Antioch Lake Villa Gurnee Naperville IL schools

[kiwid]

Hi my family and I are moving to chicago from colorado where my husband will be working in the Waukegan area and I too was wanting to know some areas that would be good to live. we love the great outdoors so were wanting to find a place with a nice yrd not to suburbia like though i was wondering if areas like ingleside or park lake are nice and safe and also what the elementary schools are like and if anyone had other suggestions we would be happy up in wisconsin too as long as its not too much of a drive.

[brian571]

Originally Posted by kiwid

Hi my family and I are moving to chicago from colorado where my husband will be working in the Waukegan area and I too was wanting to know some areas that would be good to live. we love the great outdoors so were wanting to find a place with a nice yrd not to suburbia like though i was wondering if areas like ingleside or park lake are nice and safe and also what the elementary schools are like and if anyone had other suggestions we would be happy up in wisconsin too as long as its not too much of a drive.

What's your budget if you don't mind me asking? That will determine a lot. I work in Waukegan and lived in Kenosha and Pleasant Prairie, WI for a little while, now living just west of Gurnee (renting for now while we figure out where we want to live).

Ingleside/Fox Lake is kind of far (time wise) from Waukegan. I live in Lake Villa, which is a little further east and it usually takes me 30-35 minutes in the morning and around 40 coming home. Not bad by Chicago standards, but Fox Lake is another 15-20 on top of that. It's not a bad area, but a lot of that area is vacation homes versus year round residents. I don't know much about the schools, but if I had to venture a guess they're probably fine but nothing special. I do worry about what's going to happen these far flung areas going forward. Schools pretty much determine the property value around here and there are many towns that have high property taxes without the strong schools to go along with them. I would be very leery of buying in an area like this, which many of the far flung areas are.

Personally, and if your budget can swing it, I would look at Libertyville. It's definitely suburban, but not suburbia if you know what I mean. The houses are mostly turn of the century through the 60s, has a walkable main street with tons of shops and restaurants, and excellent schools.

If you're looking for something similar to Fox Lake/Ingleside, also check out Wauconda. It's further south, so it's closer to the action and amenities and less resort town like, but it still has a rural/small town flavor. It's pretty reasonably priced as well. The schools are good, but not great.

Your best bet in Wisconsin is Pleasant Prairie, which is right on the border. It's about a 20-25 minute drive to Waukegan from most parts of town. I really liked PP when I lived there. Tons of shopping and restaurants on the west side of town along Hwy 50 and the outlet mall near the border, a great recreation area (Rec Plex), very reasonably priced housing, and generally lower property taxes than IL. The school district (KUSD) is fine, but again not great. I will say that the elementary schools that PP residents attend are the best in the district. For high schools, I would recommend you make sure that the area you are looking at goes to Tremper versus Indian Trail. IT is newer, but covers some of the rougher areas of the City of Kenosha. I know some teachers in the district and from what they tell me it was rough going when it opened in 2010. Things may have gotten better since then though. Tremper, by all accounts, is a solid high school.

Good luck! If there are any other questions you have feel free to ask.