Is Barrington a nice area? (Chicago, Evanston: 2014, schools, subdivision)

[GoCUBS1]

Originally Posted by hsw

Would argue BH's claim to fame is Hank Paulson (Treas Secretary, fmr CEO of Goldman Sachs, fmr hd of GS' Chic office), who has lived in BH (or at least spends many wkends there these days) for decades (IIRC, his mother still lives in BH adjacent to his house)....

Otherwise, BH is a place w/awfully cheap land; many rather tasteless, poorly finished newer houses....and a more difficult drive to Loop than Winnetka/LF

Also, IIRC, Barrington area schools seem rather weak in generating National Merit Scholars....vs comparables in affluent NorthShore...or even in middle-class Naperville...if true, is education a lower priority for families in Barr corridor? And how does Barrington corridor compare to NS/Naperville in sending kids to leading colleges like Wharton/Stanford/Harvard/Princeton?

Interestingly, current hd of Goldman's Chic office recently built a >$25MM house on Winnetka's lakefront....suspect BH area is fairly irrelevant among many of Chic's smartest/wealthiest financiers today....perhaps BH is more favored by small business owners in Schaumburg corridor....

You are seriously misinformed. Here are some BH residents you suspect are "fairly irrelevant among many of Chic's smartest/wealthiest financiers today":

- Richard Duchossois, owner of Arlington Racetrack. The multimillionaire is one of Illinois' major political contributors and philanthropists. I'm sure no "chic financiers" are courting him.

- Chris Galvin, former Motorola C.E.O and founder of Harrison Street Capital, another major political contributor and philanthropist whose grandfather founded Motorola 80 years ago. Motorola is just another "small business in the Schaumburg corridor."

- John Sanfilippo, owner of Fisher and Evons Nuts, one of the largest processors, manufacturers, and distributors of nuts in the world. He also holds several key manufacturing patents. His BH home is filled with some of the most magnificent antique and art pieces in the world. Just another "rather tasteless, poorly finished new house" in BH. I'm sure no financiers care about the over three million dollars he raised for charity over the last few years.

Here are some pics and a description:

"The Sanfilippo 'Place de la Musique' is known worldwide for its magnificent collections of beautifully restored antique music machines, phonographs, arcade and gambling machines, chandeliers, art glass, the world's largest restored theatre pipe organ, the most spectacular European salon carousel in existence, street and tower clocks, steam engines and other functional mechanical antiques, displayed within a breathtaking French Second Empire setting."
The Sanfilippo Foundation - "Place de la Musique"


You are also misinformed about the schools. Newsweek 2008 School Rankings listed Barrington H.S. as #12 in Illinois. It ranked above ALL North Shore and Naperville schools (and behind several very small CPS magnat schools with selective admission criteria). On almost all surveys, the Barrington school rankings have been steadily rising over the years.
http://www.newsweek.com/highschools/?s=il

Also, the student body is more socioeconomically and racially diverse (w/higher non-native English speaking Hispanic) than most North Shores schools. I know many parents feel that, since our study body is smaller and more academically diverse (than e.g. New Trier or Stevenson), kids have less pressure and there is a higher chance to be placed in appropriate AP courses (which we have an equal # of), Varsity sports, Theatre, Music, etc...

Almost all of our schools receive a "10" rating on GreatSchools.net. Several of our schools have received the Natl. Blue Ribbon Award. Last week, Lines school was one of only 23 (public or private, elem thru H.S.) schools in Illinois to receive this award which is based on ISAT/PSAE test performance among other things. We also have very strong gifted programming (one of the few school districts that lobbied successfully for increased gifted funding). And yes, there are many kids (and parents) who attended Wharton/Stanford/Harvard/Princeton.

So next time you want to disparage our community, at least get your facts straight...


p.s. From illinois.com:
http://www.illinois.com/details/city.php?cityFips=1703844 (broken link)

"Outside of New York City, the Barrington area zip code 60010 is the wealthiest zip code in the country with a population of 20,000 or more. The area includes the towns of Barrington, South Barrington, North Barrington, Barrington Hills, Lake Barrington, Tower Lakes, and small portions of Deer Park and Inverness."

Yeh, I guess all those wealthy people, who can probably live wherever they want, chose an area with "awfully cheap land; many rather tasteless, poorly finished newer houses."

[JHG722]

Originally Posted by hsw

Would argue BH's claim to fame is Hank Paulson (Treas Secretary, fmr CEO of Goldman Sachs, fmr hd of GS' Chic office), who has lived in BH (or at least spends many wkends there these days) for decades (IIRC, his mother still lives in BH adjacent to his house)....

Otherwise, BH is a place w/awfully cheap land; many rather tasteless, poorly finished newer houses....and a more difficult drive to Loop than Winnetka/LF

Also, IIRC, Barrington area schools seem rather weak in generating National Merit Scholars....vs comparables in affluent NorthShore...or even in middle-class Naperville...if true, is education a lower priority for families in Barr corridor? And how does Barrington corridor compare to NS/Naperville in sending kids to leading colleges like Wharton/Stanford/Harvard/Princeton?

Interestingly, current hd of Goldman's Chic office recently built a >$25MM house on Winnetka's lakefront....suspect BH area is fairly irrelevant among many of Chic's smartest/wealthiest financiers today....perhaps BH is more favored by small business owners in Schaumburg corridor....

Wharton is a business school--not a college...

