Living in Elgin? Pros & Cons (Aurora, Schaumburg: homes, school, taxes)

[BIG CATS]

Originally Posted by MillennialUrbanist

I agree. Downtown Elgin feels somewhat "brighter" than downtown Aurora, and without the sterile feel you find in places like downtown Naperville.

Downtown Naperville is "sterile"? Yikes. Now Ive heard it all.

[aga412]

Originally Posted by BIG CATS

Downtown Naperville is "sterile"? Yikes. Now Ive heard it all.

I think Naperville, Aurora, Joliet and Elgin (all the 100,000+ cities in the metro) all have downtowns that are unique and fill different niches. I'm certainly not going to go to Downtown Naperville or Downtown Elgin looking for the same things. Like MillennialUrbanist and I both mentioned, Aurora and Elgin were established apart from Chicago, so this is why you find things like the Paramount Theatre, Rialto Theatre, and Hemmens Auditorium in those places, but not in Naperville. Naperville's downtown has developed more in the wake of the suburban boom (it was a small farm-town up until the 1980s with a slight boom that started in the 1960s, whereas Aurora, Elgin and Joliet were all very established at that point in time). Aurora, Elgin and Joliet are all rougher around the edges, but their downtowns are more steeped in history and grit, whereas Naperville's is derived more from suburban sprawl. Nothing wrong with Naperville's downtown, it's just different from the other cities who all have relatively similar downtowns (far out suburbs that are the population anchors in their areas with industrial pasts set upon a major river).

[MillennialUrbanist]

Originally Posted by aga412

Naperville's downtown has developed more in the wake of the suburban boom (it was a small farm-town up until the 1980s with a slight boom that started in the 1960s, whereas Aurora, Elgin and Joliet were all very established at that point in time). Aurora, Elgin and Joliet are all rougher around the edges, but their downtowns are more steeped in history and grit, whereas Naperville's is derived more from suburban sprawl. Nothing wrong with Naperville's downtown, it's just different from the other cities who all have relatively similar downtowns (far out suburbs that are the population anchors in their areas with industrial pasts set upon a major river).

This is precisely what I was getting at. I'd rep you, but I gotta spread it around first.

[awdg]

Originally Posted by Kluch

How does elgin compare to it's northern suburbs/towns sleepy hollow and west dundee?

My wife found some very affordable and nice properties there. All of which are close to the big timber metra station. Granted my commute would over an hour into the city but it looked like an ok area.

look for homes in West Dundee that feed into Dundee Middle school and Jacob high school if you have schools aged kids! Not sure if there are any homes in Sleepy Hollow that feed into these 2 schools.
Some Carpensterville home along Randall rd corridor feed into these schools too.
These area have the best value for homes in all of Chicago suburbs, IMHO.

[Kluch]

Originally Posted by awdg

look for homes in West Dundee that feed into Dundee Middle school and Jacob high school if you have schools aged kids! Not sure if there are any homes in Sleepy Hollow that feed into these 2 schools.
Some Carpensterville home along Randall rd corridor feed into these schools too.
These area have the best value for homes in all of Chicago suburbs, IMHO.

Thank you. We've been specifically looking at the west dundee area. It looks nice.

[knitgirl]

Originally Posted by Kluch

Thank you. We've been specifically looking at the west dundee area. It looks nice.

It is nice. You should check out Benedict's in East Dundee for breakfast. I loved that place when I lived in Elgin. Haven't found one restaurant that can replace it for me.

[Kluch]

Originally Posted by knitgirl

It is nice. You should check out Benedict's in East Dundee for breakfast. I loved that place when I lived in Elgin. Haven't found one restaurant that can replace it for me.

We will have to do that on our next trip up to Illinois for house searching. Any other suggestions, housing related or not are welcomed. We're trying to stay as close as we can to one of the train stations (big timber, elgin) for my commute downtown. Thanks again.

[BIG CATS]

Originally Posted by MillennialUrbanist

This is precisely what I was getting at.

Then your choice of words was very poor. A place like downtown Naperville that is booming and growing and noted nationwide is NOT "sterile". Unless you call fine dining, riverwalks, parks, festivals, art galleries, bars, and everything inbetween, "sterile", then, well, I wouldn't know what to tell you.

[Sunbiz1]

Originally Posted by knitgirl

It is nice. You should check out Benedict's in East Dundee for breakfast. I loved that place when I lived in Elgin. Haven't found one restaurant that can replace it for me.

I stopped going to Benedict's a few years ago, after the quality took a nosedive. While the historical home conversion to a restaurant is fantastic, frozen potatoes and canned hollandaise sauce just doesn't cut it. It turned out their head chef moved to Sweet Berry in S. Elgin. So I followed the chef.

[Kluch]

Originally Posted by Sunbiz1

I stopped going to Benedict's a few years ago, after the quality took a nosedive. While the historical home conversion to a restaurant is fantastic, frozen potatoes and canned hollandaise sauce just doesn't cut it. It turned out their head chef moved to Sweet Berry in S. Elgin. So I followed the chef.

So now we're going to have to go back to looking at homes in south elgin . The price point of many of the homes in west dundee is what's really attractive. 225K for us would be ideal.