Hey, Flop already knows this, but for anyone else who may be interested, I grew up in Oak Park and have lived in Oak Park and Chicago my entire life, so I can offer some assistance on finding housing to rent or buy. I can definitely help out with neighborhoods that are good and not so good. Also, I don't know if this breaches any kind of non-advertising rules on SDN, but my wife is a designer for a real estate agency in Chicago that caters to a younger, hipper crowd, so I can certainly hook anyone up with a good agent if they're looking to buy...especially in the city or Oak Park. I don't get any kind of kick-back on the commission or anything, so I assume that doesn't breach any of the rules. PM me if you have any specific questions about housing or living around here...i'd be happy to help!
Out of curiosity, when are people planning to move into the area? My last day of work is going to be June 29, and I live in Wrigleyville, so if anyone wanted to get together sometime in July before classes start, I could try to set up something depending on when people are gonna be around.