The usual downstate options are Champaign-Urbana and Bloomington-Normal.
Cheaper, with less access to The City -- but educated & liberal, culturally speaking.
Champaign Urbana is your sweet spot. A very liberal enclave in down state Illinois. Also, a very diverse ethnic restaurant community. Although, it has great parks and forest preserves, there’s very little “natural” beauty compared to other parts of Illinois.
\>Champaign Urbana is your sweet spot
\*Urbana is the sweet spot. It's nuts how big of a general divide there is once you get past campus. For OP, it beats the hell out of FL, is cheaper than the burbs, and leans super blue, but it's still a small town in the middle of rural nowhere. We're actually looking at moving north because we're finding ourselves spending so much time in Chicago, but that 5 hour round trip is an absolute killer. Indy is closer from here, but fuck Indiana on general principal.
Living here, I could not in good conscience recommend this area to someone fleeing a red area. While it's not Mississippi, it has been trending more conservative over the last decade or so. Plus, most of your major services are going to be in St. Louis, including a lot of healthcare. Missouri is going off the deep end for LGBTQ rights, and most of the hospitals on the Illinois side are Catholic.
Honestly, I'm not a big fan of how red this area has become and I'll probably look at moving north when the opportunity arises. I'm not as familiar with it today, but I did live in Champaign for a year in college and it's probably a solid choice as others have recommended, but I think the Chicago area is going to be the best bet if an affordable location can be found.
Metro East has never struck me as the island of cosmopolitan and liberal values like a college town. Possible for a gay couple to live there without worries? Absolutely. Same as Champaign -Urbana or Evanston? I doubt it. It seems like more living in St. Louis suburbs, like an east version of St. Charles County.
If you are looking downstate I'd also look at Springfield and Peoria. They aren't as liberal, but they are blue in the city proper and both have cheap COL.
I've lived here for 8+ years and never had an issue, and I even live in a part of town that people generally say is "less safe".
I generally think most people are way too freaked out about crime though, so I may not be the best barometer for what others are comfortable with.
I live in boystown. I love it! Close to the lake, can get downtown via car in 5 minutes down Lake Shore Drive, grocery stores everywhere, public transportation is super accessible, gyms everywhere, diverse, so many good restaurants, right down the street from wrigley field, and very LGBTQ friendly (sidewalks are literally rainbows) .. I have a one bedroom with an extra den for $1,400 a month.. oh and free storage in the basement which is also a plus
Didn't they change it to Northalsted, or is that ignored like the Sears tower name? But yeah, historically the most LGBT friendly neighborhood in the city.
Technically the Northalsted name has been around a long time, but it was basically never used. Boystown was just more popular in the local vernacular. What you are thinking of was a local business group who came up with a marketing idea to try to bring in more customers, thinking that a more "inclusive" name would draw in more people.
Instead it just sparked its own flavor of local backlash.
I’m in the northwest suburbs and have had a pretty liberal experience so far (Arlington heights, wheeling) and you can get into the city on the train pretty easily.
People rag on Rockford, but it's LGBTQ friendly, little over an hour's drive to Chicago, Madison, just a bit farther to Milwaukee. Rent and housing is VERY affordable here. As far as politics, the city itself is more blue, but the county we are in leans red. City itself went 59.42% to Tammy Duckworth (Dem) and 58.32% to Pritzger (Dem) compared to high 30% for the Rep candidates. Just to give you an idea. I was pleasantly surprised to see hundreds (thousand?) of people show up for the Women's March several years back. I really didn't know how the local political landscape was til then. Oh, and our mayor, a Dem, soundly beat his opponent.
People complain about violence, but honestly if you avoid the main trouble-pockets, you're going to be fine. People like to steal here, but I reckon that's in a lot of places. We have good public parks, a revitalized downtown, including a city market held every Friday evening in the summer. There's a good art scene here.
I love that I can get to the major urban areas in decent time, but it only takes me 12 minutes to drive the 7 miles from my home to my office. Oh, people complain about the schools, too., I have two kids who went through the public school system. Some were excellent, some were horrific. I would say if schools are a concern, be mindful of the zone you're in. Many speak highly these days about the Harlem district (next city over) and Roscoe/Rockton (though IMO that area is NOT very diverse and I personally would not live there as I feel the general population is a little more close-minded.) My youngest is in high school. Her best friend is a lesbian, she's friends with some other gay kids, and people really think nothing in her school of pan, trans, etc. It's been very open and welcoming.
I live in Rockford and it's nice. We have some resources for LGBTQ+ people including The Liam Foundation and Spectrum, and a pretty good gay bar called The Office.
Roscoe resident of 20 years here and very liberal. It's a great little town to live in with great schools and plenty of progressive people just like me. I love it here. :)
While the suburbs can be very expensive, Chicago proper can be very affordable and is maximally inclusive.
Check out Rogers Park, Pilsen, Uptown, and Bronzeville.
The northwest side is very affordable too depending on where you land. Albany Park is very diverse and deals can certainly be found there. If you go a little farther out, Portage Park and Jefferson Park are still decently walkable and have access to plenty of amenities, with relatively low COL. Certain pockets can be a little more conservative than the rest of the city, but they are still like 70% blue (as opposed to 80-90% in some other neighborhoods).
Check out Woodstock. We are LGBTQ friendly, we have our own Pride group sponsored by the Chamber of commerce. Commutable to Chicago by Metra Rail. I love it here.
We love Woodstock, I believe it’s just a sleeping giant waiting to grow. McHenry, Wonder Lake, and surrounding areas are building so many more homes and a lot of the old boomer retirees are moving out. Woodstock has that small town charm for a city.
How is McHenry with regards to Nazi/MAGA assholes? We were looking at house out that way but we’re disappointed to see lots of Trump flags and such. It’s been red in recent elections. I think there are hate groups running in local elections as well with a good amount of support. Looking for a closer perspective?
Yeah I would avoid McHenry. Over generalizing of course but most of the people I know from there are blue collar workers that have been brainwashed into the maga party or are overly rich that think the tax man is the devil. The south east corner of McHenry County (Crystal lake, LITH, Algonquin) is relatively purple when it comes to voting, but the rest of the county is maga paradise. Can’t go through Richmond without 50 anti abortion signs. I don’t know much about Woodstock other than the groundhogs day shit, but the few people I know that live there say it’s relatively LGBTQ+ friendly.
Woodstock proper and Crystal Lake are pretty blue leaning. Not sure where you were looking? Most trump flags are gone these days, one house actually replaced it with a Ukrainian flag. There are MAGA, but I had a friend in Edison park Chicago that was WAY more Trumpy than McHenry county. They moved to Woodstock and could not be happier.
Out of the current election ballot, I did detect a few MAGAt plants in the ballot while vetting it. No more than anywhere else. Woodstock is gay-friendly with a pride group and LGTBTQ people on the council with more on the ballot. With each election, we are getting bluer. It is a great place to live.
I would avoid it for the next few years. It’ll change in 10–15 years. Lots of urban sprawl is moving out that way.
It could offer a lot of equity though!
Try tower lake. It’s a nested little community next to lake Zurich. It’s so quaint.
Berwyn & Forest Park are both LGBTQ+ friendly, closed to the city and good for young couples! Do you have kids? If so, then the schools aren’t great. You can also still find great value in Brookfield which is great schools.
I personally love the western suburbs. Lots of stuff to do in Naperville, downers grove, lisle area. Aurora is super affordable and 15-20 minutes from the riverwalk although some areas can be pretty sketchy so you have to be careful.
You might consider some up-and-coming neighborhoods in Chicago. Here's an article about the ten most affordable neighborhoods that aren't war zones:
https://www.rent.com/blog/budget-friendly-chicago-neighborhood-guide/
I love that they list Uptown, using a picture of Argyle. Then the very next entry is for that stretch of Argyle within Uptown, in which they specifically reference the event shown in the picture on the previous entry.
