Naperville borders??

[Vasily]

Originally Posted by JustJulia

There are a lot of parks and open green spaces throughout the city. You might be able to find a home that backs up to a park, like this one:

Even without a park nearby, there are green space and retention pond requirements in Naperville, and many/most subdivisions will have open areas built in (don't know if this is a municipal or county requirement). The first home I owned in Naperville had a huge green area behind it where kids could play ball in the summer and sled in the winter.

[JustJulia]

Originally Posted by Vasily

Even without a park nearby, there are green space and retention pond requirements in Naperville, and many/most subdivisions will have open areas built in (don't know if this is a municipal or county requirement). The first home I owned in Naperville had a huge green area behind it where kids could play ball in the summer and sled in the winter.

I was talking about the green belts, not necessarily about playground parks. There seem to be a lot of those! Old Farm Greenway cuts a big swath through a nearby neighborhood. The houses have decks or small yards because there's a bit of a hill, but then there's this big open area. I like those.

[acdevane]

Plenty of neighborhoods to check out in your price range. Winding Creek, Saybrook, Kings Terrace, Hobson Woods, Hobson Village, Pembroke Greens, Pembroke Commons, Huntington Commons (unincorporated), Huntington Estates, Huntington Hill, Century Hill (unincorporated) These are all in 203 and in older more established neighborhoods. They all provide easy access to train and tollway. Another neighborhood that would probably be just below your price point, but possibly worth taking a look is Indian Hill. There a number of split level homes, some offering at least one room with high ceilings.

Another benefit of living on the north side is that there are few neighborhoods that implement mandatory HOA fees. Most of them are a voluntary social fee typically under $50/yr. Of course there are some exceptions but for the most part that is the case.

Picking a neighborhood all depends on where you work and what you'd like your quality of life to be.

Regarding the school district. You simply cannot go wrong. All the Naperville schools are great. It's fun to hear college stories of all Naperville kids meeting other kids from different Naperville schools, both 203 and 204 (and carpooling home). A common occurrence. Leads you to believe all the schools get you to the same place. Higher education and landing good jobs.

[chet everett]

Go ahead, stick your head in the sand. Ignore the clear data that shows a trend of increasing numbers of students FAILING TO MAKE ADEQUATE PROGRESS--http://iirc.niu.edu/SearchResult.aspx?type=CITY&searchText=$NAPERVILLE $

"All schools are great" is simply not true. Right along side the schools that are doing a very good job there are many that are not.

"Leads you to believe all schools get you to same place" -- no, leads me to believe that the admission standards of colleges end up selecting kids with similar qualifications. THE PERCENTAGE OF KIDS THAT MEET THOSE STANDARDS varies between schools AND OVERALL THE PERCENTAGE OF KIDS NOT MEETING THOSE STANDARDS IS TROUBLING!!!

Just buying a house becuase it is affordable and assuming that you will automatically be attending a "great school" based on TOWN NAME or subdivision is a recipe for disaster. And at the other extreme, seeking out the most affordable home in the most desirable attendance area of the finest school district is not a guaranted path to success -- if the selection of the home IS THE ONLY involvement one were to have in the educational preparation of one's children it would Come as no shock that those kids performed far below the mean for the fine school they were attending.

Bottom line -- seek out the school with the best record of performance. The odds of this area also having the most affluent parents is pretty close to one hundred percentage certainty. Get involved in as many aspects of your children's education as possible -- from reading to them and checking for understanding of homework assignments to parent events to PTA events and school board meetings and other government actions.

Originally Posted by acdevane

Plenty of neighborhoods to check out in your price range. Winding Creek, Saybrook, Kings Terrace, Hobson Woods, Hobson Village, Pembroke Greens, Pembroke Commons, Huntington Commons (unincorporated), Huntington Estates, Huntington Hill, Century Hill (unincorporated) These are all in 203 and in older more established neighborhoods. They all provide easy access to train and tollway. Another neighborhood that would probably be just below your price point, but possibly worth taking a look is Indian Hill. There a number of split level homes, some offering at least one room with high ceilings.

Another benefit of living on the north side is that there are few neighborhoods that implement mandatory HOA fees. Most of them are a voluntary social fee typically under $50/yr. Of course there are some exceptions but for the most part that is the case.

Picking a neighborhood all depends on where you work and what you'd like your quality of life to be.

Regarding the school district. You simply cannot go wrong. All the Naperville schools are great. It's fun to hear college stories of all Naperville kids meeting other kids from different Naperville schools, both 203 and 204 (and carpooling home). A common occurrence. Leads you to believe all the schools get you to the same place. Higher education and landing good jobs.

[almost3am]

Originally Posted by acdevane

Plenty of neighborhoods to check out in your price range. Winding Creek, Saybrook, Kings Terrace, Hobson Woods, Hobson Village, Pembroke Greens, Pembroke Commons, Huntington Commons (unincorporated), Huntington Estates, Huntington Hill, Century Hill (unincorporated) These are all in 203 and in older more established neighborhoods. They all provide easy access to train and tollway. Another neighborhood that would probably be just below your price point, but possibly worth taking a look is Indian Hill. There a number of split level homes, some offering at least one room with high ceilings.

Another benefit of living on the north side is that there are few neighborhoods that implement mandatory HOA fees. Most of them are a voluntary social fee typically under $50/yr. Of course there are some exceptions but for the most part that is the case.

Picking a neighborhood all depends on where you work and what you'd like your quality of life to be.

Regarding the school district. You simply cannot go wrong. All the Naperville schools are great. It's fun to hear college stories of all Naperville kids meeting other kids from different Naperville schools, both 203 and 204 (and carpooling home). A common occurrence. Leads you to believe all the schools get you to the same place. Higher education and landing good jobs.

My neighborhood has a voluntary HOA and I thought when I moved in 2 years ago, "who's going to pay a voluntary fee?" Guess what, we paid for this year..haha. It is more of a social fee, but they are expanding into community safety stuff this year, which is nice.