Which Chicago suburbs are the best? (Naperville, Elgin: crime, homes, school district)

[nanannie]

People in Illinois are very nice,more conservative then Calif,but nice just the same.there are nasty people in every state to be avoided.I think anything in mid and southern Ill may be too much of a culture shock to you...North shore is lovely..nice schools all over chicagoland.Elmhurst,Glen Ellyn,Geneva, St. charles also nice.Alot of people like Naperville. I live in Barrington Hills,Barrington area still has some country feel,nice rolling hills,lakes, acerage,lots of horse people, expensive but nice village and great schools,train commute to city ,,You really will have a big choice and many towns to visit.I agree about avoiding the southern burbs

[jdouglashunt]

I may be moving to Illinois in the next few months. Is it possible to be within 2 hours of Chicago, have good schools, and pay $200,000 or less for a 3 br house?

[vered4]

I think if you find a good real estate agent...you will find that there ARE some areas near Chicago where you can get all that you want. The farther you go out in the burbs....the less it will cost. I am hoping you will find something within an hour of downtown Chicago.... Get a good agent and make them work for you!

[jdouglashunt]

I would love to be within an hour of downtown. I just want to be realistic...

[Bill Laver]

Originally Posted by scoop89

There are many excellent areas to live in Chicagoland. Your first task will be to find an acceptable home as close to work as possible. Also consider the possibility of using the rail to get to work, if possible.
You will hate Chicagoland if you are addicted to warm weather.
The air is fine.
The people in Illinois are as nice to you as you are to them.
Real estate is a fraction of Southern California home prices.
I know a few people that moved here from San Bernadino and Fullerton. They can't wait to go back.
I would rent a place for a year to make sure you like it here.

This was the post that I most agreed with. Here are a few more considerations:
1. Generalizing about a region of the suburbs is laughable. All of them (North, South, West, and Northwest) have areas with both good and bad neighborhoods, school districts, and crime rates.
2. Here is one list of the nation's "top schools":
America's Top Public High Schools - Newsweek America's Best High Schools - MSNBC.com
You're welcome to check it out, but I'm sure other lists will be different.
3. On a Sunday morning at 7:00 (i.e. taking traffic completely out of the equation), it takes roughly two hours to drive from the southern tip of the suburbs to the northern tip of the suburbs in Chicago. During rush hour, that time will easily be doubled. It pays to either live where you work or use the public transportation systems.

[Bill Laver]

Originally Posted by jdouglashunt

I may be moving to Illinois in the next few months. Is it possible to be within 2 hours of Chicago, have good schools, and pay $200,000 or less for a 3 br house?

Yes, but you'll have to do some serious research. If you consider private schools, your options open up considerably. If you're working in downtown Chicago, you'll be able to move much farther out thanks to Metra (Metra - Welcome to Metra) and should have no problem matching your house price to a commute time. However, such a move will cause your school options to suffer somewhat.

[carryd]

Everything except for the poor quality of schools is fairly accurate. I'm not sure where their children attended school, however, the Northern Suburbs have Excellent schools. I live in Libertyville which is a beautiful, family friendly town. The parents in the area are very focused and involved in their children's education and social life which is reflected in the academic ranking of the schools and the wonderful children in the community. I grew up in Lincolnshire, moved to Chicago and lived in Greek Town. Before children, city life was wonderful. When the children came, we wanted to move closer to the atmosphere where we had grown up, so we moved back up North. I love the Northern burbs and the people and places that are here. Libertyville is beautiful, small town with a wide range of homes to choose from. Occasionally, the kids and I will walk to the Metra, after stopping at Starbucks, and then head to Chicago. The kids love the train ride and then we head off to Lincoln Park Zoo. At the end if the day, when I have had enough of the city, we head back to the tranquil burbs where my husband and I are able to escape off to Ravinia for a relaxing eveningt. I love it so much that when we move out of the state in August, we are buying a second home in town to come back to for summer work and play!

[cottonwood2420]

Originally Posted by daisysforme

We are relocating from Southern California to a whole new way of living. We want the best for our family good neighborhoods, schools (elementry, middle, and high school). What do we look forward too? Are going to fall in love with the state? How are the people are they friendly is the air quality better. Just need information on best places to live. Thank you

Lake Forest and Winnetka.

[winters816]

I have lived in western subs for almost a year I can say that I am NOT in love with illinois. I do actually live in an upscale area in western burbs and the school still are not very good. I grew up in San Diego and I gotta say as far as hospitality chicago is not the place to find it. I feel that everyone is so busy trying to keep up with the expensive living that they just dont care about anyone else. As far as air quality we have an alert all week for high polution in air and are urgred not to go outside much and use lawn mowers ect. There is lots of diversity in almost any area you travel to in chicagoland, and lots of things to do if you want to travel downtown. If working downtown I would reccomend using one of the train lines such as Metra - Welcome to Metra that was one of the deciding factors in where we lived.

3 of my favorite cities to live in here are Bloomingdale, Naperville, and Willmete

[winters816]

Originally Posted by jdouglashunt

I may be moving to Illinois in the next few months. Is it possible to be within 2 hours of Chicago, have good schools, and pay $200,000 or less for a 3 br house?

You may have to find a condo or townhouse, the only place we could find nice houses for that price range was Joliet, and I havent heard good things about the area, try Chesterton,Indiana. We are checking that area out.