Best place to live for foreign born Hispanics on the Northwest suburbs. (Chicago: 2014, house)

[elcolombiano]

Hi,

I have lived in Sycamore, IL since last year when I finished school. I have lived before in other states, but mainly in big university towns where people is used to diversity, foreigners and accents. Unfortunately, I have found people in this town to be really mean or more on the snobby side. It is my impression that everybody thinks that you are Mexican or an illegal alien. I have boys in the age range from 8 to 11. That has been the hardest part since we do not know that many people and my older son has been alone since we moved here. We have tried to find families with kids on the same age range, but I have found incredibly difficult to do so. I understand that it is normal that we do not have any friends since friendship takes time to develop. All that we are looking for is a town where people won't put us down because of your skin color or your accent. That's it. For us, the school district is important and we can afford a house in the price range of 250000 to 300000. I appreciate any help or insights. Thanks!

[CCrest182]

Originally Posted by elcolombiano

Hi,

I have lived in Sycamore, IL since last year when I finished school. I have lived before in other states, but mainly in big university towns where people is used to diversity, foreigners and accents. Unfortunately, I have found people in this town to be really mean or more on the snobby side. It is my impression that everybody thinks that you are Mexican or an illegal alien. I have boys in the age range from 8 to 11. That has been the hardest part since we do not know that many people and my older son has been alone since we moved here. We have tried to find families with kids on the same age range, but I have found incredibly difficult to do so. I understand that it is normal that we do not have any friends since friendship takes time to develop. All that we are looking for is a town where people won't put us down because of your skin color or your accent. That's it. For us, the school district is important and we can afford a house in the price range of 250000 to 300000. I appreciate any help or insights. Thanks!

Schaumburg has a pretty good amount of Hispanics, as well as West Chicago. Those both have housing options that should fix your price range. I can't imagine these places being too racist, and, because they have some diversity, it shouldn't be that hard adjusting. Avoid north suburbs like the plague if you don't like all white suburbs. There's really not many (if any) predominantly Hispanic NW suburbs, but there's plenty in the west and a few on the SW side. Luckily, the NW 'burbs have a few diverse suburbs with Hispanics, but not many. I would like to ask, why do you want to live in the NW suburbs? Is it for a job? Do you desire being close to the airport?

As an aside, I believe it's just the typical American, anywhere in this country, that thinks any dark brown skinned person is an illegal border crosser looking to destroy the world. That's just something that unfortunately you'll need to grow accustomed to. Sure, some places are less racist and stereotyping than others, but in general, I'd say most Americans (mostly white Americans) have this mentality. That's just something you'll have to cope with probably anywhere in America.

[elcolombiano]

CCrest182,

Thanks for your reply. I worked outside the suburbs near I39 and rd 64. That was the only reason that we moved to Sycamore first because that's a 20 minute commute from my house to work. However, at this point to improve our quality living, I am open to increase my commute. We have considered moving to Huntley, IL but there is not that much diversity in this area. Elburn, IL or Elgin, IL would be another option. Do you have other suggestions?

Thanks,

[vandre]

if the commute works out for your I second the Schaumburg recommendation. Schaumburg is very diverse, has good schools, and more importantly a plethora of dual language programs (chinese, japanese, spanish)

School District 54 » Open Enrollment

West Chicago schools are meh...


Here's a list of top Elementary schools in the State. Hoover Academy is #22:
The top 50 elementary schools in the Chicago area - Chicago Sun-Times


PM if you need more information

[holl1ngsworth]

Where is work?

[CCrest182]

Originally Posted by vandre

if the commute works out for your I second the Schaumburg recommendation. Schaumburg is very diverse, has good schools, and more importantly a plethora of dual language programs (chinese, japanese, spanish)

School District 54 » Open Enrollment

West Chicago schools are meh...


Here's a list of top Elementary schools in the State. Hoover Academy is #22:
The top 50 elementary schools in the Chicago area - Chicago Sun-Times


PM if you need more information

West Chicago HS is actually a decent school. Nothing special, but there are plenty worse.

[vandre]

Originally Posted by CCrest182

West Chicago HS is actually a decent school. Nothing special, but there are plenty worse.

I beg to disagree. Going by the SunTimes rankings West Chicago Community HS is pretty mediocre, ranked 401 out of 677 high schools in the state. This means that only 40% of HS rank worse.

Chicago Sun-Times Photo Gallery

That being said I believe there's a very small portion of West Chicago that attends St Charles East HS, which is very highly rated (Top 50).

[BRU67]

Originally Posted by vandre

I beg to disagree. Going by the SunTimes rankings West Chicago Community HS is pretty mediocre, ranked 401 out of 677 high schools in the state. This means that only 40% of HS rank worse.

Chicago Sun-Times Photo Gallery

That being said I believe there's a very small portion of West Chicago that attends St Charles East HS, which is very highly rated (Top 50).

Sort of off topic but is anyone but me wondering why they haven't released the 2014 ISAT/PSAE results to the public yet? They usually release preliminary results in June and the final results in July. Interesting. Maybe education guru Pat Quinn and his administration want to wait until after the election to make us all feel good about how well they're doing.

[cubssoxfan]

Palatine, Wheeling, Rolling Meadows and parts of Arlington Heights and Prospect Heights have large Hispanic communities.

[holl1ngsworth]

Originally Posted by BRU67

Sort of off topic but is anyone but me wondering why they haven't released the 2014 ISAT/PSAE results to the public yet? They usually release preliminary results in June and the final results in July. Interesting. Maybe education guru Pat Quinn and his administration want to wait until after the election to make us all feel good about how well they're doing.

I believe final results have been released to the school districts, but I'm not sure what the policy is on dissemination. I've seen several news articles where district officials were quoted as touting results as 'good, improving' but they shared nothing specific about the scores. On the IIRC homepage, you can see in the bottom right corner, under 'Updates,' that the 2013 Report Cards were released on October 31, 2013. So we might not have to wait much longer.

IIRC: Home

In ISAT's last year, math scores up, reading down | Chicago Tribune