Antioch Lake Villa Gurnee Naperville IL schools (Chicago, Aurora: house prices, school districts)

[mommyfirst3]

Hello all. We are looking to relocate to IL. I am wondering first, in general how the school are as far as bullying there? In CA they take away recesses for kids assaulting other kids, and it takes a long time to even get a suspension. In FL where we lived before, there is zero tolerance with suspension and then expulsion.

So, we are looking at these towns; Antioch, Lake Villa, Naperville, and Gurnee. Does anyone know how the schools are in either of these towns. I did look at Greatschools.net, but that is hard to get the perception from parents experiences.

We are professionals and looking for an area that does not have so much crime, gangs, bullying, and has better families overall. Our kids range from 1st grade to high school, and I want to make sure that they can adjust to a life long home without feeling too homesick.

Thanks.

[chet everett]

The towns that are way out like Lake Villa and Antioch tend to change pretty rapidly. Lots of fools moving. I would avoid unless you know what you are getting yourself into.

Osmwork near Gurnee? Commute to/ from Naperville would utter madness, avoid at all costs.

I have direct expeirmce with Gurnee and I do not like the organization of Woodlands with it's massive "hyper campus". The performance of the other do strict serving Gurnee is subpar.

If you need to be near Gurnee I would try very hard to stretch into some of the more desirable towns / school districts near by.

[mommyfirst3]

Thanks Chet!

We would have to work in different places for the Naperville vs Antioch area. I was thinking Gurnee was not great for schools. Naperville seems great as far as numbers with the schools. I am looking for a prettier area, coming from the mountains in CA will be hard to find. But the economy/jobs/cost is so outrageous in CA that it is time to move on. I thought maybe Naperville would be nice, but it appears the houses are more expensive than the Gurnee area. Hubby is in IT Architecture/BI Specialist, so can work any suburb of CHicago or Chicago itself, with some days able to stay home at most companies. I need to find something in customer service/call center until I can find a HR job with a fresh new degree and no experience. Any help would be appreciated in figuring out where to go. We have 3 kids, and the most important factor is decent kids/schools/families, and then a very small commute for me (30 minutes or less) and jobs for both of us.

[chet everett]

For anyone in IT the densest concentration of jobs is downtown Chicago. Second would probably be greater Schaumburg area. Third is I-88 corridor from Oak Brook through Aurora. Close fourth is north 294 corridor from O'hare through Gurnee.

In each of those area there are plenty of ways to get from a good town with good schools and back home in a decent amount of time, but it harder to find those two attributes and affordable housing...


Probably the widest range of housing is close to 294, but that wide range of schools also makes it a challenge. If you shop carefully it is possible to get a really superior town / school for around $350-400k. Of course you will not ne getting a big shiny new house and you may even be a nit closer to the town's shopping district than some people would prefer, but if your priorities are ease of commute and schools then that should be a trade off worth making...

[chicagojlo]

Actually if you are looking for BI you might be better off looking in the suburbs than downtown, a lot of companies here in Lake County use it (check out Abbott Labs, they are always hiring BI), you would also have more of a chance in HR without any experience than you would with all the downtown competition. I don't think it's wise for both parents to be an hour or more away from home when you have 3 kids in school.

Naperville is certainly the best area for schools of the ones you picked, but there are plenty of other suburbs that have great schools around here.

[mommyfirst3]

Thank you very much Chet and chicagojlo!

I agree, 1 hour for each parent is way too much. I, myself do not want to drive more than 30 minutes. My husband does not mind driving more, since he will also work from home normally a few days a week. But housing prices are also an issue. So, I know it is going to be hard to find good schools and area, reasonable house prices, jobs with decent commute for me. I really do not want to leave CA's beauty in the mountains, but it is just too expensive and the schools are rough, and where there are good schools and more country, there are no jobs. Where there are jobs, there are gangs and you are right on top of people. So, very hard to figure it all out. In No CA it is beautiful with less crime, but no jobs and still expensive. In So CA it is freeways and gangs, or too far of a commute in the mountains. I can't win. We have family near Antioch. It is very flat out there, but we can get about double the house for the money.

[chicagojlo]

I don't know exactly how mountainous Wisconsin is but we've driven up there to go skiing before, it's not that far of a drive from this area (Lake County). We also have the lakes and forest preserves.

You won't find an affordable and decent place to live with good schools that is 30 minutes drive from the city. Most of the most desirable parts of the city are more than 30 minutes drive during rush hour. I'd focus on either the Naperville/Lisle/Downers Grove area or Lake County. There are plenty of companies needing BI people in both areas, I can't imagine it would take too long for him to find something.

[mommyfirst3]

Thanks chicagojilo! For me, I could probably work in Gurnee or Naperville. So I was thinking within 30 minutes from there. Hubby can drive over an hour bc he works from home part of the time. So, even if he works in Chicago, I was thinking of going cheaper for housing. But definitely hard to find good schools, cheaper housing, and then a place with more trees.

I used to live in WI as well. Not too mountainous, but from what I remember, I think there were more trees and hills in certain areas as compared to the Antioch area. Naperville I saw pictures,and it appeared to be a bit prettier. But I am not sure if I am right.

I will have hubby apply in those areas that you mentioned. Thank you so much for all of your help.

[cubssoxfan]

I would also consdier some of the NW suburbs like Arlington Heights, Prospect Heights and Mt. prospect. 20-30 minutes from Schaumburg corridor, 30-45 to 294 corridor and 40-60 minutes to i-88/Aurora corridor. More centrally located than some of the Lake county suburbs.

[Pete MUFC]

Cubssoxfan is right. Don't forget to look at Arlington Heights and Mount Prospect. They are both good suburbs, excellent schools, close to Schaumburg, O'Hare, I-294...
Plenty of parks, nice and lively downtowns (especially Arlington Heights), Metra stations for your hubby commute to downtown Chicago (express trains will get you DT in about 30 min), plenty of parking around Metra (I've heard parking can be a issue at Naperville Metra station).
I live in AH for just over a year now (moved from NJ) and absolutely love it.
Good luck.