Why is Barrington and all of its satellite communities always left out of the most prestigious suburb lists? (Skokie: fit in, homes)

[cuba libre]

North and South Barrington, Lake Barrington, Barrington Hills, etc...

Why is the Barrington area always left out of these 'prestige' or 'wealth' based suburb rankings?

[vandre]

Originally Posted by cuba libre

North and South Barrington, Lake Barrington, Barrington Hills, etc...

Why is the Barrington area always left out of these 'prestige' or 'wealth' based suburb rankings?

My guess is that because they are 'Nouveau -rich' suburbs as opposed to the long established wealthy suburbs on the North Shore. It kind of reminds me this scene in Titanic where people disregard Molly Brown as inferior because she is Nouveau rich.

[chet everett]

I dunno, there are horsey people that have lived out there for decades. I think Hank Paulson grew up out there, they don't generally give the top job at Goldman Sachs or Treasury Secretary to trailer trash...

[cuba libre]

Many lakefront homes on the North Shore could fit inside of the garages of some South Barrington homes, and North Barrington is a very known enclave of old money; their main country club is called "Biltmore Country Club" for god's sake...

[vandre]

Originally Posted by chet everett

I dunno, there are horsey people that have lived out there for decades. I think Hank Paulson grew up out there, they don't generally give the top job at Goldman Sachs or Treasury Secretary to trailer trash...

Nobody said people in Barrington are trailer trash...

Originally Posted by cuba libre

Many lakefront homes on the North Shore could fit inside of the garages of some South Barrington homes, and North Barrington is a very known enclave of old money; their main country club is called "Biltmore Country Club" for god's sake...

Something interesting that I found when reading about these country clubs:

-Biltmore was founded in 1926 (from their website)
-Onwentsia opened in 1895
- Ouillmette Country Club was founded in 1897

So North Shore country clubs are older than Biltmore, but not by that much...(around 25 years, ~1 generation)

Any other theories?

[Paige65]

Originally Posted by cuba libre

Many lakefront homes on the North Shore could fit inside of the garages of some South Barrington homes, and North Barrington is a very known enclave of old money; their main country club is called "Biltmore Country Club" for god's sake...

In my book, prestige doesn't have much to do with the fact that a South Barrington home is bigger than a North Shore lakefront home. Having said that, I do think parts of the Barrington area are prestigious, as do other C-D'ers. If you search the "top 5 suburbs/bottom suburbs" post that is still on page one, you'll see there was a tally of responses and Barrington Hills was in the top ten.

Here's some interesting data from www.higley1000.com Money doesn't always mean prestige, but I found the following data interesting

These neighborhoods are part of the Barrington Area:

1: Wynstone-Timber Creek (North Barrington)
Mean Household Income: $308,751, Higley 1000 #106

2: South Barrington (South Barrington)
Mean Household Income: $247,394, Higley 1000 #349

3: Harbor Estates-River's Bend (Lake Barrington)
Mean Household Income: $225,728, Higley 1000 #518

4: Flint Lake-Chesapeake (Lake Barrington)
Mean Household Income: $225,240, Higley 1000 #526

5: Barrington Hills (Barrington Hills)
Mean Household Income: $217,630, Higley 1000 #597

6: Inverness (Inverness)
Mean Household Income: $212,114, Higley 1000 #652


NORTH SHORE
1: Indian Hill Club-Woodley Road (Winnetka-New Trier Township)
Mean Household Income: $459,070, Higley 1000 #6

2: Winnetka Southwest-Crow Island Park (Winnetka)
Mean Household Income: $335,213, Higley 1000 #61

3: Glencoe Lakefront (Glencoe)
Mean Household Income: $327,820, Higley 1000 #70

4: Conway Farms (Lake Forest)
Mean Household Income: $319,232, Higley 1000 #85

5: Old Elm Estates-Tanglewood (Lake Forest)
Mean Household Income: $318,433, Higley 1000 #87

6: Royal Ridge-Summerfield (Northbrook)
Mean Household Income: $317,102, Higley 1000 #89

7: Kenilworth (Kenilworth)
Mean Household Income: $316,748, Higley 1000 #91

8: Skokie Country Club (Glencoe)
Mean Household Income: $312,447, Higley 1000 #98

9: Onwentsia Acres-Westleigh (Lake Forest)
Mean Household Income: $289,996, Higley 1000 #151

10: Braeside (Highland Park)
Mean Household Income: $280,334, Higley 1000 #182

11: Winnetka Lakefront (Winnetka)
Mean Household Income: $278,346, Higley 1000 #191

