younger family suburb, good schools but fun (Chicago, Aurora: best suburbs, house)

[smegmatite]

Originally Posted by Hiruko

Oak Park is not a high crime area. The village has below average crime. The public schools are among the best in the country. Oak Park and River Forest High School has a national reputation for academics and diversity. Its struggles to bridge the achievement gap have been chronicled by a series that appeared on Starz called America To Me. It's educational system is generously funded, hence the higher residential taxes than some nearby communities. River Forest, next door and generally more upscale, has lower property tax rates that are more comparable to the northern suburbs and some other affluent western suburbs. Like most people in suburban Chicago, Oak Parkers are largely moderate-to-progressive mainstream Democrats.



Your figures on Oak Park's effective rates are correct, 3.35% according to the last Tribune figures. However, Elmhurst at 2.51-2.54% isn't much better than River Forest at 2.89%. I think River Forest is a much nicer community than Elmhurst, but that's clearly entirely subjective. La Grange is around 2.7%. Naperville and Elmhurst are nowhere near below 2%. I'm not sure where you got that impression. Parts of Naperville are over 3%. Oak Park is a trendier area and its housing market is warmer. I'd be more comfortable investing there, at least over the short term.

OP, You haven't come back to clarify your criteria, so I'll name drop Evanston, where the schools are strong, crime is low, nightlife that is stellar for a suburb, lakefront, transit, and relatively low taxes at 2.66%.

Naperville is much safer crime wise than Oak park

Moderator cut: link removed, competitor site

Naperville schools are much better than Oak Park

Naperville schools
http://webprod.isbe.net/ereportcard/...90222030_e.pdf

OP schools
http://webprod.isbe.net/ereportcard/...60160970_e.pdf

Taxes in OP are higher than Naperville


OP is much more liberal "moderate IMO is a bit low, as evidenced by the crazy people that run the city"
Moderator cut: link removed, competitor site

surprisingly naperville leaning liberal, near the middle, although that could be because most R's in the state don't bother voting
Moderator cut: link removed, competitor site


This isn't "crap" Hiruko, its facts.

[DavePa]

The OP should realize ..... there will be a poster or two ALWAYS negative on Chicagoland and Illinois. You rarely will get anything positive from them on Chicagoland. Yet they themselves ..... remain there.

[Hiruko]

Originally Posted by smegmatite

Naperville is much safer crime wise than Oak park

Moderator cut: link removed, competitor site

Naperville schools are much better than Oak Park

Naperville schools
http://webprod.isbe.net/ereportcard/...90222030_e.pdf

OP schools
http://webprod.isbe.net/ereportcard/...60160970_e.pdf

Taxes in OP are higher than Naperville


OP is much more liberal "moderate IMO is a bit low, as evidenced by the crazy people that run the city"
Moderator cut: link removed, competitor site

surprisingly naperville leaning liberal, near the middle, although that could be because most R's in the state don't bother voting
Moderator cut: link removed, competitor site


This isn't "crap" Hiruko, its facts.

You do realize that those school report cards actually support my view that Oak Park has very good public schools?

Why is it surprising to you that Naperville has trended towards the Democratic Party?

I also think some of your links are going to get struck by the moderator for being links to a competitor.

[smegmatite]

Originally Posted by Hiruko

You do realize that those school report cards actually support my view that Oak Park has very good public schools?

Why is it surprising to you that Naperville has trended towards the Democratic Party?

I also think some of your links are going to get struck by the moderator for being links to a competitor.

slightly above state average doesn't mean Oak Park has "very good" public schools, especially compared to naperville (which I would consider actually, very good)... look at the differences in Proficiencies - these are district wide

Math 39.8% for OP - 64% for Naperville - 31% state average
ELA 41% for OP - 69.7% for Naperville - 36.7% state average
ISA 61.2% for OP - 78.2% for Naperville - 50% state average

as for competitive links, I apologize and had no clue about any of that

[damba]

Originally Posted by smegmatite

slightly above state average doesn't mean Oak Park has "very good" public schools, especially compared to naperville (which I would consider actually, very good)... look at the differences in Proficiencies - these are district wide

Math 39.8% for OP - 64% for Naperville - 31% state average
ELA 41% for OP - 69.7% for Naperville - 36.7% state average
ISA 61.2% for OP - 78.2% for Naperville - 50% state average

as for competitive links, I apologize and had no clue about any of that

Thankfully, there’s a lot more to school quality in many communities besides test scores. Very good school districts such as OP and EV are great examples of this.

Do you have kids in schools, smeg, or are drawing from personal experience(?)

[jvr789]

I think Oak Park offers a very different experience than a place like Naperville. It is more urban and historic and provides better access to downtown. On the other hand, a drawback is the proximity to rough areas. I am friends with a cop that works there but chooses to live in another community b/c of that factor.

Anyways, based on what the OP has stated in terms of lifestyle, price and education priority it looks like a suburb like Naperville may be a better fit than an Oak Park type option. Somebody also mentioned Wheaton which could work. I personally really liked Elmhurst as an option when I was looking at western burbs a while back and I have a friend w/young family that recently moved to downtown Downers Grove and this could be another option? If the OP is a FL "beach person", I would not recommend western burbs, I would recommend North Shore communities.

The OP also mentioned renting which honestly could be a good idea to better understand the various options. It is just hard with kids b/c you want them to get settled at school asap!

[ez1234]

Naperville

[RJA29]

At the price point for the OP, near downtown Downers Grove could be a good fit (for the size of house they want). Might be able to make LaGrange work, too.

Glen Ellyn is charming, but might be a bit sleepier (if that is desired). Naperville, of course, also fits the outlined needs.

I'd recommend looking near the downtowns in these areas and seeing if any houses on the MLS aggregation sites are of interest.

[sypher133]

Glen Ellyn.

[tml0701]

I'd say 40 minutes or so for a commute
We aren't city people we have always lived in subarbs but would love a little bit of a fun town or close to it doesn't have to be walking distance but we are active, we do like to go out to bars and restaurants often and a fun late night out here and there. But schools and the community is our top priority, we want our kids to get the best education while being surrounded by others with the same mindset (lots of diversity or not that, doesn't matter). The lake would be great but we do like land lol We currently live in a one story 5bed home @3k sqft obviously no basement since it's FL so we wouldn't mind smaller qu footage with a finished basement (if they don't include su footage in basements in NY they didn't even if it was finished)

I'm looking for a starting point here. Just a list of towns that I can bring to our realtor and say ok let's go explore these areas. So what I'm getting from this group is: Naperville, LaGrange, Elmhurst, Oak Park, Wheaton, Downers Grove and Glen Ellyn? And many people said Evanston to my husband at work but didn't notice it mentioned here...