Which is better to live in- Arlington Heights or Barrington (South Barrington: 2013, gated communities)

[middle-aged mom]

Having lived " in town" in both AH and Barrington, I like the in-town feel better, in Barrington. And although my daughter went to Viator, I do like that the overwhelming number of homes in the greater Barrington area feed into the same high school....creating a community focus.

On the otherhand, if commuting to the city on a daily basis, AH is one of the best sptots to do so from, given the Metra ride is only about 30 minutes. Most in the city commutes to downtown are longer than this.

[~~~~~Lake_2_pond~~~~~]

Acually AH is better. i have a 4th grader, 7th grader, and a freshman and all the schools are very good. i strongy suggest AH over barrinng-watever.

[middle-aged mom]

The OP preferred Barrington to AH and now resides there.

Both are fine communities.

[chgodon]

I'm a little confused. How many Barringtons are there? Are they split into subdivisons or are they independent cities? I remember driving through Barringon to Long Grove. Huge estates with horses. Then we drove thru the historical district and Shot up northwest hwy to Crystal Lake. Is one Barrington real estate cheaper than the other Barrington real estate? Going to visit Arlington this August.

[chet everett]

Barrington does have a split personality, the in-town section is still part of the same municipality that does have some large estates. Additionally there are other incorporated places that have Barrington in the name (like Barrington Hills) where this is no town, only the developed subdivisions and estate sixes stuff. There are also some areas that have co-opted the moniker to seem more upscale.

Prices are reflective of demand, and some folks really do want a smaller home/lot with walk to train convenience while others expect a big house and yard and have no problem driving out of the 3+ car garage to get anywhere ...

[nanannie]

Originally Posted by chgodon

I'm a little confused. How many Barringtons are there? Are they split into subdivisons or are they independent cities? I remember driving through Barringon to Long Grove. Huge estates with horses. Then we drove thru the historical district and Shot up northwest hwy to Crystal Lake. Is one Barrington real estate cheaper than the other Barrington real estate? Going to visit Arlington this August.

Barrington is about 80 sq miles, divided into villages/areas. Barrington Hills, has 5 acre min zone,some very large estates, several lakes and is horse country. Then theres Tower Lakes,a hilly area with older homes and tear downs built around a few lakes. Lake Barrington, with older homes on acerage, ''newer'', upscale subdivisions on an acre or two . North Barrington is more subdivisions and has some more of those hilly hoods around a lake (Honey Lake) and the Biltmore country club/golf course.Village of South Barringon is mega mansions and more of those sub divisions with houses the size of hotels. The "downtown" Village is tree lined streets with nice older and tear downs,walking distance to town,train,schools etc( Like you see in many suburbs here).
They all have their seperate village halls/govt.
Thats a nutshell. I think I covered them all.

[GoCUBS1]

Originally Posted by nanannie

Barrington is about 80 sq miles, divided into villages/areas. Barrington Hills, has 5 acre min zone,some very large estates, several lakes and is horse country. Then theres Tower Lakes,a hilly area with older homes and tear downs built around a few lakes. Lake Barrington, with older homes on acerage, ''newer'', upscale subdivisions on an acre or two . North Barrington is more subdivisions and has some more of those hilly hoods around a lake (Honey Lake) and the Biltmore country club/golf course.Village of South Barringon is mega mansions and more of those sub divisions with houses the size of hotels. The "downtown" Village is tree lined streets with nice older and tear downs,walking distance to town,train,schools etc( Like you see in many suburbs here).
They all have their seperate village halls/govt.
Thats a nutshell. I think I covered them all.

Great description... FWIW, parts of Deer Park, Inverness, Hoffman Estates, and Fox River Grove also feed into Barrington schools...

[GoCUBS1]

Originally Posted by cubssoxfan

Chet, thanks for the accuracy. I made the mistake of going by memory instead of checking my facts first. I did not remember Barrington being on the US News and World Report list. Since the OP's kids are older, the elementary/JH issue has less impact

Barrington school report results (e.g. ACT & ISAT test scores, Natl. Merit Scholars, AP course numbers, college placement %, etc.) have improved in recent years which contributed to their higher standing on the popular lists (US News, Newsweek, GreatSchools, etc.)...

[middle-aged mom]

Village of Barrington

Unincorporated Barrington

North Barrington

South Barrington

Lake Barrington

Barrington Hills

( Also a place called Port Barrington, which used to be called Fox River Gardens. It shares the 60010 zip but has nothing to do with the greater Barrington area and feeds into Wauconda Schools.)

Pay attention to village perimeters for changes in school districts.

A small slice of Barrington Hills feeds into Crown Dundee/#300
A small slice of Lake Barrington feeds into Wauconda/#118
A small slice of South Barrington feeds into FREMD/#211
A small slice of No. Barrington feeds into LZ/#95
One sub division within the Village of Barrington feeds into LZ/#95

All of Tower Lakes and parts of Deer Park, Inverness, Hoffman Estates, Carpentersville, Fox River Grove and Timber Lake also feed into Barrington Schools.

Did I miss anything?

[Lookout Kid]

In case anyone stumbles upon this thread, I want to point out that a large portion of Arlington Heights goes to Prospect High School, which has slightly better test scores than Hersey.

As far as drugs are concerned, I don't think either Barrington or AH offers any substantial difference in risk. Drugs are all over the suburbs of every large city in the U.S.

I personally prefer Arlington Heights to Barrington, but these are very different communities in terms of housing stock and neighborhood patterns. The things about Arlington Heights that are appealing to me are the nicely developed downtown area, the "walkable" older neighborhoods near the downtown core, the TWO Metra stops including express trains, and the middle class ethos of the place. Most of Arlington Heights seems to be from the split-level ranch and Brady Bunch era, but even these neighborhoods have good tree cover and sidewalks and the homes are generally well-kept. A lot of the stuff in the "Barringtons" seems ostentatious and overdone, but of course there is a diversity of housing there and the options certainly go beyond a McMansions on wooded Cul-de-Sacs and gated communities. I just tend to get very judgemental about people who live in McMansions. It's almost a character flaw, as far as I'm concerned.