Raising thinking children in the Chicago burbs? (Naperville, Schaumburg: middle-class, fit in)

[montimama]

My husband and I are originally from OPRF and have been living in Portland, OR for the last ten years with our two young kids. Love progressive Portland but hate the rain and miss our families. Curious, how hard is it to raise non-materialistic, independent children in the Chicago suburbs these days? We don't need to be too close to the city (up to an hour commute by train is okay). We like old neighborhoods and can spend about 350-400K on a little house. Any thoughts?

[Steve-o]

Just curious what OPRF is... is that Orland Park/River Forest?

Anyways, if you raise children in neighborhoods/towns with money, you can guarantee theyll be surrounded by materialistic kids in one way or another. Sadly, theres not really any way around it, except maybe move to a small farming community or something.

[montimama]

Close, Oak Park/River Forest.

And, good point, I might be looking for something that doesn't exist.

[Steve-o]

Ah, gotcha! I forgot about Oak Park.

It seems that most of the kids out here in the western burbs are very materialistic, even the kids raised in religious families in Wheaton, etc. Its quite sad to see a 16 year old girl saving all her babysitting money just to rush out and buy the newest Coach purse, or Louis Vitton (sp?) bag. Guys are just as bad, wasting all their money at Hollister, Abercrombie, etc, etc. just to "fit in". Ive seen 17 year olds driving brand-new Ferraris, and kids get 70K Mercedes Benz as HS graduation gifts. Spend some time in Naperville, St. Charles, Hinsdale, Lake Forest, Wheaton, Lisle, Schaumburg at the teen hangouts and youll see what I mean. Its quite sad really. All it is these days is who can keep up with the Joneses.

[montimama]

Hmm... it's the keeping up with the Jones disease that worries me most about moving back. Back in the day, even in River Forest, you could be normal, working class folks and still enjoy the "luxury" of classy old homes and quiet, safe streets. Maybe I should look into those small, farming communities you mentioned!

[Paxtonian]

I've got just the place for you then- Paxton. Check out some of the houses in zip code 60957 at Yahoo Real Estate, you'll be surpised at what's in your price range. BTW, I'm from Elmwood Park originally.

[cdrobert]

Ah materialsm expands as the gap between rich and poor expands, as capitalism expands. Its nothing new. I remember going to glen crest middle school back in glen ellyn 96 and being made fun of because i had converse low top chuck taylor shoes and not airwalks or nikes. It starts around middle school. Elementrary schools in dupage county are localized so kids all go to school from the same neighborhood and inturn have similar socio economic backrounds. Once they get to middle school and they start to compare themselves to one another (just another lesson in society) they start to get materialistic, ask Karl Marx once said materialsim is a way for the petty middle class (lower and uppper ) to try and show their precieved wealth.

If you go inland towards blue collar areas like aurora and such it wont be much better. Your kids will be transformed from being run of the mill middle class kids to being seen as the "haves" instead of the have nots.

[montimama]

Wisconsin any better?

[cdrobert]

Ive met alot of people who were from wisconsin who swore the state was better, i would agree. Than again these same people moved to chicago for a taste of "City life"

[Drover]

I would say, anecdotally speaking, that there is a little less class-consciousness in the Milwaukee suburbs than in the Chicago suburbs, maybe because there isn't as much wealth disparity as in the Chicago suburbs. Plus even "modest" suburban homes in the Chicago area start at about $250K these days, meaning you have to have money just to live an "average" lifestyle any more. Middle-class in the Milwaukee area truly is more middle-class and requires only middle-class means.

If you decide to do the "small town" route, I would definitely suggest Wisconsin over Illinois because their small-town school districts tend to have their act together a little more than small-town Illinois districts. They're generally better funded.

Just my .02