Is the North Shore still regarded prestigious? (Chicago, Aurora: estate, income)

[nanannie]

Ummm. Sorry, not EVERYONE in those burbs ''are nothing but ultra rich''. Thats just not true. I know many who are not. Thats a bit of an exaggeration. Drive through the towns besides just the lakefront or Sheridan rd,not all the homes are estates, not all the families are 'blue bloods', which by the way, are the ONLY exceptable "rich" to many old families.Much snickering is done towards the "new rich', and many are snubbed even with the cash to buy a landmark estate.

[reppin_the_847]

I'm sorry to say bro, but even though I am from the northern suburbs and not the western suburbs, I have to say that not all of the North Shore is super loaded & blue blood. Sure, the overall vibe is blue blood & old money, that is for sure. I am a young guy from a "newer money" family that did the immigrant hop skip & jump from the north side of Chicago to northwest Indiana to Skokie to Libertyville, and I went to a private HS in Lake Forest, and I have done delivery driving stints here & there both in Northfield (covering New Trier Township), and in Lake Forest, and I have driven up & down the North Shore literally thousands of times back & forth from Chicago especially. I know the area really well for someone that is not really part of that old, blue blood, horse riding, lacrosse playing, Ivy League degree'd society (I am exaggerating here a bit if you can't tell). All I'm saying is that although most folks in Lake Forest (observed this from experience) have money, not all of them are blue bloods. There are a couple individuals here & there that may as well be cowboys from the wild, wild, west. Folks that have more in common with Ross Perot, or the image GW Bush tries to portray than some old aristocratic blue blood knight with New England ties in a finely tailored suit or khaki/polo gear lol. Sure, generally the west side of Lake Forest has the newer money feel, and doesn't have the same look that the east side does. But there are exceptions ALL over the North Shore. I have seen some VERY small houses in Lake Forest, and some GIGANTIC houses in Lake Forest, and just about everything in between. All I'm saying is that the North Shore is a bit more diverse socieconomically and ethnically than you make it out to be, although not quite like out in the western suburbs. I would probably agree that there are probably more super high net worth individuals residing along the North Shore than out west in DuPage, but this isn't to say that DuPage does not have some very, very wealthy households as well. This is really a silly argument. Go out to the NYC Metro, and it's the same thing. Money is money, and counties like NY's Westchester County, Naussau County along their North Shore in Long Island, Bergen County in NJ & Fairfield County in Connecticut can duke it out in the same way because ALL of those counties have gobs of money and high net worth households, although there are definitely some pockets of poverty (ie. parts of Yonkers in Westchester County, etc.) And the funny thing is, a lot of those NY Metro areas are probably older than Chicago's North Shore. Chicago & the North Shore emerged some time in the 1800's, while the NY Metro areas really sprang to life even earlier than that. Look at this quote from Wikipedia describing Westchester County in NY:

"The first Europeans to explore Westchester were Giovanni da Verrazzano in 1524 and Henry Hudson in 1609. The first European settlers were sponsored by the Dutch West India Company in the 1620s and 1630s. English settlers arrived from New England in the 1640s."

Originally Posted by BUalumni

OK pal. This is just a blog. I'm glad you like the Western Suburbs of Chicago. Some do, most I know don't. It's not because we are green with envy as the impression this blog seems to give off. It is because we like towns with souls, not subdivisions on steriods that hold thousands in an unhealthy amount of space. Towns like Bolingbrook, Plainfield, Joliet, Aurora, North Aurora, Batavia etc. etc. are not what anyone else in this ENTIRE world would ever call presigious, end of story! I would venture to say that while most like their respective towns, not a single person from Aurora or Batavia or Bolingbrook or Plainfield or Naperville or even St. Charles would ever call themselves prestigous. Historic, clean, popular, educated are all adjectives I am sure they would use. But prestigous, come on man! But I'm glad you see it the opposite way. Whatever works the best for you and yours. But I'm afraid to tell you that you are worng. The ENTIRE towns of Kenilworth, Glencoe, Lake Forest, Winnetka, etc. are ALL FULL of nothing but 'ultra' rich people. Find me a person within any of those towns that isn't living at least 50k above the average salary of a Naperville resident then I guess we can talk.

[rgb123]

And again.....Barrington Hills can hardly be grouped with Naperville..... The Barringtons are clearly north of dupage county

[nanannie]

Originally Posted by rgb123

And again.....Barrington Hills can hardly be grouped with Naperville..... The Barringtons are clearly north of dupage county

Yep,true. The Barringtons consist of Cook, Kane, Mchenry and Lake counties.

