Chicago suburbs

[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

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Not my intention to track down some stat to prove my point, not at all... I'm not THAT nitty [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] I was just sharing my knee-jerk reaction that I had with you, which like you is based on background knowledge / bias rather than specific data. I went to New Trier myself, so I am coming from a very biased pov myself.

-bigbootch

[doppelganger]

I grew up in Flossmoor. Great schools, good location, easy train access. Also there's a really good microbrewery at the train station.

But, it's to the south and not that close to everything else. Some of the surrounding communities are good also: Homewood, Olympia Fields, parts of Chicago Heights. Others are starting to get pretty ghetto: most of Chicago Heights, Steger, Matteson, etc...

Also I've heard good things about the Orland Park area which is along a different Metra spur, so it's got good train access to the city, but I don't know that much about it. I do know that those metra trains have a bar car, while the electric line that runs down to Flossmoor doesn't.

[Case Closed]

Move to DuPage if you wanna settle down a raise a family.

[z28dreams]

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I grew up in Flossmoor. Great schools, good location, easy train access. Also there's a really good microbrewery at the train station.

But, it's to the south and not that close to everything else. Some of the surrounding communities are good also: Homewood, Olympia Fields, parts of Chicago Heights. Others are starting to get pretty ghetto: most of Chicago Heights, Steger, Matteson, etc...

Also I've heard good things about the Orland Park area which is along a different Metra spur, so it's got good train access to the city, but I don't know that much about it. I do know that those metra trains have a bar car, while the electric line that runs down to Flossmoor doesn't.

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I grew up on the south side, and I have to agree that the whole area is really not an ideal place to live.

If you do want to go south, either go VERY south, or go far west ( Mokena, Frankfurt, New Lennox, Monee, Orland Park, Tinley Park ).

Pretty much everything east of 57 is pretty sketchy now.

[cardsharkk04]

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I wouldn't suggest Naperville, anyone from there automatically gains the attitude they are better than anyone from the surrounding cities, very snobby.

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Huh? Where did you get this idea from? Its maybe a little nicer than most surrounding cities, plus a good school district and nice downtown area. Its not like its really rich like some of the north shore cities. Kinda sucks for the high schoolers cuz the cops have nothing to do but bust underage parties. Also they love cracking down on the DUI's in Naperville, just don't do it.

Also to the South, Plainfield and Bolingbrook are building up really fast.

[elwoodblues]

I grew up in St. Charles and now live close to there. Depending on where you are in St Charles, it isn't all that close to the train. It's a nice town though. How much are you wanting to spend? They just extended the train line to Elburn and there are some reasonably priced homes on the market there that are sure to go way up in value because of the train line in a few years.

[IlliniLou]

well welcome to the neighborhood, i live in Woodridge. Thats right near Naperville, Lombard, Lisle, Bolingbrook. I also lived in Homer Glen throughout my life until i was 18, which is near Orland Park and Lockport. Went to Lockport High School (Go Porters!). so ya i know the area very well. Every high school in this area is going to be good. Lockport was great and huge and recently renovated, but Homer Glen is the place to live. very nice upper middle class area that is expanding everywhere. More West is Woodridge, Naperville yadda yadda. The entire area is nice, lots of golf courses, in fact my balcony overlooks Seven Bridges Golf course. Anywhere you go you are gonna find a good clean area, the only thing is there is different ranges of housing everywhere you look. the great thing is with the I355 extension being almost complete, anywhere you go will not be that bad of a drive from anywhere else you want to go

[DarrenX]

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I wouldn't suggest Naperville, anyone from there automatically gains the attitude they are better than anyone from the surrounding cities, very snobby.

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Huh? Where did you get this idea from? Its maybe a little nicer than most surrounding cities, plus a good school district and nice downtown area. Its not like its really rich like some of the north shore cities. Kinda sucks for the high schoolers cuz the cops have nothing to do but bust underage parties. Also they love cracking down on the DUI's in Naperville, just don't do it.

Also to the South, Plainfield and Bolingbrook are building up really fast.

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Agreed, DUIs are rampant in Naperville. Used to live there, moved to Aurora for more house for my buck. Oswego school district is key, as another poster mentioned. It used to have a bad reputation, but it's growing rapidly into a nice place to live (most areas, anyway).

[droopy0021]

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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

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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

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Good info, but OP stated he's 3 years away from even having kids. So 7 years away from needing a school district. I wouldn't use that as a big factor. Depending on where you're working find a commute you're comfortable with. Then live there.

You can always find a place to move to as you learn the area and your family needs change. Don't buy a home because ACT scores are good for HS district when you aren't even having kids for 3 years.

Naperville is very crowded/hectic and expensive. Maybe you can rent for 6 months to 1 year and explore the area. Find out what you want to be close to (work / lakefront / downtown / lots of golf courses / poker room) and then look to buy. Home market probably not rebounding that quickly so you can still get a good deal.

I grew up in south burb (Frankfort) and wouldn't rule out Orland Park/Mokena/Frankfort. That's where quite a bit of expansion is going and if I-355 extension goes thru in the next 2-3 years you'll have easier access to western/northern burbs and downtown can be reached by train now.

Good luck.

PS OP mentioned Lisle is only 22k. Not an issue--it's surrounded by Naperville, Downers Grove, Westmont, Woodridge....not like it's a town of 22k in the middle of South Dakota. You have a difficult time telling which burb is which.

[nsdjoe]

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I grew up in Flossmoor.

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I grew up in Homewood. Did you go to HF?