please describe (Chicago, Oak Park, Downers Grove: renting, home, buy)

[SloopyJ]

I'm just trying to imagine the thrill of finding a beautiful home on the north shore turning into utter agony upon realizing that Mapquest's estimated commute time didn't adequately consider Chicago traffic. My God, woman, DO NOT buy a home in HP/DF/NB thining a commute to Downers is reasonable.

Downers is a nice community, but as others said if you want a little more upscale environment you have so many good choices nearby. My choices would be La Grange, Western Springs, Hinsdale, Clarendon Hills, and Glen Ellyn.

[ima1]

thanks to all for the wonderful info and insight you provided.
i have looked at riverside/hinsdale as options for an easier cummute to downers grove and i kinda liked what i saw so far,the highschools seems to be very good as well, how do they compare to the H.P. highschool/deerfield high/stevenson?
also, one of my main reasons for looking into the northern suburbs in the first palce (in addititon to the schools), was the Jewish community, does anyone know about Jewish population in the western towns? is it a decent size? will my kid be one of only a few jews in school? nighborhood?

thank you all sooooooo very much, you are really helping me and my anxiety about this move.

[SloopyJ]

Hinsdale Central (Hinsdale, Clarendon Hills) is on par with the best suburban high schools. Lyons Township (Western Springs, La Grange) is also excellent, if typically considered a quarter-notch below Hinsdale. Riverside/Brookfield has its proponents, but is usually considered a notch below that level.

I don't think you'll find a large Jewish population in any of these areas, but neither will you find a large Bible contingent. It's just not a real "churchy" area; these communities are kind of in between the more liberal, secular towns like Oak Park and the more conservative, Christian areas in DuPage County and farther west.

[JanuaryGirl]

There won't be many Jewish kids in the western burbs, however people there tend to be pretty accepting of others and the area isn't heavily influenced by a particular church or denomination.

I've spent a lot of time in both Highland Park and Hinsdale. I would say (others may disagree) that the Highland Park area does tend to be a little more "snobby." Most people are very nice, but social lives are very important and there plenty of cliques, gossip, etc. I worked retail there and got to be sort of a "fly on the wall" to a lot of the town's people. I'd say the biggest difference between the two towns are the level of consumerism... people are affluent in both, however people in HP seem to place more importance on having the right clothes, car, sending kids to the "right" camp, etc. In Hinsdale people didn't spend quite as much money or place as much value on designer clothes and "keeping up with the Jones."

However, both towns are very nice and I somewhat tend to prefer the HP area (even though I'm not Jewish and don't have money to buy the things most people there buy, lol). The area is just a little more stylish and the downtown is a little nicer. The commute would be brutal though.... probably not worth it unless you really want to be in an active Jewish community and able to walk to Temple.

[Paige65]

I'm not going to tell you to look further at HP, without knowing the tolerance for a long commute. However, if you are in SE or SW Highland Park, and you are going to be working just off the Highland Avenue exit on I-88, your commute might not be too bad. I routinely drive I-294 south during rush hour and it's pretty much smooth sailing the whole way. I don't think people realize how easy it is on 294 south in the morning and northbound in the evening. Many moons ago I did I-294 to Oakbrook. From my house in SE Highland Park, the drive was about 40 minutes. Downers isn't that much further, if you are working right off I-88. Still, this commute may not be tolerable for you.

You asked about the Ravinia area, it's not considered the wrong side of the tracks by any means, even if you ARE on the "wrong" side of the tracks (some of the less expensive homes west of the Metra track and east of Green Bay Road). The Ravinia area is pretty desirable (or so the realtors say in their listings).

As far as the snob factor, I wouldn't worry about it. I think some people are snobby but most aren't. My kids go to park district camp and I've not yet been shunned.

[ima1]

thank you so very much for this post!!!! yes. my housband's job is right off 294/88 and you just made me feel so much better!!!
i think he can deal with a 45-50 min commute easily, and i'm glad to hear HP may not be so snobby after all, i guess there are all kinds of people everywhere, you just have to find your niche, i will give this a try and def spend some ground time there without a realtor before making any more assumptions.i really feel HP has everythig i'm looking for so we'll see

[ima1]

o.k. i need to know how difficult it is to deal with a dettached garage.where we live, in Virginia it is unheard of and our winters are wormers that chicago spring!!!
i have looked at many houses that i liked but they had dettached garages and at first i was completetely against it until i realized it is actually very common, so i need to know what is winter life like with such a garage, i'm sorry i sound so ignorant, i just never lived in such a cold place before and this is all new to me.

[Paige65]

Originally Posted by ima1

thank you so very much for this post!!!! yes. my housband's job is right off 294/88 and you just made me feel so much better!!!
i think he can deal with a 45-50 min commute easily, and i'm glad to hear HP may not be so snobby after all, i guess there are all kinds of people everywhere, you just have to find your niche, i will give this a try and def spend some ground time there without a realtor before making any more assumptions.i really feel HP has everythig i'm looking for so we'll see

If at all possible, I would drive the commute a couple of times. The only part I know for certain is the I-294 stretch. I know that when there isn't traffic, the I-88 part going east to west is easy, and it would be another ten minutes to from Oak Brook to the Highland exit. Maybe you could post about what the traffic is like from Oak Brook to Downers Grove on I-88 in the morning. I think you're are probably okay, but like I said, I haven't done that part of the commute in many years.

[Paige65]

Originally Posted by ima1

o.k. i need to know how difficult it is to deal with a dettached garage.where we live, in Virginia it is unheard of and our winters are wormers that chicago spring!!!
i have looked at many houses that i liked but they had dettached garages and at first i was completetely against it until i realized it is actually very common, so i need to know what is winter life like with such a garage, i'm sorry i sound so ignorant, i just never lived in such a cold place before and this is all new to me.

If you are able to park your car in your detached garage, consider yourself one of the lucky ones! I've never lived in a house with an attached garage, so I'm used to it. If you have a two car garage, I don't foresee if will be that much different, but if you have a one car garage, you have to be pretty tidy to get your car in there. If you don't park your car in the garage, you always have to scrape your car in the morning when it's icy or has snowed.

The nice thing about detached garages is that you have an opportunity to meet your neighbors more easily because you aren't rolling into your garage and entering your house. You're more a part of the world around you!

[ima1]

i was thinking more in terms of having to get out of the house in the morning to walk to the garage to warm up the car before leaving for work, or another scenario - when you bring groceries home, you have to go back and forth in and out of the house with the bags, i just think that in the winter with the very freeeeeeeeeezing temps it would be an absolute killer for me, mind you, i'm in Va and always cold! i understand people live like this of course and very soon so will i, but i just wanted to know if this is even a factor for people in chicago when looking to buy a house, in other words,is this a deal breaker for chicagoans or no biggie? also, will an attached garage be a factor in the price of the house? where i live right now, ALL houses have attached garages so it does not affect prices at all.