12: Lake Forest Lakefront (Lake Forest)
Mean Household Income: $277,619, Higley 1000 #193

13: Glencoe Golf Club (Glencoe)
Mean Household Income: $263,654, Higley 1000 #261

14: Wilmette Lakefront (Wilmette)
Mean Household Income: $263,282, Higley 1000 #264

15: West Lake-White Oaks (Lake Forest)
Mean Household Income: $260,160, Higley 1000 #283

16: Sunset Ridge-Northfield West (Northfield)
Mean Household Income: $244,672, Higley 1000 #365

17: Ravinia (Highland Park)
Mean Household Income: $240,761, Higley 1000 #388

18: North Shore Country Club (Glenview)
Mean Household Income: $239,284, Higley 1000 #394

19: Mettawa (Mettawa)
Mean Household Income: $238,002, Higley 1000 #403

20: Winnetka Golf Club (Winnetka)
Mean Household Income: $236,799, Higley 1000 #412

21: Whytegate-Lincolnshire Woods (Lincolnshire)
Mean Household Income: $235,881, Higley 1000 #422

22: Hubbard Woods (Winnetka)
Mean Household Income: $235,374, Higley 1000 #433

23: Hazel-Prospect (Highland Park)
Mean Household Income: $233,324, Higley 1000 #446

24: Northbrook Glen-Bridlewood (Northbrook)
Mean Household Income: $231,834, Higley 1000 #459

25: Briergate-Northmoor Country Club (Highland Park)
Mean Household Income: $226,377, Higley 1000 #512

26: Devonshire-Red Oak (Highland Park)
Mean Household Income: $224,330, Higley 1000 #536

27: Manchester Woods-Deer Creek (Lincolnshire)
Mean Household Income: $222,286, Higley 1000 #552

SOUTH SUBURBS:

1: Flossmoor Country Club (Flossmoor)
Mean Household Income: $238,420, Higley 1000 #400

WEST SUBURBS:

1: Southeast Section (Hinsdale)
Mean Household Income: $352,306, Higley 1000 #45

2: The Midwest Club (Oak Brook)
Mean Household Income: $302,519, Higley 1000 #124

3: Butler National Golf Course-Hunters Trail (Oak Brook)
Mean Household Income: $300,099, Higley 1000 #128

4: Saddle Brook (Oak Brook)
Mean Household Income: $276,287, Higley 1000 #200

5: Trinity Lakes (Oak Brook)
Mean Household Income: $265,004, Higley 1000 #253

6: The Woodlands (Hinsdale)
Mean Household Income: $262,333, Higley 1000 #270

7: Palisades-Oakridge Estates (Burr Ridge)
Mean Household Income: $248,439, Higley 1000 #343

8: Hinsdale Central (Hinsdale)
Mean Household Income: $225,921, Higley 1000 #516

9: Ginger Creek (Oak Brook)
Mean Household Income: $224,929, Higley 1000 #530

10: Devon-Lakewood (Burr Ridge )
Mean Household Income: $216,533, Higley 1000 #604

11: Brook Forest (Oak Brook)
Mean Household Income: $210,347, Higley 1000 #673

12: Hinsdale North (Hinsdale)
Mean Household Income: $209,097, Higley 1000 #687

[edsg25]

i can't imagine a list of prestigious suburbs that wouldn't have Barrington Hills and Inverness near the top.

[ihynes]

The north burbs often seem to be treated like an extension of the city, meaning city folks think about the north burbs as their own turf, whereas the rest of the burbs are thought of as being out in space somewhere.

[ajolotl]

Originally Posted by ihynes

The north burbs often seem to be treated like an extension of the city, meaning city folks think about the north burbs as their own turf, whereas the rest of the burbs are thought of as being out in space somewhere.

Yeah, all else equal I tend to think of things as more prestigious that are closer to the lake and heart of the city. Not 100% defensible I suppose but the idea of the thread was to give a reaction, not overthink it.

[Steve-o]

Originally Posted by vandre

My guess is that because they are 'Nouveau -rich' suburbs as opposed to the long established wealthy suburbs on the North Shore. It kind of reminds me this scene in Titanic where people disregard Molly Brown as inferior because she is Nouveau rich.

There is just as much old money in areas of the Barringtons as anything on the North Shore. True, most of the town has a lot of new money, but the homes in the Barringtons are just as prestigious as anything you can imagine (new and old). Ive seen 35K sq. ft. behemoths out there, in UN-GATED communities. I wonder what lies behind the gates on some of those Barrington neighborhoods.