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Gurnee schools are fine. I went through the Deerfield school system, and believe me, Arlington Heights, Buffalo Grove, and Vernon Hills are looked at as Hillbilly towns to those of us who live in Deerfield. So to each their own. I don't find my child is lacking from being in the Woodland school district compared to when I was in Dist. 109 and 113. Plus the air up here is a bit cleaner than closer in---- so its a win-win.
I think this is nonsense. I have lived in Wilmette and Deerfield and I don't think AH, BG or VH are hillbilly towns. I would choose BG schools over Gurnee, just my opinion.
All-
I was expressing the sense of arrogance that folks in north shore towns (yes Deerfield included even though it directly does not abut the shore) have. Not all, but many I have met.
Gurnee schools are fine. I went through the Deerfield school system, and believe me, Arlington Heights, Buffalo Grove, and Vernon Hills are looked at as Hillbilly towns to those of us who live in Deerfield. So to each their own. I don't find my child is lacking from being in the Woodland school district compared to when I was in Dist. 109 and 113. Plus the air up here is a bit cleaner than closer in---- so its a win-win.
Also, in Deerfield and Gurnee, you are right off 94 for easy expressway access. I can drive, as I do regularly, from Gurnee to O'Hare in under 30 minutes. Buffalo Grove and Arlington Heights are away from immediate interstate access (save the south end of AH onto the gridlocked I-90). Buffalo Grove and Arlington Heights are absolutely gridlocked during rush hours.
So if you spend 45 minutes on I-294 commuting to work, plan on another 45 minutes once you get onto Lake-Cook road heading west to your small, older slab home in Buffalo Grove or AH.The infrastructure is lacking in these two towns concerning road development. Folks have been debating Route 53 expansion for a generation and I doubt that will even help.
#1)Very naive; since you didn't repudiate that, is that still your point of view? I guess those of us who grew up in Skokie must have been "ghetto"
#2) I am 10 minutes from both I-94 and Rte 53, quicker in non-rush hour. That is pretty "immediate" in my opinion.
#3) The roads around here flow a lot better than the roads in Lake County with all the bottlenecks due to NIMBY's not wanting the roads expanded to handle the traffic.
#4) ANY school combination in BG & AH is statistically better performing than the Gurnee schools-point blank!
#5) If OP's job shifts to downtown Chicago, the I-90 corridor, or DuPage County, the commute from Gurnee would be terrible. AH & BG are better located than Gurnee BOTH have close and convenient Metra service.
#6) The OP is working in Deerfield. That is a 15-30 minute commute from BG & AH. What is this nonsense about 45 minute commutes?
#1)Very naive; since you didn't repudiate that, is that still your point of view? I guess those of us who grew up in Skokie must have been "ghetto"
#2) I am 10 minutes from both I-94 and Rte 53, quicker in non-rush hour. That is pretty "immediate" in my opinion.
#3) The roads around here flow a lot better than the roads in Lake County with all the bottlenecks due to NIMBY's not wanting the roads expanded to handle the traffic.
#4) ANY school combination in BG & AH is statistically better performing than the Gurnee schools-point blank!
#5) If OP's job shifts to downtown Chicago, the I-90 corridor, or DuPage County, the commute from Gurnee would be terrible. AH & BG are better located than Gurnee BOTH have close and convenient Metra service.
#6) The OP is working in Deerfield. That is a 15-30 minute commute from BG & AH. What is this nonsense about 45 minute commutes?
1.) Not my point of view. If you spend any amount of time in Deerfield or other NS towns, it will be quite clear to you what they think.
2.) I am 2 minutes from I-94. Thats better than 10.
3.) I wasn't talking western Lake County. I am talking Gurnee. And the roads in Gurnee are wide and clear and free of bottlenecks. There is no massive back-ups or bottlenecks like you have on Lake-Cook Rd. and Palatine or 53. Not too mention the areas around Palatine rd and AH Rd. and AH rd. and NW Highway. It's nutty traffic their. The roads flow much better in Gurnee than AH and Buffalo Grove. One would have to be drunk to claim otherwise.
4.) I will take a statistically lower performance if that means my kids are not part of the gang culture that is infiltrating the closer in suburbs. Also, I have Carmel High School and many private elementary schools to choose from if I desire as well as Prairie Crossing Charter School in Grayslake which is top notch.
5.) If the OP shifts to Abbott, Baxter, Takeda, Walgreens, Aon, Brunswick, CDW, WMS, Grainger, Pactiv, Hospira, Fortune Brands, Beam, Walgreens, Mondelez International---- or companies in the Kenosha or racine market such as SC Johnson, Buffalo Grove or Arlington Heights would be a terrible choice.
