Need feedback on three intersections: Which is best for house? (Chicago: to buy, school district)

[LittleMartha]

My fiance and I are looking to buy a house and are considering three near these intersections:

Nagle & Higgins
Milwaukee and Ardmore
Harlem & Gunnison/Lawrence

Which area would be most likely to retain its value over the long-term?

[MannheimMadman]

All three are great choices, though I suspect the two underneath the Kennedy would be more convenient to the blue line, thus more valuable long term.

[Mister Mappy]

All of them are about a mile from a Blue Line Stop, Nagle/Higgins & Harlem/Gunnison-Lawrence from the Harlem stop, and Milwaukee/Ardmore from the Jefferson Park stop.

If you're concerned about schools Nagle/Higgins & Milwaukee/Ardmore are in CPS. Not sure of the grade schools, but the high school is Taft which isn't bad for a CPS high school, but not great.

Harlem/Gunnison-Lawrence is a bit different. If the house is north of Gunnison & east of Harlem you're still in Chicago, and the schools are the same as for the other two. If you're south of Gunnison/Lawrence then you're in Harwood Heights which has it's own grade school district, and feeds into Ridgewood High School in Norridge. I don't know much about Ridgewood, and I've never seen it mentioned on these forums, but it's got to better then Taft. If you're west of Harlem & north of Lawrence you'd still be Harwood Heights and their grade schools, but the high school district there is Maine South in Park Ridge which is very highly regarded, and probably the best high school in that area.

So, taking the schools in consideration, I'd say Harlem/Lawrence-Gunnison would probably retain it's value the best if it's in Harwood Heights. If it's in Chicago, then there's truly very little difference between the three.

[tonythetuna]

The farther north and/or west the better. That being said, I would say Milwaukee and Ardmore.

[Cindy1971]

Originally Posted by Mister Mappy

If you're south of Gunnison/Lawrence then you're in Harwood Heights which has it's own grade school district, and feeds into Ridgewood High School in Norridge. I don't know much about Ridgewood, and I've never seen it mentioned on these forums, but it's got to better then Taft.

Because it's a suburban school it must be better? Taft has an IB program; Ridgewood does not. So I wouldn't say that Ridgewood is better than Taft, not at all. And the grade schools in Norwood Park are excellent schools, about the best in Chicago.

I don't honestly think you'd go wrong with any of those three intersections, though if it is right on Nalge and Higgins the traffic sucks at rush hour. Not sure about the others.

[LittleMartha]

Thanks for the replies. It looks as though we're eliminating the Harlem and Gunnison/Lawrence house. Though it's in a good area and the house has some great finishes and updates, we're not so excited about the house itself. (We're not the biggest fans of raised ranches.) It looks like it's between the Cape Cod and the English Cottage.

[tonythetuna]

Originally Posted by KardoulaMou

Thanks for the replies. It looks as though we're eliminating the Harlem and Gunnison/Lawrence house. Though it's in a good area and the house has some great finishes and updates, we're not so excited about the house itself. (We're not the biggest fans of raised ranches.) It looks like it's between the Cape Cod and the English Cottage.

You are going to find many ranches in Harwood Heights and Norridge as well as that part of Chicago. If you don't like that housing style you are going to have to dig.