which suburbs--Buffalo Grove, Vernon Hills, or Deerfield? (Chicago, Evanston: how much, house)

[mary1118]

We are relocating from Ohio for my husband's job (in Lincolnshire). We are looking at which community would be best for our family and our kids in elementary school. We're used to an urban, liberal lifestyle, so this is a big change for us (and we can't afford the commute or housing in Evanston). Any recommendations for us? We're considering Buffalo Grove, Vernon Hills, or Deerfield.

[Frank the Tank]

Buffalo Grove, Vernon Hills and Deerfield are all pretty similar in character with excellent top tier school systems. They are definitely not urban or liberal. That being said, the politics in those areas are pretty moderate (they used to be rock solid Republican, but now are located in one of the most competitive Congressional districts in the country), so if you're worrying about being in predominantly conservative suburbs, they aren't that, either. What you'll probably find are people are pretty fiscally conservative (which isn't surprising being in an affuent area) but are probably on the moderate-to-liberal side on social issues (pro-life or anti-gay marriage activists are few and far between). I think many of the interior ring of the Chicago suburbs are trending this way politically - I'm not sure where you are from in Ohio, but the Chicago area overall in terms of politics has voting patterns much more like an East Coast metro area than a Midwestern one.

In terms of prices, if you were to have the exact same house but just changed the addresses, Deerfield would be most expensive (even though it's not on Lake Michigan, most people would consider it to be a virtual North Shore community), followed by Buffalo Grove and then Vernon Hills. Buffalo Grove has an older housing stock overall, while Vernon Hills has a large supply of newer homes.

[ahava]

Deerfield is the most walkable of those three towns so if you're looking for the one most similar to what you're used to, that's probably the best. Buffalo Grove and Vernon Hills are very stereotypically suburban - all strip malls and planned subdivisions. Deerfield has an actual downtown area and its Metra station is both within walking distance from the downtown and centrally located in a residential neighborhood. It's nice when you don't have to worry about finding parking when you want to go to Chicago. I don't know if you plan on visiting the city often but you can't really walk to the Metra stations in VH and BG, plus that Metra line doesn't run on weekends. Personally I would choose Deerfield, but it is the most expensive of the three as Frank said, so depending on your price range you might not be happy with how much house you can afford there.

[lakecountylifer]

I grew up in Deerfield and am a DHS graduate. If you can afford Deerfield its not even a close call, Deerfield is more affluent and has a real home town feel to it. Excellent schools and park district. One thing I've noticed is the perception of Deerfield is it has many snobby residents compared to more of a upper middle class town when I grew up in the 70's/80's. The Bulls training facility is in town and the Bears facilty is up the road so you can also get to see some sports stars in town while your shopping---an extra bonus.

As for politics, well there are definitely some more liberals in the area but historically all of these towns have been a GOP strong hold---but times are changing.