Arlington Heights, Elk Grove Village, Palatine (Chicago, Schaumburg: buying a home, neighborhoods, buying)

[macaroni]

My husband is starting a new job in Des Plaines, we are moving from Louisiana and I've never been to Chicago. We've got 3 kids 6 and under, and from web research it looks like Arlington Heights, Elk Grove Village and Palatine all have great schools. We're looking for a 4 bedroom house around $425k. Any information about these three towns would be appreciated. I'm looking for somewhere kid friendly with lots of things to do outdoors, pedestrian friendly, a nice downtown, convenient shopping, great schools and an easy commute to Des Plaines. Any specific neighborhoods you can recommend?

[nanannie]

I dont care much for the congestion and airport noise of Elk Grove village, plus it does not have any of the charm, nice downtown areas or beautiful n'hoods of Palatine or Arlington Hts. Just my opinion. I like both those burbs, with Arlington Hts being closer for the commute,having a nice hospital/med center.They are both desirable areas with metra trains to the city, and in this stagnant market, you will have more housing choices and room to negotiate prices.Good luck with the move and welcome to Illinois

[mendelman]

Originally Posted by nanannie

I like both those burbs, with Arlington Hts being closer for the commute,having a nice hospital/med center.They are both desirable areas with metra trains to the city, and in this stagnant market, you will have more housing choices and room to negotiate prices.

Agreed, but macaroni, you should also look into Mount Prospect too. It is pretty the same school quality as Palatine or Arlington Heights and is even closer to Des Plaines (actually they share a border). It has a smaller downtown than Arlington Heights, but still quaint with a commuter rail station to Chicago.

[emmie3g]

How about Buffalo Grove? Great suburbs for kids and top notch schools from elem to hs. The park district is awesome.
emmie

[nanannie]

How is that commute to Des Plaines though?

[Paige65]

Of the three you listed, I'd choose Arlington Heights.

[ccjarider]

My wife and I are relocating to area due to job change as well. I work in Mt. Prospect. We have spent the last three months looking at neighborhoods and homes in the areas you mention as well as Mt. Prospect.

We are empty nesters so schools are not super important but nontheless we did take them into acct because we hope to retire south in 10 years and will want to sell at that time. It seems like for resale here, school district is a big deal.

After all is said and done, we are buying a home in Arlington Heights - Why AH? Nicer neightborhoods than other towns. (We think anyway) Very well kept homes. Downtown is pretty new and offers some social amenities. Close to my work.

Des Plaines has some water issues we were advised and I recall visiting relatives who had major flooding issues. So be careful about that. Southern part of Des Plaines is too close to Ohare and has jet noise. Dwontown seemed to have a lot of empty store fronts.

Elk Grove village - lower class town (sorry for sounding so elitist but hey that was our impression) Seemed to have alot of airplane noise as it is too close to Ohare. Harder to find basements there and with kids you may want that for storage.

Mt. Prospect is a nice town and close to DP for work. We seriously looked at some places there but they were too close to Randhurst Mall area and the multifamily units east of the mall looked like trouble.

Palatine seemed nice but I was advised by coworkers to avoid parts of Palatine that attend Buffalo Grove schools.

I cannot vouch for reality only our opinions and observations. I wish you well in your move.

[chet everett]

EGV is a pretty large area. Don't know exactly what price range you looked at, but they have some very nice homes as well as a few developments that are mostly pre-1960's ranches w/o basements.

Similarly the section of mt. Prospect near its downtown is every bit as desirable as anything in AH.

The entire downtown of DesPlaines is undergoing a DRAMATIC overhaul, I generally hate when government gets involved in redevelopment, but even I have to admit they have done quite well. I'd guess most those stores will fill up soon.

Generally Palatine is not as expensive as Buffalo Grove and school quality tends to track with expensiveness, so I am not sure what the issue there would be.

I like parts of Arlington Heights too, not really a bad choice in the whole list, each town has some trade-offs, especially when you have the flexibility of not worrying about kids/schools and a timeline of only about 10 years till retirement...

[ahava]

Originally Posted by nanannie

How is that commute to Des Plaines though?

Depending on where in Des Plaines, it wouldn't be bad using River Rd. It takes me under 45 mins daily to get from Lincolnshire to River Rd & Touhy Ave, which is the southern end of Des Plaines. The bigger obstacle with looking in Buffalo Grove is finding a decent 4 bedroom house under $425k.

[macaroni]

Thanks for all the info. We're trying to keep the commute to 30 minutes or less, and work is in the south of Des Plaines (Algonquin and Mount Prospect roads). I noticed that no one mentioned Schaumburg or Prospect Heights - how do these compare for being kid-freindly, good schools, affordability, and since we're asking for everything, mild winters :-)