Kenilworth (Chicago, Evanston, Skokie: for sale, condos, crime)

[skontoller]

Hi All,

Another poster was asking about NS suburbs and I realized that not much has been posted about the smallest NS suburb. I know it's uber expensive and extremely small but does anyone on this board live there or lived there in past? Anyone have any insight as to what justifies the difference in price relative to it's border neighborhoods of Winnetka and Wilmette? I was just curious.

SK

[US-Traveller]

Originally Posted by skontoller

Hi All,

Another poster was asking about NS suburbs and I realized that not much has been posted about the smallest NS suburb. I know it's uber expensive and extremely small but does anyone on this board live there or lived there in past? Anyone have any insight as to what justifies the difference in price relative to it's border neighborhoods of Winnetka and Wilmette? I was just curious.

SK

Actually when we first moved here to Chicago we moved to Kenilworth and lived in a corporate rental, until we could close on our home.

Kenilworth's high price is because of desirability. It is the most desirable because of its exclusiveness. It has a great school (Joseph Sears K-8), great public parks, and public services. It has a great atmosphere for those that enjoy living in a country club style setting. It also has the closeness of Wilmette, with the small community feel of Glencoe or Lake Bluff.

The prices have come down considerably, but the turnover rate in Kenilworth is very low, and many families have lived there for more than 50 years.

Kenilworth is a mini-hub of social activity. Many charities host events at the Kenilworth Club. It is the headquarters of the New Trier Republican Organization, and has a fantastic kids football program.

Contrary to popular belief, more expensive homes can be found in Winnetka, Glencoe, and Lake Forest, and most of Chicago's richest choose not to live there.

[skontoller]

Originally Posted by US-Traveller

Actually when we first moved here to Chicago we moved to Kenilworth and lived in a corporate rental, until we could close on our home.

Kenilworth's high price is because of desirability. It is the most desirable because of its exclusiveness. It has a great school (Joseph Sears K-8), great public parks, and public services. It has a great atmosphere for those that enjoy living in a country club style setting. It also has the closeness of Wilmette, with the small community feel of Glencoe or Lake Bluff.

The prices have come down considerably, but the turnover rate in Kenilworth is very low, and many families have lived there for more than 50 years.

Kenilworth is a mini-hub of social activity. Many charities host events at the Kenilworth Club. It is the headquarters of the New Trier Republican Organization, and has a fantastic kids football program.

Contrary to popular belief, more expensive homes can be found in Winnetka, Glencoe, and Lake Forest, and most of Chicago's richest choose not to live there.

I didin't know Kenilworth was such a hub of activity. Given it's so closely bordered by Wilmette I'm suprised that the price per sq ft was so varied. Just 1 year ago homes were being sold for $650+/sqft!! This time last year places in Wilmette were selling for about half that!!!

I also feel as if Kenilworth had alot of older stock. Granted they were regal mansions and likely well constructed but tons of inventory from the 20's and 30's.

SK

[US-Traveller]

Originally Posted by skontoller

I didin't know Kenilworth was such a hub of activity. Given it's so closely bordered by Wilmette I'm suprised that the price per sq ft was so varied. Just 1 year ago homes were being sold for $650+/sqft!! This time last year places in Wilmette were selling for about half that!!!

I also feel as if Kenilworth had alot of older stock. Granted they were regal mansions and likely well constructed but tons of inventory from the 20's and 30's.

SK

Kenilworth is mostly older housing stock. There are new homes for sale on occaision, but the community has been very resistant to the teardown phenominon, and attempted to get the whole town added to the National Register of Historic Places.

Kenilworth is nice, but I personally prefer Winnetka, and even East Wilmette. I am also friendly with a young couple that was not happy with the Joseph Sears School, and decided to enroll in Evanston/Skokie Public Schools.

[Rlest8]

Originally Posted by US-Traveller

Actually when we first moved here to Chicago we moved to Kenilworth and lived in a corporate rental, until we could close on our home.