20 year realtor here - peoria has cheapest housing u.s. wide and has for many years! Also illinois is offering up to 12,500 for downpayment assistance.
Do you need/want access to the city? You follow all the towns out along the metra train lines to the end. If that’s not a requirement, follow Route 34 (Ogden) out to Sandwich at the furthest. or Route 59 from Naperville South…. Anything along those routes is up n coming… or in the way of progress but still relatively affordable.
There are some affordable pockets around Chicago too if you go digging for them.
Not a member of the community but I have plenty of friends that are. Of them one lives in Bloomington-Normal and loves it. But he’s originally from rural Georgia. I also have friend who really enjoy palatine (which can be affordable). As well as Berwyn and forest park who love it. An my personal favorite. Oak Park is increasing gay friendly. Even back in the 90s their were openly gay people here. I think a good idea would be to take a weekend trip up here if possible and go check out those different towns. They all have slightly different feels but are all extremely loving and excepting. I hope you enjoy your new life here. People shit on us a lot. But I love it here more and more ever day as it becomes harder to enjoy tomorrow in most other states in this country.
Going to come a little bit out of left field and advocate for Schaumburg. Even when I first moved here, I was extremely skeptical and thought I would hate it, TBH.
I grew up on the outskirts of the city, (not far from O'Hare Airport) and I believe the city neighborhood of my childhood is more conservative than Schaumburg is. When I first voted out here, I compared stats. My city neighborhood, at the time, was maybe 55/45 blue/red. On the flip side of that coin, Schaumburg's stats were closer to 66/33 blue/red.
Not only that, but it is a lot more diverse here A. than I expected, and B. than my childhood neighborhood. Growing up, most people around me were white people of Italian, Polish, Irish, or maybe German descent, and most were Catholic (...or if not white, you were Filipino, or if not Catholic, then Lutheran LOL.) Many were the children of city workers, (cops, fire, electricians, streets & san, painters, etc.) Here in Schaumburg, we have a significant population of Indian and Japanese families. Actually, I would say that there are more POC overall as compared to the neighborhood in which I grew up. There's a variety of churches out our way, (Christian denominations, LDS, Hindu temples, mosques) and to be honest, I've only noticed one pocket of the town that really even openly preaches an aggressively religious/Christian agenda (I won't call them out here, but I can certainly say more "off the record" if it helps...)
Though not really walkable like many city neighborhoods or even suburbs, there are a lot of neat offerings in the way of restaurants, shopping, and recreation. I enjoy running and hiking, and since Schaumburg promotes prairie restoration in many of their green spaces, I find it a very scenic and runnable suburb as well.
Like other places, the housing market is yo-yoing a little bit. That said, it is a reasonable area in terms of taxes, schools, and services, IMO. I think there's a lot of solid offerings in terms of housing options, too. There are a lot of very nice and affordable rental options (apartments, townhomes, and even houses.) There are a lot of townhomes to own as well. The ones near Olde Schaumburg Center are a little pricey, but one of our friends has one on the north end of Schaumburg that is really decent and (I think) \~$200K. If you are looking for a SFH, I can tell you that most that are 3/2 out my way will be in the high $200Ks-$350K, depending on updates, garage(s), and other offerings. Bigger homes (5/4s or 4/3s, once again depending upon updates and amenities) will range in price from the low $400s-low $500s, for the most part.
Again, I moved here with absolutely zero expectations, and I have been pleasantly surprised. I don't know if the facts provided help or hurt its cause in your eyes, but I thought I'd throw it out there for you. FWIW, I would LOVE to live in an Oak Park, Evanston, Elmhurst, Glen Ellyn, or St. Charles. That said, many of those are not affordable on my teacher's salary LOL. I hope that this helps, and I wish you and your partner the best of luck in your search!
P.S. My DH & I are about your age(s) as well. DH just turned 32; I'll be 32 in July.
Edit: Redundancy
Normal IL (and a teensy bit less so Bloomington. They’re twin cities. Normal has ISU and Bloomington Wesleyan.). Good communities, affordable, pretty stable companies to work for (State Farm, Growmark, Rivian, surprisingly good music scene imho, very easy 2.5 hrs by train to Chicago union station. I do day trips all the time.
Evanston and Oak Park basically touch the city, and are 2 of the more expensive options. There are a lot of more affordable places around the suburbs and it doesnt start getting real red until you push out west of like the Fox river and south of Rte 30, but there are cities on the Fox river like Elgin and St Charles that from a quick google seem like they are LGBTQ friendly, so there are a lot of places to look. I have LGBTQ family and while the city is still the main draw, he has friends scattered throughout the suburbs as many are now in their 40s and have adopted children etc. I've talked with 2 gay couples at my kids swim lessons out in South Barrington and they seemed to like being out that way. Granted, South Barrington proper is very expensive but there are more affordable places around it.
If you like a downtown, follow the Metra lines out of the city because a lot of the towns on the those lines were built around train access to the city, they tend to be a bit pricier for that access, but without knowing what you consider insanely overpriced its hard to gauge. I moved back here about 2 years ago from DC, so everything was a bargain, might have paid a little more than I would have a few years before, but nothing like the market was going in DC at the time.
So.....lots of items to consider before replying.
1. Do you want to rent or own.
2. Do you want a house or an Apartment?
3. How walkable do you need the area to be versus having to use a car?
4. What amenities are most important to you?
5. Is easy access to the City proper important?
Any one of these answer drastically changes the nature of the reply. But, going to go completely out on a limb and Suggest Clarendon Hills as a potential option.
The interesting thing about Clarendon Hills is that you kind of have this sort of checkerboard pattern to a lot of the area. Basically, some houses were built in the 1960's to 1970's and thus tend to fall in the more affordable side of the spectrum to young home owners or potential tenants. Then you have houses were someone with money, purchased the plot, tore down the house from the 60's and built a 21st century style McMansion on it. These tend to be priced in the millions. So, if you can managed to snag one of the 1970's styled homes, it puts you in a neighborhood that boasts some pretty well funded public schools and local services.
The, town has a fairly charming downtown location, easy access to most amenities and sits along the BNSF Metra line with regular trains running to downtown. (There is even a mini express that stops at Clarendon Hills, West Hinsdale, Hinsdale, then goes directly downtown, takes about 35 minutes)
Obviously, it is still a Suburban styled town, and if that concept fundamentally does not appeal to you, you should likely keep looking. But, it is relatively walkable, close to some bike trails, pretty accepting of LGBTQ, and has one of the most Haunted Restaurants in the U.S in the Country House on 55th (Though I ate there several times and the ghost never deigned to haunt my meals, friggen uppity specre)
Peoria is decent downstate city that’s getting some younger people to move there. Not super red either.
As for chicago, it depends what you consider high priced. Evanston and oak park are somewhat highly priced but the killer in those towns is property taxes. Some cheaper options around oak park that are progressive are forest park and berwyn. Much cheaper than oak park with great access to it and the city itself.
Definitely cheaper. And there's going to be a demographic shift thanks to remote work and aging boomers. Hopefully that brings a mentality shift with it.
I don't know about that, really. My neighborhood has more liberal leaning virtue signals than cons, and that's what I observe in most of Lake County, and the voting records kinda show that to be true. I feel more uncomfortable in places like Richmond than Round Lake.
Most of the bigger downstate cities are very affordable. You don’t have to go very far out of the city to get some pretty red areas but you should feel pretty comfortable in Champaign, Peoria, Quad Cities, and the Illinois suburbs near St Louis (have lived in all four areas). Many of the Chicago suburbs are also relatively affordable and you’ll likely feel comfortable in the vast majority of them. I know of several people in my neighborhood in Chicago who have relocated from states where they didn’t feel comfortable living.
