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Old 12-30-2014, 08:57 AM
 
Location: Tri-Cities
720 posts, read 1,072,497 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by chet everett View Post
If your goal is to draw a huge triangle then, yes, towns south of Elgin would help accomplish such a goal. That said the commute would be horrible for both partners and the added hassles along Fox River, where backups due to limited bridge capacity lead to congestion would make not just rush hour but even weekend drives a special challenge.

Towns so far west would be a special hardship for grandparents trying to help with childcare too.

Further, towns closer to Elgin, like St Charles, really strain the commute to Maywood and even town closer to 88, like Batavia, make for a bottomless pit of misery up to Elgin...

The odds of the OP feeling comfortable riding the UP-W line to Maywood, where the station is in the most run down part of town, an inconvenient bus ride away from the medical campus, is a huge negative...
Well, it's not like Wheaton or Glen Ellyn would be much better for getting to Elgin...
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Old 12-30-2014, 09:05 AM
 
11,973 posts, read 31,626,695 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by aga412 View Post
Well, it's not like Wheaton or Glen Ellyn would be much better for getting to Elgin...
But they are a LOT better for getting to Maywood. Who the heck wants to drive to Maywood from the Fox Valley? That's at least a half hour further out than Glen Ellyn with light traffic. It takes me a half hour to drive to Geneva at midnight.
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Old 12-30-2014, 09:13 AM
 
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There's really not an easy solution here. Splitting the difference is tough, and you either have to go south to the Elmhurst/Glen Ellyn/Wheaton area, or go north to the Barrington/Arlington Heights area.

Places like Bloomingdale and Roselle are probably better than a lot of the other towns between Maywood and Elgin in terms of schools and amenities, but the schools are mediocre and the towns don't offer the type of charm that the couple seems to desire.

So the other option is to pick a town that's an easy commute to one suburb but not the other... If one parent has a work schedule that allows for easier drop off/pick up of kids, that would make the most sense as the parent to have the shorter commute.
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Old 12-30-2014, 12:49 PM
 
5 posts, read 6,125 times
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LK -- So based on your last post, about choosing either AH or GE, is there any difference in the Maywood commute and would the Elgin commute be just about the same from either town? I think GE wins out in charm although AH has other benefits. The travel is a big factor.
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Old 12-30-2014, 01:02 PM
 
Location: Chicago
211 posts, read 563,161 times
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I would not consider Wheaton to be open minded, but that's just me. It's very Christian, and I know it's on the conservative side. I grew up there and never met any Jewish people but one in hs. And he was bullied by kids for his religion. This was either in 2012 or 2013... But that's just me. I'm not trying to say Wheaton is anti-Semitic, more so judgmental and intolerant of different people.
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Old 12-30-2014, 01:30 PM
 
Location: All Over
4,003 posts, read 6,055,719 times
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I think to many oak park is openmineded if your a minority, gay, etc but don't know how openminded oak park would be to conservative views. My point is openminded is kind of a vague term that will mean differnet things to different people.

If they were a gay couple I could totally see wanting a community who will accept them, however catholic jewish is hardly controversial in todays day and age, most people probably wouldn't even know and if they did I can't think of anyone I know who could care less one way or the other.

West suburbs have some great communities with great housing stock, great schools, etc. I can't say I think one would be more "openminded" than another whatever that means though.

Personally I'm not a huge fan of elgin, there are some beautiful expensive homes there but there are also sketchy parts. I think of it as kind of like Aurora or Joliet, some great homes but a mixed reupation because of some parts.
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Old 12-30-2014, 01:33 PM
 
11,973 posts, read 31,626,695 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by florenzia View Post
LK -- So based on your last post, about choosing either AH or GE, is there any difference in the Maywood commute and would the Elgin commute be just about the same from either town? I think GE wins out in charm although AH has other benefits. The travel is a big factor.
Glen Ellyn does have a lot of charm. Arlington Heights has a larger, more vibrant downtown area and a small core of older charming houses, but is mostly dominated by post-war ranches, split-levels, and colonials.

