North or west suburb that is diverse with land (Chicago: violent crime, neighborhood)

[hopewaveshine]

Hello I am looking to move out of the city. I currently live in old Irving park. My neighborhood very diverse. I would like to move out of the city so that I can have more land. Like an acre. I am African and my fiance is Puerto Rican. my children are different races. I say these things because i have been looking for suburbs that are diverse and safe for my children. i have heard of different suburbs that have a lot of racial violence.

I'm looking for more that an acre of land, a diverse neighborhood, that is less than 1hr way from chicago in traffic. I would love it if the property taxes were less than 8,000 a year also!!!! Thank you.

[ChicagoBurbs]

This is kind of difficult considering your specifications, but there are a few that I can think of.

I don't know about taxes, but as far as diversity, towns like Zion are very diverse, and towns like Gurnee are kind of diverse. Gurnee is about an hour during rush hour and Zion might be an hour-ten. Not during rush hour they are both under an hour.

I am up here in the northern burbs, so the two I gave you are northern suburbs. However, I am sure there are others south or west of the city.

[webbermishoe]

Homewood, Flossmoor, or Olympia Fields for the South Suburbs.

[pvande55]

Elburn area still has some acre plus properties, and a little over a hour by train. Lockport maybe, an hour by train. You have budgeted $8000 for taxes but don't know what is your price range.

[knitgirl]

The very east end of Elgin has some large lots between rts 19 and 58. Also the far west end of Elgin, past Randall Rd. Parts of the west side of Elgin is in the Burlington school district - don't know anything about the schools. U-46 does not have great schools, but that seems to be a problem in most diverse school districts.

[Vlajos]

You won't have much luck.

[chet everett]

There might be some places as close as DesPlaines, but they probably back up to oil/ jet fuel terminals & tanks. An acre is pretty uncommon, and to get taxes that low the land it going to have to be pretty "negatively impacted" by non-residential uses nearby...

[Chummy Waters]

I'm guessing anywhere that you can buy an acre of land will more than likely remove you from "racial violence" as you call it. I'd imagine that the area of Chicago that you currently live in has far more violent crime than most suburbs.

[Vasily]

You can try around Bolingbrook or Aurora (the portion near Naperville or the far north portion), but you're not going to find an acre of land (and rural areas are not likely to be diverse). You might also look around Winfield (north of Naperville/Aurora), or maybe even West Chicago.

[cohdane]

Highwood is on the lake, costs less than the rest of the North Shore and has a large Latino population. That said, not very many Africans, but I don't see people staring oddly at the few African Americans who do live up here-- kind of a non-issue. The parks have a mix of kids at them. They play together. The moms, dads and nannies talk to each other. Kids in Highwood attend school with kids from Highland Park in District 112 and District 113-- both highly rated.

Only drawback is lot sizes aren't quite an acre, but here's one with over half an acre:

http://www.redfin.com/IL/Highwood/52.../home/17629416