Living in Elgin? Pros & Cons (Atlanta, Kane: sale, buying, school tuition)

[aga412]

Originally Posted by Kluch

Haha! That's great. We'll be moving from Hipster Nashville so we'd fit right in LOL. thanks for the link.

Ok, a realtor did suggest naperville to us (specifically because it runs by 88 which goes by dekalb) and I've been considering that area as well - I know I'm all over the place, but I did say I'm considering ALL options.

I've found it somewhat strange that taxes seem to be lower in such areas which are a bit closer to the city as opposed to suburbs farther out like the tri-cities. Naperville seems like an ok option all things considered, not as bad a commute by train I would think...?

You could also, now that you are bringing Southern Kane County into the mix, look at Aurora/North Aurora. There are parts of Aurora/North Aurora that feed into Batavia's schools, which are also very good. These homes tend to be a little more affordable than those in Batavia proper, and put you closer to the Aurora train station (BNSF line) and much closer to I-88, especially compared to Geneva. Express trains from Aurora aren't so bad into Chicago - in fact I'd wager it's better to get on at Aurora before everyone swarms the train at Route 59. Like I mentioned before, Aurora's downtown is cool in its own right, and the Tri-Cities are all very charming.

I think part of the reason why taxes in the Tri-Cities (Batavia, Geneva, STC) are so high are because of schools (all three are high quality) and that they have a pretty low industrial base compared to the other towns closer in to Chicago. I think they also try to rely on the "quaintness and cutesy" factor to justify the higher taxes as well.

[Kluch]

Originally Posted by aga412

You could also, now that you are bringing Southern Kane County into the mix, look at Aurora/North Aurora. There are parts of Aurora/North Aurora that feed into Batavia's schools, which are also very good. These homes tend to be a little more affordable than those in Batavia proper, and put you closer to the Aurora train station (BNSF line) and much closer to I-88, especially compared to Geneva. Express trains from Aurora aren't so bad into Chicago - in fact I'd wager it's better to get on at Aurora before everyone swarms the train at Route 59. Like I mentioned before, Aurora's downtown is cool in its own right, and the Tri-Cities are all very charming.

I think part of the reason why taxes in the Tri-Cities (Batavia, Geneva, STC) are so high are because of schools (all three are high quality) and that they have a pretty low industrial base compared to the other towns closer in to Chicago. I think they also try to rely on the "quaintness and cutesy" factor to justify the higher taxes as well.

Ok, thank you. Are there parts of arora to avoid? North Arora looks like it's mostly covered by batavias school district but what about the rest of arora?

[aga412]

The only places worth looking in Aurora would be the parts that feed into Batavia or D204. Anything that feeds into East or West Aurora I'd avoid, same with Oswego East. Kaneland is alright but that district is a mess financially. If you'd go with Aurora, I'd hedge my bets on Batavia or D204. Ginger Woods and Savannah in Aurora feed into Batavia (Ginger Woods also feeds into D204). Parts of North Aurora feed into Batavia. There are some smaller, less cookie-cutter homes in Aurora that feed into both of those districts that I think would be convenient to I-88 and the train stations (59 and Aurora). All other parts of Aurora should be avoided.

[awdg]

Originally Posted by Sunbiz1

I stopped going to Benedict's a few years ago, after the quality took a nosedive. While the historical home conversion to a restaurant is fantastic, frozen potatoes and canned hollandaise sauce just doesn't cut it. It turned out their head chef moved to Sweet Berry in S. Elgin. So I followed the chef.

No worry, just get your breakfast at Burnt-toast!

[BIG CATS]

Originally Posted by Kluch

Ok, thank you. Are there parts of arora to avoid? North Arora looks like it's mostly covered by batavias school district but what about the rest of arora?

*Aurora*

[Kluch]

Originally Posted by BIG CATS

*Aurora*

Hah! thanks.

[Kluch]

spoke to my wife last night. I think her goal is to home school our kids at least for the first few years (and they're still a couple of years out from school anyways)... so elgin/south elgin isn't out of the question anymore especially since I'm finding more and more affordable completely remodeled homes near that area. I'm sure we'll still be looking in the tri-cities area though. Especially since one of the churches we're considering attending is in the st. charles area.

[damba]

Originally Posted by Kluch

spoke to my wife last night. I think her goal is to home school our kids at least for the first few years (and they're still a couple of years out from school anyways)... so elgin/south elgin isn't out of the question anymore especially since I'm finding more and more affordable completely remodeled homes near that area. I'm sure we'll still be looking in the tri-cities area though. Especially since one of the churches we're considering attending is in the st. charles area.

Out of pure curiosity- why home school?

[Kluch]

Originally Posted by damba

Out of pure curiosity- why home school?

We're not 100% set on it and there's no telling what might happen (we're a couple of years out from kindergarten anyways), but two main reasons, one financially it's generally cheaper and two (probably more importantly) my wife wants to be able to influence the curriculum and atmosphere our kids are exposed to. Another option (assuming we're near elgin) is harvest private schools. Not cheap but we've heard good things about harvest. We also have some friends who home school and they are big fans of it. It seems to be on the rise as opposed to public school. Not saying there aren't good public schools, there are of course.

[damba]

Originally Posted by Kluch

We're not 100% set on it and there's no telling what might happen (we're a couple of years out from kindergarten anyways), but two main reasons, one financially it's generally cheaper and two (probably more importantly) my wife wants to be able to influence the curriculum and atmosphere our kids are exposed to. Another option (assuming we're near elgin) is harvest private schools. Not cheap but we've heard good things about harvest. We also have some friends who home school and they are big fans of it. It seems to be on the rise as opposed to public school. Not saying there aren't good public schools, there are of course.

Interesting. I'm not sure if you are aware, but public schools in Illinois are funded by local property taxes. So in other words, you wouldn't have anything except very nominal (local school) fees tacked on at the beginning of the school year per child (~"book and technology fees"). In this regard, you would be saving very little (if anything) since you have to find a way to fund everything that the public schools would offer. Obviously this is more of a personal choice though, whether or not you feel you could properly emulate what the public schools could do. For very young kids the challenge is perhaps easier to deal with.

I'm a little surprised you would look at private school since, it would effectively be the same as doubling the property tax you pay but w/o the same access to programs. In this sense, if Harvest charged you ~$8500 per kid [looking at their published rates online], you might as well be looking at a home in a slightly more expensive area with better schools that would simply come out of your property taxes. Also, FWIW the deduction for both home schooling and private school tuition in IL is relatively small.

https://www.edchoice.org/blog/privat...ax-deductible/

Food for thought anyway.