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Old 06-06-2016, 07:31 AM
 
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Hi,
We are moving to IL later this month. We are looking into renting in Arlington Heights/Schaumburg/ Buffalo Grove/Elk Grove/Mt Prospect/Roselle/Palatine area. Above average rated Elementary and Middle School is a top priority and we are aiming to keep the commute time to downtown around 30-40 min. Also since my husband's work location is AH, we would want the commute to work to be within 30 mins driving time. We are wondering whether it would be a good idea to rent a Single Family Home or Townhouse or a Condo right now. Given that we haven't lived in IL before, we are wondering if a Townhome complex would be a good option ? We came across some complexes - Brook Run Townhomes in AH and Willow Bend in Rolling Meadows that fit our budget and requirements. We are planning to go check these out . Any thoughts on how these complexes are ? Pros- Cons , anything we need to consider? Any feedback would be appreciated! Are there any similar complexes in Schaumburg/ Mount Prospect ? Thanks !
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Old 06-06-2016, 09:46 AM
 
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For Rolling Meadows, don't look at the complexes of off Algonquin. They're sketchy and have gang activity. Also, in Buffalo Grove and Arlington Heights, stay south of Dundee. And Mount prospect, stay north of Golf.
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Old 06-06-2016, 10:39 AM
 
Location: Chicago. Kind of.
2,894 posts, read 2,440,668 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 4122 View Post
For Rolling Meadows, don't look at the complexes of off Algonquin. They're sketchy and have gang activity. Also, in Buffalo Grove and Arlington Heights, stay south of Dundee. And Mount prospect, stay north of Golf.
For Palatine, there is a triangle that goes from Route 53 West to Rand, then South back to Route 53, then back Northwest to Dundee Road - I'd avoid anything in those areas as well. I'd also avoid anything on Baldwin as it goes North OR South from Dundee Road. There are some places on the edge of Arlington Heights (I believe) off of Dundee Road West of Arlington Heights Road, and East of Route 53 that I've heard people say are not nice - but I don't know much about those.
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Old 06-06-2016, 10:48 AM
wjj
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 4122 View Post
For Rolling Meadows, don't look at the complexes of off Algonquin. They're sketchy and have gang activity. Also, in Buffalo Grove and Arlington Heights, stay south of Dundee. And Mount prospect, stay north of Golf.
As for Buffalo Grove, that is incorrect. The nicest places are well north of Dundee. The best places are north of Lake Cook Road and are in Lake County. In fact, there is very little of BG that is south of Dundee.

But that all is a moot point if commuting to downtown Chicago in 30-40 minutes is an unmovable requirement. In fact, in pretty much all of the towns mentioned a door-to-door commute to a work place downtown in less than 40 minutes is just not going to happen.
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Old 06-06-2016, 03:33 PM
 
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I meant to say south of Dundee for Arlington Heights and for Buffalo Grove, not right by Dundee.
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Old 06-06-2016, 04:20 PM
wjj
 
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Originally Posted by 4122 View Post
I meant to say south of Dundee for Arlington Heights and for Buffalo Grove, not right by Dundee.
My point is that Dundee is the border between BG and AH and Wheeling in most places and that the village of BG extends south of Dundee for a few blocks only in a few small areas. No question that the best townhouse/condo communities in BG are north of Lake Cook Road (though there are a couple of nice complexes on the north side of Dundee just east of BGHS).
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Old 06-06-2016, 04:23 PM
 
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Are you looking to buy or rent? I am in a process of buying a very big siZe home in Mt prospect in great schools for $330k. Don't know your budget, but it's got express metra train service so 30 min train to downtown. My reason for moving there as it's close enough to Chicago and 30 min drive to many other places.
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Old 06-07-2016, 06:46 PM
 
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Thanks everyone for the feedback.. Helped us understand what we need to watch out for when we make the househunting trip. Our realtor also suggested looking into Lake Zurich as the commute to AH is not bad at all and also because the schools are rated above average. The only negative point that we see now is there is no Metra in Lake Zurich. Anything else we need to consider if we do go ahead and look in LZ ? Sorry to many questions, just that we are getting different recommendations from different people and that adds to the confusion! Thanks and appreciate all the responses !
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Old 06-08-2016, 08:12 AM
wjj
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by riddhi.neshika View Post
Thanks everyone for the feedback.. Helped us understand what we need to watch out for when we make the househunting trip. Our realtor also suggested looking into Lake Zurich as the commute to AH is not bad at all and also because the schools are rated above average. The only negative point that we see now is there is no Metra in Lake Zurich. Anything else we need to consider if we do go ahead and look in LZ ? Sorry to many questions, just that we are getting different recommendations from different people and that adds to the confusion! Thanks and appreciate all the responses !
Lake Zurich is okay and housing is less expensive, but the schools are not as good as other communities you have mentioned (Buffalo Grove (especially the Lake County side), Palatine (south side the feeds into Fremd), Mount Prospect and Arlington Heights the feed into Hersey or Prospect). I'm not saying the LZ schools are bad - they are good. But they are not to the very high level of the schools in other areas you have cited. Lack of Metra is an issue, but there are stations nearby in Mundelein and Vernon Hills. But as I stated earlier, the commute downtown will be well over your 40 minute maximum, especially if using the North Central Service (e.g., the train trip from the Vernon Hills Station to Union Station is over an hour by itself). As for the commute from LZ to AH, it depends where in AH the work location is at. If on the far north side of AH near Dundee Road, then the commute from LZ would not be bad at all. However, if it is on the south end of AH near Algonquin Road or I 90, then the commute from LZ could be a challenge, but certainly faster than getting to downtown Chicago.
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Old 06-09-2016, 07:34 PM
 
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I have to disagree about the schools in LZ. They have actually gone up the ranks even in the last year and are actually great schools. OP, any schools in the top 50 is just splitting hairs and LZ ranks #37. LZ is a beautiful place to live, amazing shopping with nearby Deer Park. My husband actually commutes to downtown Chicago everyday in off hours and makes it to Lincoln Park in 35-40 mins. There is a metra stop in Barrington also, not far from here.
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