Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Illinois > Chicago Suburbs
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
 
Old 11-23-2007, 11:56 AM
 
2 posts, read 4,758 times
Reputation: 10

Advertisements

my husband and I are looking into buying real-estate. We don't want to spend beyond our means and work in the Elgin area. We have heard alot about the city of Belvidere. Do you have any info? PLEASE HELP, Thank you in advance

Last edited by PAgirltotheChi; 11-23-2007 at 12:09 PM..
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 11-23-2007, 11:58 AM
 
Location: earth
463 posts, read 646,669 times
Reputation: 62
Belvidere is a middle of no where kind of joint.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-23-2007, 12:10 PM
 
2 posts, read 4,758 times
Reputation: 10
Don Vito do you think it will be up and coming in the near future?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-23-2007, 12:25 PM
 
Location: earth
463 posts, read 646,669 times
Reputation: 62
Near future? Not a chance. 20 or 30 years down the line, maybe. But there is just too much open space in between Belvidere and well anything else. Up and comming in the near future, say next 5 to 10 years with in communting distance to Elgin? I'd check out Huntley, Gilberts, or Hampshire.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-23-2007, 01:13 PM
 
Location: West 'Burbs of Chicago
1,216 posts, read 5,773,965 times
Reputation: 451
It's a suburb of Rockford. They are doing a bit of building out there as some people are looking to get "out of the city" so to speak.

You can get a lot more house for your money in Belvidere.

Belvidere, Illinois (IL) Detailed Profile - relocation, real estate, travel, jobs, hospitals, schools, crime, news, sex offenders
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-23-2007, 02:32 PM
 
474 posts, read 2,538,493 times
Reputation: 114
Default Please Reverse Your Goals

Dear Friends:

I just skimmed your original post since I am having a rough time keeping a hand shake with my ISP.

So, your first goal should be to find employment, first. Did I miss that in skimming - - and have you already stated that?

Well, anyway... also consider looking at Cherry Valley a small town very close to Rockford.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-23-2007, 03:42 PM
 
Location: Chicago's burbs
1,016 posts, read 4,541,531 times
Reputation: 920
My family moved to Belvidere when I was in 8th grade and my parents still live there. (I moved back to Chicagoland after college.) What is your price range for a home? Belvidere is very affordable, and wouldn't be too bad a drive to Elgin. (Probably 35-45 minutes I'm guessing, maybe more on a bad traffic day.) I think one of Belvidere's main selling points is its affordable housing. As someone else mentioned, its more a suburb of Rockford than a suburb of Chicago. The actual downtown area I am not too crazy about, it has a bit of an illegal immigration problem imo. Some parts of the downtown are a bit run down and many store fronts are in Spanish, etc. I would avoid this area. Around the downtown area there are many new subdivisions going up, these are decent. The countryside in Boone county around Belvidere is beautiful, many sparwling neighborhoods with beautiful large custom homes on 1+ acre lots. If you can afford it, this is the best place to move in the Belvidere area. Schools in Belvidere are average, not terrible, not great. Belvidere is a 10-15 minute drive to Rockford's east side which has malls and all the big box stores, and resturants. (Belvidere itself doesn't have much shopping. A Super Walmart, K-mart, and a few grocery stores are about it in Belvidere.) As someone else mentioned, Huntley, Gilberts, or Hampshire might be worth considering, and are a bit more intigrated with Chicagoland than Belvidere is. I do not know what your price range is however, and just that little extra distance closer to Chicagoland that Huntley, Gilberts, and Hampshire is causes prices to rise considerably. Overall, Belvidere is a decent place if you are looking for affordable housing since it is so much cheaper than Chicagoland. Its not wonderful, not terrible, but o.k. Hope this helps!

Last edited by sbd78; 11-23-2007 at 05:13 PM..
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-23-2007, 03:52 PM
 
Location: Chicago
38,707 posts, read 103,152,881 times
Reputation: 29983
Belivdere is an excellent option for someone commuting to Elgin and wants cheaper housing and less congestion. Unless maybe if you work on the very east side of Elgin, you'll rarely run into a traffic jam on the way to work. As others have said, there is a lot of building going on there, mostly to accommodate people who want to get out of neighboring Rockford. It has a decent historic downtown area and some very nice vintage homes on the east side. Some Belvidere residents have complained about rising crime, but the statistics just don't bear out their complaints. I think what they might really be saying is they're seeing a rise in the Hispanic population. For me the biggest concern is being so far from a vital job market. (I don't mean to step on anyone's toes here, but I don't exactly consider Rockford a "vital" job market). Suppose you lose your Elgin job, you might have a hard time finding another job within a manageable commute time/distance from Belvidere.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-23-2007, 06:48 PM
 
Location: earth
463 posts, read 646,669 times
Reputation: 62
Belvidere has had increasing gang issues.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Settings
X
Data:
Loading data...
Based on 2000-2020 data
Loading data...

123
Hide US histogram


Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Illinois > Chicago Suburbs
Similar Threads

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top