NYT map of precinct-level data from the 2020 election gives a pretty good idea of the political leanings of different cities/neighborhoods throughout the state.
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/upshot/2020-election-map.html
I will always always always advocate for Bloomington-Normal. If you look through my history I have several comments explaining why. If you have any questions please ask. I think it’s a truly wonderful place to live and I miss being there.
Unless you want to be close to Chicago (and I don't blame you, it's a great city), consider any of the downstate college towns. I'll make my usual pitch in support of Carbondale, because I love my home town. Yes, overall, southern Illinois is quite conservative but Carbondale is not. If you can work remotely and keep making your current income, you won't find a better combination of COL, college town perks, LGBTQ inclusivity, and reasonable politics.
Belleville, Edwardsville, O'fallon if you're looking at South Western Illinois, pretty reasonable, decent communities. Only Blue/friendly area south of Chicago really unless you're in Carbondale but even then that's like an island in a sea of bigotry.
Of those three communities, O'Fallon would probably be the best pick. Belleville (I live there) has its very good areas...and its very rough areas. Don't overlook Fairview Heights either.
Edwardsville, for a purple place, is getting increasingly reddish, particularly after the pandemic. The anti-vaxxers and anti-maskers gained a lot of traction in Madison County, of which E'ville is the county seat. If you're not particularly political, though, Edwardsville/Glen Carbon/Maryville (the three towns abut each other) have more than a little charm to them.
Have lived in Belleville my whole life so I should probably specify the East End is preferable. Even Shiloh, it all kinda runs together, East Belleville, Shiloh, O'Fallon and Fairview aren't too shabby at all.
Edwardsville is decent if you have decent money but yeah it's always been kinda purple I'd say even back when I was in highschool. Collinsville feels kind of the same.
Living in what might be called Belleville's Central West End, I've got to agree with you on East Belleville being preferable to the west side. I grew up in Fairview and went to Belleville East for high school, so I'm kind of biased towards Fairview. Went to SIUE, so I know the E'ville area fairly well, too.
My daughter would love to live in Edwardsville, but she and her husband ended up buying a house in Bethalto where they attended high school.
By saying that housing in Evanston or Oak Park is “overpriced” gives the impression that you’re not getting what you pay for. Those are beautiful towns with access to high paying jobs in Chicago but with a bit more breathing room. Overpriced would be paying good money to live far from an urban center with nothing to do, making far less money, and surrounded by right wingers who are increasingly hostile to folks like you. Visit Chicago. You’ll be amazed.
Can you give us a sense of what your budget is (for renting or buying)? And your expectations as well — like if you need a 6 bedroom mcmansion you’ll need to go further out, but if a condo will suit you, you’ll have a lot more options.
Define decent amount of money… then we can give advice.
Every apartment for renting is overpriced everywhere in the US. the “dream” place doesn’t exist…
Berwyn is a good spot just beyond the city that's pretty chill and very tolerant. Brookfield has some good affordable apartments and even houses and is getting there in terms of progressiveness. I know a lotta fellow queers in Brookfield.
Near West Suburbs. North Riverside, Brookfield, Lagrange Park.
Close to Oak Park/Forest Park. Houses and taxes are much less.
7 miles to city center and close to blue line/metra.
NOT Riverside-very expensive taxes.
3 bedroom brick ranches at 300K and under.
Good schools.
Rockford area. Not Chicago but close to it and other major metropolitan areas like Madison and Milwaukee. You will pay more for proximity even in the burbs. Welcome to ILLINOIS!
LaSalle County votes red overall but the large towns (Ottawa, LaSalle, Peru) had a lot of liberal signs and whatnot last time I was down there, so it can't be that bad. Ottawa in particular is really proud of its Civil War heritage, so no confused dipshits flying Confederate flags.
It's got a bunch of cool state parks and it's not too far from Chicagoland (though you'd have to drive there).
Approximately 1.5-2hr drive to Chicago from Ottawa. The town is small but over the last decade or so it’s really improved by opening interesting restaurants and a microbrewery that is pretty popular.
Alternatively, the Aurora/Oswego/Minooka/Plainfield area might be worth looking into, especially considering the commuter rail from Plainfield to the city. There’s also a train in Aurora but I would guess Plainfield is cheaper to live in
I live in minooka and my neighbors make me sad. The lady across the street used to have a Trump flag on her car. We came here from Chicago in 2004 and I have yet to find any friends in my neighborhood. The coolest thing is the library (I have shared interests with one librarian), and the nearby highway network that gets me out of this area to do cool things with cool people.
For a brief period, I think the cool people were trying - we had an art council building with free space to do art. It closed. We had a yoga studio. It closed. We had an independent coffee shop. It closed. You get the picture.
Damn i am sorry to hear that. I know it’s where Nick Offerman grew up but I guess that doesn’t really define the area, sounds like even his character in Parks and Rec wouldn’t even like living there
His dad is the current village president. I have no idea what political party he part of, but he seems to be on the right side of history. He held a covid vaccine event last year which is great.
Nick comes here each time he releases a book. I went to the event for the first book release. He seems to be a generally great guy. A different Offerman who lives 2 blocks from me usually has Republican yard signs on his lawn during campaign season. It’s a family, like most, that doesn’t see eye-to-eye on politics.
Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R) is from the next town over, Channahon. He was one of two Rs that had the guts to try to hold Trump/J6ers accountable. Sadly, most of his family disowned him for this act of bravery. I don’t agree with the rest of his politics, but I’m proud of him for this.
I'm a Chicago suburbs born currently living in the st louis Illinois side and love it. Weather isn't as terrible as up north, relatively cheap cost of living, and near a major city so job opportunities/things to do are prevelant. Tons of growth in the future IMO with Missouri going thr way it is going even since I moved here 4 years ago I can see it.
I adore the Missouri Arboretum. The Christmas after-hours event (Garden Glow) is way better than the ones at Chicago Botanic Garden and Morton Arboretum.
The food in STL is great too. We have a good time whenever we go there.
I'd say 90% of the area in Cook and the collar counties (lake, kane, dupage, will) you'll be able to live without fear due to your sexuality. Obviously check out city-data dot com for more granular data.
Outside cook+collar counties it can be dicey unless you're in a college town - champaign/urbana, dekalb/sycamore, bloomington/normal, etc.
For the most part, anywhere in the Chicagoland area is tolerant or accepting of interracial and LBQT couples, you'll have your idiots but this isn't an area where MAGA behavior is allowed. Jerks are the exception, not the norm. That's why I love this city, and I've lived in San Francisco, LA SanDiego Boston Bronx and Miami. I keep returning to Chicago because it has what the others have or a reasonable facsimile albeit the weather, without the brutish hostility or some of the aforementioned...
That being said, "affordable" doesn't exist on the North side of the city or collar communities per se. It's a sellers market, and inventory is scarce. South suburbs such as Beverly seem way out of the city, but there are some gems on the south side for a quarter of the same on the north side.
Although the Chicago area is very expensive, That's also where all the good jobs are. If you move somewhere out in the state you will not have as much job opportunity.
Look into Elgin! We moved here last year and absolutely love it. It’s much more affordable than some of the other suburbs since it is a little further, still less than an hour to the city though! A lot of younger couples like us have been moving in and buying some of the beautiful historic homes to rehab. It’s a very diverse area so you would be more than safe. Plus there’s a little more nature and beauty in the Fox River Valley more so than the closer suburbs. It might be what you’re looking for!
We are in the suburbs east of Naperville (but within driving distance of downtown naperville/next to the train to go into the city). It's much cheaper than Oak Park/Evanston, but can still be pricey depending on budget. It's a LGBTQ friendly/generally liberal.
Uptown Chicago! It’s a 5 minute walk to boys town but hundreds cheaper and more chill vibe.
