Family moving to Chicago- where to live? (Schaumburg, Palatine: living in, price)

[cubssoxfan]

No, the combination of good schools, proximity to Schaumburg and many homes at or below your budget would keep Arlington Heights and Prospect Heights on the list. I also second looking into the Barrington area as well.

[gramirez2012]

Barrington, Barrington, Barrington! And all of the surrounding areas which feed into Dist. 220 schools. (parts of Hoffman, Inverness, S. Barrington, etc.)

[eastsiders]

When you look at Barrington, don't forget Tower Lakes. Tower Lakes has the semi rural atmosphere you are looking for plus Dist. 220 schools.

[Chemba]

Again, thanks to everyone and for providing your suggestions. It looks like Barrington and the surrounding area is perfect for what we're looking for.

One follow up question regarding commute times. How would traffic be during typical rush hours (am & pm) between Barrington and Northbrook? Would traffic be a significant concern?

Thanks!

[chet everett]

Of the towns that are within normal commuting range of Northbrook I think that most folks would agree Barrington has a lot going for it. If you want a nice combo of sorta rural but with a well developed downtown Barrington is hard to beat.

Commute times will probably be under an hour most mornings but over 35 minutes unless you get extremely lucky. There are several viable routes that avoid the tollways expressways and you might want thpse if / when weather/construction/tie-ups make the commute worse...

[cubssoxfan]

Originally Posted by Chemba

Again, thanks to everyone and for providing your suggestions. It looks like Barrington and the surrounding area is perfect for what we're looking for.

One follow up question regarding commute times. How would traffic be during typical rush hours (am & pm) between Barrington and Northbrook? Would traffic be a significant concern?

Thanks!

Where in Northbrook are you commuting to?
From Palatine Rd and Rte 83 I can make Allstate in 15-20 minutes during rush hour. From Palatine Rd to Rte 83 I can make downtown Barrington in 20-25 minutes, although I typically do this opposite the rush hour traffic flow, so add 5-10 minutes. Not an un-doable commute, and Barrington is quite charming. Have you considered Prospect Heights? Larger lots, no sidewalks so it has more of a country feel, but at least 30 minutes closer commute.

[Chemba]

Originally Posted by cubssoxfan

Where in Northbrook are you commuting to?
From Palatine Rd and Rte 83 I can make Allstate in 15-20 minutes during rush hour. From Palatine Rd to Rte 83 I can make downtown Barrington in 20-25 minutes, although I typically do this opposite the rush hour traffic flow, so add 5-10 minutes. Not an un-doable commute, and Barrington is quite charming. Have you considered Prospect Heights? Larger lots, no sidewalks so it has more of a country feel, but at least 30 minutes closer commute.

Hi,

No, I haven't considered Prospect Heights. I'll look into it and see how the schools are... definitely a convenient area.

Thanks for the recommendation!

[cubssoxfan]

Originally Posted by Chemba

Hi,

No, I haven't considered Prospect Heights. I'll look into it and see how the schools are... definitely a convenient area.

Thanks for the recommendation!

I suggest looking south of Palatine Rd to be in the Hersey HS attendance boundaries. http://www.d214.org/
Elementary is Prospect Heights 23 Prospect Heights School District 23
School rankings: Illinois Interactive Report Card

[OakBrookMom]

When my husband considered moving us to be closer to his work (currently Glenview off of Willow) we looked at Long Grove and Kildeer (as well as Barrington but that wasn't enough of a cut in commute as he has now to justify the move) because our oldest was close to jr high and Stevenson High school (parts of both these towns feed into Stevenson) is ranked super high just like our current high school (Hinsdale Central) as are most of its feeder schools and we too liked the larger lot (3/4 acre) semi-rural feeling that we currently enjoy although when our kids were younger we wished we could walk to a vibrant downtown area like we could in Elmhurst (similar feel to Arlington Heights) and let them ride their bikes on sidewalks which are missing in many of these old horse country estate areas with the larger lots. His company took 3 years to build the new headquarters which just opened last month and by now our oldest is close too close to high school to make her move. You won't have as much to chose from in these two areas as you would in the Barrington area but some of the best deals in these areas are around 600K and you couldn't touch a nice 4 bedroom home in most of the Stevenson zoned areas 3 years ago for 500K. So I'd take a look at the options you have in these two areas as you also consider Barrington which is most likely better for your Schaumburg commute and a just a beautiful area in general. Someone's going to have the longer commute - I'd consider who has to handle most of the childcare duties (drop offs/pick-ups/emergency calls/etc) when determining who is going to win that battle.

[Chemba]

Originally Posted by cubssoxfan

Where in Northbrook are you commuting to?
From Palatine Rd and Rte 83 I can make Allstate in 15-20 minutes during rush hour. From Palatine Rd to Rte 83 I can make downtown Barrington in 20-25 minutes, although I typically do this opposite the rush hour traffic flow, so add 5-10 minutes. Not an un-doable commute, and Barrington is quite charming. Have you considered Prospect Heights? Larger lots, no sidewalks so it has more of a country feel, but at least 30 minutes closer commute.

We'll actually need to commute, potentially, to Pfingsten Road. Looking at the map, it looks like Allstate is west of Pfingsten so we'll need to tack on some more time.

What's the farthest west we could live and still keep the commute to Pfingsten to about 30 minutes during regular, rush hour traffic? Also, how is traffic heading west out of Northbrook during am rush hour? We have a lot of variables to work out prior to our move and I'd like to consider living in Northbrook and commuting to Schaumburg- especially if the commute will be going against traffic.

Thanks for everyone's help!