[Crazy88]

True--Barrington may not have the wealth and 'old money' of the north shore, but it still has plenty of wealthy people. I would say that Barrington is more for people who want the country lifestyle. Big lots are the norm in most of the barringtons with SB as the exception. Nothing beats driving through Barrington and seeing the countryside with horses, barns, and fences along the roadside. Barrington also is home to vast forest preserves, something that the north shore does not really have.

It is alot different than it was 10 years ago. Urban sprawl is now a major factor, just look at Deer Park and South Barrington.

[rosscountry]

Originally Posted by Steve-o

Nice area, very rich folks live there. Some decent shopping near Higgins and Rt. 59, but youd need to head into Schaumburg to shop till you drop. I take it your friend is very wealthy? There are 20 million dollar homes in Barrington, if that gives you any idea.

there are homes that are under 600K in barrington

[nerfer]

Originally Posted by Crazy88

True--Barrington may not have the wealth and 'old money' of the north shore, but it still has plenty of wealthy people. I would say that Barrington is more for people who want the country lifestyle. Big lots are the norm in most of the barringtons with SB as the exception. Nothing beats driving through Barrington and seeing the countryside with horses, barns, and fences along the roadside. Barrington also is home to vast forest preserves, something that the north shore does not really have.

It is alot different than it was 10 years ago. Urban sprawl is now a major factor, just look at Deer Park and South Barrington.

BH and unincorporated areas have a good deal of old money, but it's not out on public display, some may have missed it. I know a couple CEO's in that area, and they are very down-to-earth pleasant people, not at all showy. And there are plenty of middle-class people as well, as well as some of the new money with their McMansions and oversized unwieldy vehicles. I agree, it's nice to go for a drive through a lot (that's two words by the way, just like "a few" or "a dozen" or ...) of that countryside. That is, until you get to the travesty of the SB/Hoffman Estates border east of Sears. A monument to urban sprawl that will be a junkyard in a dozen years when oil prices force people to shop close to home and not in massive arrays of antiseptic strip malls.

And there is the Christian Science Reading Room, not sure if that counts as a bookstore, but not a typical suburban low-end box store, to be sure. The restored Catlow movie theater is an interesting place. I used to drive by the Alfa-Romeo dealership east of town every day, and I've been to the expansive Porsche/Saab/Mercedes-Benz/BMW dealership a few times as well (bought a used car from the downtown lot, probably one of the cheapest ones they sold). Where I grew up, a town's character could be determined by if there were more churches than bars. Barrington has more banks than bars, for whatever that's worth.

Maybe the per-capita income of areas in the North Shore is higher, but I don't think that would particularly bother most Barrington residents.

[JHG722]

Originally Posted by nerfer

BH and unincorporated areas have a good deal of old money, but it's not out on public display, some may have missed it. I know a couple CEO's in that area, and they are very down-to-earth pleasant people, not at all showy. And there are plenty of middle-class people as well, as well as some of the new money with their McMansions and oversized unwieldy vehicles. I agree, it's nice to go for a drive through a lot (that's two words by the way, just like "a few" or "a dozen" or ...) of that countryside. That is, until you get to the travesty of the SB/Hoffman Estates border east of Sears. A monument to urban sprawl that will be a junkyard in a dozen years when oil prices force people to shop close to home and not in massive arrays of antiseptic strip malls.

And there is the Christian Science Reading Room, not sure if that counts as a bookstore, but not a typical suburban low-end box store, to be sure. The restored Catlow movie theater is an interesting place. I used to drive by the Alfa-Romeo dealership east of town every day, and I've been to the expansive Porsche/Saab/Mercedes-Benz/BMW dealership a few times as well (bought a used car from the downtown lot, probably one of the cheapest ones they sold). Where I grew up, a town's character could be determined by if there were more churches than bars. Barrington has more banks than bars, for whatever that's worth.

Maybe the per-capita income of areas in the North Shore is higher, but I don't think that would particularly bother most Barrington residents.

FWIW, the chairman of the board at my dad's old company lives in South Barrington, and I can say with certainty that he is one of the meanest, coldest, most egocentric individuals I've ever met. /shrug

[middle-aged mom]

Originally Posted by JHG722

FWIW, the chairman of the board at my dad's old company lives in South Barrington, and I can say with certainty that he is one of the meanest, coldest, most egocentric individuals I've ever met. /shrug

Such broad generalizations....... One man does not make or break a town.

There are mean, cold and egocentric people in every town.

[middle-aged mom]

Originally Posted by rosscountry

there are homes that are under 600K in barrington

Right now, this minute, the price range in 60010 is:

$118,450- $17 million.

The annual property tax on the latter is almost the asking price of the former.

[JHG722]

Originally Posted by middle-aged mom

Such broad generalizations....... One man does not make or break a town.

There are mean, cold and egocentric people in every town.

No, a generalization would be me saying people in Barrington are jerks. My comment was anecdotal, really.

[bzmatka]

We lived in Barrington for four years. We loved the country feel of the place. We had a large property that was quiet and beautiful. But we left because it was too isolated, and we found most people we knew too conventional and conservative for our tastes. We prefer urban life, although we miss the country and our beautiful property very much. The schools were OK, not fabulous, and shopping was OK, but you have to drive everywhere. And travel time into Chicago was 2 hours on a bad day, which meant we rarely went into Chicago for entertainment. Only 45 mins on the train, so the commute via rail wasn't bad. We met many very nice people in Barrington, and some people who we felt were too interested in material things. But we left because we didn't connect with the conventional minds and conservative politics, and we were tired of feeling like outsiders, keeping our mouths shut at parties, etc., because we didn't feel comfortable espousing our views. It is a lovely place, just not for us, sadly.