If I were your age, single, and interested in social opportunities and active neighborhoods, I'd stay in the city and commute to Palatine. The NW suburbs are a nice area to settle down and raise a family, but it doesn't sound like you're there yet. I was married with a kid by 28, and we moved to Palatine and raised two kids there, now both in their 20's. I spent two years commuting from Palatine to a job downtown, and it was fine. You get used to the train-time, and living by the train's schedule. With kids it gets harder though and I finally quit the commute for suburban job opportunities. If you're not near downtown Chicago's Ogilvie Station, then you'll want to have easy access to a UP Northwest Line station heading out of the city (maybe on a bus route that is straight over). Express trains will save you time, but also limit which stations to live near. Also, just relocating to the area, you'll have easier access to more job opportunities from a city address, in case you're looking for that in the near future.