Best Chicago Suburb for Families and Aviation

[eb23]

We moved from Sydney, Australia to Chicagoland. Having two young kids (school and pre), the school was at the top of our list. Occasional visit to The Loop was also there while O'Hare was more of once every six months or so.

Using schools as the main criterion made the search quite easy. We considered Deerfield, Winnetka, Wilmette and everything in between. We settled on Kenilworth, Joseph Sears public school. It is fantastic -- coming form one of the best public schools in Sydney, Joseph Sears is above and beyond any comparison. Our kid has finished three out of 4 terms of the 1st grade and restarted it here (being a December baby she wouldn't be accepted for the 2nd). While English and Writing she's far ahead, the math is exactly at her level... Besides the academia -- sports, languages and other aspects is what is so much more her -- from personalized iPad with a plethora of educational material/apps to chess classes.

The community is superb and beyond welcoming. People do make an effort to know you and to be known.

Based on what people told us here, when we did our own research -- all the suburbs within the New Trier boundary are superb. And the advice was solid -- driving through Winnetka, Wilmette, Glencoe -- they all nice -- slightly different vibe but all are super nice.

[pvande55]

Originally Posted by Chicagobound22

Thanks! Does Northbrook has a sense of itself or is it just a bedroom community?

Very sleepy. My mother lived there for years. Allstate and Underwriters have headquarters there, but not much reason to visit.

[flamadiddle]

Also take a look at Wayne and Wheaton. They are close to https://www.dupageairport.com and not too far from OHare.

[Hiruko]

Originally Posted by pvande55

Very sleepy. My mother lived there for years. Allstate and Underwriters have headquarters there, but not much reason to visit.

Northbrook Court is pretty much the #2 mall in the northern suburbs. It's not as active as Old Orchard, but it's still a major North Shore attraction.

[Master Jay]

Hiruko, ahhh thank you for mentioning those 2 malls.

My kids and I have been coming down to explore both, for several years, and in fact, went to both last weekend.

Great malls. Great memories.