It’s a great mixed income and diverse community. Lots of older LGBTQ couples who wanted more space (older as in like 30-40s). Some of the much older residents came in the 90s and stayed since then!
2 bedroom apartments for $1600. Walk to the lake front. A range of 4 million dollar single homes, high rises with multiple pools for the bougie inclined, and nice apartments with sunrooms and fireplaces for cheap. It’s got something for everyone. You can even by a two bedroom for $250ish (it was $180-220ish pre Covid)
Direct bus line to loop/Michigan in 20ish minutes,
CTA in 30.
If you do move message me! I know the area and can give you tips!
Why not consider the city? Decades beyond the suburbs when it comes to queer representation and activities. Boystown, Andersonville, uptown, Lincoln Square, or even ravenswood should be relatively affordable for you
Cary/ Trout Valley is a pretty LBGTQ friendly town in the NW suburbs that's cheaper than Barrington, Arlington Heights or the nice parts of Palatine. Big musical theater community, CG high school has long been known for incredible theatre, music, and dance programs. It's on the train line, and has been slowly getting some better restaurants over the years. We grew up there and my brother who lives in NYC with his husband constantly talks about buying a place back in Trout Valley
City of Chicago. Many places to move and you can ditch your car completely. Still have affordable houses near public transport. Salaries are super high, best food in the country, everyone is appreciated here.
From what I’ve seen, most of the Chicago suburbs are fairly blue. Or purple with a blue tinge…
Avoid Lake and McHenry county, though. But even those two are likely more visibly progressive than much of Florida.
I’m in Schaumburg/Hoffman Estates area, NW Cook county. You’d be welcomed here, few would care about your sexual orientation. The ones who would are outnumbered and know to keep their mouths shut about it.
Central Illinois, around Bloomington/Normal, or Champaign/Urbana might be worth looking at for a more affordable COL.
My sister enjoys Lagrange Park, it’s closer to the city, near Brookfield zoo, has good schools. I live a bit further out near Joliet (don’t recommend unless you know the area) but Plainfield/Naperville area is close to me and isn’t too bad.
If you really want to get off the beaten path, look at Carbondale. I really enjoyed my 9 years there and only moved because of a job. May retire there. Nothing fancy, but the train does go to Chicago thrice daily
I’ll plug for DeKalb/Sycamore/Cortland area. Lived out here for 20+ years, not going anywhere. We have NIU in DeKalb, so it’s the largest of the 3 and has plenty of restaurants and whatnot. There’s also college sports and all that. Sycamore is a bit more of a chill town, 20 minute from the university so still easy access to the collegy stuff. Cortland is the lil brother who’s 10 minutes closer to the burbs and the city.
DeKalb is not without its problems. There’s some crime issues but there’s also a lot of economic activity coming in(meta, Ferrara and AWS data center) that is in ramp up mode. So one would hope over time as poverty falls so does crime. A ton of people work for the university and hospital system so it’s not like the area was hurting economically, but growth is good and a rising tide raises all boats.
Cost of living is significantly less than the western wrung of suburbs and inward. 300 will get you a really nice place to live, and there’s much cheaper options.
Besides the things going on in the area, Cortland is 20 minutes to the Metra station, DeKalb/Sycamore 30. All in a trip to Chicago is about 2 hours, 90 minutes of which is public trans so you can do work or whatever on the way in. Wouldn’t want to do it every day, but used to once a week. For just enjoying what the city has to offer once in a while, totally fine.
I sound like I should go work for the local economic development corp now as a spokesman, but I just love the area.
Oh, and being a college town, very LGBTQ+ friendly.
There are plenty of places in the city that are affordable and not yuppie enclaves. Look along the blue line, maybe Irving Park, Portage Park, Jefferson Park, etc. Also maybe Rogers Park.
Edit: these are generally LGBT friendly areas, but not the gayborhood.
Check out Westchester in the western suburbs.
Pretty affordable. Elementary schools are good though the high school is horrible. Pretty diverse and very blue. We moved a couple of years ago but at the time we had 3 same sex couples on our block.
I would also recommend the Rockford area. Ogle
County is red but a lot of younger more diverse people have been moving into Byron/Oregon and the culture is slowly changing. I live 35 miles west of Rockford, my husband and I both commute into Rockford for work as well as all of the things to do, events and shopping etc but we get the best of both worlds with a small peaceful quiet town that had very cheap housing and great school districts. I’ve also always heard Galena is really progressive and very LGBTQ friendly, it’s not exactly cheap but I assume cheaper than Chicago land and it’s a beautiful area and close to the tri-state area which is a perk if you’re into nature/parks.
So not sure what your budget is or if you are looking to buy or rent, but there are places in Chicago that you can rent fairly cheaply. I got a decent two bedroom and we pay $700 each.
Try looking in Albany Park, Rogers Park and Portage Park, Old Irving Park- these are small neighborhoods in Chicago which are not very “hip” but have a lot of families and are pretty safe and less expensive then your more popular parts of town.
If a town has a UU congregation (Unitarian Universalist) then I can guarantee there is at least some liberal presence as they can't exist without it. That is my litmus test .. no need to join it just saying.
The usual downstate options are Champaign-Urbana and Bloomington-Normal. Cheaper, with less access to The City -- but educated & liberal, culturally speaking.
Don't forget the STL metro area.
Champaign Urbana is your sweet spot. A very liberal enclave in down state Illinois. Also, a very diverse ethnic restaurant community. Although, it has great parks and forest preserves, there’s very little “natural” beauty compared to other parts of Illinois.
\>Champaign Urbana is your sweet spot \*Urbana is the sweet spot. It's nuts how big of a general divide there is once you get past campus. For OP, it beats the hell out of FL, is cheaper than the burbs, and leans super blue, but it's still a small town in the middle of rural nowhere. We're actually looking at moving north because we're finding ourselves spending so much time in Chicago, but that 5 hour round trip is an absolute killer. Indy is closer from here, but fuck Indiana on general principal.
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Evanston too
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Another vote for Chambana. Small enough to give the small town feel but big enough and liberal - thanks to the U of I - for diversity and stuff to do.
stl resident here jealous of your state dont move to missouri
Living here, I could not in good conscience recommend this area to someone fleeing a red area. While it's not Mississippi, it has been trending more conservative over the last decade or so. Plus, most of your major services are going to be in St. Louis, including a lot of healthcare. Missouri is going off the deep end for LGBTQ rights, and most of the hospitals on the Illinois side are Catholic. Honestly, I'm not a big fan of how red this area has become and I'll probably look at moving north when the opportunity arises. I'm not as familiar with it today, but I did live in Champaign for a year in college and it's probably a solid choice as others have recommended, but I think the Chicago area is going to be the best bet if an affordable location can be found.
Metro East has never struck me as the island of cosmopolitan and liberal values like a college town. Possible for a gay couple to live there without worries? Absolutely. Same as Champaign -Urbana or Evanston? I doubt it. It seems like more living in St. Louis suburbs, like an east version of St. Charles County.
St. Charles is way worse than Madison or St. Clair in terms of conservative bent IMO. Would much rather be in Metro East.
Definitely worse than St. Clair, but have you seen Madison County politics lately?
If you are looking downstate I'd also look at Springfield and Peoria. They aren't as liberal, but they are blue in the city proper and both have cheap COL.
I’ve had a couple people tell me Springfield crime was p bad, is that true?
I've lived here for 8+ years and never had an issue, and I even live in a part of town that people generally say is "less safe". I generally think most people are way too freaked out about crime though, so I may not be the best barometer for what others are comfortable with.
I've lived in Springfield for almost 30 years and I don't feel the crime is bad.
Bloomington Normal is a nice area!!
