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Currently living in Oak Park in a modest 2 bedroom condo. Our family has grown and now we need a space upgrade. We cannot afford larger homes in the Oak Park area. Ideally we'd also like to move further away from the west side of Chicago. Looking for recommendations based on the following:
1) Budget of 200-250k, depending on taxes. Would like to aim for 5-6k a yr tops. 3 bedroom, 1.5 bath min.
2) Near a metra. Long commute is fine.
3) Safe.
4) Great public schools, especially the middle school.
5) 1400sq-1800sq home is ideal. Yard. Must have Yard.
6) Nature-ish. Trees. Green. Prefer non-farm.
Sometimes I feel like this is a pipe dream, but I've seen some listings in various areas. Bartlett, Carol Stream, Lisle, Lake Zurich, Antioch, Lombard, St Charles, Elburn, Lisle, Grayslake, etc. We are obviously open to going to the far suburbs in any direction, but I'd love some suggestions. I see places like West Chicago, Glendale Heights, Hanover Park with affordable homes...but my impression is they are less desirable? Then you have Round Lake Beach that rates high in safety but low in schools.
I wish our budget was higher (much higher) and we could go to Lake Forest or Lake Bluff or Barrington...but alas...
Lisle is a decent option for you. Additionally, Winfield has recently come on my radar as a place that is affordable, has some neighborhoods with good schools (some have Wheaton schools), and seems to be on an upswing due to the growth of Central DuPage Hospital. Holl1ngsworth has been pushing Winfield, and I know a realtor who recently moved there from a more expensive suburb.
Bartlett, Carol Stream, and Lombard are all still safe communities, but the school quality isn't necessarily uniformly good. Get familiar with the School Report Cards and figure out the school boundaries, and you may be able to pick off a home in your price range. If you can find something in Wheaton or Downers Grove, even better.
...there are homes with yards and perfectly safe, even walking distance to Metra in towns like Westmont and Villa Park well under $300k. 1800 sq ft is still pretty modest.
The factors of schools are of course a big driver of but that is trade off that some folks do make, heck for folks that want to be "home schoolers" or use parochial schools it is not a problem. Except for Addison, West Chicago or other areas with an unfortunate combination of low income and limited English proficieny it probably makes sense to stick with DuPage Co over Lake Co where taxes are higher and school quality varies more widely -- Round Lake Beach is not really all that safe and Antoich is just crazy far for anyone with employment in Chicago.
Is you shop wisely even nice towns like Downer Grove have some homes in that price range in "challenged" locations where maybe one side of the lot is on a busy street... Accepting trade offs is the only way to stay under budget and ultimately it probably makes more sense to have good schools and nice neighbors with a lot that is less than ideal than moving to a town with poor schools and unruly neighbors.
No reaon not to consider Brookfield either, plenty of trees and schools do quite well, especially in the Hollywood section where elementary schools are shared with Riverside.
Almost certainiy makes more sense than living way out in the fringes with overly long commute...
I have recommended Brookfield in the past, and am not sure why I neglected to mention it this time. The "elephant in the room" regarding Brookfield is a sense that it is slowly transitioning to a more Hispanic community, however, and that always makes some white homeowners panic around here. But that is also the case in most of the other suburbs you are considering (and pretty much every suburb in Chicagoland with more affordable homes). Brookfield still has some really good Public School options and is situated on a great train line with quick access to amenities in La Grange and other nearby suburbs. I know multiple people who have bought homes there and who love it.
Chet, you really think Villa Park is better than Addison and West Chicago? I might put it in the same group. But Lombard is definitely a step up from those towns.
I have recommended Brookfield in the past, and am not sure why I neglected to mention it this time. The "elephant in the room" regarding Brookfield is a sense that it is slowly transitioning to a more Hispanic community, however, and that always makes some white homeowners panic around here.
I know realtors who say many families from the West Side are now bypassing Berwyn and Cicero completely for Brookfield. The numbers seem to support this anecdotal evidence. The elementary school district went from 12% to 26% Hispanic in just 4 years, and low income went up from 15% to 22% during the same period.
Not saying there's anything wrong with that but flight situations -- whether that comes in the form of people leaving the community altogether or pulling their kids out of the schools and into private -- do not lend themselves to high housing values or ISAT/PSAE test scores. Presently it does have good schools and is affordable relative to its scores. That's definitely true.
...and so do Lombard, Lisle,West Chicago and Addison, but the pluses of Villa Park are more like the pluses of Lombard and Lisle, so if the OP does some shopping and scouts out the better blocks / nicer parts of town they might be able to stay under $250k and have a really pleasant ride on Metra -- Villa Park is only one stop further than Elmhurst on non-expresses and that can really be lifesaver for commuting.Willowbrook high is not bad -- folks understand the value and have even tried deannexation from Addison Trail, it shows parent iniative, but of course also would have financial negatives...
Lombard's downtown is doing pretty well, the overall quality of Glenbard East, while still not as high as the rest of the high schools in district is not nearly as worrisome as Addison or West Chicago...
Lisle has some nice express options via BNSF, but they have so little positive in the downtown redevelopment that it sorta hurts them more than it otherwise should. The Lisle Unit district is not bad at all and the possibility of some homes in Lisle being served by Naperville 203 schools makes for good house shopping, though most of the single family detached stuff in D203 will be above OP's budget..
