Looking for resources on neighborhoods with small children (Glen Ellyn, Wauconda: houses, buying)

[calvin338]

First post, be kind.

My wife and I have two small children (ages 5 and 3) and are currently lamenting our position as one of the only second owners in a smallish subdivision with lots of original owners. They all had kids ~13 years ago when our homes were built... we moved in 3 years ago and really wish we had other kids around, the same age as ours.

Which brings me to my question: Are there any websites or resources which I could use to identify other neighborhoods with more small kids?

We want for our kids what we had, a neighborhood crawling with friends. Seems the only way to get that these days is to go into a new development, but that means farther out and worse/different schools.

Help?

Thanks!

[calvin338]

Even neighborhoods in other towns, would be an option, I guess. I suppose what I'm really looking for is the tool/site itself. A place to start.

[cubssoxfan]

Originally Posted by calvin338

First post, be kind.

My wife and I have two small children (ages 5 and 3) and are currently lamenting our position as one of the only second owners in a smallish subdivision with lots of original owners. They all had kids ~13 years ago when our homes were built... we moved in 3 years ago and really wish we had other kids around, the same age as ours.

Which brings me to my question: Are there any websites or resources which I could use to identify other neighborhoods with more small kids?

We want for our kids what we had, a neighborhood crawling with friends. Seems the only way to get that these days is to go into a new development, but that means farther out and worse/different schools.

Help?

Thanks!

What about Liberty Grove(if I'm remembering the name of the subdivision correctly)? If you want to stay in wauconda this might be worth investigating

[Coyote27]

You may be able to find an elementary school of your liking and talk with the admins to determine if there are any subdivisions that a large part of population comes from. The advice I received and will pass on was to always interview your neighbors to ask these types of questions before buying.

[Lookout Kid]

What's "a lot"? I have kids about the same age as you, and they probably each have five or six friends within a one-block radius of our house in Glen Ellyn. There are other young kids within that radius that they don't know yet as well.

The lots are pretty small here, though, so that one block radius covers a lot of houses.

[chet everett]

The OP points out yet another reason that I really think many "mass builder" type subdivsions fail to serve home buyers -- the "onslaught" of buyers that often are attracted for the same reasons / at the same point in time that coincides with the "grand opening" often means that such neighborhoods go from "boom to bust" not just in price but also in regard to the mix of age groups...

How to out smart that tendancy? When you go shopping for your next house try to AVOID the mass builder type subdivisions and instead go for a traditionally developed area with a much broader mix of residents. Honestly, even if you could somehow trace back the enrollment data and other demographic trends of schools I doubt you'll have much success in finding which area is particularlly favored by folks with kids exactly the same year in school as your own -- even top notch schools have quite a bit of variability from year to year.

[calvin338]

Thanks for the replies, everyone. I was out of town until late last night, so just now getting a chance to read and reply.

I do like the suggestion that we find a elementary school we like and talk w/the admins. We're very happy with Robert Crown in Wauconda, the school has been a great positive about the area. I do suspect, however, that if we posed the question to the admins there, we would indeed hear "Liberty Lakes" (mentioned by cobssoxfax). I'm not crazy about Liberty Lakes, they have an SSA in place and would mean a much further/longer commute for me. We live well south of there.

Time to hits the streets and starting talking to schools and neighbors, sounds like as good a starting point as any. I'm going to try and stay active in the forum, feel free to send any Wauconda (9yr resident) questions my way.

Thanks everyone!