Which Chicago suburbs are the best? (Naperville, Evanston: quality of life, taxes, living)

[twodoor2]

Originally Posted by starshine24

At any rate the schools are not a factor as no school age children. I heard they have a great Library. I like that. Des Plaines does not seem to have a great reputation but maybe that will be a plus in keeping housing costs low?

Schools play a major factor in resale value, even if you don't have school age children. I learned this the hard way. On the bright side, you may get a very low cost home.

[starshine24]

good point.

[Deez Plaines]

Here are the best



10. Richton Park
9. Flossmoor
8. Hazel Crest
7. Homewood
6. Harvard
5. Harvey
4. Markham
3. University Park
2. Park Forest
1. Des Plaines

[ToriaT]

Those are some of the worst. I don't know why people seriously come and post things like ^. Its not funny and its meant to direct people the wrong way. Don't waste your time or anyone elses.

[Tujuleez1]

Originally Posted by starshine24

Thanks! Sounds like the kind of place we are looking for. I am confused regarding your location. An actual suburb or town or ?

Where we were was unincorporated Willowbrook. It used to be uninc. Hinsdale until the post office built a facility in Willowbrook. It's at the southwest corner of Route 83 & I-55 in an area called Tri-State Village. Homes run from about $250K to over $500K but most are in the mid-300s. There's some rather worn houses in with newer and well-kept houses. But the area has always been stable. The worn houses are mostly people who have been there 30-50+ years and like the neighborhood too much to move.

[flamadiddle]

Originally Posted by Deez Plaines

Here are the best



10. Richton Park
9. Flossmoor
8. Hazel Crest
7. Homewood
6. Harvard
5. Harvey
4. Markham
3. University Park
2. Park Forest
1. Des Plaines

Best? are you kidding?

[ChicagoBurbs]

The Libertyville/Vernon Hills area is starting to receive a lot more attention among the suburbs. Vernon Hills has had the mall now for several years (currently being revamped as well) and Libertyville's downtown has just exploded in the last 3 years with restaurants of variety that you'd typically expect only in the city. The towns have evolved a lot since 2000, going from more blue collar to then richer and white collar during the 2000s. Now in the 2010s the mixture of that historic small town feel with lots of money is seeming to draw rich yuppies, making for a more liberal and urban crowd. No northern suburbs have changed more in the last 15 years than these two IMO.

[chet everett]

It would be hard to qualify Libertyville as EVER having had a "blue collar" population of any significance. The town has always been a place that, well not "old money" like Lake Forest, is "aspirational". You don't name a town for "Liberty" if your target residents are guys working in factories that dump PCBs into the lake, but maybe if they are the owners / upper management...

Similarly Vernon Hills was largely created in the model of Schuamburg or Oak Brook -- core retail mall, surrounded by some higher end office complexes with residential areas tucked into twisty street cul d'sac subdivisions.

I agree that downtown L'ville is attracting more upscale eateries, but it is not like there were places where blue collar workers would throw back a shot and beer in the Carharts after a shift in the mill. That is Waukegan's legacy...

Going back fifteen years would take us back to when Motorola's cell phone business was in L'ville and a whole more dominate than it has been under the vision-less leaders that let it become irrelevant. In that light the hope of Illinois having an actually base of technology oriented employment seem realistic. Now it is bad memory... The desirability of L'ville as home to both highly educated pharmacology workers and their fortunate sales oriented executives has long shaped the core residential profile and until Abbott has a major screw-up or merges with a foreign entity that should continue to the driving force.

[twodoor2]

What about Lincolnshire? That's a nice area up North as well.

[flamadiddle]

Originally Posted by preppyboyofIL

Well I have no idea where this person is getting their info from, but I can tell you the idea of all the south burbs being horrible is simply not true at all. Just for the record, Frankfort; a south burb, has property values skyrocketing much higher than that of the northern burbs due to the oncoming of I-355 and New Lenox is going the same way. Another couple of south burbs that are growing by leaps and bounds of which are almost all white, has crime nearly non-existant, and has many multi-million dollar homes is Orland Park and Palos Park. Another south burb which is also very elegant is Palos Heights, so I have no idea where this person is getting his info from. Here are some links to these horrible burbs.

Village of Orland Park OR Village of Frankfort

OR The Village of New Lenox - Home of Proud Americans

OR Palos Park, Illinois
OR Village of Tinley Park
OR City of Palos Heights, IL - Home Page

AND here is some more about Orland Park Orland Park - Economic Development (http://www.orland-park.il.us/econdev...main.cfm?go=cp - broken link)

and it's awful schools District 230 and Carl Sandburg

oh and the ratings proving that Carl Sandburg High School has higher ratings than most any other school.

Carl Sandburg High School - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

oh and here is the news doing a report on how wonderful the school is ABC7Chicago.com: School Days: Carl Sandburg High School

Oh and Money magazine saying that Orland Park is one of the best places to live in the country... I don't see Skokie or Wilmette, or any of the other burbs being named in recent past MONEY Magazine: Best places to live 2006: Orland Park, IL snapshot

I would consider all of the places you mentioned to be Southwest Suburbs. When someone says South Suburbs, they generally mean places like Harvey, Dolton, Riverdale, Hazel Crest, Calumet City, Chicago Heights, Park Forest, Glenwood, etc. Most of which are terrible places to live these days, but there are a few exceptions like Homewood, Flossmoor, some parts of Glenwood and some parts of da Heights, etc. Overall though, the South Suburbs are a rough area.