Glen Ellyn to Maywood would probably run over a half hour. My guess is 40 minutes, based on the fact tha it used to consistently take me an hour to get to a parking garage in the Loop during the morning rush. Afternoons are even worse. The worst part of the Ike is between the old "Hillside Bottleneck" and Harlem Avenue, so there is just no way to avoid that perpetual traffic jam on 290... Unless you take Roosevelt Road or North Avenue. The latter only really works from northern Glen Ellyn, and Roosevelt is often jammed between Manheim/La Grange Road and Maywood anyway (just like the Ike).

I haven't tried AH to Maywood, but you would have the same jam up on the Ike... Plus 290 always seems to stall around Rte 83 coming south. I would think it would be at least an hour, and not really feasible on a daily basis.
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Old 12-30-2014, 02:08 PM
 
1,517 posts, read 2,323,796 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Slam4444 View Post
I would not consider Wheaton to be open minded, but that's just me. It's very Christian, and I know it's on the conservative side. I grew up there and never met any Jewish people but one in hs. And he was bullied by kids for his religion. This was either in 2012 or 2013... But that's just me. I'm not trying to say Wheaton is anti-Semitic, more so judgmental and intolerant of different people.
Wheaton is not intolerant.

It's history is filled with tolerance. Wheaton and it's namesake college have a long been opponents of racial injustice and were instrumental in the abolitionist movement and underground railroad: NETWORK TO FREEDOM: Blanchard Hall, Wheaton College | NPS.gov. The college's founder, Jonathon Blanchard, was a prominent abolitionist: Jonathan Blanchard (abolitionist) - Wikipedia. Wheaton even graduated the first African American in Illinois: Edward Breathitte Sellers - Wikipedia

Wheaton is religiously diverse. It's home to the American headquarters of the Theosophical Society: Home - Theosophical Society which works to 'encourage open-minded inquiry into world religions... and respect the unity of all life.' Theosophy contributed greatly to the success of the now famous Baha'i.

In a time when Muslim have been systematically discriminated against and prevented from starting mosques all over DuPage, a Muslim community was able to find a new home in Wheaton with the unanimous approval of the city board: Mosque takes over former Wheaton church - Chicago Tribune.

In addition to the Jewish-Christian interfaith efforts I mentioned earlier, there are several other inter-faith projects around town. There are Eastern Orthodox churches, Chinese churches and basically any other type of religious institution you can imagine, including a spiritual convent: Loretto Center and a unique New Age bookstore: Quest Bookshop

Furthermore, you simply will not be able to find a town with more charities helping society's lowest common denominators than in Wheaton. Local Chicagoland homeless to refugees from around the world.

Don't shut down when the proselytization efforts of a few folks rub you the wrong way -- explore your town!

Last edited by holl1ngsworth; 12-30-2014 at 02:39 PM..
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Old 12-30-2014, 02:22 PM
 
11,973 posts, read 31,626,695 times
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Wheaton probably does have more conservative "Bible Thumper" types than most areas in Chicagoland, but I don't think it defines the ethos of the community. At least not in 2014.

There are some old ideas about Wheaton, and DuPage County in general. But DuPage went for Obama in 2008 and again in 2012 (when the real conservatives were already fed up with him). And it's not just West Chicago and Glendale Heights voting this way. Most precincts in somewhat affluent Glen Ellyn went at least 40% Obama in 2012, so I don't think a Democrat would feel ostracized anywhere in this town. I didn't analyze the voting patterns in Wheaton to the same degree, but none of the people I know that live there are particularly conservative.
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Old 12-30-2014, 02:55 PM
 
1,517 posts, read 2,323,796 times
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In Milton Township, which covers most of Wheaton and Glen Ellyn, Obama received 45.4% of the vote and Romney 52.4% -- a close race when considering how supposedly fed-up conservatives were back in '12. And many precincts within Glen Ellyn and Wheaton did indeed side with Obama.
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