Great Chicago neighborhoods?

I might be relocating to Chicago for work. The job is NW in Des Plaines. I am only vaguely familiar with the city, mostly from downtown visits. Currently my 6 yr old son and I live in Columbus, OH. We live in a very upscale neighborhood that is a "first ring" suburb. We pay our suburb taxes and have different school district and emergency responders but still have a Columbus mailing address. There are no bad neighborhoods around us and it is the safest place in Columbus. Everyone works hard and takes care of themselves and their neighbors. I am a single parent. Right now we rent a small house for about $1000/month but I am sure we would probably end up in an apartment there. Does anyone have any suggestions for neighborhoods that are very safe with good public schools and not a long commute to Des Plaines? I was looking over some neighborhoods and Elk Grove, Des Plaines and Arlington Heights seemed decent but I haven't visited them yet and I don't know their proximity to the city. I don't want to be too far removed from the city. And I do need to rent initially.Great Chicago neighborhoods?
I grew up in Des Plaines if you move to Des Plaines the area around rand and wolf is nice Elk Grove is most likely your best bet with what you want to pay in rent all the schools in the cities you are asking about are good in these cities your are about 30 min from downtown with traffic if you take the train it's like 15 min hope this helpsGreat Chicago neighborhoods?
you can stay in your VERY UPSCALE neighborhood since we in downtown chicago are just po' peoples.