Advice on Wheaton? (Chicago, Naperville, Downers Grove: 2015, HOA, home)

[moving_back]

We're looking to move to the western suburbs this summer and are strongly considering Wheaton. My husband will be working in north Naperville off of I-88. We really like Wheaton because it's smaller/less crowded than Naperville, is very close to my husband's work, offers lots of greenspace, and the downtown area seems to be fairly walkable. Our max budget is $500k.

We have two young boys and I'm wondering about the schools. My older son will be going into 1st grade in the fall. I know Wheaton is known to have excellent schools, but there seems to be some variability among the elementary schools. Our target areas are Longfellow or Whittier districts (we'd like to be close to downtown if possible) but we recently saw a home in the Sandburg district that we loved (it had direct access to the Prairie Path). Sandburg is rated quite a bit lower than the previously mentioned schools, any idea why?

Was also wondering about the overall vibe of the community. Are people generally friendly/neighborly, do kids play with other kids in the neighborhood or do people mostly stay inside/keep to themselves? We are looking for a very family friendly community, so any recommendations on certain neighborhoods would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for any advice! We will be moving from out of state so I really appreciate your insight!

[chet everett]

Originally Posted by moving_back

We're looking to move to the western suburbs this summer and are strongly considering Wheaton. My husband will be working in north Naperville off of I-88. We really like Wheaton because it's smaller/less crowded than Naperville, is very close to my husband's work, offers lots of greenspace, and the downtown area seems to be fairly walkable. Our max budget is $500k.

We have two young boys and I'm wondering about the schools. My older son will be going into 1st grade in the fall. I know Wheaton is known to have excellent schools, but there seems to be some variability among the elementary schools. Our target areas are Longfellow or Whittier districts (we'd like to be close to downtown if possible) but we recently saw a home in the Sandburg district that we loved (it had direct access to the Prairie Path). Sandburg is rated quite a bit lower than the previously mentioned schools, any idea why?

Was also wondering about the overall vibe of the community. Are people generally friendly/neighborly, do kids play with other kids in the neighborhood or do people mostly stay inside/keep to themselves? We are looking for a very family friendly community, so any recommendations on certain neighborhoods would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for any advice! We will be moving from out of state so I really appreciate your insight!

I saw a buddy this weekend that has lived in Wheaton for a long time. His kids are like mine -- out of college and moved out! I did ask him about some recent trends in Wheaton (he is in a business related to home construction and has lots of contacts...) and he agreed that Wheaton's older neighborhoods, that maybe did lag behind some of the new construction near Danada, are picking up in demand.

The important thing is that the various attendance areas are getting MORE similar in composition. Where once the new developments were capturing more of the younger more professional type home buyers, there is now a shift where the older areas are more in demand. The attendance areas matter less than simply finding the kind of home / neighborhood that suits your lifestyle.

As far "friendly" that too is something that is depends a whole lot on what your expectations are. Some subdivisions did have the sort of "we all moved here when we first started having kids" kind of HOA which is kind of natural way to meet people but now most of those subdivisions are seeing third owners along with empty nesters. Odds are if you are driving around on a nice day you'll see kids outside in probably MOST neighborhoods in DuPage Co, and odds are that some of those kids will be in the same grade as your kids / play on the same soccer group / be in the same "learn to swim" classes. It is a big part of how folks get to know one another...

[RJA29]

You'll probably also find a bunch of info in these threads:

Western suburb recommendation for stay at home dad

Glen Ellyn vs La Grange - need Lookout Kid, Chet and JJSki's advice

Happy hunting! For 500K in Wheaton you could get something very nice, in your pick of school zones.

[Lud Kissel]

hollingsworth, this is your dream OP!!

[bigsmoke3238]

Originally Posted by moving_back

We're looking to move to the western suburbs this summer and are strongly considering Wheaton. My husband will be working in north Naperville off of I-88. We really like Wheaton because it's smaller/less crowded than Naperville, is very close to my husband's work, offers lots of greenspace, and the downtown area seems to be fairly walkable. Our max budget is $500k.

