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Old 05-19-2010, 10:57 AM
 
Location: Land of debt and Corruption
7,545 posts, read 8,296,564 times
Reputation: 2888

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Quote:
Originally Posted by US-Traveller View Post
La Grange is actually a conservative area. That whole area around Riverside, Brookfield, La Grange, and Western Springs is conservative. That area is where Tony Peraica and Jim Durkin come from, as well as the Lipinskis.

I'd recommend Evanston. The schools will be fine for the most part. You can't go wrong with the elementary districts in the Southeast, Downtown, Northeast, Northwest, and Ridge/Asbury areas. These areas are the more expensive and more affluent parts of town.
Actually, LaGrange is less conservative than you may think. It's pretty split with a slight lean to the left if you look here.

And also, Riverside (3-1 democrat), Brookfield (4-1 democrat) and Western Springs (more than 2-1 democrat) all lean left as well. You don't see the shift to right-leaning until you cross over into Hinsdale.

Lipinski is a democrat, and while Peraica and Durkin are republicans, they do not like one another (per my inside sources ).

If the OP isn't looking for a politically active town with a normal mix of republicans and democrats, LaGrange would be a good fit. If s/he wants more of a liberal activist type of town, then definitely Evanston and Oak Park.
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Old 05-19-2010, 11:00 AM
 
Location: Land of debt and Corruption
7,545 posts, read 8,296,564 times
Reputation: 2888
Quote:
Originally Posted by almost3am View Post
My daughter will be starting kindergarten in fall and is going to district 204 (Naperville). At orientation, I was told both full and half day are offered, but sometimes they eliminate the half day due to lack of interest.
Yeah, I really don't get the lack of interest in full day kindergarten. You're lucky to have that option (if they don't eliminate it). Very few districts offer full days. Our district just upped the time from 2.5 hours to 3 hours last year, but it's still half-day.
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Old 05-20-2010, 09:22 PM
 
Location: Phoenix metro
20,004 posts, read 77,124,059 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mh7 View Post
"Think of it as a smaller, less-affluent Naperville."

Smaller, yes, less-affluent...I'm not so sure about that.
Put it this way... we went past downtown, hooked a right on some dang street, got back on to Ogden Ave somewhere, and it was quite run down. One minute we were in a very affluent area, and literally one minute later we were in scumsville. You dont get that in Naperville. But the nice parts of La Grange that I saw were very nice indeed, and Im not a fan of closer-in suburbs.
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Old 05-21-2010, 01:25 PM
 
374 posts, read 1,031,360 times
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Scumsville? In LaGrange? Not exactly sure where . . .
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Old 05-21-2010, 02:00 PM
mh7
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Steve-o View Post
Put it this way... we went past downtown, hooked a right on some dang street, got back on to Ogden Ave somewhere, and it was quite run down. One minute we were in a very affluent area, and literally one minute later we were in scumsville. You dont get that in Naperville. But the nice parts of La Grange that I saw were very nice indeed, and Im not a fan of closer-in suburbs.
I'm not sure where you think you were, but I'm guessing you were not in La Grange by the time you "hooked that right". La Grange is only 2.5 sq. miles or so...its very possible that you have actually never seen La Grange
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Old 05-21-2010, 09:22 PM
 
Location: Land of debt and Corruption
7,545 posts, read 8,296,564 times
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Oh I know exactly where you were. There is a very small portion of debilitated housing along the railroad tracks that run parallel to East Ave (not the BNSF tracks). This section separates LaGrange from Brookfield. This is mainly inhabited by blacks for as long as I can remember. Story has it (no clue if there's truth to it or not), but back when LaGrange was first being built up, the wealthy people from the city built summer/retreat homes out in the 'country' (LaGrange). They designated a section for the hired help. The houses are quite run down and unkempt, but the area isn't considered to be unsafe or anything close to that. It's strange because literally 3 houses over you can have a million dollar mansion that backs up to these very debilitated houses.
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Old 05-22-2010, 12:33 PM
 
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Thanks for all of your great input, folks. We are going to sign for a 1-year rental in Naperville (203) mostly because we are stressed about timing and we went with what was available in the rental stock in our price range. Thanks for the advice about the Zoo and Park Districts - we will definitely use those resources.

Best,
Mandi
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Old 05-24-2010, 08:14 PM
 
Location: Phoenix metro
20,004 posts, read 77,124,059 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by whatyousay View Post
Oh I know exactly where you were. There is a very small portion of debilitated housing along the railroad tracks that run parallel to East Ave (not the BNSF tracks). This section separates LaGrange from Brookfield. This is mainly inhabited by blacks for as long as I can remember. Story has it (no clue if there's truth to it or not), but back when LaGrange was first being built up, the wealthy people from the city built summer/retreat homes out in the 'country' (LaGrange). They designated a section for the hired help. The houses are quite run down and unkempt, but the area isn't considered to be unsafe or anything close to that. It's strange because literally 3 houses over you can have a million dollar mansion that backs up to these very debilitated houses.
I didnt see any black people and thats not what I meant by "scumsville". By "scumsville" I meant run down homes, crappy stores, potholed streets, some graffiti, etc. We were in downtown La Grange and hooked a right (couldnt tell you what direction, I was turned around) on some road that went under a bridge (I think) and then upwards. The road we were on was higher than some buildings on our left, one was a car modifying store of sorts. Anyways, that area over there wasnt pleasant whatsoever. We went to some hobby shop over there, right across the street was a gun shop. Know what area Im speaking of?
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Old 05-25-2010, 08:27 AM
 
Location: Land of debt and Corruption
7,545 posts, read 8,296,564 times
Reputation: 2888
Ahh, you just crossed over into Brookfield my friend. Burlington AutoBody is the shop you saw that's somewhat lower than the street you were on. It's actually a decent body shop. You made a right from LaGrange Road onto Burlington right where the Ogden Avenue bridge is. Ogden connects to Burlington right there. Brookfield can look a little run down in comparison to downtown LG.
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Old 05-25-2010, 09:52 AM
 
28,455 posts, read 84,957,533 times
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...and just for future reference the section of Ogden that runs through Brookfield is pretty far from where most folks who live in Brookfield live / hang out. The legacy of the 'bad old days' of Lyons and the lawlessness (that included prostitution and organized crime) still hangs a bit of a pall over some stretched of Ogden, though honestly the hobby shop has good things, there are half a dozen perfectly acceptable restaurants serving Thai, Bohemian, Mexian, Pizza, and standard dinner food as well numerous fast food joints. The body shop(s) are good to great, with several specializing in older semi-classic /muscle car era. There are a few larger remodeling showrooms and your standard sportsmens places / tap rooms. Pretty hard to call this scumsville. Really, if you want a tour of that stretch and then to really see a depressed area in a town like Harvey I can arrange both...
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