relocating to Lake Forest area (Chicago, Buffalo Grove: real estate, how much, home)

[dakanak]

Need help. Work is relocating my family to the Lake Forest area. Know nothing about Chicago other than the great shots from the movie, the Fugitive. Have kids in elementary school and high school age - concerned about finding good education for them. Also would prefer to move to family-oriented, diverse-friendly area - any ideas???

[Suburban Mom of 2 Kids]

Lake Forest and the north shore, going south, are relatively high income locations.....west of Lake Forest offers more affordable, less expensive real estate (Deerfield, Northbrook, Vernon Hills).....North of Lake Forest as well (Lake Bluff, Libertyville).

Where in particular are you interested (Lake Forest itself, or "close enough"), and what is your budget?

School wise, you have very good options both from a public perspective as well as a private perspective available to you. Are you leaning one way or the other?

Need more info to provide assistance.

[semaj82]

I too work in Lake Forest, and I wouldn't particularly agree with the previous poster that Deerfield, or Northbrook are particularly affordable.... VH is moreso.

A lot of the people I work with live North of Lake Forest, in Gurnee, Lindenhurst, Lake Villa, Grayslake, Libertyville, or similar areas. These areas, while nice and for the most part having good schools, are SIGNIFICANTLY less expensive than the north shore.

Also - my family decided to end up in Wheeling -- it would be about the same approximate distance (my commute to LF is 20 minutes in normal traffic), but feels less rural than the aforementioned communities and is arguably more diverse. There are some parts of Wheeling that are a little rough around the edges, but also many very nice neighborhoods with good schools that are simply good value for your money. You didn't say how much you were looking to spend on a home (remember that property takes in N. Illinois are atrocious), so I'm not certain how much help I've been.

[dakanak]

Just looking at the map and thinking, maybe considering Vernon Hills, Hawthorne Woods, Lake Zurich, Barrington or Buffalo Grove? Heard Grayslake might be a nice area? School system and home affordability will definitely drive the decision. Probably looking at spending $500,000 at the most - could go a little bit more if we LOVED the area, but that would be stretching it!
Would like to try public school system, but will try private if we're not in an area where the schools are good. REALLY concerned about kids making adjustment - we're from Hawaii and are hoping to be in an area where there is diversity.
We know so little about the area...it's almost like throwing the dart and seeing where it lands. Would really LOVE to hear perspective of people who know the state well. Basically want a place where it's family-oriented, good schools, near shopping areas, etc.

[dakanak]

It seems like there are quite a few nice areas to move into - but maybe I should ask if there are certain towns that we should AVOID looking at?