Chicago suburbs

[bigbootch]

[ QUOTE ]
The one thing I would say though is that the school districts in Gurnee or Aurora is not going to be competitive with GBN/GBS or Niles West / Niles North. I don't know any stats offhand but I'm like 99% sure that they lag significantly behind on any numerical metric you look at (avg SAT score, # of AP classes offered, % of class going on to 4 -year colleges, etc.) I might be wrong - if so, I would love to be corrected.


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OK, I just looked this up, and it's much closer than I had thought - average ACT scores:

Oswego HS (20.1)
Niles North (21.9)
Niles West (21.7)
Glenbrook South (23.9)

And, just for comparison, New Trier (the high school for Wilmette / Winnetka / Kenilworth / other rich northshore suburbs):

New Trier (26.8)


-bigbootch

[pokerbobo]

[ QUOTE ]
For those suggesting Gurnee and Oswego, I hardly consider these suburbs of Chicago because they are so far from the city.

How about Bolingbrook or Plainfield? Those are far, but much closer than Gurnee/Oswego.

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Gurnee is 35 - 40 miles north of Chicago. It borders Libertyville, so if Libertyville is a suburb, I consider Gurnee one too. Hell, a half dozen Chicago Bears live in Gurnee.

[bigbootch]

[ QUOTE ]

Brookfield. One of the top high schools in the state (RBHS),

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Not to be a nit, but I can think of 10 high school off the top of my head that I would bet are "better" than RBHS by some standard numeric metric. "Would" bet, because I can't think of a convenient way of verifying this.

What about:

1. New Trier
2. GBS
3. GBN
4. IMSA
5. Stevenson
6. Naperville North
7. U of C lab school
8. Hinsdale Central
9. Lake Forest high school

OK, so that's 9 [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

-bigbootch

[Jimbo232]

I'm going to toss in a recommendation for Grayslake - it is located between Libertyville and Gurnee which have both been mentioned. It is cheaper than Libertyville and not quite as large as Gurnee so you don't have to deal with the bustle that can come with Great America, Gurnee Mills, etc.

There are 2 centrally located metra stations in Grayslake (1 on the Milwaukee District North line and 1 on the Antioch line), and a third Metra station at Prairie Crossing which is within 5 minutes of Grayslake. The commute on the Metra to downtown will take ~55 minutes on an express train and about 65 minutes on a normal train.

Don't have any kids so I can't comment much on the school district, but I haven't heard anything negative about it - I do know that a brand new second high school was built in Grayslake 2 years ago.

Like most of the northern suburbs there are a lot of bike paths, lakes, parks, and more or less any outdoor recreational activity you'd be looking for. Not a particularly large restaurant or shopping selection in Grayslake, but it is located within 10 minutes of Gurnee and Libertyville, and 20 minutes of the Vernon Hills/Buffallo Grove area so you have Gurnee Mills Mall and Hawthorne Mall as large shopping centers and pretty much any restaraunt you'd want within 20 minutes.

Being a little further out there housing is pretty cheap. Off the top of my head, for ~250k - 300k , you would definitely be able to get a 2 story single-family home built within the last 10 years, with a large yard, in a nice family-oriented neighborhood. Probably the type of homes that would be pushing 400K - 500K if you decided to live in one of the more well-known suburbs like Naperville or Arlington Heights for reference.

[pokerbobo]

Grayslake is OK... but property taxes are way out of whack there. Traffic also sucks on 120 there because it is only one lane each way.

Got a friend who lives there in a 4 BDrm house... pays over 10k for Property taxes.

[z28dreams]

How much are average sized single family homes going for in the closer suburbs? (~2000sq ft or so)

Areas like oak park, norridge, niles, park ridge, skokie, etc? It's been several years since I've lived in Chicago.

[z28dreams]

Wheeling, Mundelein, Buffalo Grove, and Libertyville area also seems a little closer than Gurnee...how do those compare?

[fifield]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]

Brookfield. One of the top high schools in the state (RBHS),

[/ QUOTE ]

Not to be a nit, but I can think of 10 high school off the top of my head that I would bet are "better" than RBHS by some standard numeric metric. "Would" bet, because I can't think of a convenient way of verifying this.

What about:

1. New Trier
2. GBS
3. GBN
4. IMSA
5. Stevenson
6. Naperville North
7. U of C lab school
8. Hinsdale Central
9. Lake Forest high school

OK, so that's 9 [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

-bigbootch

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I provided no source for my claim, and can't, but I stand by it even so. I'm sure there are many ways it's not, however, and you may diligently track them down, fine... and it could just be one of those unfounded claims made by locals who are proud of their community; however, I'm closer to correct than you seem to think. It's a great school

[pokerbobo]

[ QUOTE ]
Wheeling, Mundelein, Buffalo Grove, and Libertyville area also seems a little closer than Gurnee...how do those compare?

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My mom lives in a 3 bed ranch in Wheeling.... thats over 400K,

Mundelein has some reasonable neighborhoods, but those homes are 30-60 years old, most newer construction there is 280k+,

Buffalo Grove and Libertyville, you need to go with a townhouse to stay under 300k.

[Jimbo232]

[ QUOTE ]
Grayslake is OK... but property taxes are way out of whack there. Traffic also sucks on 120 there because it is only one lane each way.

Got a friend who lives there in a 4 BDrm house... pays over 10k for Property taxes.

[/ QUOTE ]

120 does suck at times. It is 4 lanes near 94 and they've been doing a lot of construction to improve things this summer. I think there is a long-term plan to open it up to 4 lanes as it heads west, but that would make things even more of a nightmare while the work is going on.

I pay ~$4700 in property taxes on a $185K home that I purchased about a year ago. This is about 2.5% and I believe pretty standard for most anywhere in Lake County. If I remember from my home search, property taxes in the 'burbs of Cook County will, in general, be slightly lower, but not by much. My family that lives in Cook county have been complaining about rising property taxes over the last few years -- it wouldn't surprise me if the gaps in property taxes closed between Lake and Cook. Of course this will all depend somewhat on the specific town and school district you are being taxed in.