Moving from St. Charles to Vernon Hills/Lake Zurich/Libertyville/Buffalo Grove area

[cubssoxfan]

Why not just stay in St. Charles? I know the drive is long, but this is a tough market & moving is expensive.

[GoCUBS1]

Originally Posted by Tex?Il?

BTW: Lake Zurichs chain strip is off Rt. 12, not Rt. 14

That's right.... I always get those 2 roads confused!

[emmie3g]

Originally Posted by nanannie

I dont know how it is "THE MOST FAMILY ORIENTED NEIGHBORHOOD">I think that is most certainly a matter of opinion. BG is strip malls and sub divisions which many families do not find all that appealing. No nice village/downtown, horrendous traffic and tons of burbs have park districts with tons of activities. Good schools can be found in all the ops pick towns. When I think of a family area, L'ville is probably most similar to St Charles.

You are right. It is my opinion. Isn't that what everyone's post are-opinions? Buffalo Grove might not have a downtown but the park district and its activities are one of the best in the area. Don't knock it if you don't live there. I do.
Emmie

[AMJ27]

Hi again...thanks for all the info. We did drive up to the area last week, although my kids were getting a bit restless and we were able to explore as much as I would have liked to. I was quite impressed with Libertyville. It is certainly more of what I was looking for and I know that my husband would prefer it over the other communities.

Vernon Hills and Buffalo Grove were okay. I didn't dislike either, but I wasn't initially wowed by them in the same way as I was with Libertyville. I was already pretty familiar with Lake Zurich.

As far as not moving (if my husband pursues his opportunity in Vernon Hills) and staying put in St. Charles, I don't think that we would rush to move, but there is no way that we would have him commuting 3+ hours everyday long term. He worked briefly in Lake Zurich where his commute was about an hour and 15 minutes each way and it was horrible. I think we would just put our house on the market and see what happens, but not be in a rush to sell.

[outtachicago]

My family and I just moved to Lake Zurich from Arlington Heights. I've been here for a month and I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. We are about two blocks from the Lake and have lake rights, so we can go down there whenever we want. They have a really cute downtown that is going to be revamped and the shopping is great-you have Deer Park close by, a beautiful Dominick's, Trader Joe's and great choices for food. The Lake County taxes are high, but your money will go farther here. We bought a beautiful four bedroom, 2.5 bath home in a great neighborhood with lots of trees and charm for under 300K, so I'm sure 500K will get you something fabulous! The schools here are very good as well. All of the mom's I've met are down to earth and friendly. I notice that everyone around here is friendly, whether it is in the retail shops, or the neighbors. Good luck!

[AMJ27]

Thank you Outtachicago! I do like Lake Zurich and think that we could get more house for our money (or spend less) there. We have some friends that live in the area, so that is a plus. It's also closer to St. Charles than Libertyville.

I've never been to the downtown area of Lake Zurich...mostly just the Deer Park area and the strip mall area around Trader Joe's. I think my husband and I may take another drive up to the area this weekend.

Are there two different school districts servicing Lake Zurich? Is part of Lake Zurich in Cook Co. and part in Lake Co.? Are there any areas that are more desirable than others?

[outtachicago]

Here is a school district map:

http://www.lz95.org/aboutus/District_Map.pdf

I am pretty sure that all of Lake Zurich is Lake County. I haven't been to all of the different neighborhoods, but I would bet that anywhere near the Lake would be desirable, but I haven't been in any part of LZ that isn't desirable. If you go down Old Rand it wraps around the Lake and Main Street, you can see the downtown area that way. It is older, but from what I understand there are plans to redo it. I kind of like the old town feel. The library is brand new as well. There are a lot of newer neighborhoods, but my husband and I tried to stay away from the "cookie cutters" and bought in an old established neighborhood. Hope this helps!