[Jimbo232]

I'm going to toss in a recommendation for Grayslake - it is located between Libertyville and Gurnee which have both been mentioned. It is cheaper than Libertyville and not quite as large as Gurnee so you don't have to deal with the bustle that can come with Great America, Gurnee Mills, etc.

There are 2 centrally located metra stations in Grayslake (1 on the Milwaukee District North line and 1 on the Antioch line), and a third Metra station at Prairie Crossing which is within 5 minutes of Grayslake. The commute on the Metra to downtown will take ~55 minutes on an express train and about 65 minutes on a normal train.

Don't have any kids so I can't comment much on the school district, but I haven't heard anything negative about it - I do know that a brand new second high school was built in Grayslake 2 years ago.

Like most of the northern suburbs there are a lot of bike paths, lakes, parks, and more or less any outdoor recreational activity you'd be looking for. Not a particularly large restaurant or shopping selection in Grayslake, but it is located within 10 minutes of Gurnee and Libertyville, and 20 minutes of the Vernon Hills/Buffallo Grove area so you have Gurnee Mills Mall and Hawthorne Mall as large shopping centers and pretty much any restaraunt you'd want within 20 minutes.

Being a little further out there housing is pretty cheap. Off the top of my head, for ~250k - 300k , you would definitely be able to get a 2 story single-family home built within the last 10 years, with a large yard, in a nice family-oriented neighborhood. Probably the type of homes that would be pushing 400K - 500K if you decided to live in one of the more well-known suburbs like Naperville or Arlington Heights for reference.