[Steve-o]

Originally Posted by nanannie

Ummm. Sorry, not EVERYONE in those burbs ''are nothing but ultra rich''. Thats just not true. I know many who are not. Thats a bit of an exaggeration. Drive through the towns besides just the lakefront or Sheridan rd,not all the homes are estates, not all the families are 'blue bloods', which by the way, are the ONLY exceptable "rich" to many old families.Much snickering is done towards the "new rich', and many are snubbed even with the cash to buy a landmark estate.

The guy is insane if he thinks EVERYONE in the north shore is ultra-rich. He just wont listen, thats all. Everyone knows that most areas of the north shore are very prestigious, but his rediculous comments like "not many in the western burbs can afford anything in the north shore", etc, are hilarious. To be honest, the mega rich out here have much larger homes than they do on the north shore, but since they dont live in Winnetka I guess that makes them less prestigious? Heck, Ive seen larger homes in St. Charles (which is quite wealthy but nowhere near the top out here) than I do in Winnetka or Lake Forest. Anyone seen Crane Road Estates? Or the monsters off of Burr Road? If you ask me, the biggest homes Ive ever seen are in south Barrington and Oak Brook.

[via chicago]

Originally Posted by Steve-o

To be honest, the mega rich out here have much larger homes than they do on the north shore, but since they dont live in Winnetka I guess that makes them less prestigious? Heck, Ive seen larger homes in St. Charles (which is quite wealthy but nowhere near the top out here) than I do in Winnetka or Lake Forest. Anyone seen Crane Road Estates? Or the monsters off of Burr Road? If you ask me, the biggest homes Ive ever seen are in south Barrington and Oak Brook.

I dont see how size is an accurate indicator of price/wealth. You get more for your money the farther away you get from the city...its not a 1:1 ratio.

also, many of the developments you listed are new construction, which typically build bigger...i dont see how you can compare 100 year old David Adler designed estates to suburban mcmansions. its the real thing vs poor imitations.

this
Single Family Home - 6500 HILLCREST DR, BURR RIDGE, IL, 60527 - Realtor.com
costs the same as this
Single Family Home - 1421 Lake, Lake Forest, IL, 60045 - Realtor.com

personally i think one has taste and class and one dosent. but thats just me.

or you could get this all the way out in st charles..but its nowhere near the price for something you would pay for something of comparable size on the north shore
Single Family Home - ST. CHARLES, IL, 60175 - Realtor.com

[Steve-o]

Originally Posted by via chicago

I dont see how size is an accurate indicator of price/wealth. You get more for your money the farther away you get from the city...its not a 1:1 ratio

True indeed. But if you can afford a 12 million dollar honker in Hinsdale, you can afford one in Lake Forest. Id have to question someone's mentality if they wanted a smaller home for more money of course.

[Lookout Kid]

What a dumb thread. It's amazing how people in Chicago so often define themselves based on where they live. This attitude really hurts society.

[j33]

Originally Posted by Steve-o

True indeed. But if you can afford a 12 million dollar honker in Hinsdale, you can afford one in Lake Forest. Id have to question someone's mentality if they wanted a smaller home for more money of course.

Why? Perhaps that person is more interested in the location of the home, the craftsmanship of the home, the materials used to finish the home than they are the size of the home. I'll be the first one to admit, if I were faced with the choice of a 'smaller' lakefront estate in Lake Forest and a giant mansion in Hinsdale, I'd go with the lakefront estate, I like the idea of living next to water, living in an older house, and having a reasonably short commute to chicago more than I do having an insanely huge newly built house, and I'm sure that the people who live in Lake Forest and a lot of those north shore suburbs probably feel that way too, which is why they choose to pay more for 'smaller' houses. That being said, I've not really explored the northwest suburbs at all, and I only had dealings with the north-shore burbs as a graduate student who had to take classes at Loyola's campus in Wilmette (before they sold it). It was actually a huge eye-opener to me when I did, until that point, I had never really had much contact or knowledge of anything north of Rogers Park (which is of course nothing like Wilmette

.... but what I do know, I live in a one-bedroom shoebox and grew up on the south-side (south suburbs to be exact)

[via chicago]

Originally Posted by Steve-o

Id have to question someone's mentality if they wanted a smaller home for more money of course.

i know you're half joking, but the whole idea that bigger is automatically better is really flawed. would you rather have an aged bottle of a fine Bordeaux to be savored, or a few cases of busch light? there are certainly people who would prefer the cases of beer, but that dosent mean the choice to choose the wine is irrational.