Carpentersville? (Algonquin, Hampshire, Kane: houses, rent, lease)

[vipi]

We were driving by Carpentersville area and some of the houses(including new construction) are nice and cheaper. Not sure what is people's perception about this area. I heard, the schools are in district 300(good elementary but bad high school?). One point worries me though is resale of the houses. Some of the houses that we saw online six months ago are still there in the market. Need your recommendation about settling down in Carpentersville vs dundee vs crystal lake.

Thanks,

Vipi

[middle-aged mom]

Listen to your insticts cause when it comes time to resell, buyers are going to have the same thoughts. Perception of schools has a tremendous influence on resale. Reality is however, often different from perception. Some kids do quite well and some do not.

[nanannie]

Please do a "search" on this forum for the burbs you mentioned. There has been much discussion on all of them here recently. C'ville is a 'no' in most parts,some areas are newer/nicer but its still a C'ville address and schools. Not great now for resale. Dundee, better, C'lake better still.

[sspot]

Originally Posted by nanannie

Please do a "search" on this forum for the burbs you mentioned. There has been much discussion on all of them here recently. C'ville is a 'no' in most parts,some areas are newer/nicer but its still a C'ville address and schools. Not great now for resale. Dundee, better, C'lake better still.

Careful there. Most of Dundee is served by Dundee Crown. The western parts of Cville are in the same schools as Algonquin (i.e. Jacobs H.S., or Hampshire now). People hear Carpentersville and think of the east side. I don't live there(yet), but west Carpentersville seems no different from Algonquin or Dundee.

[canoeist]

Having lived in the Dundee area since 1987, let me offer a different view of Dundee Crown HS (District 300). All of my three sons are products of DCHS. The oldest went on to Northwestern U, graduating from there in 3 1/2 years. The second also went to Northwestern and graduated in 3 years. The youngest graduated from Dundee Crown in 2003, going on to college and earning BS degrees in Physics and Biology with a minor in Mathemetics in 4 years. How was all of this possible? The Advanced Placement and Honors program at Dundee Crown not only enabled them to earn nearly a year of college credits, but prepared them to compete well at a top university.

Regarding students in general at Dundee Crown, yes there are some problems, but in the 12 cumulative years my sons spent at Dundee Crown, we did not have any gang problems or the like. On the other hand, they received a real lesson in diversity and understood how blessed they were. We could not be happier about the time they spent at Dundee Crown, and they had some truly gifted teachers.

[nanannie]

Originally Posted by canoeist

Having lived in the Dundee area since 1987, let me offer a different view of Dundee Crown HS (District 300). All of my three sons are products of DCHS. The oldest went on to Northwestern U, graduating from there in 3 1/2 years. The second also went to Northwestern and graduated in 3 years. The youngest graduated from Dundee Crown in 2003, going on to college and earning BS degrees in Physics and Biology with a minor in Mathemetics in 4 years. How was all of this possible? The Advanced Placement and Honors program at Dundee Crown not only enabled them to earn nearly a year of college credits, but prepared them to compete well at a top university.

Regarding students in general at Dundee Crown, yes there are some problems, but in the 12 cumulative years my sons spent at Dundee Crown, we did not have any gang problems or the like. On the other hand, they received a real lesson in diversity and understood how blessed they were. We could not be happier about the time they spent at Dundee Crown, and they had some truly gifted teachers.

Thats great to hear, but lets not dismiss the importance of what your three sons obviously had in the line of good parenting.

[middle-aged mom]

Originally Posted by canoeist

Having lived in the Dundee area since 1987, let me offer a different view of Dundee Crown HS (District 300). All of my three sons are products of DCHS.

Thank you for your perspective. My own theory about schools is that they are all good. It's the kids that screw them up.

[mia220]

I think (but am not positive) that Carpentersville is where they voted to make English the town's official language. I found a statistic that roughly 38% of its population speaks Spanish at home. Personally, I think that the concept of an official language is load of crap. As a result, Hispanics were going to boycott Carpentersville businesses. There's a lot of tension between the Anglos and Hispanics.

[canoeist]

Since half of Spring Hill Mall, and major chains like Home Depot are in Carpentersville, I have not noticed any boycott. The real tension in Carpentersville is in the City Council Meetings which can be boisterous to say the least. Our Scout Troop camps often at Fox River Shores (a Kane County park), which is close to the poorer areas of the town. I also bike and hike in those areas and have never had any trouble.

Most of the recent growth in C-ville has taken place on the west side of the Fox River, with larger homes, which is changing the demographics.

Regarding family upbringing versus schools, family is great, but it is gifted teachers that get you advanced placement credits in calculus or chemistry!

[Algonquin98]

Actually don't beware of Crown- it's a better rated school than Jacobs. Crown may be a bit of a rougher crowd, but the school has better programs overall. Also, Jacobs is known as being the druggie school, Crown the fightin school.