Mixed Race NYC Family need suburb relocation advice

[leroy217]

Originally Posted by CGab

Chet is spot on! Homewood-Flossmoor used to have top ranked schools, but that is no longer the case. Lagrange has much better schools!

I live in Homewood, and I'm trying to figure out why people are so down on it. Great parks, much less traffic than the western burbs and about the same in property taxes. The schools in both locations have their issues, but the schools out here are definitely not bad.


A drive to downtown from LaGrange is about 15 mins longer than from Homewood. I-55 or I-290 are terrible. Metra Electric takes about 45 mins to downtown, and if you are a golfer (like myself), there are at least 15 golf courses within 10 miles.


Extremely diverse.....LaGrange can be snooty sometimes and traffic there is terrible.

[chet everett]

Originally Posted by leroy217

I live in Homewood, and I'm trying to figure out why people are so down on it. Great parks, much less traffic than the western burbs and about the same in property taxes. The schools in both locations have their issues, but the schools out here are definitely not bad.


A drive to downtown from LaGrange is about 15 mins longer than from Homewood. I-55 or I-290 are terrible. Metra Electric takes about 45 mins to downtown, and if you are a golfer (like myself), there are at least 15 golf courses within 10 miles.


Extremely diverse.....LaGrange can be snooty sometimes and traffic there is terrible.

...it is a true death spiral -- there is no denying it!

Here is very typical home: https://www.redfin.com/IL/Flossmoor/.../home/12849791 . Asking price seems more than fair for a 4 bed 3 ba home at $260k but the taxes are a sickness inducing $13,534!!!

[leroy217]

Originally Posted by CGab

Chet is spot on! Homewood-Flossmoor used to have top ranked schools, but that is no longer the case. Lagrange has much better schools!

Originally Posted by chet everett

...it is a true death spiral -- there is no denying it!

Here is very typical home: https://www.redfin.com/IL/Flossmoor/.../home/12849791 . Asking price seems more than fair for a 4 bed 3 ba home at $260k but the taxes are a sickness inducing $13,534!!!

Flossmoor is a different animal. They don't have the tax base that Homewood does. Many commercial businesses are coming to Homewood. I wouldn't move to Flossmoor, their taxes are much higher than ours.

[chet everett]

Originally Posted by leroy217

Flossmoor is a different animal. They don't have the tax base that Homewood does. Many commercial businesses are coming to Homewood. I wouldn't move to Flossmoor, their taxes are much higher than ours.

I do agree that the dearth of anything other than residential property puts Flossmoor at a disadvantage when it comes to taxes, but the homes there tend to more along the lines of those in desirable western suburbs. Homewood residential development, while mostly decent quality, tends not to have as much charm, many of the homes have more of "tract builder" look. Ultimately the death spiral that is sucking down property values while driving taxes to absurd levels will grip all of Illinois if Pritzker displaces Rauner, that will be huge negative for everyone not directly tied the insiders who are aligned with Madigan.

[leroy217]

Ole’ politics.....

[Hiruko]

Originally Posted by leroy217

I live in Homewood, and I'm trying to figure out why people are so down on it. Great parks, much less traffic than the western burbs and about the same in property taxes. The schools in both locations have their issues, but the schools out here are definitely not bad.


A drive to downtown from LaGrange is about 15 mins longer than from Homewood. I-55 or I-290 are terrible. Metra Electric takes about 45 mins to downtown, and if you are a golfer (like myself), there are at least 15 golf courses within 10 miles.


Extremely diverse.....LaGrange can be snooty sometimes and traffic there is terrible.

It's race. It couldn't be more obvious.

[leroy217]

Originally Posted by Hiruko

It's race. It couldn't be more obvious.

Sad, but true!!