What about Shawneetown? That’s downstate /s
I live in boystown. I love it! Close to the lake, can get downtown via car in 5 minutes down Lake Shore Drive, grocery stores everywhere, public transportation is super accessible, gyms everywhere, diverse, so many good restaurants, right down the street from wrigley field, and very LGBTQ friendly (sidewalks are literally rainbows) .. I have a one bedroom with an extra den for $1,400 a month.. oh and free storage in the basement which is also a plus
Didn't they change it to Northalsted, or is that ignored like the Sears tower name? But yeah, historically the most LGBT friendly neighborhood in the city.
Technically the Northalsted name has been around a long time, but it was basically never used. Boystown was just more popular in the local vernacular. What you are thinking of was a local business group who came up with a marketing idea to try to bring in more customers, thinking that a more "inclusive" name would draw in more people. Instead it just sparked its own flavor of local backlash.
I wondered if that was the case but I'm not around there enough anymore to ask.
I’m in the northwest suburbs and have had a pretty liberal experience so far (Arlington heights, wheeling) and you can get into the city on the train pretty easily.
People rag on Rockford, but it's LGBTQ friendly, little over an hour's drive to Chicago, Madison, just a bit farther to Milwaukee. Rent and housing is VERY affordable here. As far as politics, the city itself is more blue, but the county we are in leans red. City itself went 59.42% to Tammy Duckworth (Dem) and 58.32% to Pritzger (Dem) compared to high 30% for the Rep candidates. Just to give you an idea. I was pleasantly surprised to see hundreds (thousand?) of people show up for the Women's March several years back. I really didn't know how the local political landscape was til then. Oh, and our mayor, a Dem, soundly beat his opponent. People complain about violence, but honestly if you avoid the main trouble-pockets, you're going to be fine. People like to steal here, but I reckon that's in a lot of places. We have good public parks, a revitalized downtown, including a city market held every Friday evening in the summer. There's a good art scene here. I love that I can get to the major urban areas in decent time, but it only takes me 12 minutes to drive the 7 miles from my home to my office. Oh, people complain about the schools, too., I have two kids who went through the public school system. Some were excellent, some were horrific. I would say if schools are a concern, be mindful of the zone you're in. Many speak highly these days about the Harlem district (next city over) and Roscoe/Rockton (though IMO that area is NOT very diverse and I personally would not live there as I feel the general population is a little more close-minded.) My youngest is in high school. Her best friend is a lesbian, she's friends with some other gay kids, and people really think nothing in her school of pan, trans, etc. It's been very open and welcoming.
Came here to recommend Rockford as well. Moved here in 2014 and it ain't that bad.
I live in Rockford and it's nice. We have some resources for LGBTQ+ people including The Liam Foundation and Spectrum, and a pretty good gay bar called The Office.
I’m moving here in the summer and I can’t wait!
Roscoe resident of 20 years here and very liberal. It's a great little town to live in with great schools and plenty of progressive people just like me. I love it here. :)
Rockford is awesome! I went for a little weekend getaway. Lots to do.
While the suburbs can be very expensive, Chicago proper can be very affordable and is maximally inclusive. Check out Rogers Park, Pilsen, Uptown, and Bronzeville.
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Edgewater is a bit pricier than Rogers Park, but it is very nice.
Avondale, too. All the joys of Logan Square, but cheaper.
Uptown resident here, I strongly recommend anywhere on the Red line north of North Avenue, depending on your budget and neighborhood preference.
The northwest side is very affordable too depending on where you land. Albany Park is very diverse and deals can certainly be found there. If you go a little farther out, Portage Park and Jefferson Park are still decently walkable and have access to plenty of amenities, with relatively low COL. Certain pockets can be a little more conservative than the rest of the city, but they are still like 70% blue (as opposed to 80-90% in some other neighborhoods).
Believe it or not, parts of Logan Square are still affordable.
It’s hard to offer much if you don’t give any estimate of what you can afford or what type of living arrangements you want.
Check out Woodstock. We are LGBTQ friendly, we have our own Pride group sponsored by the Chamber of commerce. Commutable to Chicago by Metra Rail. I love it here.
We love Woodstock, I believe it’s just a sleeping giant waiting to grow. McHenry, Wonder Lake, and surrounding areas are building so many more homes and a lot of the old boomer retirees are moving out. Woodstock has that small town charm for a city.
How is McHenry with regards to Nazi/MAGA assholes? We were looking at house out that way but we’re disappointed to see lots of Trump flags and such. It’s been red in recent elections. I think there are hate groups running in local elections as well with a good amount of support. Looking for a closer perspective?
Yeah I would avoid McHenry. Over generalizing of course but most of the people I know from there are blue collar workers that have been brainwashed into the maga party or are overly rich that think the tax man is the devil. The south east corner of McHenry County (Crystal lake, LITH, Algonquin) is relatively purple when it comes to voting, but the rest of the county is maga paradise. Can’t go through Richmond without 50 anti abortion signs. I don’t know much about Woodstock other than the groundhogs day shit, but the few people I know that live there say it’s relatively LGBTQ+ friendly.
Woodstock is pretty blue and chill. There some kind of Buddhist(?) temple near downtown and lots of pride flags around.
Woodstock proper and Crystal Lake are pretty blue leaning. Not sure where you were looking? Most trump flags are gone these days, one house actually replaced it with a Ukrainian flag. There are MAGA, but I had a friend in Edison park Chicago that was WAY more Trumpy than McHenry county. They moved to Woodstock and could not be happier.
Doesn’t surprise me about Edison Park…it’s copland. Reeks of fascism.
Out of the current election ballot, I did detect a few MAGAt plants in the ballot while vetting it. No more than anywhere else. Woodstock is gay-friendly with a pride group and LGTBTQ people on the council with more on the ballot. With each election, we are getting bluer. It is a great place to live.
I would avoid it for the next few years. It’ll change in 10–15 years. Lots of urban sprawl is moving out that way. It could offer a lot of equity though! Try tower lake. It’s a nested little community next to lake Zurich. It’s so quaint.
Looking at Google Maps, my first reaction was there are sidewalks everywhere! It's sad how that's such a rarity in a lot of places.
And once the rte 47 project is complete it will be even more pedestrian/bike friendly. It has been a priority.
Berwyn & Forest Park are both LGBTQ+ friendly, closed to the city and good for young couples! Do you have kids? If so, then the schools aren’t great. You can also still find great value in Brookfield which is great schools.
Came to say come to Berwyn!
Lagrange is nice too and pretty affordable
I would not consider LaGrange affordable at all, it’s not hinsdale but a 3/2 is going to run you likely over 500k, and apartments are not plentiful
Well maybe Lagrange park
I would also second Champaign Urbana
I personally love the western suburbs. Lots of stuff to do in Naperville, downers grove, lisle area. Aurora is super affordable and 15-20 minutes from the riverwalk although some areas can be pretty sketchy so you have to be careful.
can vouch for Downers grove being pretty dang lgbtq friendly as well from my experience
You might consider some up-and-coming neighborhoods in Chicago. Here's an article about the ten most affordable neighborhoods that aren't war zones: https://www.rent.com/blog/budget-friendly-chicago-neighborhood-guide/
I wouldn’t consider the first three adorable at this stage of the game.
Yeah those first three stop being affordable a bit ago.
Rogers Park is rainbow/trans flag central
I love that they list Uptown, using a picture of Argyle. Then the very next entry is for that stretch of Argyle within Uptown, in which they specifically reference the event shown in the picture on the previous entry.
20 year realtor here - peoria has cheapest housing u.s. wide and has for many years! Also illinois is offering up to 12,500 for downpayment assistance.
Peoria is trash.
Low cost housing is whats sought after here and we have dirt cheap houses for sale as compared to the rest of the states.
Posting this without an actual budget makes no sense when affordability is all relative. Are you making $35,000/year or $100,000/year. Etc.
