Young family looking to move closer to my job, any suggestions for my situation? (Chicago: houses, school districts)

[Jenkems]

Originally Posted by fusillirob1983

How good of schools are you looking for and what are you looking for in terms of your house?


You may find something in Westmont. For that price in Downers Grove you'd probably get something really small or needs a ton of work, or both.


Someone can correct me, but I think Willow Springs feeds into two school districts. Part goes with the Lyons schools and feeds into Cook County District 204 for high school (west of Canal/Des Plaines River). I think the other part may go with Bridgeview and feeds into Argo for high school. You'd probably want to be careful about that if looking in Willow Springs as the Lyons side is a better district, but in all likelihood doesn't meet the price point.


Willow Springs is a bit isolated from other towns as a majority of it is surrounded by forest preserves and the I&M Canal.


Lombard might also be a decent place to look. Good elementary schools but the high schools aren't comparable to Naperville district 204.

Lombard is one area my wife is interested to move into, good price range and options for us, I just have no idea about the school districts there and if there’s a “bad” area of Lombard we should avoid.

Also interested in Lisle but don’t know much about that either.

[fusillirob1983]

Originally Posted by Jenkems

Lombard is one area my wife is interested to move into, good price range and options for us, I just have no idea about the school districts there and if there’s a “bad” area of Lombard we should avoid.

Also interested in Lisle but don’t know much about that either.

I looked a little in Lombard when I moved last year. As far as I know from my own experience the town is safe. I noticed one elementary school (the name escapes me) rates a bit worse than all the others. I don't know the reason for that, but every house we saw listed that feeds into that school is much cheaper.



Lisle's not bad. The Lisle schools are supposedly pretty good, but it's a much smaller district. The area that feeds into Naperville schools likely has prices that reflect it but still may be in your price range. How much time are you actually saving in your commute by moving from the east end of Aurora to Lisle, though?

[ToriaT]

The price point you say is your budget will limit you with regard to many suburbs. Villa Park will have some available but you won't get the most updated house. Here is one that looks nice, clean and with an updated kitchen. A little landscaping would make the house look better and not so plain.

https://www.redfin.com/IL/Villa-Park.../home/18109832

If you moved to Forest Park or Berwyn, you will probably want to send your children to private schools.

[BRU67]

Originally Posted by ToriaT

The price point you say is your budget will limit you with regard to many suburbs. Villa Park will have some available but you won't get the most updated house. Here is one that looks nice, clean and with an updated kitchen. A little landscaping would make the house look better and not so plain.

https://www.redfin.com/IL/Villa-Park.../home/18109832

If you moved to Forest Park or Berwyn, you will probably want to send your children to private schools.

Plenty of families are moving to Berwyn for the schools. Enrollment has exploded over the past 10 years. Is your advice due to the fact that most of them are minority and low income? I think we as a society need to start getting over ourselves on this issue, especially in a "blue" area like ours! Sheesh.

[damba]

Originally Posted by BRU67

Plenty of families are moving to Berwyn for the schools. Is that because they're minority and low income? I think we as a society need to start getting over ourselves on this issue.

Yes, from CPS it might be an improvement for some families. However not for a family coming from Naperville 204. Berwyn would be a downgrade.

[BRU67]

Originally Posted by damba

Yes, from CPS it might be an improvement for some families. However not for a family coming from Naperville 204. Berwyn would be a downgrade.

I think the term "downgrade" is relative. We need to start getting more affluent families into the higher poverty districts, especially in a Chicagoland area which is generally liberal. Inherent in our rampant segregation is hypocrisy. Don't liberals always say that diversity is enriching? So...

[damba]

Originally Posted by BRU67

I think the term "downgrade" is relative. We need to start getting more affluent families into the higher poverty districts, especially in a Chicagoland area which is generally liberal. Inherent in our rampant segregation is hypocrisy. Don't liberals always say that diversity is enriching? So...

You keep on mistakenly assuming that the reason people won’t reocate to those areas is because of the skin color of nearby residents. Bad assumption.

The same property tax bill gets you more bang for the buck in many established suburbs with more programs and nearby amenities.

[BRU67]

Originally Posted by damba

You keep on mistakenly assuming that the reason people won’t reocate to those areas is because of the skin color of nearby residents. Bad assumption.

The same property tax bill gets you more bang for the buck in many established suburbs with more programs and nearby amenities.

I don't believe my assumption is mistaken. In any case, I'll bite. What specific programs would Berwyn or Forest Park schools not offer that the more established ones would? What specific amenities would these suburbs not have that the more established one would have? And what is a "more established suburb?" Berwyn and Forest Park are pretty established, as I'd define that term.

[damba]

Originally Posted by BRU67

I don't believe my assumption is mistaken. In any case, I'll bite. What specific programs would Berwyn or Forest Park schools not offer that the more established ones would? What specific amenities would these suburbs not have that the more established one would have? And what is a "more established suburb?" Berwyn and Forest Park are pretty established, as I'd define that term.

Perhaps your kids are all grown up now, but common ‘wants’ in the suburbs of late are state of the art STEM labs, up to date performance spaces and athletic facilities. Special education programs have also been a draw of many parents not satisfied with what they have been receiving elsewhere.

[doodlemagic]

Originally Posted by streptococcus

Villa Park - it's a reasonably easy commute down Roosevelt

I second Villa Park, awesome location in terms of being close to Oakbrook and Lombard for shopping, great access to expressways, not too far from other west burbs like Naperville or wherever else for maybe doctors appointments, dinners, shopping, better access to the city than further west burbs.

Personally I'm not a huge fan of Brookfield. I always thought of Brookfield as being pretty nice but after having a buddy move there and spending some time out there that whole section of Ogden just seems kinda rundown and dumpy, he lives in a decent neighborhood but there's an apartment building next door with a bunch of heroin addicts. Maybe I just got a bad taste from his block but not a huge fan myself.