Which north suburb would you recommend... (Chicago, Arlington Heights: violent crime, daycare, houses)

[luciajoaquin]

Based on public schools, safety, proximity to the city - not Evanston (and if possible, diversity). We are selling our property in Wrigleyville and we are thinking about the possibility of moving to a suburb close to the city...But I know nothing about Chicago suburbs. We are willing to spend around $430,000. Any feedback will be greatly appreciated!

[nanannie]

How about Park Ridge? Oak Park? Very close and diverse.....Villa Park-Elmhurst-Lombard_Glen Ellyn-Wheaton (Good schools,1/2 hr train,but less diverse)

[luciajoaquin]

I heard good things about Oak Park - Is is reasonable to think that we can buy a single family home for less than 500K in a good area?

[oakparkdude]

Originally Posted by luciajoaquin

I heard good things about Oak Park - Is is reasonable to think that we can buy a single family home for less than 500K in a good area?

What do you consider a good area? You can get a house east of Ridgeland Ave in Oak Park for under 500K. Oak Park suffers from a fair bit of property crime due to proximity to Chicago. The further west (away from Chicago) you live, the lower the degree of property crime.

By property crime I mean, people stealing bicycles out of your yard, people sneaking into your unlocked garage and stealing your lawn mower. If you lock your doors and keep valuable out of sight, you shouldn't have problems. Violent crime is extremely rare, although not nonexistent. If you can tolerate this IMHO low level of crime, you'd probably like eastern Oak Park.

[nanannie]

I just noticed you said "NORTH" suburbs.Some I mentioned are west,sorry.I wonder(in this market) If anythink would be available or at least negotiated in your range in around Highland Park

[Paige65]

The only north shore suburb that has diversity is Evanston. Highland Park would be next, but the diversity there is minimal and also depends upon where you live in Highland Park. If you live in north Highland Park there will be a larger hispanic population in the elementary schools because Highland Park schools also serve Highwood residents, and Highwood has a large hispanic population. If you live in south Highland Park, there will be very little diversity in the schools, unless you take into account religious diversity. The mix in most elementary schools (at least in south HP) would be 60% Jewish/40% Christian. At the high school there is more ethnic diversity because there is only one high school which serves all of Highland Park and Highwood (data from school report card 2006 is: 80.6% White, 2.5% Black, 14.2% Hispanic, 2.5% Asian). The quality of the school system, at both the elementary and high school level is excellent.

There are probably a handful of houses on the market in the $430,000 range, but they won't be large (don't know if that matters to you).

If you don't care about being on the north shore, then you could try Arlington Heights or Hoffman Estates possibly. Maybe someone will comment on the diversity of those suburbs.

Good luck!

[luciajoaquin]

I heard good things about Arlington Heights as well - We are city people, it is just that with one child and one on the way it is kind of difficult to stay in the city (we don't have a lot of space!). I don't need a HUGE house, but I do want to be close to the city, in a good suburb with top quality schools - I know that the North Shore could be quite expensive, but I guess that maybe we'll be able to find a fixer upper. Oak Park is another option, I just heard that as long as you are not on the border (Austin?) you should be fine...Ahh!! So many questions! I wish I could just find a bigger place in the city next to a good school! Since we are not originally from Chicago, it is kind of difficult to explore the suburbs...there are so many! But really, the most important things in our list are proximity to the city (not Evanston), good schools, safety, and at least a bit of diversity

[ahava]

I'll add another vote for Arlington Heights. I worked at a daycare there this past summer and I was surprised at how diverse it was. There were only 30-40 kids total and in that small number there were African-American, Hispanic, Russian, Polish, Middle Eastern, Chinese, Romanian, and Korean kids, in addition to Caucasian. Many of these kids were semi-fluent in their native language, which was wonderful to see. The schools in Arlington Heights are excellent and I think the only downside would be that it's not very close to the city, but it does have a Metra station and a great downtown so maybe you wouldn't need to visit the city that often.

[nanannie]

Originally Posted by ahava

I'll add another vote for Arlington Heights. I worked at a daycare there this past summer and I was surprised at how diverse it was. There were only 30-40 kids total and in that small number there were African-American, Hispanic, Russian, Polish, Middle Eastern, Chinese, Romanian, and Korean kids, in addition to Caucasian. Many of these kids were semi-fluent in their native language, which was wonderful to see. The schools in Arlington Heights are excellent and I think the only downside would be that it's not very close to the city, but it does have a Metra station and a great downtown so maybe you wouldn't need to visit the city that often.

I ditto that!>I didnt suggest it as I thought you wanted something closer.It isnt more then 40-45min by train to the city

[luciajoaquin]

great! i think that know i have a better idea -- we love diversity, that is why we love the city, so i guess that AH is a good option...we'll visit the area soon!