The Best Independent Living Communities in Cook County, IL

"It was not difficult at all to enter in The Clare because their occupancy was only 40% or so. So, you could easily get into independent living. But once you were in and you declined to actually go to assisted living and end up to the nursing home facility which were all in the same building. It's pretty difficult because their nursing home does not had enough beds relative to the people who were healthier and don't need nursing facilities in that point in time. The Clare charges a hell of an upfront fee and you would find high quality arts on the wall. So, it's meant for clientele that were at the moment reasonably healthy and want to be near Chicago Symphony, the Arts institute, the History Museum, the Aquarium. So, it's a great location for those who were wealthy enough to enjoy what Chicago has to offer. So, people would go there because it's fancy and if they could afford it and they had that kind of liquid cash, they were setting up for when they get old later. So, they were living in a convenient location, then they don't have to go anywhere if they need assisted care. "

"We are happy with Brookdale, and I put my sister there. It is very nice, and we just really like it. We like the people because they are very friendly. The place is very clean, and we feel comfortable. We were there last Easter, and we just came back few days ago. We just have a good time. We are glad we selected it. It is really lovely. The staff is friendly. It is very diverse. There are people of all nationality who works there, and I like that as well. It is just a nice place, and I don't think anybody will make a mistake putting their family member there. The scenery outside is nice. She has only been in there for a short while, but so far I will give it a 10. She has a private room, and it is spacious. She has her own bathroom with a shower. There is a library in there where she can take her wheelchair, go down, and read books. She can go outside, and if the weather is nice, she can sit on the porches and rock in the rocking chairs. They go out a couple of times a week, shopping if they want, and sometimes they go out to see a play. She has freedom to do things and not just sitting there. She does have options, and there are lots of activities. They play games. They all play bingo, but they play other games as well. I see 2 individual people playing by themselves like cards and mahjong, and they were playing games I don't even know. They do group games, but also you will see people sitting up playing games. When I am there late at night -- I consider late around 8 and 9 o'clock -- I see people there playing games and I think "Isn't it nice" because some people don't go to bed early like others, and they just want to be up doing something. There is always something for them to do, and it is just pleasant. Let's just say that once I get to that point in my life the way I see it now, that will be the place I will pick for myself. I think the food is good. They have a menu, and they usually have 3 or 4 choices of what you can have. If you don't feel like coming to dinner, they will bring it up to you. If you are sick, they will bring it up on a tray. When my relative went there and she walked into the place for the first time, she thought we were going to a hotel. She said, "Oh my God! Is this the place? This looks like a hotel," and I say, "No, it's not a hotel. But I hope you continue to feel like that while you are a resident." We are very happy. I like the place and the people that work there. I will highly recommend it. She is happy, and she likes it very much. "

"We visited for a tour. The young lady that we spoke with was actually very good, and we really enjoyed our visit with her. The facility was nice, but it just was not for my mom. It was very clean."

"I have briefly visited other nursing homes and assisted living facilities and I think this is one of the best. My mother visits almost every day, though, and I know that's one way to make sure that your relatives are well taken care of...The staff is always friendly and willing to make accommodations in the residents' schedules for visitors. For all residents, both those on the 8th floor (mainly dementia patients, some rehab) and on the lower floors (mainly in their own apartments with mini-kitchens), there are daily activities. For those who are mobile, there are frequent outings. Book club, story groups, bingo, exercise, ice cream socials...there's also a beautiful roof deck and indoor sitting area on the top floor with many couches and large windows overlooking Lake Michigan. Most residents dine together and food seems decent downstairs from what I've seen. The food on the 8th floor is pretty basic cafeteria style food, not so good. "

"You must realize Concord Place is similar to having your own little apartment, it is not a full service nursing home. If whoever you are looking for can manage on their own for the most part, this is a perfect place for them. The dinning room meals are included in the rent along with daily activities. They have additional offers for cleaning services (ie cleaning the rooms, bed linens changed, etc) I would not recommend having food in the room unless the individual can keep the room clean. No different than an apartment building, you will encourage rodents. My mother has been here for 3 years. Her room is always clean. We pay extra for a service to bring her down to her meals and help her get dressed and undressed in the evening. She is in a wheelchair. She loves the service people that help her. I have always found Jack at the front desk to be very helpful."

