-data.com/crime/crim...-Illinois.html



Rockford usually appears on various "top 10 lists" of most dangerous cities in Illinois. Not that these lists are necessarily accurate given some less-than-robust methodologies, but for someone from outside the area using internet searches, Rockford does not fare well. For example:https://www.roadsnacks.net/most-dang...s-in-illinois/


Like another poster, I spent more time in the Rockford area than I would like to admit for tournaments at the Sportscore and other places in the area. I never thought it was that bad but for the most part we were in Loves Park and Machesney Park and not in the city itself. That was 25 years ago.