I see places like West Chicago, Glendale Heights, Hanover Park with affordable homes...but my impression is they are less desirable?
Id steer clear of those 3 cities. Why? As you said, theyre not very desireable. Not that theyre extremely dangerous or anything, just BLAH. If I had to choose between those 3, I would do West Chicago. Most of the town is older, but there are several newer areas, and the city is doing a lot to revamp its image. I would stay north of Washington Street, there are some great neighborhoods up there, and youd be a short drive/bike ride from the Metra station.
I know realtors who say many families from the West Side are now bypassing Berwyn and Cicero completely for Brookfield. The numbers seem to support this anecdotal evidence. The elementary school district went from 12% to 26% Hispanic in just 4 years, and low income went up from 15% to 22% during the same period.
I would not have a problem sending my kids to most of the Brookfield schools as they are today, and attribute most of the demographic shift in Brookfield to elderly resident attrition and normal relocation instead of "flight". But the pace of demographic change does give one pause. One thing to realize about "flight" is that the fear of declining property values is probably stronger than the fears of actual minority residents. People don't want to be the last one "holding the bag". But Brookfield has so many positives that I do have strong hopes that it will stabilize and continue being a nice place to live, but simply with more diversity than it had in 1990 or 2000.
Lombard, Carol Stream, Villa Park, Bloomingdale, Hanover Park, Bartlett, Roselle, Streamwood, Addison, Glendale Heights--all have sizeable and growing Hispanic populations. It's clear that most suburbs with houses in the sub-$300k price range are going to be more diverse today than they were ten or twenty years ago, particularly in regard to Hispanic homeowners. My hope is that the "Millennial Generation" will not freak out, and will decide that living in diverse communities is not a bad thing, killing the "white flight" phenomenon for good. But only time will tell...
I would not have a problem sending my kids to most of the Brookfield schools as they are today, and attribute most of the demographic shift in Brookfield to elderly resident attrition and normal relocation instead of "flight". But the pace of demographic change does give one pause. One thing to realize about "flight" is that the fear of declining property values is probably stronger than the fears of actual minority residents. People don't want to be the last one "holding the bag". But Brookfield has so many positives that I do have strong hopes that it will stabilize and continue being a nice place to live, but simply with more diversity than it had in 1990 or 2000.
Lombard, Carol Stream, Villa Park, Bloomingdale, Hanover Park, Bartlett, Roselle, Streamwood, Addison, Glendale Heights--all have sizeable and growing Hispanic populations. It's clear that most suburbs with houses in the sub-$300k price range are going to be more diverse today than they were ten or twenty years ago, particularly in regard to Hispanic homeowners. My hope is that the "Millennial Generation" will not freak out, and will decide that living in diverse communities is not a bad thing, killing the "white flight" phenomenon for good. But only time will tell...
And I hope for world peace, hehe They'll certainly have to do better than Gen X, which hasn't proven as keen on diversity on the whole, at least once they have children. Now, I think they're much more inclined to move to a diverse neighborhood than their parents were before having kids. But I haven't seen many in this demographic willing to send their kids into majority-minority, majority-low income schools. They'll usually leave for more traditional pastures once school rolls around if they're faced with such a situation (e.g. in Chicago if they can't get into a magnet or charter). Because I don't define "flight" as intentional hatred, I still consider this flight.
I don't know if I'd invest in a community based on faith that a subsequent generation will be more tolerant in this area personally. But I suppose it could happen. I think if you watch your child closely, he or she can get a good education at virtually any school. But being in a "top" school district seems to be a priority for most middle and upper middle class families now. And because test scores (and other data about the school including trends) is so readily accessible, it is much harder to climb out once a downward spiral begins.
The reason I bring up Millennial housing choices is that there are more of them than the Baby Boomers, but they are loaded up with debt and have high unemployment. En mass, they won't all be able to afford luxury condos in the city and houses in fancy suburbs near walkable cores and train stops, in spite of their preferences for this type of housing. Oak Park and Evanston won't be able to fit them all in. Some say this will be a generation of renters, but if that is the case then we are very low on rental inventory and prices will go up making it a less-attractive option. They won't stay in their parents' basements forever either. Eventually they will dictate the direction of the housing market, and maybe some of them will start snatching up the affordable ranch houses and bungalows in suburbs that aren't all the way out in Kane County. They will likely have to compromise on something, and that something may be the lilly-whiteness of the suburbs of the past. Or we will keep building new cul-de-sacs all the way out to the Quad Cities allowing white Millennials to avoid people with darker pigmentation. Who knows?
Last edited by Lookout Kid; 08-20-2014 at 01:39 PM..
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They'll certainly have to do better than Gen X, which hasn't proven as keen on diversity on the whole, at least once they have children. Now, I think they're much more inclined to move to a diverse neighborhood than their parents were before having kids. But I haven't seen many in this demographic willing to send their kids into majority-minority, majority-low income schools. They'll usually leave for more traditional pastures once school rolls around if they're faced with such a situation (e.g. in Chicago if they can't get into a magnet or charter). Because I don't define "flight" as intentional hatred, I still consider this flight. 
