North Chicago is the city the base sits in — if you want the shortest commute and the lowest rent within reach of Naval Station Great Lakes, this is it. It's a working-class lakefront city, home to the base, the Lovell Federal Health Care Center, and AbbVie's headquarters, and it trades suburban polish for being right at the gate.
What it's actually like, day one
You're minutes from the quarterdeck and the Lovell FHCC, which makes North Chicago the easy logistics choice for a single sailor or a budget-focused family. Rents are among the lowest in the area. It's an older, urban-edged city rather than a manicured suburb — fine for plenty of sailors, but most families with school-age kids look hard at the school district (North Chicago SD 187) and often weigh the neighboring towns.
The tradeoff
You're trading schools and suburban amenities for proximity and price. If the commute and the rent are what matter most, North Chicago wins outright; if you're optimizing schools or want a small-town or newer-suburb feel, the towns a little farther out (Grayslake, Libertyville, Gurnee) are worth the extra few miles.
Verify before you sign
Pull the specific SD 187 school and its recent ratings for the address, see the place in person (blocks vary a lot here), and confirm your gate and commute at your report time — though from North Chicago, the commute is about as short as it gets.
Neighborhoods
North Chicago runs from its downtown core near the lake out to the Foss Park area and the neighborhoods around the base and the Lovell FHCC. Walkability and housing condition vary block to block — drive it before you commit.