Robert,

I live in the city (Lakeview/Lincoln Park neighborhood) so I'm not well qualified to recommend neighborhoods around Rosemont. But I can talk about food!

If you do move close to Rosemont (or anywhere else), you'll want to head to Devon Ave., which is a great Middle East/Western Asian melting pot on the north side of Chicago. Driving down Devon, you progress through neighborhoods (and their restaurants and grocery stores) that are Indian, Middle Eastern and Jewish. If you've spent much time in those parts of Asia/the Middle East, there are stretches of Devon where, if you squint a little, you could easily transport yourself back to the streets of India or some Arab countries.

For Jewish food, you can also head to Skokie, where you'll find some terrific restaurants and delis. It's been a while since I've lived in that area, but my recollection is that it's about a half-hour drive from ORD, depending on traffic.

Most upscale neighborhoods will have good Italian food, and a few Chicago biggies have opened Rosemont outposts. For authentic, family-owned places, the two Italian neighborhoods with dense collections of restaurants are on the West side of Chicago (Taylor Street) and the Southwest Side (Heart of Italy, I think it's called...near Blue Island & Damen), but both are very close to expressways, so probably they'd probably take you 30-45 minutes to get to in light traffic.

If you're a foodie, definitely check out www.lthforum.com, which is a Chicago food message board. I'm sure people who live near Rosemont would chime in with more suggestions. Also, www.chowhound.com has a Chicago-specific message board that you might find handy.

Jennifer