6.) What I am saying is if you spend 30-45 minutes on a tollway or highway coming from Chicago on 94-294, when you exit onto Lake Cook rd. heading west, you can expect another 45 minutes on Lake Cook rd. as it backs up at 4 PM everyday around Milwaukee ave. all through BG. Same thing happens when you exit 53 heading east on Lake-Cook as you try to get to AH rd.----massive bottlenecks and traffic that you simply just don't see in Gurnee.
LMAO! Maybe Arlington Heights, Buffalo Grove & Vernon Hills were looked at a Hillybilly towns compared to Deerfield in the 1950's, but that surely isn't the case today. Those areas are very developed and have quite a few jobs today (and are a much quicker drive to the Schaumburg job corridor than Deerfield). I'll admit that Deerfield / Northbrook itself is a massive job corridor, however. If Buffalo Grove is a hillbilly town, then explain to me why so many Jewish & Asian families have migrated to BG from pricier towns like Deerfield & Northbrook ? Plus, you can't discount the appeal of the Stevenson High School district either. Some might find it more appealing than Deerfield High School for various reasons.
Quote:
Originally Posted by lakecountylifer
Gurnee schools are fine. I went through the Deerfield school system, and believe me, Arlington Heights, Buffalo Grove, and Vernon Hills are looked at as Hillbilly towns to those of us who live in Deerfield. So to each their own. I don't find my child is lacking from being in the Woodland school district compared to when I was in Dist. 109 and 113. Plus the air up here is a bit cleaner than closer in---- so its a win-win.
Also, in Deerfield and Gurnee, you are right off 94 for easy expressway access. I can drive, as I do regularly, from Gurnee to O'Hare in under 30 minutes. Buffalo Grove and Arlington Heights are away from immediate interstate access (save the south end of AH onto the gridlocked I-90). Buffalo Grove and Arlington Heights are absolutely gridlocked during rush hours.
So if you spend 45 minutes on I-294 commuting to work, plan on another 45 minutes once you get onto Lake-Cook road heading west to your small, older slab home in Buffalo Grove or AH.The infrastructure is lacking in these two towns concerning road development. Folks have been debating Route 53 expansion for a generation and I doubt that will even help.
1.) Not my point of view. If you spend any amount of time in Deerfield or other NS towns, it will be quite clear to you what they think. And if AH & BG is considered hillbilly, then the NS snobs probably consider Gurnee white trash rednecks. I certainly don't. Gurnee is nice enough, just not as convenient to Deerfield and Chicago as BG & AH are. I worked in Winnetka during college. It was the few who had such stuck up ideals. Most preferred the North Shore but didn't consider the NW suburbs "hillbilly".
2.) I am 2 minutes from I-94. Thats better than 10. The drive from rte 132 to Deerfield Rd is about 15 minutes in clear traffic. Add 5-10 minutes at each end to get from home to the highway and highway to the office; might be a bit more. 25-35 minutes total. I am just as close, maybe a bit closer.
3.) I wasn't talking western Lake County. I am talking Gurnee. And the roads in Gurnee are wide and clear and free of bottlenecks. There is no massive back-ups or bottlenecks like you have on Lake-Cook Rd. and Palatine or 53. Not too mention the areas around Palatine rd and AH Rd. and AH rd. and NW Highway. It's nutty traffic their. The roads flow much better in Gurnee than AH and Buffalo Grove. One would have to be drunk to claim otherwise. The backups happen in south central and central Lake County as well. I'll take your word that rte 132 and Milwaukee are clear sailing all the time, every day You might want to put that drink down
4.) I will take a statistically lower performance if that means my kids are not part of the gang culture that is infiltrating the closer in suburbs. Also, I have Carmel High School and many private elementary schools to choose from if I desire as well as Prairie Crossing Charter School in Grayslake which is top notch. So are you saying there is NO gang culture at Warren HS? Or are you saying the gang culture is greater at Hersey, Buffalo Grove or Stevenson? Would you like some hard statistics to show the difference in test scores and rankings between Warren and D214?
5.) If the OP shifts to Abbott, Baxter, Takeda, Walgreens, Aon, Brunswick, CDW, WMS, Grainger, Pactiv, Hospira, Fortune Brands, Beam, Walgreens, Mondelez International---- or companies in the Kenosha or racine market such as SC Johnson, Buffalo Grove or Arlington Heights would be a terrible choice. Funny. I'm only 30 minutes door to door to Abbott; less to Baxter, Takeda, Walgreens, CDW. How long is the commute downtown? Or to Schaumburg or the I-88 corridor from Gurnee? Arlington Heights is a much more central location to more employers than Gurnee.
