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Old 06-12-2017, 09:50 AM
 
19 posts, read 32,924 times
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I'm looking to get a larger house, I can't afford anything near Palatine (where I work). It looks like I could get a larger place in 'LITH, Crystal Lake, Cary (West of Fox River)'. Does anyone commute from those areas to Palatine-ish? Is the drive too harsh in the winter?

I hate knowing there's only a couple roads that cross Fox River in case of an issue at one spot.

I'm also looking for good schools. Schools in those areas seem decent 7+ rated on greatschools. I'm more concerned about the drive, it's 35 min on google maps, but I know with traffic that could easily balloon to 45 min+.

Is LITH a good place to live with a 5 year old, going into Kindergarten and beyond? Anyone live there now?

Thanks
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Old 06-12-2017, 11:46 AM
 
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The greater "Lake In The Hills" / Cary / Crystal Lake area has seen LOTS of ups and downs. There was a period of RAPID expansion as it appeared that some firm in the area (cough Motorola cough) would expand without limit and then they SUDDENLY imploded that really hurt the area. Adding "insult to injury" other firms that were also doing well at one time have been gutted (cough Sears cough) while others have just relocated to cheaper states (cough AT&T cough). The weird pace of longer term improvement to things like the NW Tollway has been a factor that seemed to literally roadblock some changes but NOW could re-invigorate some areas. OTOH there are still troubling signs like the collapse of the Huntley Outlet Mall and HUGE numbers of higher end houses in places like Bull Valley that are still MASSIVELY underwater...

My gut says that the longer term trend toward MORE folks preferring places with a traditional town center is NOT going to help LITH nor will the decision of many firms to continue their clustering in Chicago's Loop help the longer term employment trends in the NW suburbs...

The weird thing is that I do know some folks who literally grew up out that way 50+ years ago -- they were not quite "farm towns" but they were much more RURAL than suburban. When things were BOOMING and folks were filling the offices of Motorola / AT&T / Sears and other places it seemed red hot. There was a shift of folks from rural areas sort of becoming more dependent on the new comers. As those newcomers have left the rural types to "retrench", now the fiscal disaster of Illinois is causing even those folks to rethink staying...

I would be worried not only that the current variability of commutes is an issue but that the overall viability of the whole region is too iffy -- there is major lack of infrastructure / density in the area and that could mean that if any of the existing retail strip malls and such close there is a bad domino effect as other firms decide to close things as well. That means people will need to drive farther and more often to get to stores that are more spread out which hurts overall travel times and increases costs to surviving stores...
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Old 06-12-2017, 08:56 PM
 
2,568 posts, read 2,516,469 times
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I'm in C.L for 25+++ years and drove from the s/w corner to downtown Glenview almost every day and can say the drive was not bad during the winter. Most major routes are state/county maintained so the snow/ice was handled fairly quickly. I can count on my hand the times I was substantially delayed due to weather, but YMMV!

The schools are great, the city is stable, has good shopping (a Marianos is being built too) with the usual stores especially along Rt 14, very good park district with just about any activity, ample recreational opportunities, access to transportation, etc.

I'm not a fan of LITH and the schools but things may have changed some since I had to worry about it.

Happy hunting!
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Old 06-15-2017, 03:53 AM
 
13,005 posts, read 18,896,239 times
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I would prefer Crystal Lake of those listed. I worked there for a while. While certainly not an industrial suburb, it does have industry. More traditional downtown. And of course there's the train, though if you want to ride it to Palatine you'd have to find a way to cover the last mile.
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Old 06-15-2017, 11:42 PM
 
1,231 posts, read 2,082,339 times
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Schools are Cary>Crystal Lake> Lake in the hills. Here are some areas To also consider.

Look at the eastern portion of Wauconda is in the Fremont school District which is excellent. It's around 30 minutes from palatine. This is the Best compromise of schools and commute you can get along with Cary.

Algonquin is just south of lake in the hills. Schools are around the same ranking as Lake in the hills schools. North west Algonquin has the better schools and the commute to palatine is Less than 30 minutes.
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Old 06-16-2017, 06:59 AM
 
4,011 posts, read 4,247,845 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 4122 View Post
Schools are Cary>Crystal Lake> Lake in the hills. Here are some areas To also consider.

Look at the eastern portion of Wauconda is in the Fremont school District which is excellent. It's around 30 minutes from palatine. This is the Best compromise of schools and commute you can get along with Cary.

Algonquin is just south of lake in the hills. Schools are around the same ranking as Lake in the hills schools. North west Algonquin has the better schools and the commute to palatine is Less than 30 minutes.
Isn't that area really just Mundelein and not actually Wauconda? I would have to check the boundary maps though. Seems like the Op would quickly be priced out of that school district.
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Old 06-16-2017, 11:26 AM
 
1,231 posts, read 2,082,339 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by damba View Post
Isn't that area really just Mundelein and not actually Wauconda? I would have to check the boundary maps though. Seems like the Op would quickly be priced out of that school district.
Yes Fremont is in Mundelein. the Op would be priced out of Mundelein, But not Wauconda. Even the portion in the Fremont District is much more affordable than Mundelein. The part of Wauconda near Lake Napa Suwe directly west of Fairfield, North of Bonner, to Gilmer.
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Old 06-17-2017, 09:59 AM
 
4,011 posts, read 4,247,845 times
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Slim pickings, given the current RE market, and location.

All I found-
https://www.redfin.com/IL/Wauconda/1.../home/17361516
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Old 06-18-2017, 05:25 PM
 
1,231 posts, read 2,082,339 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by damba View Post
Slim pickings, given the current RE market, and location.

All I found-
https://www.redfin.com/IL/Wauconda/1.../home/17361516
There's more. That's actually overpriced for that area. You can easily find a House under 300K. here are some, but not all. There are even more under 300K also:

https://www.redfin.com/IL/Wauconda/2.../home/17592851

https://www.redfin.com/IL/Wauconda/2.../home/17592759

https://www.redfin.com/IL/Wauconda/1.../home/17602727

It's a short sale but it's definitely something the op should consider
https://www.redfin.com/IL/Wauconda/2.../home/17590503
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Old 06-18-2017, 09:46 PM
 
4,011 posts, read 4,247,845 times
Reputation: 3118
Quote:
Originally Posted by 4122 View Post
There's more. That's actually overpriced for that area. You can easily find a House under 300K. here are some, but not all. There are even more under 300K also:

https://www.redfin.com/IL/Wauconda/2.../home/17592851

https://www.redfin.com/IL/Wauconda/2.../home/17592759

https://www.redfin.com/IL/Wauconda/1.../home/17602727

It's a short sale but it's definitely something the op should consider
https://www.redfin.com/IL/Wauconda/2.../home/17590503
Looks promising for the OP. Whatever search I did, the filters missed quite a lot(!)
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