New move soon (Chicago, Aurora, Oak Park: real estate, rentals, how much)

[addygirl]

Hi,
My husband got a job that will involve him going into public schools doing assemblies everyday so his commute will always be different. We would like to have our daughter enrolled in school in August which is when my husband will be working out of the Chicago area. We are looking for possible rentals or good deals on homes in the 225, area. Also, we are very concerned about safe neighborhood and good schools. We are looking to be away from the hustle and bustle. We were looking down south but don't like the big classroom sizes. I'm a country girl and our daughter is used to the small time also but I hear great things about Chicago. I'm open to suggestions and all advice, hope the spectrum isn't to broad. Thank you for your time!

[Drover]

I'm sorry, what exactly is the "225 area" ?

[addygirl]

sorry about that, 225,000 price range

[addygirl]

I'm also looking for information on some of the outline areas like Cortland, virgil, Maple Park, Elburn, Sugar Grove, Big Rock, Hinckley, and Lily Lake. Love to hear any input on the neighborhoods, schools, and how much house you get for the money. Thanks

[Drover]

The places you're looking at are on the boundry of suburbia. Some of them, namely Cortland and Maple Park, are actually still out in the corn. But something to know is that the boundry is rapidly moving westward, and it won't be long until those places are in the thick of suburbia. Sugar Grove, for instance, is pretty much already there. There is now contiguous development connecting Sugar Grove to Aurora, the largest suburb in the Chicago area (and in fact, the second-largest city in the state). That rapid westward movement is putting a lot of pressure on real estate prices out in that area. It may look like wide-open space in some areas, but it's not cheap wide-open space. I think you'll struggle to find a decent, detached single-family home in move-in condition for $225K in those areas, but it's not out of the question. The major issue is that you almost certainly won't find new construction at that price in those areas, and in many of those areas the majority of available housing stock is, in fact, new construction.

Schools in the area are generally pretty decent. The educational environment in the area schools tend to be more "suburban" than "rural" in nature; education is taken seriously, a lot is expected of students, and it tends to be geared toward college preparation rather than vocational preparation. You can find more specific info at websites like greatschools.net and schoolmatters.com.

[addygirl]

Thanks for the input! What would your best estimate be as to how fast Cortland and Maple Park will be suburbia? Anything like the gowth in the south, say plainfield area, where it is causing rezoning of the schools? It's not to say that we would mind the suburbs just probably not right on top of the next house, some room would be great, and the neighborhood friends for our daughter would I'm sure be good too. Do you have other suggestions for different areas? We can be up to 60 miles outside of Chicago and not to far north or south with about 1-1 1/2 hrs. away from Midway and O'hare. Thanks for all your help so far. We have made 2 trips so far but really need to do our research before we come down again and narrow our choices down to some real likes.

[Drover]

These things are tough to predict, but Maple Park and especially Cortland are particularly vulnerable because they're not only in the path of the suburbs moving west, but also DeKalb/Sycamore development moving east as they race to meet each other in the middle.. I give Cortland 5, maybe 10 years tops before it is completely subsumed by development moving outward from DeKalb, and Maple Park maybe 20 years.

My parents still live out in that general area. When I left the area in the mid-90's, Randall Road was the edge of the suburbs. Wasco and Elburn were in the middle of nowhere.

Then the border moved to Route 47. Wasco and Elburn are now connected to suburbia by contiguous development. And now in some areas it's even moved beyond there -- see Hampshire and Yorkville in particular. There's a little hot dog shack on the corner of Routes 47 and 64 in Lily Lake called Pete's. On a map it may look like it's off the beaten path, but Pete has developers pounding on his door begging him to sell his plot because the traffic at the intersection is voluminous and will only get much, much more so in the coming years. The day Pete finally decides to retire (he already tried once and then "un-retired" out of boredom), his little hot dog stand -- and the land it sits on -- will give him a nice little nest egg.

[donna1265]

Originally Posted by addygirl

Hi,
My husband got a job that will involve him going into public schools doing assemblies everyday so his commute will always be different. We would like to have our daughter enrolled in school in August which is when my husband will be working out of the Chicago area. We are looking for possible rentals or good deals on homes in the 225, area. Also, we are very concerned about safe neighborhood and good schools. We are looking to be away from the hustle and bustle. We were looking down south but don't like the big classroom sizes. I'm a country girl and our daughter is used to the small time also but I hear great things about Chicago. I'm open to suggestions and all advice, hope the spectrum isn't to broad. Thank you for your time!

Hello I as well amd a small town girl. I was wondering where you did move to and how well you like it? How are the schools???

[donna1265]

i was wondering what location you decided to move to and how you like it?? how are the schools in your area?? Ive been searching for almost 2 months for areas that are safe and good schools and smaller! Im not into the night life etc. We are family based so Im not looking for all the glitz!! Any help would be great!

[Steve-o]

Originally Posted by Drover

These things are tough to predict, but Maple Park and especially Cortland are particularly vulnerable because they're not only in the path of the suburbs moving west, but also DeKalb/Sycamore development moving east as they race to meet each other in the middle.. I give Cortland 5, maybe 10 years tops before it is completely subsumed by development moving outward from DeKalb, and Maple Park maybe 20 years.

My parents still live out in that general area. When I left the area in the mid-90's, Randall Road was the edge of the suburbs. Wasco and Elburn were in the middle of nowhere.

Then the border moved to Route 47. Wasco and Elburn are now connected to suburbia by contiguous development. And now in some areas it's even moved beyond there -- see Hampshire and Yorkville in particular. There's a little hot dog shack on the corner of Routes 47 and 64 in Lily Lake called Pete's. On a map it may look like it's off the beaten path, but Pete has developers pounding on his door begging him to sell his plot because the traffic at the intersection is voluminous and will only get much, much more so in the coming years. The day Pete finally decides to retire (he already tried once and then "un-retired" out of boredom), his little hot dog stand -- and the land it sits on -- will give him a nice little nest egg.

Pete better not sell that shack. I LOVE THAT PLACE!

Maple Park is holding steady. Only a few homes have been put in, off of Meredith Road. Wasco and Elburn are full-fledged "boomtowns" I guess you could call it. Wasco is very wealthy, all the new homes are quite large, some in excess of 2 million in areas. Cortland also has many new developments springing up, same goes for DeKalb and Sycamore. Pretty soon itll be suburbia from Oak Park to DeKalb/Sycamore. Might take some time, but itll happen.

I also agree with Drover that Randall Rd used to be the stopping point for the burbs. Go past there and there was literally nothing. Now Randall is about as busy as any street in the area and the "frontier" is now Rt. 47, but even thats underfire on all sides from developers wanting to build up. Elburn is the perfect example.