Kids, schools, neighborhood Near Rolling Meadows (Chicago, Naperville: houses, safe neighborhoods, elementary schools)

[rmshill]

My husband might accept a job offer in Rolling Meadows. Can you recommend an area/neighborhood that is very safe, lots of kids, great schools and nice houses?
We are young (in early 30's) with 2 small kids under 4. Our price range would be 350k-450k.

Thanks!

[chet everett]

While they rating from USNews for highschools near Rolling Meadows rank many of the District 211 and 214 schools together in the "Silver" category there are some important differences, and given the age of your kids you'd be a lot of extrapolating about the elementary schools that may not be valid.

Most of the areas around RM are pretty safe.

If you share some narrower desires, likes/dislikes, broader intrests we might have more to recommend specific areas.

Will be moving from out of State? What do you like about your current home? What sort of point are you at in your careers?

[rose125]

In that range you might want to look in towns like Mount Prospect or Arlington heights- the commute to RM would be minimal. Of the three towns RM is probably the most diverse when it comes to home owners- there are nice houses and good deals to be found. Arlington Heights is less diverse IMO, but there are some very nice houses that you should be able to find, same with Mount Prospect which you may have recently saw in the headlines for its business week ranking. North of RM is palatine, another nice option but it might be on the higher end of your budget. Schaumburg to the South is another option. I would say that if possible taking a day to drive around the area and look at each of the close towns might help you make your decision.

[rmshill]

Our biggest concerns are schools and being in an area with lots of young people and kids being we won't have any family or friends in IL. Safety is also a biggy b/c I will be alone with the kids quite a bit. We like a newer looking area but that isn't as high on the list as the others. A decent lot (.25) would be preferred but we could be persuaded on that one also.

I read about Naperville getting the top 3 cities, would this be too far of a commute? I looked on realtor.com at mount prospect but the houses looked very old and not updated. Is this right?

[cubssoxfan]

Nothing against Naperville, but there is no need to go there and have such a long commute. Arlington Heights, Palatine, Prospect Heights, Mt. Prospect and Buffalo Grove fit your description.
We live in Arlington Heights, attend Prospect Heights Dist 23 which is an excellent & diverse district. Ethnicities I have noticed include: Eygptian, Indian, Pakistani, Chinese, Japanese, Polish, Russian, Mexican and many others. School has a symphony/violin/cello program in addition to "normal" band program. Focus on academics is also there along with excellent extra-curricular program. You have diversity and academic excellence. Kids go to Wheeling HS and Hersey HS. DM me if you want specific neighborhood info; I think the forum is tired of my posts on the "Lake Arlington" neighborhood I live in. Our neighborhood might fit what your looking for.
The choices are overwhelming, but you have MANY excellent, nearby neighborhoods to choose from with only a 15-30 minute commute.

[SJaye]

Naperville has really good schools, and is really safe. The commute would be 45 minutes to an hour with rush hour traffic. I do not know if it would be worth the longer commute given that the areas mentioned by previous posters (Arlington Heights, Rolling Meadows, Schamburg, Palatine) are also safe neighborhoods with really good schools, and your commute would be much shorter.

If you want really good public schools, district 125- Stevenson High School was ranked #1 in Illinois last year, and the district extends South to Lake-Cook Rd. Your commute will be, at most, 20 minutes, if you live by Lake-Cook and Arlington Heights Rd. in Buffalo Grove.

[chet everett]

There are sections of MP with a high percentage of new/infill/teardown/renoovated homes. I think they may be a bit above your price range, but there are some solid values to be found too.

A quarter acre of land is pretty common in most of the burbs and frankly there are LOTS of burbs that would be a decent commute to RM. Parts of Naperville might be with 45 minutes or so parts of Rolling Meadows, but again you might have some budget issues if you want a newer home.


Frankly, if a newer is an issue I think you might have some difficulties in basically any desirable suburb that is a reasonable distance from RM.

This is NOT to say you must pay more, just that you are NOT going to get all three (close, affordable & newer) -- at your price go for two out of three.

Newer and affordable can also be had in suburbs that are less desirable, but frankly with kids and a family orientation I could recommend that to someone like you.

For towns that are closer than Naperville I might consider someplace like Glen Ellyn, though again budget is not going far there.

Itasca is closer, budget is probably better, though schools are not quite the same.

North of RM you might get lucky and find something in Buffalo Grove, especially if the top of your range is stretchy...

I sympathize with your desires, but you have to realize that RM is in the middle of region that was largely a "boom town" from about the '60s through the '80s as companies like Motorola grew and grew. If you want to get a house and do your own updating you could be money ahead in a areas that would otherwise be pretty pricey.

[code10t]

If you want to be close to Rolling Meadows, I would look into Arlington Heights. The neighborhood is a bit expensive for the older homes you get since its so conveniently located and considered a desirable community.

I would echo the suggestion made by another poster to look at Buffalo Grove in Lake County. It's a bit farther, but they have an excellent school system up there and lots of nice properties at reasonable prices by Chicago-area standards.

Perhaps another place to look in Lake County is Lake Zurich. That too is a bit farther from Rolling Meadows, but it's a rapidly-growing area with a lot of families, I'm given to understand. Someone else will have to comment on school quality, but I would imagine it would be pretty good.

[cubssoxfan]

Prospect Heights has many lots of .25 acre without breaking the bank. Arlington Hts. and some sections of Mt. Prospect have yards that size. Good schools. NO reason to endure the commute-IT WILL GET OLD QUICKLY!!

[rose125]

I cringe just thinking about doing that Naperville commute every day. You can find just as nice of a home with good schools, safety, affordability etc. For a very reasonable commute why not looking into the area between golf, central, busse and new wilke? Very close commute, nice houses, nice schools. I believe 59 & 214 (Rolling MeadowsHigh School). OR take a look over in Mount Prospect from between busse, central, golf but down more towards Elmhurst- over there the high school would be prospect, much less diversity than Meadows but both are still fine schools. Commute wouldn't be extended to much further either.

I know you mentioned safety as being a concern- I live right in the area I suggested to you, I can honestly say that the worst thing I've seen in my 20+ years of life in that area was a house burning down a few blocks away. I'm fine with being home alone; I would walk around at night with no fear for my safety. Kids were always available to play with, and I had 2 parks literally a block from my house- I really enjoyed my childhood and felt extremely safe in that area. As for kids having friends, both AH & MP have nice sports teams I would highly recommend, soccer, baseball/softball, basketball etc. I made some great friends in these programs- I know your kids are young, but even ballet or something would be another nice way for you to meet parents and for them to make friends!

I would recommend at least taking a look, driving around seeing what you think.