Kenilworth's high price is because of desirability. It is the most desirable because of its exclusiveness. It has a great school (Joseph Sears K-8), great public parks, and public services. It has a great atmosphere for those that enjoy living in a country club style setting. It also has the closeness of Wilmette, with the small community feel of Glencoe or Lake Bluff.

The prices have come down considerably, but the turnover rate in Kenilworth is very low, and many families have lived there for more than 50 years.

Kenilworth is a mini-hub of social activity. Many charities host events at the Kenilworth Club. It is the headquarters of the New Trier Republican Organization, and has a fantastic kids football program.

Contrary to popular belief, more expensive homes can be found in Winnetka, Glencoe, and Lake Forest, and most of Chicago's richest choose not to live there.

Personally, I believe the exclusivity makes it much less desirable than many of the other NS communities unless of course one is into that sort of social hierarchy. I recently learned that many in Kenilworth refer to areas of the town as the “Kennel” (west of Green Bay-smaller homes) and the “Worth” larger, stately homes.

Also, their park district is almost non-existent. Kids and adults have to use Winnetka and Wilmette for almost all organized activities

[US-Traveller]

Originally Posted by Rlest8

Personally, I believe the exclusivity makes it much less desirable than many of the other NS communities unless of course one is into that sort of social hierarchy. I recently learned that many in Kenilworth refer to areas of the town as the “Kennel” (west of Green Bay-smaller homes) and the “Worth” larger, stately homes.

Also, their park district is almost non-existent. Kids and adults have to use Winnetka and Wilmette for almost all organized activities

I also agree. I much prefer where I am right now than Kenilworth.

I don't know if I would say their park district is non-existent. They have a great beach and a great football program for kids, but certainly nothing like Winnetka offers.

Kenilworth is closely tied to Wilmette.

[pvande55]

I believe it was master planned in the 1920's with the stately homes, small business district and its own train station. Any industrial land use was strictly forbidden. One of its claims to fame, in addition to its wealth, is for many years it had the highest percentage of residents who commuted by train.

[hsw]

Price is really defined by cost of land on lakefront (~$2MM/ac) and cost of building what latest-tech house one desires, as any used house is a tear-down bought for its land value

AFAIK, most of Chic's biggest wealth (new or old) lives in newer condos in MagMile/GoldCoast or newer, post-tear-down houses in LincPk, not on NS

But if desire NS lifestyle, would examine where top partners at Citadel or GoldmanSachs or BDT have recently built their mansions....seems like Sheridan in Winnetka is where wealthy younger (<50yo) suburbanites/Loop financiers favor living/raising their kids these days

Can't think of any major hedge fund guys (or trust fund kids from old-money Chic families) who are building in Kworth...though they could easily afford buying land anywhere on NS lkfront

Certain locations go in/out of fashion with new waves of wealth creation/consumption, e.g., LincPk where many new, $10MM+ mansions are being built is amusingly close to slums/street crime and lacks ambience of many old-money locales, yet some of Chic's oldest/biggest money heirs have built new mansions there...

[DebbiePrzy]

If you look at a map of Kenilworth, you'll see that almost the entire town is east of Green Bay Rd.

Wilmette and Winnetka are also along the lake, however approximately 50% or more of these towns are west of Green Bay Rd.

[sittingduck41]

Originally Posted by DebbiePrzy

If you look at a map of Kenilworth, you'll see that almost the entire town is east of Green Bay Rd.

Wilmette and Winnetka are also along the lake, however approximately 50% or more of these towns are west of Green Bay Rd.

I think Kenilworth actually has about 50% of its houses located to the west of Green Bay. This is probably partly due to the fact that the houses to the east are bigger. But the distance from Greenbay to the lake (east) and the distance from Greenbay to Ridge (west) isn't that far apart.

Edit: Looking at a map, the east side is definitely bigger. West side maybe about 1/3rd the size. But there are many smaller houses (relatively speaking) on the west side.