Wanted: Wisdom (Evanston, Skokie, Orland Park: crime, house, neighborhood)

[Bogey]

My husband, myself, and our 2 babies own a chicago bungalow in south Evanston. We like our community (specifically--university town, nearness to nature/lake, diverse), I work in Evanston (would be willing to work elsewhere--healthcare), a 40 minute commute for my husband to the UIC area, and love the proximity to the city. We want more space and better schools. A bigger home in the best school district in Evanston appears to be out of our price range (our range 400-500k), and we do not consider a full house reno/addition of our current 1920s home something that we want to subject ourselves to (if we did a reno, we'd be wondering if our neighborhood schools will improve). We are frustrated, since we don't want to move.

I've been familiarizing myself with other 'burbs in an attempt to see what our options are and am most interested in Skokie, southwest 'burbs (La Grange, Orland Park) and south 'burbs (Homewood, Flossmoor). They appear to have better schools and it seems we would be able to get a 3-4 bdrm, 2 bath home with a yard on our budget. Also, it appears that most of them are near the lake (Skokie) or forest preserves. Is that accurate?

I'm looking for tips on how to go about making the decision to move from a town we love and know, to an unfamiliar town for the sake of more space and schools. Please share how you made a decision like ours or if you have recommendations.

Thank you in advance.

[prairiestate]

Homewood would be a great choice. Lots of open space down there, and you can get a very nice home in your price range, probably the best one in town. Crime isn't a big deal, and schools are quite good. It has a quaint, small town feel, with a downtown that's doing well, and a lot of new big box stores along Halsted. It's also quite a diverse area, which you'll probably appreciate coming from Evanston. The Metra Electric provides frequent service to the city, including Hyde Park.

[CBexp.]

Homewood and Flossmoor are very nice areas to check out. The schools and park districts are first rate.Both towns have metra stations directly to UIC, as well. Homes are diverse,$200,000- to over a million, old to new, small to estates!