Work at Elgin/Buffalo Grove--where to live? (Chicago, Arlington Heights: day care, house)

[purpletulip]

Hi!

We are planning to move to Chicago. My husbands work would be at Elgin, and mine at Buffalo Grove.

Here is what we are looking for:

1. Short commute for both of us ( <30 mins. If possible, I would prefer taking the Metra?)

2. Very Good school district

3. House in the range of 600K in a safe/cosmopolitan neighborhood

4. Good Montessori School/ Day Care close to either our future residence or close to my work at buffalo grove.

Please advise on the possible neighborhoods that we should be looking at.

Also, any information/review on the daycares that would suit our locations would be much appreciated

Thanks in advance!

[chet everett]

You probably can't get everything you want.

My top choice based on commute and school quality would probably be towns served by either Stevenson High or Barrington High.

You won't find your dollar goes far in those towns, but there are some good options under >$600K.

I don't know that I would characterize most of those towns in the districts as 'cosmopolitan' but they are VERY safe and there are good to excellent day care choices.

[nanannie]

I live in the Barrington area and my kids went to Montessori thru kindegarten. We have a wonderful,safe community with many activities and very good schools. It would be an easy commute for both of you. There is also a Montessori in Long Grove that goes up to grade 6 I believe. Long Grove borders Buffalo Grove.

[nanannie]

I should add that my kids went to Barringtons Montessori school. There are two here. We went thru grade/middle/high schools in Barrington and we can honestly say, no complaints. Good education, good prep for college.

[cubssoxfan]

Arlington Heights is worth considering. You will do a "reverse commute" to Elgin and the drive will be 30-45 minutes depending where in AH and Elgin you are. Arlington Heights to Buffalo Grove is 10-30 minutes again, depending where in AH you are. Schools are very good to excellent, as are the Park Districts and Library. Arlington Heights has a vibrant(for the suburbs) downtown with restaurants, shops, movie thaeter and live theater. It has a mix of homes, some built 100 years ago, to new construction and everything in between. It is an established community so there are many mature trees and lush greenery EVERYWHERE. Buffalo Grove is also a good choice, but puts you farther from Elgin. The previous posters have suggested some very nice areas as well.

[knitgirl]

Schaumburg could work as well. It's easy to get to a lot of places, including the city from Schaumburg. You'd hop on 90 for Elgin and 53 for BG. Depending on where in Buffalo Grove you work, Arlington Hts might be better. Is one of you going to be primarily responsible for kid/school stuff, i.e. picking up the kid if they get sick during the day or need to go to the dr? Maybe you should live closer to that person's work.

[rc60015]

The reason nobody is mentioning Metra is that it is not practical for the cities that have been mentioned. The Buffalo Grove station is on the Metra North-Central line. This line runs SE from Buffalo Grove thru Wheeling--past O'Hare airport and ends in downtown Chicago. Going NW it goes to Vernon Hills, Mundelein, Grayslake which are too far North to be practical for you. (Elgin has a different Metra line that runs West into Chicago.
I get the feeling that you may want the residence and school closer to Buffalo Grove than to Elgin...as the mention of the Metra usually means that someone is not too keen on driving around much in rush hours and on days with lots of snow...