What about Orland Park? (Chicago, Naperville: houses, safe area, theater)

[concerned resident]

Is Orland Park a great place to raise a family?

[vester72]

Depends on your definition of great.

Orland Park is a very nice town with some very, very expensive homes and some fairly affordable housing. Schools are good, very safe area with a ton of retail that ranges from affordable to upscale. Tons of restaurants - trains to the city and easy access to highways.

I would raise a family there and strongly considered it before choosing a suburb very close to there.

Schools are not as highly rated as the Hinsdale, New Trier, etc districts but have great facilities, sports, parental involvement, funding and good test scores.

[Anthera]

I have one friend who live there and she loves it.

[NYrules]

Originally Posted by concerned resident

Is Orland Park a great place to raise a family?

Well what do you consider "great place to raise a family"?

I'm sure you have the usual questions so here you go:

Up sides: Is there alot to do for kids? Yes. Are sports top notch? Yes. Schools are they top notch, Yup. Is there pretty much everything you will need at your disposal (within 15 minutes drive time meaning; healthcare, shopping, eatting establishments, theaters/cinemas, fun parks, water parks, gyms, outdoor recreation, trains to the loop, etc)? Definitely. Is the area easily accessible to the Loop via car? Yes, if you live off La Grange Road. No if you live way to the south of 159th Street as you will have to deal with ALL of Orland Park's traffic. Is the village on "Chicago water"? Yes

Down sides: is there a TON of traffic thanks to this town becoming a mecca on the south side? YES YES YES YES YES YES!!! Are the roads in the town a complete joke? Most assuridly. (Roads are right out of the 1970s) Is the cost of living high in comparison to areas around the country? Somewhat.

Up and downsides: Is the area diverse/integrated? Nope (96% white, give or take) Is the area known to be rich and kinda snobby? In parts, yes. Are taxes through the roof? Taxes are average in comparison to other areas such as Naperville, and lower than areas like Frankfort and Hinsdale.

[cdc3217]

NY Rules -

Would you say Orland has significantly more flooding issues than other towns? Or is that pretty well managed overall?

[terri22]

I live in Orland and love it!! It all depends what your looking for in an atmosphere though... It's got great schools, great park district, community pool, library, shopping, restaurants, etc. The traffic is kind of bad on LaGrange and near all the shopping, but I've lived in this area all my life so I'm used to it.. I do have to say the retail/restaurant tax is obnoxious at 9.75% thanks to all of Cook County towns recently raising the tax by 1%. Good news is Will County borders OP and you can get to many of the same big box stores, such as Target, Home Depot, etc within 10 minutes if you really want with and average tax of 7%... I guess you have to weigh out gas cost these days though... Housing is also pretty varied as far as costs and with the market staggering these days, some untouchable houses(depending on budget) are really quite affordable these days. To whoever was initially inquiring about Orland, not sure if you're from the area or trying to relocate from out of town, but I have to admit I LOOOOVE the areas of Hinsdale/Naperville. Naperville has an awesome downtown, although the town itself varies as a whole as far as how each section feels. Hinsdale is just so darn cute(not a great downtown and EXTREMELY expensive) but straight out of a Norman Rockwell painting and great location to Chicago and all it's suburbs. Both community have excellent schools, Naperville definitely offers more from the town itself just by way of its massive size compared to Hinsdale..
But I myself am more comfortable now in OP because of family, friends, etc...

[NYrules]

Originally Posted by cdc3217

NY Rules -

Would you say Orland has significantly more flooding issues than other towns? Or is that pretty well managed overall?

The Village of Orland Park under Mayor Dan Mc Laughlin's rule has spent hundreds of millions of dollars correcting this issue. There are still a few areas though in town that will flood. Most of Orland Park and Tinley Park were built on old swamps and marshy areas, but to look at the town today, you would never know it. Orland has required builders set aside a certain amount of greenspace and even put in ponds to help allow rainwater areas to collect in. 104th Ave has been closed now for a few months between 159th Street and 167th Street due to it being raised to cope with that flooding. 153rd Street was widened and had sewers put in to collect rain water. La Grange Road was not only widened at 159th Street, but also raised some 10 feet with the original La Grange Road actually burried under the new road decking (no it was never removed.) So lots of stuff has been done to help alleviate this problem.