crystal lake (Chicago, Elgin, Arlington Heights: lease, condo, houses)

[wendysnindy]

we are currently live in a suburb west of Indianapolis. we have 3 kids, grades K-6---- we have a GREAT school system. housing varies but $150 - 225 can get you a great house. taxes vary but we pay under $4000 a year.
ANYWAY -my husband's job is moving to Elk grove village, IL. I have been on this site scouring towns and checking out greatchools.com -
school system is the #1 concern for us. but housing has to stay under225,000.
Crystal lake on paper seems to have both.
the schools had good test scores and fairly good reviews. houses seemed reasonable. how are taxes? crime? easy access to roads?
any insight on this town would be great!
I did driving directions from CL to EGV and it had 2 toll roads. we don't have toll roads is it expensive? we don't have a train system either. is that expensive?
I know I'm asking a lot. any help would be GREAT
thanks so much

[Ophidian14]

The commute from Crystal Lake to Elk Grove Village will slowly kill you. Google Maps says 32.5 miles, 48 minutes, but you can count on far, far longer than that.

Instead I would look at some of the farther-out places along I-90. Gilberts, maybe?

The tolls are not expensive, and neither is the train, but you can't take the train to EGV.

[cubssoxfan]

wendysnindy,
Check out property taxes. I say that because if you find a home for 225K but your taxes are 2K a year more, you may be better putting that money into a more $ house that is closer to EGV. Often, homes in Lake and McHenry counties have higher property tax bills than homes in Cook county. Housing is definitely going to be more $ than Indy. If you can go $300-$350, you will have many more options closer by. For example: Mount Prospect. Good Elementary schools and Prospect HS is ranked 14th best in the state. Arlington Heights is also a great area. I do not know as much about EGV, but driving through, there are some nice homes and neighborhoods there as well. Palatine is further, but has less expensive housing and good schools.Traffic in Chicago Area is denser and more difficult than Indy. I have experienced driving in Indy several times during rush hours and it's a piece of cake vs. Chicago because Metro Indy is much more compact, with shorter distances than Indy. Crystal Lake to EGV would be like Noblesville to Greenwood, but traffic in Chi would be denser and slower.

[ccjarider]

Hello, we moved to this area for work in Mt. Prospect. (Close to EGV) We chose Arlington Heights and I ride a bike to work.
It is true that the home cost more than out in Crystal lake. Quality of life howwever takes some of the pain out of that reality. Plus it seems like a very nice area with a good school system and I think we can always get the $ out of the place if we need/want to leave.

If energy costs stay high, your husband's commute costs will only go up and further, I think your life satisfaction quotient will continue to decrease as he has to spend 1-2 hours per day in a car.

Talking to my co-workers who have lived that lifestyle, it seems to me that over several years, it really becomes a drag.

Another point to consider. It seemed to use that EGV is too close to Ohare to live. We felt there was a lot of airplane noise there. This is one reason we went north of my work to live instead of south.

Good luck

[LoneStar76]

Originally Posted by wendysnindy

we are currently live in a suburb west of Indianapolis. we have 3 kids, grades K-6---- we have a GREAT school system. housing varies but $150 - 225 can get you a great house. taxes vary but we pay under $4000 a year.
ANYWAY -my husband's job is moving to Elk grove village, IL. I have been on this site scouring towns and checking out greatchools.com -
school system is the #1 concern for us. but housing has to stay under225,000.
Crystal lake on paper seems to have both.
the schools had good test scores and fairly good reviews. houses seemed reasonable. how are taxes? crime? easy access to roads?
any insight on this town would be great!
I did driving directions from CL to EGV and it had 2 toll roads. we don't have toll roads is it expensive? we don't have a train system either. is that expensive?
I know I'm asking a lot. any help would be GREAT
thanks so much

Wendy, I can offer you some advice..... go to newsweek.com, which has a link to find the best schools in the country, and see where Northern Illinois schools wind up on that list.... You will find 1 (Glenbrook North I believe,) to be in the top 100... other than that, you'd be hard pressed to find a school, especially in the Crystal Lake area, that will give your kids the educational challenge that can maximize their learning potential. If, however, you were to move to the Crystal Lake area, I would definitely make sure you move to a place where your kids are in an actual Crystal Lake school, and not a Cary Grove, or one of the schools in Woodstock. These aforementioned two school districts have HORRIBLE ratings, based on the national average. One of the Crystal Lake schools would definitely would offer the best education of the whole County..... even more so than the private schools they have around here. If, however, education IS your number one concern, I'd consider moving closer in to Elk Grove, perhaps around Northbrook (if you can find affordable enough housing,) because those schools in that area will be tops in the state for the most part. When you look at sites that have school system's ratings, it takes everything into account. I can tell you first hand, and also based upon ratings I've seen, the stats are skewed. The grade school education in Crystal Lake is probably one of the best in Illinois, however, those rankings drop going into Middle School, and are fairly meager (below national average) when you look at the high school ratings. I didn't grow up here, and when I moved here, I was appauled at the lack of fundamental education these kids have up here. Good luck with that search.

