Gurnee or Palatine (Chicago, Waukegan, Arlington Heights: houses, employment, high schools)

[rick1906]

I posted a while back about finding places to live near Niles. Anyway, I'm on my new job and have narrowed my search to a couple of houses. They are relatively equal as far as price, features, and square footage. If the houses are equal, which would you recommend. BTW, I have a high schooler.

[olive03]

Palatine, hands down... with the caveat that I would need to be in the Fremd district (not Palatine HS).

Personally, I’m not a fan of Gurnee. I don’t like going that far north and last I heard, the teachers at Warren HS were considering going on strike. Not sure what the current status is. I have a colleague who lives in Grayslake but her house feeds into Warren. She was not happy with the school, so pulled her kids and sent them to Carmel in Mundelein. They are not Catholic.

There’s some very nice areas of Palatine and some not so great areas, just like any decent size suburb. I was just down there tonight for an event and drove by the historical district. It’s a good town. I lived there in the early 2000’s for a few years.

[Di3s3l_Pow3r]

Palatine

Also Palatine has nicer downtown, close to Metra,

[wjj]

Commuting from Palatine to Niles is not going to be pleasant. The east/west roads you would take are pretty jammed during rush hour. Of the two choices you propose, I agree with the south side of Palatine that feeds into Fremd. Have you considered Park Ridge (the part that feeds into Maine South)? That would be a much better commute to Niles and a good school.

[Hiruko]

Originally Posted by rick1906

I posted a while back about finding places to live near Niles. Anyway, I'm on my new job and have narrowed my search to a couple of houses. They are relatively equal as far as price, features, and square footage. If the houses are equal, which would you recommend. BTW, I have a high schooler.

Palatine. I am kind of taken aback by the question.

I'd look in Morton Grove and Park Ridge too.

[rick1906]

Originally Posted by olive03

Palatine, hands down... with the caveat that I would need to be in the Fremd district (not Palatine HS).

This house feeds into Palatine HS. Any issues with that school?

Originally Posted by Hiruko

Palatine. I am kind of taken aback by the question.

I'd look in Morton Grove and Park Ridge too.

OK. It seems like many on here generally don’t care for Gurnee. But why is that? Bad schools or is it something else?
Park Ridge could be a possibility but I haven’t seen anything in Morton Grove that fits our criteria.

I really appreciate all of the input from this post and previous ones.

[olive03]

Originally Posted by rick1906

This house feeds into Palatine HS. Any issues with that school?


OK. It seems like many on here generally don’t care for Gurnee. But why is that? Bad schools or is it something else?
Park Ridge could be a possibility but I haven’t seen anything in Morton Grove that fits our criteria.

I really appreciate all of the input from this post and previous ones.

Palatine HS is certainly not in the same category as Waukegan, North Chicago, etc. but I also wouldn't say that it's known for its academic excellence. Fremd is regarding significantly higher, which is why I recommended it over Palatine.

I don't think Gurnee is "bad" but I do think there are a lot of other (and better options). Warren HS is huge and I have to wonder what direction the district is moving in with all this talk about teachers going on strike, etc. And again, it's not known for its academic excellence as a good handful of other high schools in the general area are. As far as Gurnee itself, I've always viewed it as a "big box" town with Gurnee Mills, Great America, etc. Not a bad place to stop by on your drive into or out of Chicago, but I wouldn't want to reside there. It's simply not my cup of tea.

There's a significant distance between Palatine and Gurnee. I'm curious how you narrowed it down to those two towns.

[damba]

Originally Posted by rick1906

This house feeds into Palatine HS. Any issues with that school?


OK. It seems like many on here generally don’t care for Gurnee. But why is that? Bad schools or is it something else?
Park Ridge could be a possibility but I haven’t seen anything in Morton Grove that fits our criteria.

I really appreciate all of the input from this post and previous ones.

I think Warren Twnshp HS unfortunately still has a somewhat sullied reputation over the poor NCLB progress ratings for 5-6 years before the crash. It’s a bit of a wash if you factor in so much focus on test scores and take into consideration the needs and challenges of kids from very different socioeconomic backgrounds/English language learners/etc.

Palatine HS has similiar demographics/challenges but is part of district 211, a very large but good cluster of high schools overall. Fremd is arguably the popular star performer of that group of schools.

[olive03]

Originally Posted by rick1906

Park Ridge could be a possibility but I haven’t seen anything in Morton Grove that fits our criteria.

What's your criteria?

I agree. If your employment is based in Niles, the commute from Palatine (or Gurnee) is not going to be pleasant. Another vote for Park Ridge (feeding into South).

If you're open to it, I'd also look at Glenview/Northfield (Glenbrook South HS/New Trier HS) and even Mt. Prospect/Prospect Heights/Arlington Heights (feeding into Hersey HS).

[damba]

Originally Posted by olive03

What's your criteria?

I agree. If your employment is based in Niles, the commute from Palatine (or Gurnee) is not going to be pleasant. Another vote for Park Ridge (feeding into South).

If you're open to it, I'd also look at Glenview/Northfield (Glenbrook South HS/New Trier HS) and even Mt. Prospect/Prospect Heights/Arlington Heights (feeding into Hersey HS).

He’s looking at housing prices/size/condition without a doubt. The same $ buys more house in Palatine right now.