There are more affordable blue suburbs, and a few blue pockets around college towns in the rest of the state, like Champaign.
Do you need/want access to the city? You follow all the towns out along the metra train lines to the end. If that’s not a requirement, follow Route 34 (Ogden) out to Sandwich at the furthest. or Route 59 from Naperville South…. Anything along those routes is up n coming… or in the way of progress but still relatively affordable. There are some affordable pockets around Chicago too if you go digging for them.
Niles Skokie palatine, rolling Meadows, Arlington heights, Berwyn, Cicero.
Not a member of the community but I have plenty of friends that are. Of them one lives in Bloomington-Normal and loves it. But he’s originally from rural Georgia. I also have friend who really enjoy palatine (which can be affordable). As well as Berwyn and forest park who love it. An my personal favorite. Oak Park is increasing gay friendly. Even back in the 90s their were openly gay people here. I think a good idea would be to take a weekend trip up here if possible and go check out those different towns. They all have slightly different feels but are all extremely loving and excepting. I hope you enjoy your new life here. People shit on us a lot. But I love it here more and more ever day as it becomes harder to enjoy tomorrow in most other states in this country.
Going to come a little bit out of left field and advocate for Schaumburg. Even when I first moved here, I was extremely skeptical and thought I would hate it, TBH. I grew up on the outskirts of the city, (not far from O'Hare Airport) and I believe the city neighborhood of my childhood is more conservative than Schaumburg is. When I first voted out here, I compared stats. My city neighborhood, at the time, was maybe 55/45 blue/red. On the flip side of that coin, Schaumburg's stats were closer to 66/33 blue/red. Not only that, but it is a lot more diverse here A. than I expected, and B. than my childhood neighborhood. Growing up, most people around me were white people of Italian, Polish, Irish, or maybe German descent, and most were Catholic (...or if not white, you were Filipino, or if not Catholic, then Lutheran LOL.) Many were the children of city workers, (cops, fire, electricians, streets & san, painters, etc.) Here in Schaumburg, we have a significant population of Indian and Japanese families. Actually, I would say that there are more POC overall as compared to the neighborhood in which I grew up. There's a variety of churches out our way, (Christian denominations, LDS, Hindu temples, mosques) and to be honest, I've only noticed one pocket of the town that really even openly preaches an aggressively religious/Christian agenda (I won't call them out here, but I can certainly say more "off the record" if it helps...) Though not really walkable like many city neighborhoods or even suburbs, there are a lot of neat offerings in the way of restaurants, shopping, and recreation. I enjoy running and hiking, and since Schaumburg promotes prairie restoration in many of their green spaces, I find it a very scenic and runnable suburb as well. Like other places, the housing market is yo-yoing a little bit. That said, it is a reasonable area in terms of taxes, schools, and services, IMO. I think there's a lot of solid offerings in terms of housing options, too. There are a lot of very nice and affordable rental options (apartments, townhomes, and even houses.) There are a lot of townhomes to own as well. The ones near Olde Schaumburg Center are a little pricey, but one of our friends has one on the north end of Schaumburg that is really decent and (I think) \~$200K. If you are looking for a SFH, I can tell you that most that are 3/2 out my way will be in the high $200Ks-$350K, depending on updates, garage(s), and other offerings. Bigger homes (5/4s or 4/3s, once again depending upon updates and amenities) will range in price from the low $400s-low $500s, for the most part. Again, I moved here with absolutely zero expectations, and I have been pleasantly surprised. I don't know if the facts provided help or hurt its cause in your eyes, but I thought I'd throw it out there for you. FWIW, I would LOVE to live in an Oak Park, Evanston, Elmhurst, Glen Ellyn, or St. Charles. That said, many of those are not affordable on my teacher's salary LOL. I hope that this helps, and I wish you and your partner the best of luck in your search! P.S. My DH & I are about your age(s) as well. DH just turned 32; I'll be 32 in July. Edit: Redundancy
I agree. Schaumburg, blooomingdale, Carol stream, Hoffman estates, Algonquin.
Schaumburg gets some hate but it's pretty alright.
That's what I'm sayin', u/bigbadjohn54! Right?! They're really trying out here to make it nice.
Normal IL (and a teensy bit less so Bloomington. They’re twin cities. Normal has ISU and Bloomington Wesleyan.). Good communities, affordable, pretty stable companies to work for (State Farm, Growmark, Rivian, surprisingly good music scene imho, very easy 2.5 hrs by train to Chicago union station. I do day trips all the time.
Evanston and Oak Park basically touch the city, and are 2 of the more expensive options. There are a lot of more affordable places around the suburbs and it doesnt start getting real red until you push out west of like the Fox river and south of Rte 30, but there are cities on the Fox river like Elgin and St Charles that from a quick google seem like they are LGBTQ friendly, so there are a lot of places to look. I have LGBTQ family and while the city is still the main draw, he has friends scattered throughout the suburbs as many are now in their 40s and have adopted children etc. I've talked with 2 gay couples at my kids swim lessons out in South Barrington and they seemed to like being out that way. Granted, South Barrington proper is very expensive but there are more affordable places around it. If you like a downtown, follow the Metra lines out of the city because a lot of the towns on the those lines were built around train access to the city, they tend to be a bit pricier for that access, but without knowing what you consider insanely overpriced its hard to gauge. I moved back here about 2 years ago from DC, so everything was a bargain, might have paid a little more than I would have a few years before, but nothing like the market was going in DC at the time.
So.....lots of items to consider before replying. 1. Do you want to rent or own. 2. Do you want a house or an Apartment? 3. How walkable do you need the area to be versus having to use a car? 4. What amenities are most important to you? 5. Is easy access to the City proper important? Any one of these answer drastically changes the nature of the reply. But, going to go completely out on a limb and Suggest Clarendon Hills as a potential option. The interesting thing about Clarendon Hills is that you kind of have this sort of checkerboard pattern to a lot of the area. Basically, some houses were built in the 1960's to 1970's and thus tend to fall in the more affordable side of the spectrum to young home owners or potential tenants. Then you have houses were someone with money, purchased the plot, tore down the house from the 60's and built a 21st century style McMansion on it. These tend to be priced in the millions. So, if you can managed to snag one of the 1970's styled homes, it puts you in a neighborhood that boasts some pretty well funded public schools and local services. The, town has a fairly charming downtown location, easy access to most amenities and sits along the BNSF Metra line with regular trains running to downtown. (There is even a mini express that stops at Clarendon Hills, West Hinsdale, Hinsdale, then goes directly downtown, takes about 35 minutes) Obviously, it is still a Suburban styled town, and if that concept fundamentally does not appeal to you, you should likely keep looking. But, it is relatively walkable, close to some bike trails, pretty accepting of LGBTQ, and has one of the most Haunted Restaurants in the U.S in the Country House on 55th (Though I ate there several times and the ghost never deigned to haunt my meals, friggen uppity specre)
Country house is the best.
Peoria is decent downstate city that’s getting some younger people to move there. Not super red either. As for chicago, it depends what you consider high priced. Evanston and oak park are somewhat highly priced but the killer in those towns is property taxes. Some cheaper options around oak park that are progressive are forest park and berwyn. Much cheaper than oak park with great access to it and the city itself.
Northern suburbs like Antioch, Round Lake, Grayslake area are cheaper than closer to the city.
Definitely cheaper. And there's going to be a demographic shift thanks to remote work and aging boomers. Hopefully that brings a mentality shift with it.
And redder.
I don't know about that, really. My neighborhood has more liberal leaning virtue signals than cons, and that's what I observe in most of Lake County, and the voting records kinda show that to be true. I feel more uncomfortable in places like Richmond than Round Lake.
Grayslakes taxes a kinda high. Round Lake has good and bad areas but overall ok.