Crystal Lake's property taxes are pretty high, and to get what you might consider to be average housing, would cost you a pretty penny for the lack of luxuries this city has to offer, much less the driving distance. Don't forget also, gas prices in Chicagoland are highest in the country, unreasonably so, because of the corruption, even though there is a pipeline that flows right up into Chicago.

As for travel, you don't have to travel on the tolls.... although they are surprisingly easy to travel on (with an I-Pass,) they are not the only way to get from town to town. There are many state roads that can get your husband to Elk Grove in a fairly reasonable (perhaps even faster) time than taking the highway. Try (alternate) directions on your directions search to look at different routes.

[jlawrence01]

Originally Posted by wendysnindy

we are currently live in a suburb west of Indianapolis. we have 3 kids, grades K-6---- we have a GREAT school system. housing varies but $150 - 225 can get you a great house. taxes vary but we pay under $4000 a year.
thanks so much

The schools are fine. But where are you going to find a house in Crystal Lake for $225 for a family your size? There are some older houses in the area that will go for that much.

As for taxes, in most McHenry Co. communities, you will pay about 2% of your property value. That is a rough ballpark number and will vary by community.

I relocated to the Crystal Lake area a few years ago trading a large 5 br house outside of Cleveland for a 1500 sq ft 2br 2ba condo. The prices were roughly equivalent.

I have never heard Woodstock or Cary-Grove schools classified as "horrible" before.

Seriously, your are going to have to live FAR out to get a house of decent size for under $225.

[Lookout Kid]

Crystal Lake is..... very...... faaaaaaaaarrrrr.... aaaaaaawwwwwwaaaaaaayyyyyyyyy......

Commuting from Indianapolis might be comparable. I kid, but I wouldn't want that commute.

[zzz69]

I live in Elgin, work in Schaumburg. You're looking at 30 minutes just to where I am at.....from there to get to Schaumburg is another 20-60 minutes (i wish i were joking about that spread) and then another 5ish to EGV - so on average about a 75 minute one way commute. My lease runs out in April and I will be moving East - I grew up in Indy and went to school in Kentucky so the sticker shock hit me hard - and yet next year (i finished school in '08) am going to be looking at homes in the $175-$250 k range and have accepted that I will be living in a Condo/TH in all likelihood. From my own search, cheaper areas (I know nothing about school districts) include Streamwood, Elgin, Warrenville, Palatine. Forget the idea of a large house if you plan on seeing your husband again in that price range.

[zzz69]

Oh, Hanover Park is pretty cheap too - but I've heard their schools are not very good.

[LoneStar76]

"I have never heard Woodstock or Cary-Grove schools classified as "horrible" before."


Doesn't mean it isn't true. About a year ago, my wife and I were looking at school districts ratings (grades) versus the national average, in part of an effort to help decide which one of our family or close friends we wanted to be the legal guardian of our children should we pass. I can't, for the life of me, remember the particular website I saw the most helpful information, but I can assure you it was a seriously researched effort, with no bias intended.

Let me break it down for you as I remember:
The national averages were for some 4 different categories, and an overall. The national averages for all four categories as well as the overall category was right around 82 (high school avg's.) Crystal Lake's 3 high schools (not including Prarie Grove) averaged around 76. Cary-Grove averaged 63. Woodstock averaged just below 50, with some of the grades dipping down to as low as 32. Woodstock's primary disadvantage is they have a heavy hispanic population where English is a 2nd language, one which many of them still struggle with into high school. Crystal Lake's elementary schools scored extremely well, (above the national average) and among the tops in the state, as well as the middle schools scored pretty well.

My cousin's, who've lived here all their lives, went to Cary Grove, and it's not that they aren't intelligent, but it seems like they are lacking, as I said, fundamental education. Things such as vocabulary, for example, aren't up to par.

Also, for Wendy, this area provides a little diversity, but the kids that grow up here seem to be very sheltered to what's happening outside their area code. One last thing.... if you like Snow, and bitter wind, you're in for a treat. Crystal Lake is, on average, one of the coldest cities in Illinois, as well as it usually receives just a little more snow than areas around it.