Good suburbs near Abbott Park (Chicago, Waukegan: house, neighborhood, high schools)

[kaday]

Can anyone recommend a town with good schools, charm and relatively reasonable housing costs?

[domergurl]

Going to work for Abbott Labs eh?

Try Gurnee or Grayslake. Libertyville is nice, but very expensive.

[karabiner]

What do you consider a reasonable housing cost and how far are you willing to drive?

[kaday]

reasonable would be under $500,000 (this is reasonable for a family from the tri state nyc area).....twenty minutes would be the max we want for a commute.

[domergurl]

Gurnee & Grayslake. Your commuting time requirement is a bit tricky though.

[Geordiegirl]

Hi, we're also supposed to be moving there too. We've looked around at Gurnee, Grayslake and Libertyville. Lake Forest is too expensive. a good place to look is on the website for the Chicago Tribune.
We're slightly worried that many of the high schools fail to meet the state standards. Does anyone know if this is really bad or not??

[SonySegaTendo617]

though i don't know a lot about that area, most suburbs in Lake County are decent, and certain suburbs can be somewhat pricey(Highland Park and Deerfield, in case you aren't aware, are also known for being very pricey, though i'm guessing you're looking north of there anyway, thus making that a moot point). i'd probably at least stay away from North Chicago and Waukegan, if you're trying to find one with a decent school system. i think i've also heard mixed things about Round Lake's school system too, though i'm not positive about this(you probably should ask others on this board about it). if you're trying to find something affordable and get more house for your money in the vicinity of Abbott, i'd probably recommend Mundelein, which is next to Libertyville.

i'd definately recommend using this tool on Chicago Tribune's web site for getting an idea of current housing prices for anywhere in the Chicagoland area(and it confirmed what i suspected about Mundelein):

http://www.chicagotribune.com/classified/realestate/

[chitown85]

Round Lake has horrible schools. Gurnee schools are pretty good. Grayslake are the best at where you are seeking to live. Stay away from Waukegan, Zion, and North Chicago due to the school issue as well. You should be able to find a good home in Grayslake and definitely will find a good home in Gurnee for your price range.

The commute time is tricky because the roads have not yet caught up with growth in the area so realistically 30-40 minutes would probably better.

You may find a home in Libertyville for your price, but you will have less house in a less desirable neighborhood than what you would get in Grayslake and Gurnee.

[pvande55]

Libertyville, Mundelein, and Gurnee are good choices. You may even find something in Green Oaks, a small and exclusive village nearby. One warning: stay away from the river. It floods often, especially this time of year. Don't bother timing your commute on weekends, you won't get any reliable estimate.

[Maas]

My Dad worked for Abbott for 20+ yrs (retired) - commuting from our home in Arbor Vista (Mom will be putting on the market in the next month). Arbor Vista is a quiet suburb with acre lots, mature trees, reasonably priced large homes, bording Liberty Conservancy with miles of bike paths. It's unincorporated: Grayslake mailing address; Gurnee schools; across the street from a charter school.

There are 2 trains <1/2 mile (Prairie Crossing) to Chicago or O'Hare.