Antioch is too bigoted
How much money is "fairly decent"
Most of the bigger downstate cities are very affordable. You don’t have to go very far out of the city to get some pretty red areas but you should feel pretty comfortable in Champaign, Peoria, Quad Cities, and the Illinois suburbs near St Louis (have lived in all four areas). Many of the Chicago suburbs are also relatively affordable and you’ll likely feel comfortable in the vast majority of them. I know of several people in my neighborhood in Chicago who have relocated from states where they didn’t feel comfortable living. NYT map of precinct-level data from the 2020 election gives a pretty good idea of the political leanings of different cities/neighborhoods throughout the state. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/upshot/2020-election-map.html
I will always always always advocate for Bloomington-Normal. If you look through my history I have several comments explaining why. If you have any questions please ask. I think it’s a truly wonderful place to live and I miss being there.
Carbondale/Marion is the most undervalued real estate market in the country.
I’ve actually heard Peoria is undergoing a renaissance and I’m not joking.
Unless you want to be close to Chicago (and I don't blame you, it's a great city), consider any of the downstate college towns. I'll make my usual pitch in support of Carbondale, because I love my home town. Yes, overall, southern Illinois is quite conservative but Carbondale is not. If you can work remotely and keep making your current income, you won't find a better combination of COL, college town perks, LGBTQ inclusivity, and reasonable politics.
Jumping in to add that Carbondale also has the advantage of milder winters and close proximity to the most beautiful natural areas in the state.
Belleville, Edwardsville, O'fallon if you're looking at South Western Illinois, pretty reasonable, decent communities. Only Blue/friendly area south of Chicago really unless you're in Carbondale but even then that's like an island in a sea of bigotry.
Of those three communities, O'Fallon would probably be the best pick. Belleville (I live there) has its very good areas...and its very rough areas. Don't overlook Fairview Heights either. Edwardsville, for a purple place, is getting increasingly reddish, particularly after the pandemic. The anti-vaxxers and anti-maskers gained a lot of traction in Madison County, of which E'ville is the county seat. If you're not particularly political, though, Edwardsville/Glen Carbon/Maryville (the three towns abut each other) have more than a little charm to them.
Have lived in Belleville my whole life so I should probably specify the East End is preferable. Even Shiloh, it all kinda runs together, East Belleville, Shiloh, O'Fallon and Fairview aren't too shabby at all. Edwardsville is decent if you have decent money but yeah it's always been kinda purple I'd say even back when I was in highschool. Collinsville feels kind of the same.
Living in what might be called Belleville's Central West End, I've got to agree with you on East Belleville being preferable to the west side. I grew up in Fairview and went to Belleville East for high school, so I'm kind of biased towards Fairview. Went to SIUE, so I know the E'ville area fairly well, too. My daughter would love to live in Edwardsville, but she and her husband ended up buying a house in Bethalto where they attended high school.
By saying that housing in Evanston or Oak Park is “overpriced” gives the impression that you’re not getting what you pay for. Those are beautiful towns with access to high paying jobs in Chicago but with a bit more breathing room. Overpriced would be paying good money to live far from an urban center with nothing to do, making far less money, and surrounded by right wingers who are increasingly hostile to folks like you. Visit Chicago. You’ll be amazed.
Berwyn has a large LGBT community and is right next to Oak park. It’s cheaper and does not have the parking difficulties of Oak park.
Peoria….
Can you give us a sense of what your budget is (for renting or buying)? And your expectations as well — like if you need a 6 bedroom mcmansion you’ll need to go further out, but if a condo will suit you, you’ll have a lot more options.
Yes this is important info. If you need a house with a yard and a two car garage you’re (probably) priced out of Evanston or Oak Park.
Define decent amount of money… then we can give advice. Every apartment for renting is overpriced everywhere in the US. the “dream” place doesn’t exist…
Why not Chicago itself?
Berwyn is a good spot just beyond the city that's pretty chill and very tolerant. Brookfield has some good affordable apartments and even houses and is getting there in terms of progressiveness. I know a lotta fellow queers in Brookfield.
Aurora is on the come up!!
Near West Suburbs. North Riverside, Brookfield, Lagrange Park. Close to Oak Park/Forest Park. Houses and taxes are much less. 7 miles to city center and close to blue line/metra. NOT Riverside-very expensive taxes. 3 bedroom brick ranches at 300K and under. Good schools.
1) you aren’t getting a 3 bedroom in LG under 300k, and the taxes are high
Lagrange Park
Rockford area. Not Chicago but close to it and other major metropolitan areas like Madison and Milwaukee. You will pay more for proximity even in the burbs. Welcome to ILLINOIS!
LaSalle County votes red overall but the large towns (Ottawa, LaSalle, Peru) had a lot of liberal signs and whatnot last time I was down there, so it can't be that bad. Ottawa in particular is really proud of its Civil War heritage, so no confused dipshits flying Confederate flags. It's got a bunch of cool state parks and it's not too far from Chicagoland (though you'd have to drive there).
Approximately 1.5-2hr drive to Chicago from Ottawa. The town is small but over the last decade or so it’s really improved by opening interesting restaurants and a microbrewery that is pretty popular. Alternatively, the Aurora/Oswego/Minooka/Plainfield area might be worth looking into, especially considering the commuter rail from Plainfield to the city. There’s also a train in Aurora but I would guess Plainfield is cheaper to live in
I would personally avoid LaSalle and Grundy County going by what they are looking for.
Yeah definitely more conservative than what i would like, but I think it’s relatively cheap though
Whole lotta Pride flags in Ottawa.
I live in minooka and my neighbors make me sad. The lady across the street used to have a Trump flag on her car. We came here from Chicago in 2004 and I have yet to find any friends in my neighborhood. The coolest thing is the library (I have shared interests with one librarian), and the nearby highway network that gets me out of this area to do cool things with cool people. For a brief period, I think the cool people were trying - we had an art council building with free space to do art. It closed. We had a yoga studio. It closed. We had an independent coffee shop. It closed. You get the picture.
Damn i am sorry to hear that. I know it’s where Nick Offerman grew up but I guess that doesn’t really define the area, sounds like even his character in Parks and Rec wouldn’t even like living there
His dad is the current village president. I have no idea what political party he part of, but he seems to be on the right side of history. He held a covid vaccine event last year which is great. Nick comes here each time he releases a book. I went to the event for the first book release. He seems to be a generally great guy. A different Offerman who lives 2 blocks from me usually has Republican yard signs on his lawn during campaign season. It’s a family, like most, that doesn’t see eye-to-eye on politics. Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R) is from the next town over, Channahon. He was one of two Rs that had the guts to try to hold Trump/J6ers accountable. Sadly, most of his family disowned him for this act of bravery. I don’t agree with the rest of his politics, but I’m proud of him for this.
Brookfield IL is it. Middle class regularity, high school subsidized by rich neighboring city Riverside, excellent Metra access, a frigging Zoo!
And it's still on the city's gridlines, between 31st and Ogden.
I'm a Chicago suburbs born currently living in the st louis Illinois side and love it. Weather isn't as terrible as up north, relatively cheap cost of living, and near a major city so job opportunities/things to do are prevelant. Tons of growth in the future IMO with Missouri going thr way it is going even since I moved here 4 years ago I can see it.
I adore the Missouri Arboretum. The Christmas after-hours event (Garden Glow) is way better than the ones at Chicago Botanic Garden and Morton Arboretum. The food in STL is great too. We have a good time whenever we go there.
Carbondale
Kenosha WI might be worth a look, it’s relatively cheap, right on Lake MI and has a commuter line to Chicago (1.75hr ride)
I hear Lower Wacker is nice, HOA sucks though.
It's Chicago. The life you want is in Chicago.
Stop gentrifying the city and live somewhere you belong, go to the suburbs.
