Highland Park Prices (Palatine, Skokie, Northbrook: houses, neighborhoods, elementary school)

[chitown85]

Glencoe and Wilmette are both heavily Jewish. Anti semitism is not a part of why HP has lower home prices. If that were the case, then Glencoe and Wilmette would have them too.

Thing to remember about New Trier area, is that there are VERY wealthy families. Some of them even have live in help, whose children do attend NT.

[Anthera]

Originally Posted by chitown85

Thing to remember about New Trier area, is that there are VERY wealthy families. Some of them even have live in help, whose children do attend NT.

I'm totally baffled as to why this woud support the high prices of homes in the NT district.

Live-in help with teenagers is virtually nonexistant. As a NS native, I've only heard of this once, and in that case the housekeeper wasn't really living in, they just stayed over occasionally so the kid could go to NT. One's own teenagers are annoying enough without importing someone else's kids to live in your house.

[chitown85]

Back in the 60s and into the 70s, the theory was if you keep home prices high, it keeps minority groups out. There was an instance in Glencoe in the early 70s I've been told where an entire neighborhood of people pooled their money together to buy a house to keep a Jewish family from moving in. That is no longer the case as Glencoe is predominantly Jewish.

I.E. they try to keep home prices artificially high.

[Lookout Kid]

Originally Posted by chitown85

Back in the 60s and into the 70s, the theory was if you keep home prices high, it keeps minority groups out.

Well, what it does is that it keeps poor people out, regardless of race or ethnicity. It's pretty obvious why, and I don't think there is any conspiracy like you are implying.

[edsg25]

Originally Posted by chitown85

Glencoe and Wilmette are both heavily Jewish. Anti semitism is not a part of why HP has lower home prices. If that were the case, then Glencoe and Wilmette would have them too.

Thing to remember about New Trier area, is that there are VERY wealthy families. Some of them even have live in help, whose children do attend NT.

chitown, both Glencoe and west Wilmette were both heavily Jewish for so many years during the second half of the 20th century. I don't have the impression they still are to that degree today. Certainly both areas have a healthy sized Jewish population, but nothing like it used to be. I believe that many of the areas in west Wilmette that were once so heavily Jewish tend to be far more Asian today.

If I'm wrong, someone can correct me. But that's the impression I have.

And anti-semitism has never been an issue for buying homes in HP. HP was the first North Shore suburb to welcome Jews and there have always been plenty of wealthy Jews dying to stick down money on HP real estate.

[edsg25]

I realize this is off topic, but related to part of the recent end of this discussion: what are demographics of Kenilworth truly like since its famous "restrictive period" is long past? I would imagine that it is the one place that sill remains a WASP stronghold, but I'm not sure.

It would be great if there were a Sears School teacher here who sees demographics play out in the classroom and could enlighten us.

[chitown85]

Kenilworth is still WASPy, but basically 100% very wealthy. I was merely saying that Glencoe and Wilmette used to be more restrictive, Glencoe especially. Now that is obviously no longer the case. I don't know the reason, but it is plausible that Northbrook and Highland Park became heavily Jewish due to the restrictive covenants in the New Trier area, which began to subside as the decades went by.

[cohdane]

When we moved to the North Shore, someone warned about Winnetka and Lake Forest, "Don't bother unless you're blonde." That was their polite, but serious code. Not sure if that's true or not, but they didn't mention Kenilworth, Glencoe or Wilmette in that warning.

[Sarah H.]

I know more Jewish families in Winnetka than Kenilworth. Wilmette and Glencoe have plenty. For whatever reason I always here about Kenilworth being more anti-semetic. I knew someone who was looking for a house and was shown one in Kenilworth with Swastakas inlaid in a pattern on the entryway floor! It was original to the house. Um, there's some history.

[Anthera]

Originally Posted by Sarah H.

I know more Jewish families in Winnetka than Kenilworth. Wilmette and Glencoe have plenty. For whatever reason I always here about Kenilworth being more anti-semetic. I knew someone who was looking for a house and was shown one in Kenilworth with Swastakas inlaid in a pattern on the entryway floor! It was original to the house. Um, there's some history.

There are many many jewish families in Kenilworth. During the winter holidays there is a large menorah set up in front of the village hall. Many many mixed religion families too.

The swastica design was probably done in the 1920's when so much of k/w was built up. It did not have any anti-semetic connotations until the Naxi party adopted it in the 1930's.