Help me find an affordable family home near Evanston!

[hopehome]

Originally Posted by Lookout Kid

I think the biggest challenge for you will be the housing budget in that particular portion of Chicagoland. I would open your search to the following towns with excellent schools (truly top tier), and pick the best house/location you can find:

Wilmette
Glenview
Park Ridge (no one brought this one up yet?)
Highland Park
Northbrook
Deerfield

Ain't that the truth. I was really hoping to find some Geneva-esque prices/yards/schools within commuting distance of Evanston, but seems like there is just nothing like that nearby. I agree that your list is pretty much what I need to focus on, with the possible addition of Lake Bluff since it's a straight shot on the Metra.

Park Ridge -- I just feel like it might be a little urban for me, but it's true that I'm not too familiar with it. I want to be able to have the kids play outside and have a big garden in the back yard.

Speaking of the Metra, most of these are not on the same Metra line as the Evanston stop. Think that means we'll just have to drive, or is it feasible to drive from say Deerfield to another UPN line lot and take it the rest of the way to EV? I know the Wilmette metra lot fills up quite early, not sure if there are other restrictions/capacity issues in the more northern lots on that line too? Or whether the commute time is even worth it rather than driving all the way.

[wjj]

Originally Posted by Lookout Kid

I agree that Prospect and Hersey are excellent schools, and A.H. and Mt Prospect are perhaps a little more of a value than the "North Shore" in that respect. But that commute may be worse than what you want. Better than Buffalo Grove, Vernon Hills, or Hawthorn Woods by a long shot, though!

Depends on where in Arlington Heights you are. AH borders Buffalo Grove. But if you are that far north in AH, you are in Buffalo Grove HS district which is a step down from Hersey or Prospect (but not a huge step).

[pvande55]

Originally Posted by hopehome

We're looking for an affordable family home near Evanston and I'm totally stumped. Price seems to really be limiting us.

Here's Seems from my online searches like tThere's some high voltage power lines running through the east side - anything to worry about there? Any reason to consider/exclude them along with BG?

There is little to be concerned with. Electromagnetic fields outside the Right-of-way are negligible. As far as the lines crashing down, if the winds are high enough to cause that, you got bigger problems to worry about. Except maybe appearance.