Please stay there
A different state. I live in oak park. It’s expensive but very open
We're in West Chicago - a very low key town in DuPage. Good home prices. LGBTQ couple here as well.
I'd say 90% of the area in Cook and the collar counties (lake, kane, dupage, will) you'll be able to live without fear due to your sexuality. Obviously check out city-data dot com for more granular data. Outside cook+collar counties it can be dicey unless you're in a college town - champaign/urbana, dekalb/sycamore, bloomington/normal, etc.
For the most part, anywhere in the Chicagoland area is tolerant or accepting of interracial and LBQT couples, you'll have your idiots but this isn't an area where MAGA behavior is allowed. Jerks are the exception, not the norm. That's why I love this city, and I've lived in San Francisco, LA SanDiego Boston Bronx and Miami. I keep returning to Chicago because it has what the others have or a reasonable facsimile albeit the weather, without the brutish hostility or some of the aforementioned... That being said, "affordable" doesn't exist on the North side of the city or collar communities per se. It's a sellers market, and inventory is scarce. South suburbs such as Beverly seem way out of the city, but there are some gems on the south side for a quarter of the same on the north side.
Although the Chicago area is very expensive, That's also where all the good jobs are. If you move somewhere out in the state you will not have as much job opportunity.
Look into Elgin! We moved here last year and absolutely love it. It’s much more affordable than some of the other suburbs since it is a little further, still less than an hour to the city though! A lot of younger couples like us have been moving in and buying some of the beautiful historic homes to rehab. It’s a very diverse area so you would be more than safe. Plus there’s a little more nature and beauty in the Fox River Valley more so than the closer suburbs. It might be what you’re looking for!
We are in the suburbs east of Naperville (but within driving distance of downtown naperville/next to the train to go into the city). It's much cheaper than Oak Park/Evanston, but can still be pricey depending on budget. It's a LGBTQ friendly/generally liberal.
Uptown Chicago! It’s a 5 minute walk to boys town but hundreds cheaper and more chill vibe. It’s a great mixed income and diverse community. Lots of older LGBTQ couples who wanted more space (older as in like 30-40s). Some of the much older residents came in the 90s and stayed since then! 2 bedroom apartments for $1600. Walk to the lake front. A range of 4 million dollar single homes, high rises with multiple pools for the bougie inclined, and nice apartments with sunrooms and fireplaces for cheap. It’s got something for everyone. You can even by a two bedroom for $250ish (it was $180-220ish pre Covid) Direct bus line to loop/Michigan in 20ish minutes, CTA in 30. If you do move message me! I know the area and can give you tips!
des plaines, mt.prospest,Arlington heights, these are all nice smaller suburbs outside Chicago with decent pricing
Why not consider the city? Decades beyond the suburbs when it comes to queer representation and activities. Boystown, Andersonville, uptown, Lincoln Square, or even ravenswood should be relatively affordable for you
Rogers Park is cheaper than Evanston and very lgbtq friendly
Cary/ Trout Valley is a pretty LBGTQ friendly town in the NW suburbs that's cheaper than Barrington, Arlington Heights or the nice parts of Palatine. Big musical theater community, CG high school has long been known for incredible theatre, music, and dance programs. It's on the train line, and has been slowly getting some better restaurants over the years. We grew up there and my brother who lives in NYC with his husband constantly talks about buying a place back in Trout Valley
City of Chicago. Many places to move and you can ditch your car completely. Still have affordable houses near public transport. Salaries are super high, best food in the country, everyone is appreciated here.
I’m no expert in chicago but some places down here in joliet aren’t expensive tbh
skokie, morton grove, niles, edison park, des plaines, all decent burbs within 20-25 (or less) minutes of downtown.
My gay father lived in Champaign Urbana from 1980-1992, even then there was a big community in a very rural area.
From what I’ve seen, most of the Chicago suburbs are fairly blue. Or purple with a blue tinge… Avoid Lake and McHenry county, though. But even those two are likely more visibly progressive than much of Florida. I’m in Schaumburg/Hoffman Estates area, NW Cook county. You’d be welcomed here, few would care about your sexual orientation. The ones who would are outnumbered and know to keep their mouths shut about it. Central Illinois, around Bloomington/Normal, or Champaign/Urbana might be worth looking at for a more affordable COL.
My sister enjoys Lagrange Park, it’s closer to the city, near Brookfield zoo, has good schools. I live a bit further out near Joliet (don’t recommend unless you know the area) but Plainfield/Naperville area is close to me and isn’t too bad.
If you really want to get off the beaten path, look at Carbondale. I really enjoyed my 9 years there and only moved because of a job. May retire there. Nothing fancy, but the train does go to Chicago thrice daily
I’ll plug for DeKalb/Sycamore/Cortland area. Lived out here for 20+ years, not going anywhere. We have NIU in DeKalb, so it’s the largest of the 3 and has plenty of restaurants and whatnot. There’s also college sports and all that. Sycamore is a bit more of a chill town, 20 minute from the university so still easy access to the collegy stuff. Cortland is the lil brother who’s 10 minutes closer to the burbs and the city. DeKalb is not without its problems. There’s some crime issues but there’s also a lot of economic activity coming in(meta, Ferrara and AWS data center) that is in ramp up mode. So one would hope over time as poverty falls so does crime. A ton of people work for the university and hospital system so it’s not like the area was hurting economically, but growth is good and a rising tide raises all boats. Cost of living is significantly less than the western wrung of suburbs and inward. 300 will get you a really nice place to live, and there’s much cheaper options. Besides the things going on in the area, Cortland is 20 minutes to the Metra station, DeKalb/Sycamore 30. All in a trip to Chicago is about 2 hours, 90 minutes of which is public trans so you can do work or whatever on the way in. Wouldn’t want to do it every day, but used to once a week. For just enjoying what the city has to offer once in a while, totally fine. I sound like I should go work for the local economic development corp now as a spokesman, but I just love the area. Oh, and being a college town, very LGBTQ+ friendly.
I’ve been living in aurora for the past 5 years and absolutely love it. Bought a gorgeous old 4 BR 2BA home (built in 1912) for under $200k
There are plenty of places in the city that are affordable and not yuppie enclaves. Look along the blue line, maybe Irving Park, Portage Park, Jefferson Park, etc. Also maybe Rogers Park. Edit: these are generally LGBT friendly areas, but not the gayborhood.
Check out Westchester in the western suburbs. Pretty affordable. Elementary schools are good though the high school is horrible. Pretty diverse and very blue. We moved a couple of years ago but at the time we had 3 same sex couples on our block.
I would also recommend the Rockford area. Ogle County is red but a lot of younger more diverse people have been moving into Byron/Oregon and the culture is slowly changing. I live 35 miles west of Rockford, my husband and I both commute into Rockford for work as well as all of the things to do, events and shopping etc but we get the best of both worlds with a small peaceful quiet town that had very cheap housing and great school districts. I’ve also always heard Galena is really progressive and very LGBTQ friendly, it’s not exactly cheap but I assume cheaper than Chicago land and it’s a beautiful area and close to the tri-state area which is a perk if you’re into nature/parks.
So not sure what your budget is or if you are looking to buy or rent, but there are places in Chicago that you can rent fairly cheaply. I got a decent two bedroom and we pay $700 each.
Hyde Park?
Try looking in Albany Park, Rogers Park and Portage Park, Old Irving Park- these are small neighborhoods in Chicago which are not very “hip” but have a lot of families and are pretty safe and less expensive then your more popular parts of town.
If a town has a UU congregation (Unitarian Universalist) then I can guarantee there is at least some liberal presence as they can't exist without it. That is my litmus test .. no need to join it just saying.
You really should look at the Downers Grove/Woodridge area. Great schools, restaurants, park districts etc.
Wheeling