6.) What I am saying is if you spend 30-45 minutes on a tollway or highway coming from Chicago on 94-294, when you exit onto Lake Cook rd. heading west, you can expect another 45 minutes on Lake Cook rd. as it backs up at 4 PM everyday around Milwaukee ave. all through BG. Same thing happens when you exit 53 heading east on Lake-Cook as you try to get to AH rd.----massive bottlenecks and traffic that you simply just don't see in Gurnee. This is irrelevant. OP is commuting to Deerfield. What is this coming from Chicago nonsense? I am less than 30 minutes, even in rush hour to & from Deerfield!
Your facts are tainted with Bias! LOL. You are not going to convince me that Arlington Heights is a great place to live, nor will I convince you that Gurnee is better than Arlington Heights.
The fact of the matter is that despite your spin, Gurnee is much more affluent income wise.
And according to US News here is how the high schools that serve most or parts of Arlington Heights rank (only school from AH or BG not to make the list was Rolling Meadows-which has made the list in recent years) http://www.usnews.com/education/best...ools/illinois:
Stevenson-5
Heresey-10
Prospect-10
Buffalo Grove-21
Elk Grove-30
Wheeling-42 (Wheeling's principal was also named principal of the year by Illinois Principal's association)
Warren was not ranked, and I do not recall it being ranked in the past.
I never said Gurnee schools were "bad", just that AH and BG schools are better. You are the one who insinuated that AH & BG schools were worse than Gurnee schools because of "gangs".
You are shredding your credibility because you are so busy saying how bad AH & BG are; and using false information to do so. I repeat, there is nothing wrong with Gurnee. In MY opinion AH&BG offer better schools, better location and are ceratinly no farther away from Deerfield and, depending on location might be a smidge closer. And AH (again my opinion) offers more charm than Gurnee. Gurnee has some nice sub-divisons, but it really doesn't have a downtown, offers no Metra service (without driving to another town) and I (opinion again) see no charm in the rte 132 corridor.
The only facts are actual drive times (your results may vary a bit) and school performances. If you don't like the criticism, I politely suggest you spend more time extolling the virtues of your town without putting other nice towns down and use facts to back your opinions.
And according to this source: Gurnee (village) QuickFacts from the US Census Bureau
There is only a $6,000 gap from Arlington Height to Gurnee; not a $15,000 gap.
And BG has about a $7,000 higher average income than Gurnee.
Does that mean one is automatically better than the other, or has better schools?
Last edited by cubssoxfan; 04-09-2013 at 05:59 PM..
Also, contrary to lakecountylifer, gang culture bleeds into Gurnee more than it does into Arlington Heights due to Gurnee's proximity to Waukegan (aka "Wauktown"). The east side of Gurnee is just a stone's throw from Waukegan. Arlington Heights, on the other hand, is a long way from Chicago & its gangs.
Take a trip to Gurnee Mills some time and you'll see more tatted up Latin Kings then you'll see at the shopping corridors by Arlington Heights.
Also, contrary to lakecountylifer, gang culture bleeds into Gurnee more than it does into Arlington Heights due to Gurnee's proximity to Waukegan (aka "Wauktown"). The east side of Gurnee is just a stone's throw from Waukegan. Arlington Heights, on the other hand, is a long way from Chicago & its gangs.
Take a trip to Gurnee Mills some time and you'll see more tatted up Latin Kings then you'll see at the shopping corridors by Arlington Heights.
Yes this is true about Gurnee Mills. There is an aggressive effort by our local government to work with Simon Properties to change Gurnee Mills from an outlet mall to a full service mall. The current Macys project and conversion of one wing of the mall to a full-line life style upscale center is happening now with a roll-out over the Summer. Certainly the demographic of Gurnee residents income level of $83K per year and a mall that attracts gang bangers from Waukegan is something that needed to be addressed.
As for gang problems, the proximity to Wheeling and other areas does put AH's and BG in the area of gangs. Note this story about a Latin Kings murder. There are many other examples.
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. I certainly don't. Gurnee is nice enough, just not as convenient to Deerfield and Chicago as BG & AH are. I worked in Winnetka during college. It was the few who had such stuck up ideals. Most preferred the North Shore but didn't consider the NW suburbs "hillbilly". 
