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Old 05-24-2012, 02:16 AM
 
Location: Neenah/Fox Cities, WI
33 posts, read 54,598 times
Reputation: 24

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I second Sycamore. Quiet, safe and there is an actual, thriving downtown area (IL-64/State St.)! Easy access to I-88, close to NIU. I also say it's a cute little town, my husband and I have lived here for a little over a year.
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Old 05-24-2012, 07:13 AM
 
25 posts, read 47,068 times
Reputation: 13
Hinkley, Big Rock, Peru, Sugar Grove, Elburn those are nice towns
They are affordable too and very cute, how about Grundy County (Morris, Mazon, Minooka) or Lasalle County.

And in the long run in my opinion, when you child gets older you don't want school districts that are so huge that he/she would not get individualized attention or schools that are so big where if he or she wanted to play sports they could without competing with kids who are in clubs etc. I done the Naperville schools thing, but in my opinion they were too big.
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Old 05-24-2012, 09:04 AM
 
28,455 posts, read 84,921,999 times
Reputation: 18723
The distance factor is pretty big deal, not just for the initial job, but given how common it is to switch jobs the concern I would have for folks way way out there is that even in once bustling Naperville there has been such a consolidation of employers that one really has to look to the whole region. A commute from the edge of Kane Co , Lasalle or Grundy to the Loop or, heaven forbid, Lake Co is going to just about necessitate selling one's home, uprooting the kids and whole lot more hassle than staying closer in...

There certainly are affordable homes closer in, they just tend to be a bit smaller and sometimes need a little TLC.

The quality of the schools, as evidenced by state mandated tests, do show objectively better performance than in the further flung areas. The better districts do have manageable classroom sizes, well trained staff and a range of resources. Even when it comes to competitive high school sports I think you're kidding yourself that "smaller school == better attitude". Believe me I have seen first hand how serious some of the smaller towns get about sports. Families that work in a rural setting and can do things with the kids and have a huge edge over families community a long way to an office job. There might be more need for every kid to come out for the team sports but the "in crowd" of dads who grew up together and often played sports together a generation ago are going to see that their offspring get the serious playing time...

Everything is a trade off and if go into a situation with your eyes wide open you can understand the pros and cons.
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Old 05-25-2012, 12:32 PM
 
Location: Chicago, Tri-Taylor
5,014 posts, read 9,387,810 times
Reputation: 3982
Basically, you're saying their lives will become like a bad version of "Friday Night Lights". I lived in Sycamore and don't know if I agree. It ain't central Texas everyone. I do share your concerns about about the distance. Everything will be roses and cream - until someone gets laid off or fired. Then, your options will be pretty limited. There aren't a lot of jobs near these far flung areas and employers in the far away job centers will be reluctant to take a chance on you for fear that you won't be able to stick out the commute. I'd give this idea careful consideration and weigh the pros and cons. There's a reason I grew up in Sycamore but don't live there now.
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Old 05-25-2012, 03:00 PM
 
Location: Irvine, CA
15 posts, read 45,314 times
Reputation: 23
If you're wanting closer to the border, Lake and McHenry counties should have lots of options for you.

Personally... I live in DuPage, in Wheaton. DuPage County has a nice gradient of Urban-Suburban-Rural, yet is still close to everything. For the "small town" feel, parts of Carol Stream and Bloomingdale certainly qualify. This is largely because a lot of the forest preserves in DuPage County keep the cities from expanding horizontally into one another.

By the way... reading your first post... does your husband know about your fiance?

Congrats on the pregnancy!
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Old 05-26-2012, 02:22 AM
 
Location: Not where you ever lived
11,535 posts, read 30,101,930 times
Reputation: 6422
You might look a Princeton, too. It is farter west off I-80, but it has a good school system, low COL, reasonable taxes and a train that goes to Chicago 4x daily. It is a very green town with mature trees, big parks and a pretty good hospital. You will find plenty to do.

If you want to be closer to Chicago you might want to look at Sandwich. It is father west than Aurora and slightly south to. The last time I was there is was just a nice small community.

The single thing you need to be aware of is this. Not all small hospitals deliver babies unless it is an absolute emergency. Not all small hospitals have life -flight service either.
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Old 05-26-2012, 01:08 PM
 
Location: Chciago
720 posts, read 2,996,823 times
Reputation: 505
if you relaly want to stick to chicago burbs some more out there feeling may be yorkville or further out oswego is pretty built up now. elburn although thats getting built up too. maybe out by dekalb or cortland or some other towns out that way. could even consider kenoshar or around there
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