We have two young boys and I'm wondering about the schools. My older son will be going into 1st grade in the fall. I know Wheaton is known to have excellent schools, but there seems to be some variability among the elementary schools. Our target areas are Longfellow or Whittier districts (we'd like to be close to downtown if possible) but we recently saw a home in the Sandburg district that we loved (it had direct access to the Prairie Path). Sandburg is rated quite a bit lower than the previously mentioned schools, any idea why?

Was also wondering about the overall vibe of the community. Are people generally friendly/neighborly, do kids play with other kids in the neighborhood or do people mostly stay inside/keep to themselves? We are looking for a very family friendly community, so any recommendations on certain neighborhoods would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for any advice! We will be moving from out of state so I really appreciate your insight!

I'm from the area and if you are a minority, people won't be friendly or open to you. Most people keep to themselves. The Wheaton community is tight knit. I think you should also consider glen Ellyn and southern Lombard. The briar glen elementary school in Wheaton is top knotch and feeds into glen Ellyn schools.

[Lookout Kid]

Originally Posted by bigsmoke3238

I'm from the area and if you are a minority, people won't be friendly or open to you.

I too live in the area, and my reaction is to call this out as a complete fallacy. Yet we are talking about the Chicago suburbs in 2015, and the reality is that underlying racism does exist here. I don't think it's worse in Wheaton than any other similar suburb, however (majority white, somewhat affluent). I don't know that you can say Wheaton is any more or less racist than Naperville, Glen Ellyn, Downers Grove, or Elmhurst.

Originally Posted by bigsmoke3238

Most people keep to themselves. The Wheaton community is tight knit.

Once again, I don't think you can make this sort of blanket statement about Wheaton, or say that it's really any different from any other suburb in this regard. Some people keep to themselves, and others are outgoing. There is nothing strange about Wheaton in this regard.

Originally Posted by bigsmoke3238

I think you should also consider glen Ellyn and southern Lombard. The briar glen elementary school in Wheaton is top knotch and feeds into glen Ellyn schools.

I would encourage anyone looking at Wheaton to see what else is out there in the vicinity. Glen Ellyn is a good option for some, as is Lombard. However, I don't see any advantage to living in a Wheaton neighborhood that feeds in to Glen Ellyn schools since Wheaton schools are also quite good.

[moving_back]

Thank you for your insight. We are also considering Glen Ellyn and Downers Grove. I ask about the overall "friendliness" of the community because where we've lived for the last two years, people are considerably more friendly than anywhere we've encountered while living in Chicago and we have enjoyed that. Ideally, we'd like to live in a neighborhood where people get to know one another, the neighborhood kids play/walk to school together, etc but maybe such a thing doesn't exist anymore? At any rate, I realize it will be difficult to gauge these things until we actually move in. I appreciate everyone's input.

[bigsmoke3238]

Originally Posted by moving_back

Thank you for your insight. We are also considering Glen Ellyn and Downers Grove. I ask about the overall "friendliness" of the community because where we've lived for the last two years, people are considerably more friendly than anywhere we've encountered while living in Chicago and we have enjoyed that. Ideally, we'd like to live in a neighborhood where people get to know one another, the neighborhood kids play/walk to school together, etc but maybe such a thing doesn't exist anymore? At any rate, I realize it will be difficult to gauge these things until we actually move in. I appreciate everyone's input.

IMO, glen Ellyn would be where you would find the most friendliness and close knitness. Everyone knows everyone in Glen Ellyn. Lombard would probably come second to that. I think you should avoid downers grove though

[RJA29]

Originally Posted by bigsmoke3238

IMO, glen Ellyn would be where you would find the most friendliness and close knitness. Everyone knows everyone in Glen Ellyn. Lombard would probably come second to that. I think you should avoid downers grove though

Avoid DG because...it's un-friendly?

[bigsmoke3238]

Originally Posted by RJA29

Avoid DG because...it's un-friendly?

Because its not as close knit community as glen ellyn