"My parents have been living at Lincolnwood Place for a month now and we're very pleased. It's lovely, comfortable, and the assisted living portion was just renovated so it's all new. It's beautifully-decorated, fresh, and the apartments are all freshly redone. I'm also impressed with the staff that I met. The food is very good and we like it very much. They have a lot of different activities, like movies, and they bring in live performers. They have a book group, short story group, and poetry group. They also have weekly outings, and they have free transportation within 7 miles, a nice bus that takes you places. We appreciate that they're more affordable than some of the other places in the area. There are just some things like reminding them to pick up the trash every day."

"I had been to Celebrate Senior Living of Niles a few other times, because one of my husband's aunts and uncles lived there. It was nice. I went there again for a tour. The person who was supposed to take me around wasn't there that day. So, somebody else took me and she was kind of being rushed, because she had another appointment, but it was OK. The rooms were nice. The room that she showed me was being worked on, because somebody had just moved out of there. It looked OK. The dining area was very nice and they had different games like bingo. It seemed like they had things to keep me interested."

"I toured The Roosevelt at Salt Creek. The place was simply gorgeous. The people were very kind. Even the young lady that conducted the interview (her name was Hillary), was very feral and very informative. She gave us a tour upstairs and the place. It just looked like you were at home. Very warm, comforting, and clean. Just very nice. This was the first time my parents had even considered looking at senior living. I had my mother with me at that time, and she was very impressed with what we saw. All the common areas were nice. I have nothing bad to say. It was clean. It smelled good. I didn't smell anything bad. Everything was in order."

"The Merion was very beautiful with everything brand new. The pricing seems good, but it felt like there wasn’t a lot of continuing care or wouldn't be enough care for what we needed. It’s good for someone who is very independent. The staff was very nice and upfront and said they have activities throughout the day as well as excursions. It’s a very lovely place. "

"I moved into Generations at Oakton Arms 4 months ago. The staff here is excellent. I'm extremely pleased with all of them. The whole facility is very cozy and very warm. My apartment is the largest suite that my daughter has seen in all of her tours and it is the least amount of money. The food is typical of this type of facility. It's certainly not gourmet dining, but it's certainly adequate and well-prepared. They have plenty of activities for those who wish to participate, like card games and guessing games."

"Belmont Village is a place that we might have chosen if there wasn't an alternative close by. It doesn't really have continuing care in the same sense, but it does have a memory unit which I don't really want. Belmont has organized rooms and pods of ten to fifteen people with a common living room which makes it easy to meet people. It is something that can really benefit people that are not very outgoing. It's got a big gathering place which is just inside the door and a dining facility right next to it. It seems to be very pleasant. The sales woman seems to know residents by name in spite of the fact that there were a lot of them. A lot of them spoke to her as they passed by. I was impressed by that. The food was very good. Because we wanted a continuing care community, it was particularly appealing to us, but it did seem like a cadillac place for this. It is intended to be a different kind of place. "

"My tour was excellent. The person that showed us the place was superb. The rest of the staff were all nice, friendly, and had smiles on their faces when we were introduced. The apartments were quite nice, too. The facility was spacious and clean. They have a nice outside area for the residents, to go out. Also, it's near the downtown Des Plaines, so I'd be able to walk downtown if I wanted to."

"My parents were residents at the Vi for many years. We were more than pleased with all aspects of their time living at the Vi. First class staff and facilities. I would highly recommend the Vi to anyone. "

"Lexington is a much larger building. They have everything from a studio to one-bedroom. There was a choice in room size. I went to one room, and it was unfurnished. "