Hinsdale, Western Springs, and LaGrange (Chicago, La Grange: 2014, mortgage, house)

[pmcc1]

Hi everyone! I'm new to this board, and I've reviewed a lot of older threads on the above suburbs. I lived in the city virtually my whole life--moved from the South Loop to Indian Head Park when I was pregnant a few years ago, but I really didn't like the lack of walkability (although we got a beautiful house/yard for the money). Anyway, we recently sold our home in IHP in order to gain more walkability for our kids (we have 4 girls--all very young) and right now we are staying with family while house-hunting. We've been focusing our search on these three suburbs, and I'm just so torn! I really like a home in WS, but the taxes are a killer. I looked up the assessed value for next year's taxes, and it's gone up $200K, which will translate into the taxes going up from $12K to 18K! We'd rather spend more on a mortgage than on taxes, so it seems like Hinsdale might be best? DuPage County is still high, but Cook County's taxes in WS and LaGrange seem insane!

Anyway, any thoughts on these three suburbs--especially from those who moved from the city? My sister just moved to Hinsdale, so it would be nice to be near her. We sold in IHP in order for the kids to be able to walk to schools, parks, and town, etc...loading up 4 little ones in a car is such a pain! There is definitely more diversity in LaGrange (which I like), but it seems like Hinsdale Central has an edge to LT--we plan on staying in this area while the girls grow up. Would just love some input! I also want a family-friendly vibe--I know the perception of Hinsdale is that it's very snooty, and I'm sure you'll get some of that, but I've also met tons of nice people when I've been there. Just want to be around a lot of down to earth people, too.

Any thoughts?

[JJski]

For us Hinsdale was too sleepy of a town... But it all really came down to finding the best house in either Hinsdale, Western Springs or La Grange. I don’t think you can go wrong with any of them…

[Lookout Kid]

All three are really nice options. To me the the primary benefit of Hinsdale is access to Hinsdale Central High School, but Lyons Township High School is also a very good school by most accounts. All three have excellent elementary and junior high schools (with D102 in La Grange being stronger than D105).

I now know of at least four or five couples who have moved from the city to La Grange, two who have moved to Western Springs, and two who have moved to Hinsdale. All of them had previously been in nice North Side neighborhoods, and most of them had lived in the city for many years. I haven't heard a negative thing from any of them.

[pmcc1]

Thank you for your replies! I agree--probably can't go wrong as they're all great areas. Hope to hear more from some others, too!

[Justabystander]

I moved from Lakeview to Western Springs, and from Western Springs to Hinsdale. I actually got more house for my money in Hinsdale than Western Springs, so we decided on that move. Either town is great, with some differences between them. The differences that I have noticed are the WS where we lived was far less diverse than Hinsdale, in that most of the families in my area were strictly Catholic and mostly Irish, good because the Irish are friendly, bad because they tend to be cliquish and tend to focus on parish relationships and schools; the downtown area of Hinsdale is more "urban" in that it is bigger and less "suburban" than WS, and there tends to be more going on in Hinsdale, particularly in the summer with uniquely Thursdays, a band each week, and different art fairs and a larger farmer's market; the school in Hinsdale tend to be a little nicer, but not by much; and the location is a little better if you go to Oakbrook and the 22nd street corridor.I really haven;t noticed much of a difference in the snob factor; our neighborhood in WS was getting to be pretty upscale towards the end. I agree with the general consensus that any one of the three would be fine.

[Lookout Kid]

Originally Posted by Justabystander

The differences that I have noticed are the WS where we lived was far less diverse than Hinsdale, in that most of the families in my area were strictly Catholic and mostly Irish.

The almost total lack of diversity in Western Springs might give some people pause. There are elementary schools in District 101 that are 98% white (Field Park for instance), which is strange in Chicagoland in 2014, particularly in Cook County. There are very few East Indians, South Asians, Hispanics, or African Americans.