What is Antioch like? Moving from MI to IL (Chicago: house, job market)

[State Fan]

My husband may be starting a new job in Chicago and he is looking in Antioch for a home. What is it like? We have two children and want the best possible schools and LOTS of children in the sub. We are natives of Michigan and like wooded lots, but easy access to shopping. He has seen a PULTE sub in Antioch to give you an idea of our financial abilities for new housing. We can consider other cities around the area and would love some input. Thank you!
STATE FAN

[reppin_the_847]

I don't know too much about Antioch proper, but I live about 20-25 minutes south of it in unincorporated Libertyville with my folks. What I can tell you (and I'm sure most Lake County and southeastern Wisconsin folks in Kenosha County can agree on) is that Antioch is growing quite rapidly. Hopefully it's going to remain controlled growth because part of the reason Lake County is a desirable place is because it still holds that country charm, while having access to big city & suburban amenities like an excellent job market, and easy access to Chicago and the other suburbs in general. I'm sure you can find a great deal on a house in Antioch. It's a middle class area where the Median house value is $166,400 (year 2000) according to City-Data. More pro's? Well, you have easy access to I-94 which can get you to Chicago or Milwaukee or points in between in a jiffy provided that you don't get caught in rush hour traffic. They also added more Metra trains along the Antioch to Chicago route maybe less than a year ago, so you can take a very cheap train ride to Chicago when you want to go to the city and not worry about expensive parking & traffic (kids usually ride for free on Metra). Basically, it seems like a great place to live in northern Lake County.

Originally Posted by State Fan

My husband may be starting a new job in Chicago and he is looking in Antioch for a home. What is it like? We have two children and want the best possible schools and LOTS of children in the sub. We are natives of Michigan and like wooded lots, but easy access to shopping. He has seen a PULTE sub in Antioch to give you an idea of our financial abilities for new housing. We can consider other cities around the area and would love some input. Thank you!
STATE FAN

[CoachTom]

Grayslake is about 15 minutes from Antioch and for me is a better choice. The schools are better and it's a great place to raise kids. If your spouse is commuting to Chicago there are two commuter railroad stations.
If you can afford something more expensive I would recommend Libertyville. They have some of the best schools in the state.

[domergurl]

The Metra line in Grayslake is better than the one in Antioch too.

[ahava]

Originally Posted by domergurl

The Metra line in Grayslake is better than the one in Antioch too.

Agreed. The line to Antioch only runs on weekdays.

[Spartanacus]

You must be talking about the Pulte "Red Wing" sub, right? We are also considering Antioch and drove through there. It looks nice, but too bad they didn't put trees in the front yards (though there are street trees). We are coming from a Pulte sub in IN, so we like that builder. The Antioch downtown looks like a small, quaint, intersting little downtown. The Metra station smelled of urine, but perhaps it was just the particular floor cleaner they were using? We need to go back and look at existing homes now.

By the way "State Fan"...GO STATE!!! BEAT THE ILLINI TONIGHT!!!