Barrington with kids (Chicago, Aurora, Naperville: houses, buy, school districts)

[nanannie]

I chose not to live in Naperville and chose Barrington for many reasons. But its NOT a reasonable commute to a job in Cary---oui>? Which is what the op has in mind.

[Steve-o]

Originally Posted by nanannie

I chose not to live in Naperville and chose Barrington for many reasons. But its NOT a reasonable commute to a job in Cary---oui>? Which is what the op has in mind.

Ive already mentioned that above. Her original post didnt mention that theyd be working in Cary, thats why I recommended Naperville. Once she mentioned where theyd be working I promptly told her that you could technically do it everyday, but it would be quite far. And I agree, no way in heck would I recommend a Naperville to Cary commute, that'd be suicidal (for me at least)! But there are some that have no problem with long commutes. I work with a guy who drives to Geneva from Peotone everyday. I also worked with another guy who made the drive here from Coal City! WOAH!

[nanannie]

AND--- one can visit any forest preserve, lake,'festival',park,parade etc which many of the burbs are loaded with ,,without having to live in the exact burb. I think the offerings all over suburban chicago are pretty terrific for family activity and on top of all these, its an easy commute to a fabulous city as well.

[rgb123]

yeah, its really kind of silly to debate the virtues of Naperville here....it is way too far, and Gurnee is also ridiculously far from Barrington for a daily commute to work.

HOWEVER -- both are reasonable for weekends or summer/winter activities.

Commuting from Coal City or somewhere way outside of the metro area is usually not as big of a deal as actually traversing a a metro area.

Gurnee - Barrington crosses the major population centers of Lake County, there is no way to do it without sitting in traffic, and they are on complete opposite sides of the county...going all the way to Cary? its all the way in Mchenry county, south Mchenry County, not north which would be more feasible.

Naperville? A south suburb....not feasible from a northwest suburb, though honestly its probably better than the gurnee commute given its mostly interstate or down hwy 59, at least it is somewhat dircect.

Anyway....given all that...I would choose Barrington hands down anyway, for raising a family. I'd look at Cary itself too, more affordable but its still in this area which is generally nice all around.

[VA Girl]

Thank you all for your insights, this has been so helpful. We will be out there soon to check things out, so I am sure I will be back here with more questions!

[Arun]

Check out

Great Places to Raise Kids (Business Week article):

Great Places to Raise Kids -- for Less

#25 - Barrington

Best Places to Raise Your Kids, 2007 - BusinessWeek

[desert student]

Originally Posted by Steve-o

It also should be mentioned that Naperville is also very close to many forest preserves (ie Blackwell, Herrick Lake, Warrenville Grove, etc) and other types of natural areas, including the fabulous Morton Arboretum. There are also many areas of Naperville where you can get an older home on decent acreage too, its not ALL subdivisions.

Heres a link for the kids:
Downtown Naperville - Be Surprised

That's all well and good, but you can live in Aurora and still take advantage of those things. That doesn't make Aurora a fabulous place to live either.

[Steve-o]

Originally Posted by desert student

That's all well and good, but you can live in Aurora and still take advantage of those things. That doesn't make Aurora a fabulous place to live either.

The forest preserves I mentioned are not close to Aurora. Glad you know the area so well.

[GoCUBS1]

Originally Posted by VA Girl

My family is relocating, and we have found a few homes we like in Barrington. They are nice homes, but not extravagant ($550-650). We have two children, 3 years old and an infant. Will I be able to find fun things to do with children in this area?

I live in Barrington and have young children who are very active. There is LOTS to do here with young kids. Here are some things we have done in or near Barrington:

• hiking in local forest preserves (e.g. Crabtree)
• fishing and boating on the Fox River
• tennis classes (South Barrington Club)
• rock climbing (Prairie Stone)
• swimming and skateboarding (Barrington Park District)
• cross country skiing, snowboarding (Wild Buffalo in Algonquin) and ski jumping (Norge in Fox River Grove)
• playgroups at churches, rec centers, etc.
• iceskating (Barrington Ice Arena)
• Gymnastics (Kids Zone)
• Ballet and tap (Bataille or Barrington Danse)
• Children Cooking classes (Cucina)
• Art classes (Kaleidiscope)
• violin and piano (Suzuki)
• soccer (BASA)
• Spanish and french classes (Language Stars)
• chess (Shulman Chess)
• Ceramics classes
• Children's theater and chorus
• Gymboree
• Kindermusik
• Tae Kwon Do
• horseback riding

And we often just take the train downtown to go to the museums. The one thing Napreville does have over Barrington is their wonderful Children's Museum. Barrington did have a great children's museum at one time (Health World) but it closed

If you can tell me what kinds of activities you like, I can give you some more ideas. Hope these help...

[GoCUBS1]

Originally Posted by Arun

Check out

Great Places to Raise Kids (Business Week article):

Great Places to Raise Kids -- for Less

#25 - Barrington

Best Places to Raise Your Kids, 2007 - BusinessWeek

Great! Business Week conducted a national research to find the best "50 places in the U.S.that offer kids and their parents the right combination of safety, community, and education." And BW then ranked Barrington #12 for schools. Thanks for the link Arun...